Scuzz wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2024 10:30 pmFool's Fate by Robin Hobb
This is book 3 of The Tawny Man trilogy, and book 13 in the 16 book Elderlings series. I found this book a little wordy, as all Hobb's books are but I also think I found it to be my favorite, especially the ending. This book could easily have ended the series, but Hobb wasn't finished with Fitz and the Fool yet. There are seemingly many story lines completed in this book and not to spoil anything, but this is one of the few books with a "happy" ending.
I have already read the gooks that follow this one, so I know where the story goes. Somehow I missed this series many years ago when I read the other three. And yes, I did skip a series because I really had no desire to go there. The Liveship Series was not my cup of tea and so I didn't want to read the follow up series, especially 4 books.
Having now read 4 of the 5 series I would recommend the 3 series that follow Fitz. You will miss a few things but not enough to make a difference.
I've read the first 9 books of 16. I'm taking a couple year break and will get back to it. I agreed that the Fitz books are the best ones. I would recommend the entire series up through 9 with a couple of lower level books that you'll need to plow through.
Overall it's a very worthy fantasy read. Recommended if you haven't read them yet.
Spellmonger, book 1: Spellmonger by Terry Mancour (audiobook): Minalan the warmage settles in an idyllic farming region known for its cheese, hoping to live the peaceful life of a spellmonger who casts simple, everyday spells to protect townsfolk from fire and find their lost cattle. But he's forced to pick his mageblade back up when his village is threatened by goblins who have much more magical power than should be possible.
What I liked:
The battle scenes. They capture the strategy and the various emotions of those caught up in the fighting.
The author keeps things interesting even during the mundane scenes of resting and patching up after a battle.
The book takes time to build backstory and lore without getting boring.
The audiobook narrator is great (though it would be refreshing to have a woman read the female parts).
I'm fine with the silly sex stuff. Isn't it better to have some of that, or even a lot of that, instead of just violence? And it turned out to be consequential.
The strong anti-colonial message.
Room for improvement:
Minalan comes off as a Marty Stu at times.
I could do without the chapter titles that say what's about to happen.
I didn't have a problem with Min's moral code until he describes returning from the war in Farise and helping one lord conquer a second lord's keep. The second lord was still serving in Farise. Min says "I questioned his ethics." But Min, what about your ethics? You took advantage of someone who fought on the same side as you in the war, and you did it just to get a little extra money.
I wish the audiobooks were available on Libro.fm instead of just on Audible. I emailed the author asking him to sell them on Libro.fm, but haven't heard back yet.
I enjoyed this book. But enough to read 16 more chonkers? I don't know about that. But from your guys' comments on the series, it sounds like it gets better, so I've already started book tuah. 6 out of 8 jugs of hard cider.
Terry Mancour's writing definitely gets better as the series progresses.
I think your problem with Min's moral code is an intentional by-product of his character. While Min generally works for the greater good, he can also be arrogant and self-serving. I see him as a bit of a narcissist, and as such he is very good at justifying his missteps.
Technically I finished this today, but the bulk was in 2024 so I'll include it here. This is Malcolm Gladwell's new book, which is essentially a revisiting of the concepts in his famous Tipping Point book applied to new situations and through a new lens 25 years later. I really enjoyed it. In general I tend not to like "big thinker / concept" books like this that try to explain some grand concept or human history through various rules or theories, as it tends to wind up being kind of simplistic and useless. There are some areas in the book where this falls victim to that, but at the end of the day Gladwell is just really good and presenting specific compelling individuals and stories in a fascinating way. I'm not sure I buy all of it, but it's pretty interesting and entertaining.
Also strongly recommend Gladwell's audio books in particular. He reads them all himself, often with direct quotes from the people he quotes (and/or using other voice actors) and it's very well done.
