The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books Thread Book • Page 93

Thanks dude! It’s been on my wishlist all year, I think it looks really cool and I know a lot of people liked it. Perfect gift. I’ve got two books to finish first but then I’m diving in.

 

It feels like this might be all the books from the exchange? Has anyone not gotten theirs yet?

 

1. Eleventh Cycle (Mistland #1) - Kian N. Ardalan

"The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear.

But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria’s fate. A farmer girl with only love in her eyes. A warrior born to the life of a refugee. A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men. And a woman running into front lines and away from home.

Will the cycle finally be completed? Or will the mist swallow all?"

2. Riddle-Master of Hed (The Riddle-Master Trilogy #1) - Patricia A. McKillip

"Long ago, the wizards had vanished from the world, and all knowledge was left hidden in riddles. Morgon, prince of the simple farmers of Hed, proved himself a master of such riddles when he staked his life to win a crown from the dead Lord of Aum.But now ancient, evil forces were threatening him. Shape changers began replacing friends until no man could be trusted. So Morgon was forced to flee to hostile kingdoms, seeking the High One who ruled from mysterious Erlenstar Mountain. Beside him went Deth, the High One's Harper. Ahead lay strange encounters and terrifying adventures. And with him always was the greatest of unsolved riddles - the nature of the three stars on his forehead that seemed to drive him toward his ultimate destiny."

3. City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) - S. A. Chakraborty (Kindle version is free for Prime members!!)

"On the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, Nahri is a con woman of unsurpassed skill. She makes her living swindling Ottoman nobles, hoping to one day earn enough to change her fortunes. But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, during one of her cons, she learns that even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

Forced to flee Cairo, Dara and Nahri journey together across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire and rivers where the mythical marid sleep, past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises and mountains where the circling birds of prey are more than what they seem, to Daevabad, the legendary city of brass.

It’s a city steeped in magic and fire, where blood can be as dangerous as any spell; a city where old resentments run deep and the royal court rules with a tenuous grip; a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound—and where her very presence threatens to ignite a war that has been simmering for centuries"

4. Wraithbound (Spirit Binder Saga #1) - Tim Akers

"Since he was a boy, Rae Kelthannis has dreamed of being a stormbinder like his father, with an air elemental stitched into the fabric of his soul and the winds of heaven at his command. Those dreams died when his father, through no fault of his own, fell into disgrace and was banned by the justicars of the Iron Council. The family fled to the edge of the Ordered World, to live in fear in the shadow of encroaching Chaos.

When Rae defies his father’s orders and attempts to stitch an air elemental to his soul, he instead binds himself to a mysterious wraith. That’s when things get complicated and the world starts to fall apart around him. Literally."

5. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) - Matt Dinniman

"A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big."

6. The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #1) - Seth Dickinson (Amazon Kindle deal for 2.99 right now!)

"Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people-even her soul.

When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the Empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free.

Sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. As she pursues a precarious balance between the rebels and a shadowy cabal within the Empire, she orchestrates a do-or-die gambit with freedom as the prize.

But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines."

 

Lemme know if I missed any

 

Thanks for compiling those! I think that's all of them. What a good group of books this year; I'm adding all of them to my TBR.

 

Yeah I was super happy to see City of Brass for free, jumped on that. I might make it a goal to read all of them this year (next year)

 

Oh nice. Have had City of Brass on my wishlist for a while, definitely grabbed it.

As to when I actually read it, lol who knows.

 

You’re very welcome. I don’t actually have it myself (TBB are doing a special edition so I’m waiting for that) but I really liked it. Read it round when Elden Ring came out so I was really immersed with both. Which is great because they both sit hand in hand.

 

damn what a cool list. we rule. this thread rules

 

I'll have to resume my playthrough of Elden Ring while I read this one then. That'll be good fun.

 

We are the best.

 

Seriously everyone, thanks for your participation in the book exchange. I think it's a lot of fun every year. Hope everyone had a good time.

 

Very little comms outside of his brother. Seems he's not in the best mental space in general, but there were rumblings from his brother that he was working on No God. I'll believe it when I see it, but need more Bakker in my life after this.

 

I've heard not great things about Eleventh Cycle but a lot of it came down to the guy severely needing an editor and a lot of weird grammar throughout the book.

 

I think it's pretty cool that half of this year's are indie authors, if I'm recalling correctly.

 

I think just two - Dungeon Crawler and Eleventh Cycle? Still cool though.

 

Looks like Akers has done both, which threw off my count!

 

Ah yeah. Most of his stuff is trad pub, but he's done some stuff himself too, which is neat.

 

I know a guy wanting to try this method

 

Sounds like a real jerk

 

It's my favorite fantasy series ever, but it's certainly not for everyone. Also I'll second the Neuropath recommendation, it's fantastic and legitimately terrifying.

 

about halfway through Unholy Consult. I need Bakker to get better so he can keep writing. He's only in his 50s

 

Starting The Innkeeper's Song. See if I can finish a book before my trip next week lol

 

Despite being a genre I've never heard of (litrpg) and an off-putting name, the way ya'll are describing Dungeon Crawler Carl, and some other things I've seen about it online make it seem like it's actually probably right up my alley. Going to save it for that moment when I'm in a funk and just can't get a book to catch and want something FUN.

 

trying to finish two fantasy books before the year is out so I can start Baru Cormorant next

EDIT: three, forgot about audiobooks