So good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad.

Peace Talks released on Tuesday, the long awaited continuation of The Dresden Files. And now we know why the next book is coming out so soon (September): Peace Talks is half a book. I don't know if Butcher or the Publisher is to blame, but my advice to anyone interested is to wait until Battle Grounds releases and read them both. Peace Talks is one of the weakest Dresden books, padded with fluff and filler, and ends abruptly in what amounts to a cliffhanger. And not even an interesting one. The story basically just stops, like it's the end of a paragraph. I had to rewind to make sure I hadn't missed something. Not good.

On the flip side of the coin, this week Amazon released an Audible full cast recording of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

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I'm a few hours in and it's just fantastic. The cast is ****ing loaded with big names, and it's (so far) one of the best things I've heard on Audible, right up there with the full cast recording of Dune. It's basically an old school radio play and I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Go listen to it. Right now.

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Sandm...ook/B086WP794Z

Thanks for the recommendation. I recall reading a few of the Dresden books and enjoying them. I’m glad I didn’t get hooked on them then get set up for a reader-****ing of GRR Martin or Robert Jordan proportions.

Sandman is Geiman’s graphic novel series, right? I see on Amazon they have it as a paperback series. Does it translate well to book or audio formats (i.e. without illustrations)? I don’t spend much time driving. Where do you listen to audio books?

I've never read the graphic novel, never been a comic or graphic novel guy, but it's been a fantastic experience on audio so far, and a few reviews I've seen have all hailed it, as well, so it's not just me.

As for where I listen to audio books, I've had an audible account for 10 or 11 years.

Thanks, going to add the audio to my list for next time I travel, whenever that may be.

After reading the first three books of The Expanse, I took a bit of a break. I recently got back into it. Book 4, Cibola Burn, was so good that I ended up burning through it in a couple of days (fast for me). Nemesis Games started slow. I was disappointed that the crew was splitting up and it looked like it was going to be a fluffier book. But then - HOL-LEE SHIT!!!

I'm about halfway through Babylon's Ashes and it is by far the worst of the books so far. It's an excessive amount of just talking about what's going on. Most of the action happens outside of the story and it's mostly Holden and Pa moping around. I'm hoping it gets better but it's been a bit of a slog so far.

I'm sure this has already been mentioned, but it's getting ridiculous how long it's taking for Winds of Winter and Doors of Stone. You'd think being stuck at home would help GRRM and Rothfuss to focus on finishing their work.

Me too. Cibola Burns was great. Just finished Babylon's Ashes; I won't spoil it for you. Also finished the novella "The Churn." Amos is the main character in that one; it's about his early life before he went to space. Ties into Babylon's Ashes.

Didn't start reading Expanse books until after I'd seen both season 1 & 2. But I'm really enjoying reading them.

Based on Butcher being a pretty damn good guy, I'd guess the blame is on the publisher. I think he turned in a pretty damn long book, and they said nope. After that long, we need more than just one long book and split it up.

The book does get much better, right before it abruptly ends.

Thank God Battle Grounds is nigh.

About to start book 4 of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. Really enjoying it.

Not familiar with it but just added Black Prism to my paperwhite.
Thanks.

I've read the first three a couple of times, didn't even realize 4 and 5 (the final book?) had come out.

His first series, the Night Angel trilogy, is really good too.

So I'm about halfway through book 4. It's equally good... but it also seems to get really obsessed with sex (but that's also because Kip is coming of age and his relationship with his "wife" is a huge part of it)... but there's also a big sex obsession with other storylines as well in this book.

It's not a huge distraction, but it is weird for it to just crop up as a major theme 4 books into the series.

Just finished "Tyche's Flight," by Richard Parry. Don't know if this has been posted already, sorry if it has.

Pretty good read. I really like the style of it; Kind of stream-of-consciousness at points but not in an annoying way at all. It reminds me of another sci-fi series, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone just in case. But I think anyone that reads this book will quickly realize what I'm talking about.

Anyway, it's a fast-paced space opera, has some good characters, and just a fun read. Worth a look if you're in a "i don't care about the science stuff as much as i just want to have some fun with a good crew, blasters, and monsters" kind of book.

Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia by Mike Resnick


This is actually a collection of short stories that were woven together vas a novel. .

It's about an ultra orthodox African man who creates what he considers a Utopia on a new planet. His goal is to keep his society in a pure pre colonial form, but his rigidity increasingly causes problems as the years pass.

The protagonist isn't very sympathetic, but he is well written.


I enjoyed it.

Just finished The Last Astronaut - David Wellington

It's an interesting premise. Set about 30 years in the future. Written in an odd 3rd person sort of past tense narrative.

Just finished the second book in the Salvation Series - Peter F Hamilton

Lots of characters to remember, jumps around to different times. Looking forward to how it ends.

Going to start the Children of Time Series - Adrian Tchaikovsky