Ask Lemmy

I recently listened to "A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking" recently and I was NOT expecting YA fantasy fiction to go that hard on the subject of "heroism" being a term used to excuse the phenomenon of pushing people into dangerous jobs way too young to cover for the systemic failures and often outright corruption of existing power structures. I had a good few years experience in Healthcare beforehand but I graduated nursing school mid-covid and that book really spoke to me.

Somewhat coincidentally iirc it was actually released mid COVID as well, and I imagine had been worked on for years beforehand. So it's interesting to me that the author picked up on the already existing manifestations of this phenomenon in a way that would speak so well to the epic clusterfuck that ultimately occurred.

I'm listening to the Bobiverse again because the fifth book came out recently. The universe, pun intended, was really interesting and the entire idea of digital people is fun to think about while doing chores.

I've started reading the somewhat expansive Cosmere universe of books by Brandon Sanderson.

I like actually reading, but there is a LOT to get through, so I'm reading the series (a couple trilogies, a series of 5 books) in actual print, and listening to the standalone novels in the universe on audio.

It's actually been a nice day to keep moving through all the different overlapping character lines. One particular character, who I'll call H, spans the various worlds and stories often. It's fun reading something about H in one book and then hearing him as the narrator or showing up as a character in the audio book I'm listening to later.

11-22-63 by myself and The Hail Mary Project with my wife.

I just finished listening to all 14 Honor Harrington novels.

I've been listening to the graphic audio versions of The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson.

I just finished listening to Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. The narrator was fantastic. Probably the best I've listened.

I'm currently listening to Livesuit by James SA Corey. It's part of their new series that released this year called The Captives War. It's a Novella/Interquel pretty typical of their release style.

It takes place in an incredibly unknowably distant future for humanity. We follow a squad of Livesuit infantry who have fused their bodies with technology to fight an unfathomable legion of alien conquerors. An enemy that has never lost a war then uses the best traits of conquered races to continue their war.

Why it's so good is because the author(s) have an incredible way of describing people and the world they interact with. Images are vivd and believable. While being so alien, and futuristic Corey manages to write a world you can imagine yourself in.

Additionally, their novellas always take place in the same world, but are completely stand alone stories from the main series so the depth of world building is just... chef's kiss

Both writers were originally working on writing RPGs and TTRPGs so their style just brings me back to sitting at a table with friends, some drinks and a Character Sheet for a hopeful lvl 3 wizard.

Best audio book I've listened to... Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.

Dungeon Crawler Carl 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matthew Dinniman. Its just good fun and the sound effects are amazing. Though I think Carl sounds too old for a 27 year old.

It has also been a good break after Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

There's a podcast done by a well known Tolkien nerd in which he reads The Silmarillion and explains it along the way. I've been slowly making my way through it while driving to work and falling asleep.

Not listening to it at the moment, but I listened-through my Alastair Reynolds audiobook collection recently.

Aside from the quality of the stories (love me some good hard sci-fi), all of the audiobooks were narrated by the same guy. Several of the books are part of a series, and the narrator did a pretty good job, though not perfect, of using the same voices between books for all of the recurring characters.

The Lightbringer series by author Brent Weeks.

The type of "magic" in this fantasy series is unlike any other that I know of. Light can be split by some people into it's individual colors, 1st book is The Black Prism, and those colors are able to be used/cast in a physical form with each color having specific properties and effects on the person that has the ability to use that color. Green is wild/free, red is anger/impulsive and so on. The prism, god chosen representative, is able to use all colors without limits. Murder, spies, politics, love, plot twists, magic...it's got it all.

The reading is fairly easy and the story is easy to follow. This is, I think, the 4th time I am listening to the series. All of Brent Weeks books have been good...but something about this series is great.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

A funny little romance as told from the point of view of the monster terrorizing a town. She tries her best to woo a human and actually is a pretty supportive partner. It's so weird and I love it.

Confederacy of Dunces, read by Artie Johnson. I've read and listened to it at least a dozen times. Johnson really puts a lot into his reading of it.

Mariette Lindsteins "Pako Kultista" (or Lång väg hem Mina 25 år i sekten) that tells of her life in the scientology cult, almost finished it. Couldn't find if it had an English translation. It's chilling to listen to how the members are thoroughly abused, controlled and forced to become husks of themselves.

Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Service Model". It was excellent. But be warned, if you're looking for military, adventure sci fi with snarky AI's this will not be your cup of tea. The author takes on modern societal issues in the setting of post collapse human society. Yes, I'm aware of the dichotomy there.

If you do want snarky AI's and adventure, then I recommend the following series:

"Backyard Starship" series. I think it's up to book 17 so far and the quality of the books have stayed pretty consistent. The prequel series "The Peacemaker Wars" is also pretty good.

"Expeditionary Force" The quality does NOT stay consistent in this series and quite frankly, it's not very well written. However, it's like Lofthouse cookies, a lot of mediocre ingredients come together to make something great. I am a die hard fan of the series and highly recommend it if you want something that just removes you from reality for a while.

Robert Caro's "The Power Broker."

There's also a 50-year anniversary, 12-part, 99% Invisible series diving into it. Looking forward to listening to those alongside each section.

Not currently listening but thinking about going back for a third time around soon to Mike Bennett's Underwood and Finch books.

They are a modern day vampire tale that now has a prequel book covering origins back in the 1800's of the main character as well as a couple of sequels that continue the story on. When I first got into it there was only the first book and then my second listen through I followed it with a prequel then a sequel so this time I'd like to do it a bit more in order chronologically.

It is basically about a guy whose family have always been this vampires guardian / helpers but he was never aware, his brother dies who was the person that should be taking over the position upon the vampire awaking from a 50 year sleep and so he inherits the position and is dragged into this world he knew nothing about.

It is really well written and read by the author himself, I dont think it is very well known but if you like the whole nosferatu schtick I can highly recommend it!

I'm reading James Michener'Alaska, and it's a fantastic story. It is a very well crafted character drama and it has excellent pacing.

I just read Cormac McCarthy'The Road and it was also an incredible read, though it kind of crushed me emotionally for a while afterwards!

I'm relistening to Max Brooks' "Zombie Survival Guide" while commuting and High Howey's "Dust" (from the Silo trilogy) when I can focus. I managed to listen to 15 books this year so far, and I am really proud of myself for that. :)

Currently listening to Starter Villain

Guy inherited his "billionaire" estranged uncles "parking garage" business, only for his ancillary businesses to be more interesting.

Steven Gould - Jumper

Barring the character names and teleportation it shares little with the movie, though I think the movie wasn't all that bad tbh. The idea is a kid with an abusive single dad discovers he can teleport. He acts like a kid would, making lots of mistakes, and figures out his teleportation and how to live.

The novel is a little old so characters are a little shallow and stereotypical but honestly way less than expected. I have listened to the novels before but come back every so often for a repeat.

Network Effect by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R Free.

It's a great book, and the reading/delivery is really entertaining. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of science fiction!

I'm currently listening to all 50 something books of the Horus Heresy - Warhammer 40k stuff - it's a bit of a mixed bag, different writers and different narrators for each book, however the underlying story is just plain epic.

If I was to recommend a set of audio books, I highly, highly recommend 'The wandering inn' by pirateaba - epic books by a proliferate writer - if you manage to get into it, there are hundreds of hours of great story read by a truly talented narrator (Andrea parsneu).

It's been a real hit with myself and my circle!

The farseer triology.

It's pretty interesting fantasy from about 20 odd years ago

character driven introspective

Mother of Learning. It's one of the best Rat Fics I've ever read, now in audio form.

1846 historical account by Francis Parkman called "The Oregon Trail", narrated by Frank Muller. Francis was around 24 at the time and as a white male, certainly was influenced by the prevailing views of his time, but lived, feasted and hunted with Native Americans and directly observed their culture. He captures an era of American History in a unique way.

Plus, it isn't so good that you can't fall asleep. +8, would definitely do again.