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ilvez

My top book this year was Joe Abercrombie "The Devils".

Also highlights were:

- Brandon Sanderson "Wind and Truth" & "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter"

- Indrek Hargla most of "Apothecary Melchior" series (didn't read all yet :)

- Jim Butcher "Brief Cases"

- James Islington "The Strength of the Few"

Rest of the stuff:

- I. Hargla "Süvahavva" series

- John Gwynne "Ruin" & "Wrath"

- nobody103 "Mother of Learning" I, II, III

- Daniel T. Jackson "Gatebound"

- Brandon Sanderson "Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England"

Re-reads (mostly on audio for dozing off, but then got hooked .. again):

- James S.A. Corey "Caliban's War" & "Cibola Burn"

- George RR Martin "Game of Thrones"

- Robin Hobb "Assassin's Apprentice"

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You've got some great ones on here. I'm curious how you found some of them to be.

Jim Butcher "Brief Cases": I'm a huge fan of the Dresden series. I find it to be very enlightening as we watch an author grow with his primary character. The early books were particularly weak, but they grow and get better and better. However, I'm unfairly biased against short stories, so I avoid all the X.5 releases. Are these worth exploring as I'm waiting for the followup to Battleground?

Mother of Learning: I generally don't like litrpg or progression fantasy, but I'm a sucker for time loops. I enjoyed this series and craved more like it. Anything else you'd recommend in this genre?

I read the Fitz books... fuck... decades ago at this point. Is it worth revisiting in audiobook? I've been burned so many times by nostalgia that I'm reluctant to revisit old favorites.

I revisited Assassin's Apprentice recently, as an audiobook, having read the series 20 years ago. Personally, I will not be continuing. The best term I came across to describe it is "injustice porn" or "misery porn." Fitz and the other protagonists are stymied and beaten at every turn, through the entire series (I checked summaries to see if there would ever be any payoff in continuing). If you're in the mood for an extremely depressing read with no positive outcomes, this is the series for you. I have been in that place before, but I have no tolerance for that at this stage of my life.

Yeah, second and third book in Farseer trilogy can be hard to consume, but at the same time in comparison Robin Hobb just damn can write good. It's little-bit in comparison if you read some more amateur writers, coming back to this.. Can't say it's wholly perfect, but it is well written -- Nighteyes for one. Fitz can be emo, but Nighteyes just delivers.

There sure are positive outcomes in Elderling series. In the long run. The characters and their life. It's not easy laid back reading, but in the end it is one of the best series. (Minus the four books of "Dragon ...", these are slop, not sure why Hobb wrote those).

"Brief Cases" -- just give me more Dresden. I think my favourite series, I'm a simple guy :) Short stories themself are so and so. If you are into the series then these small stories are just like Saturday evening reading, so no big investment. Some of them stick and make you warm, some of them meh, thats ok.

"Mother of Learning" I picked up from my (ex-)colleague. Not in the time-travelling, but he told me that I would probably like Dungeon Crawler Carl. Haven't gotten to it yet. He's read more fantasy than me so he just suggested after we discussed about our preferences. This one I just wanted to read because he really was into :)

About Fitz -- read my other comment. I think whole Elderling series is worth it. It is the long game. Just being invested in characters and Robin Hobb can write characters. If you only think about Farseer trilogy, then I still think it's worth it, but maybe I'm just sucker for it. :-) (there are pacing issues for sure, but Hobb wrote it in 90s, in that sense it was ahead of time, forgive some of those small issues). Read it first I guess 20+ years ago or so..

For something like Mother of Learning I'd recommend The Years of Apocalypse. Available on RoyalRoad (where Mother of Learning was also posted before being published). Bit of a slower burn, but builds to similar heights and not finished yet.

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