Also that One for the road was what I needed to hear today Brian. On a personal note working through a lot of guilt over some nonsense this week. Thanks for the encouragement!!
Wow, a suit and everything! YES LPQ!!! Betrayal in Winter is my favorite of the four, although they are all excellent. SO good. I'm thrilled you're loving it.
The Tom and Jimmy appearance killed me 😆. I need to add LPQ to my TBR. Sounds like it's such a great read. Great One for the Road. I'm always one to beat myself up when I mess up. Thank you for that. Looking forward to all your December Top 10 Lists.
I ordered the Wraithmarked special edition of The Sword of Kaigen a little while ago. I hope I side more with the majority of Booktube on that one! lol. Also, I don’t know why I haven’t put the Long Price Quartet into my TBR yet after hearing Allen and Tori’s praises… but I need to do that now before I forget! And the One for the Road for today hits home with me. Forgiveness is a major theme of what I’ve been writing, and for one character it is specifically trying to be able to forgive themself, because it hits home with me. Great video Brian!
Heeeeeck yes for LPQ, I just know it's gonna be an all-time fave for you by the end, especially with how strong books 3 and 4 are. And really appreciate your honest review of Kaigen, because I honestly felt the same but I was so new to the book community when I read it that I more or less gaslighted myself into loving it because surely everyone else was right and I just didn't read it good enough... Sure, past Esmay.. sure 🤣 Thanks for that one for the road, you once again said the exact right thing at exactly the right time for me. Here's to being more forgiving and gentle with ourselves!
I’ve got to say, I really enjoyed a lot of Sword of Kaigen, but also I think that some sort of “authors redefined edition” would help clean up some of the weird worldbuilding elements that were left hanging. I like the book but it definitely won’t work for everyone so your middling experience makes perfect sense to me!
Yeah, it's challenging sometimes when I read a book and generally like it for what it is, yet see pretty clearly where things could, at least for me, be better.
Awesome wrap up 🥳 I appreciate your thoughtful comments, especially on sword of kaigen. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m always worried with these overly hyped books. I had my fair share of duds 🤣 and to be fair, not every book is for everyone. At least, now you know ☺️ I am planning on reading a journey thrice begin in December. Interested to see how it turns out.
LPQ's a top notch series man. I don't see it as hyped on here either but his Dagger and Coin stuff is also really, really good. Great one for the road! Probably something I need to do more often. Unfortunate to hear your take on SoK but can't win em all, lol.
I'm glad you liked today's One For The Road! I'm really becoming a huge Daniel Abraham fan and that series will probably wind up happening in 2025. Yeah, as far as SoK, just my thoughts and for sure everyone's mileage will vary.
I read Blood Over Brighthaven this month, and when you were talking about Sword of Kaigen and that one character, I thought of Blood. Her MC undergos a similar change in a short time but she is being given new information and new perspectives and struggling. It's an area she's really improved in. You're going to really enjoy The Last Kingdom, and it covers well the parts the show glossed over. Reading the Golden Hero by Rachel Aaron, sequel to her SPFBOX finalist, Elder Epoch by Zamil Aktar, Daughter of the Beast by E C. Greaves, and probably a few other things I haven't chosen yet.
Just finished shadow of the gods and it was incredible! I didn’t realize there was a glossary till I was almost done and it helped a lot. There is an even better glossary in the second one and it helps with all the names and who is who. So far I am really liking the second book!
Was not ready to see myself in the video lol. Random fun fact Ive competed in Strongman twice with a two time winner of the national beard and mustache competition. Also great one of the road its so true we can be so hard on ourselves
Thanks Brian and Rick, I feel almost the same about TSOK I felt like I was reading the middle book of a trilogy, and I am so excited about LPQ got it on my shelf now, and it's calling to me 🥳🤠😎
LPQ is strongly hyped in our corner of BookTube, as it should be! While there are some majorly clunky parts in The Sword of Kaigan, I still think the good parts are better than most modern published fantasy. It’s probably my favorite self-published book to date, but I do acknowledge its flaws. I felt the same way bout The Shadow of the Gods when reading it after The Crippled God. So happy MBotF is becoming a favorite series!
It totally IS becoming a favorite! Quickly! I agree that the good parts of SoK are very good. It just didn't come together as a whole for me the way I thought it might. It needed a sequel as it feels very unfinished to me. Dr. Philip Chase, aka, Dr. Fantasy, aka Philip 's Edan Trilogy for me was a far better overall experience. That's wild we both read Shadow right after Malazan!
I always thought that Red Rising was missing something, but I wasn't sure until now. I started out last month with wrapping up Assasin's Quest, knocked out another Suneater with Kingdoms of Death, then I moved on to The Two Towers and Return of the King. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most was the end of Return of the King. I've watched the movies multiple times and I think the ending in the book was done much better and that is pretty much the only gripe I have with the adaptation.
@@BrianBell7 The main thing was that the hobbits went back to the Shire and kicked out out the ruffians and restored it back to it's peaceful order. It was such an interesting contracts to go from these happy-go-lucky when it the next breakfast hobbits to these battle hardened men who don't skip a beat righting a wrong in an organized fashion and not backing down from anyone.
The Long Price Quartet sounds like my kind of thing, so will try to check it out early next year, thank you! Interesting hearing your thoughts on the Sword of Kaigen, it's certainly tempered my expectations of it, given the universal love on BookTube. Book of the month - The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (though I'd read most of it in October) or The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper.
I absolutely have to get The Paper Menagerie going in 2025. He's an author that I have read nothing from yet but based on booktubers that I really enjoy, I suspect I'll like his stuff. For sure check out LPQ and let me know what you think!
@@BrianBell7 Will do, thanks! It's the only book I've read of his, but it blew me away. I'll get to the Dandelion Dynasty at some point, but in the middle of too many series to start a new one...
That's the thing about Booktube-darlings, is that it's raises expectations too high. I didn't read Sword of Kaigen yet, but I felt that way last year with RF Kuang's Babel. That wasn't something I felt was 5☆ book of the year like I was expecting. So all the praise tarnished my experience
I finished Reapers Gale by Erikson in November. Continued excellence. I’ve started Toll the Hounds after a 10 day break. I agree with you that trying to read other fantasy books right after a Malazan book is tough. I don’t want to taint my opinion of other series by directly comparing with Malazan. I can’t read much else while I’m reading Malazan due to the focus required on that series. I am trying to mix in other genres between though.
I'm glad to find someone who feels as I do about the Sword of Kaigen. I also thought it was 3-star good. But I've been confused about the Booktube Darling status. [Update: I share your thoughts on Long Price too. Are you reading my mind?]
Perhaps the best thing I read in November is the fourth book of the cycle “Expance” Cibola Burn by James Corey, although I didn't really like the beginning, but then I got involved and events rushed, in general it was good! I'm planning Dan Simmons Hyperion for December!
Red Rising has been on my list of series to read, but now I hear there's no Battle of the Bands...I dunno Brian, this could be a deal-breaker. All the great sci-fi epics have at least one after all, except for the ones that don't. Self-forgiveness is a thing I'm in the very thick of right now. If anything, that societal fixation on forgiving others becomes toxic in that it reverse-teaches us that we're less worthy of forgiveness from ourselves, and nothing in society tells us differently until we're spending $100 in a therapist's office. Great, and now you're telling me the floor is lava. Dammit, I'm never getting out of bed.
Those Broken Binding Editions of «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn» are glorious! LPQ is on my 2025 MBR/2026 TBR list, for sure! 😄 So far in November I have read (not too much due to travel and some heartbreak! 😅) «The Steel Tsar» (A Nomad of the Time Streams» Trilogy #3) by Michael Moorcock (Multiverse/Alternative History/Time Travel Steampunk(?)😅) «The Stranger» by Albert Camus/illustrated by Jacques Ferrandez (Graphic Novel adaptation of the Absurdist Philosophical Novel) «The Duel» by Joseph Conrad (Napoleonic Historical Military Fiction Novella) Currently reading: «Lord of Light» by Roger Zelazny (Science Fantasy inspired by the Legend of Siddhartha Gautama/the Buddha) «The Fury of the Gods» (Bloodsworn Saga #3) by John Gwynne (Epic Fantasy inspired by Norse Mythology) «The Power Broker» by Robert Caro (Political Biography/Investigative Journalism Classic, my Q4 long-read) I have this month received the final two novels in Mary Gentle’s «The Book of Ash» series (Alt-History Military Fiction), «The Wild Machines» & «Lost Burgundy», as well as a Hardback Edition of Tolkien’s «The Fall of Numenor», Matthew Harffy’s «Forest of Foes» (Historical Fiction set during the Anglo Saxon era), «The Lion & the Sword» by Roberta Cray (90s Fantasy inspired by Alexander the Great’s Conquest of Greece: Something of a hidden gem going by the few, but enthusiastic reviews I found of it, I saw that glorious cover by the lauded Tolkien Illustrator John Howe, and just had to have it!😄).and «The Women of Troyr»by Pat Barker (retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, the «War Bride» of Achilles)! The One of the Road is always a thoughful moment, but this one is done right important, thanks Brian! Rick, you stay cool, stay safe! 😄 Cheers!
Thanks, Mac! I always appreciate your insights on the books you are reading (which is incredible!). I hope the heartbreak is getting better. I'll pass along your words to Rick, if I hear from him. He's usually in the wind somewhere and very hard to find. I'll start by scouring public hot tub facilities.
@ Oh, yeah: Hard there and then, but I am definitely already on the mends, as she is such a wonderful person and creative inspiration for me, and her continued friendship means the world to me: I have literally dropped 5kg/10 pounds+ in three weeks from loss of stress ( in the midst of Company Christmas Party Season 😆!), and still counting! So have much to be grateful for in this time of Thanksgiving!
I love The Way of the Shaman! I do remember disliking one of the last books in it, or maybe it was the last one.. I have to look it up. But overall as a series, big winner for me.
I thought chapter 1 of A Journey Thrice Begun was promising as well. Glad you’re enjoying He Who Fights With Monsters and I think I understand your criticism but I’m only 3 books in. Not sure when I’ll return to it. Also, based on our similar taste, I think I’ll pass on Sword of Kaigen for now. Cheers 🤘
Nooooooooo! I'm so sorry you did not get out of the sword of Kaigen what I got out of it. I understand the flaw people complain about where the ending leads up to a sequel that has never been written. Still, I thought it thematically connected very much to the rest of the book. There are overarching thematic arcs concerning traditional versus modern values, coping with family conflict, coping with loss and getting into one's own. Especially, as a parent I was So moved by this book... Luckily you loved LPQ book 2, which is similarly one of my favorite books ;)
For sure. All the themes are there for SoK. It's just that the elements that I really needed (either wrap it all up or have a sequel) were missing for me. Yay LPQ!
November wasn't a great reading month for me. Only 16 books (though we were on vacation for a week, so that reduced my reading) and the only 5-star read was a reread of Daughter of the Empire. Servant of the Empire was still good, but a step down from the first book in that sub-series. I was pleasantly surprised by both Return of the Runebound Professor and Only Villains Do That (two new-to-me prog fantasy series) and disappointed by the first two books of The Primal Hunter. Book 6 of The Tower of Power, Ivan Kal, was just bad and I won't be continuing that series. I just finished book 10 of He Who Fights with Monsters and was very disappointed in that as well. I found myself drifting away as the book continued and the cliffhanger ending was infuriating. I won't be reading book 11 for at least a while.
I was planning on Primal Hunter 2 this coming month, but I liked the first one enough. What about it didn't work for you? I should check out Only Villains Do That. Yeah, HWFWM is so inconsistent. Some books are tremendous and others are messy.
@@BrianBell7 I have a fairly detailed review over on Goodreads, but the very short version is that this undergoes a bad Lensman Arms Race (see TVTropes for definition) and then loses its way. For me, book 1 was a 3-star (perfectly serviceable but nothing special) LitRPG, but book 2 went rapidly downhill. YMMV, of course.
Don't want to alarm you Brian, but you may be getting a visit from the Goodreads police. The Sword of Kaigen is rated 4.47, while the first and second books in Long Price Quartet are 3.63 and 3.91. If your next video is titled "Change of Heart" and this video gets deleted, we'll know they got to you.
If we ever do set out to colonize Mars, when we arrive, Rick Thunder will already be waiting up there sitting in a hot tub.
He will! There's a realistic chance he believe that the laws of physics regarding electricity are different there!
It's Rick's galaxy... we're just living in it ;)
You make me look really forward to Long Price Quartet later in 25! Also Rich Thunder breaks down a book like no one else on booktube!
He's all about the battle of the bands! 80's style!!
@ love that guy!
@@Talking_Story he's says "backatcha brother"
I can't wait for you to read LPQ, John!
@@ToriTalks2 me neither!
Also that One for the road was what I needed to hear today Brian. On a personal note working through a lot of guilt over some nonsense this week. Thanks for the encouragement!!
You got it! That's what the channel is here for!
Wow, a suit and everything!
YES LPQ!!! Betrayal in Winter is my favorite of the four, although they are all excellent. SO good. I'm thrilled you're loving it.
So glad you got me to read this series!
Very cool that you’re loving LPQ so much - it really is brilliant, and I think book four is the best!
Very much can't wait to read it!
Definitely some epic reads Brian! The video on Weird Reads is one of my favorites. Glad Rick is doing well, and still just as wild and crazy. 😂
He really is, and so great to have him back. 😊
The Tom and Jimmy appearance killed me 😆. I need to add LPQ to my TBR. Sounds like it's such a great read. Great One for the Road. I'm always one to beat myself up when I mess up. Thank you for that. Looking forward to all your December Top 10 Lists.
Haha, Jim Orange for the win. Yes, you'll love LPQ!
Oh I love your new intros, bring on the nostalgia! Empire Strikes Back mixed with Richard Simmons! Booktainment at its best Belltube!
haha, a little something for everyone in this episode!
Great video .. awesome one for the road!!
I'm really glad you found value with it!
I ordered the Wraithmarked special edition of The Sword of Kaigen a little while ago. I hope I side more with the majority of Booktube on that one! lol.
Also, I don’t know why I haven’t put the Long Price Quartet into my TBR yet after hearing Allen and Tori’s praises… but I need to do that now before I forget!
And the One for the Road for today hits home with me. Forgiveness is a major theme of what I’ve been writing, and for one character it is specifically trying to be able to forgive themself, because it hits home with me. Great video Brian!
Thanks, N.A.! Yep, your mileage may vary on SoK. For sure get to LPQ. Can't praise it enough so far.
@ of course! And it’s on the ever-expanding TBR now! lol
I don’t comment often, but that one for the road really got me. Thank you.
You are 100% welcome. I hope you are able to keep it in mind.
Heeeeeck yes for LPQ, I just know it's gonna be an all-time fave for you by the end, especially with how strong books 3 and 4 are.
And really appreciate your honest review of Kaigen, because I honestly felt the same but I was so new to the book community when I read it that I more or less gaslighted myself into loving it because surely everyone else was right and I just didn't read it good enough... Sure, past Esmay.. sure 🤣
Thanks for that one for the road, you once again said the exact right thing at exactly the right time for me. Here's to being more forgiving and gentle with ourselves!
I can't wait for book 3 in LPQ! I'm really glad One For The Road spoke to you today!
This was such a nice video. Feels like I get to catch up and enjoy the fun along side you.
Thank you! That's the vibe I'm going for 100%
I’ve got to say, I really enjoyed a lot of Sword of Kaigen, but also I think that some sort of “authors redefined edition” would help clean up some of the weird worldbuilding elements that were left hanging. I like the book but it definitely won’t work for everyone so your middling experience makes perfect sense to me!
Yeah, it's challenging sometimes when I read a book and generally like it for what it is, yet see pretty clearly where things could, at least for me, be better.
It’s the intros every single time 😂😂
I was really hoping for you to have a stache after the camera went to you
hahaha I did think about it. but couldn't follow Jim Orange.
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Awesome wrap up 🥳 I appreciate your thoughtful comments, especially on sword of kaigen. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m always worried with these overly hyped books. I had my fair share of duds 🤣 and to be fair, not every book is for everyone. At least, now you know ☺️
I am planning on reading a journey thrice begin in December. Interested to see how it turns out.
Awesome, Fine! We will for sure be able to talk about that book and whatever else when we do a collab in 2025!
LPQ's a top notch series man. I don't see it as hyped on here either but his Dagger and Coin stuff is also really, really good. Great one for the road! Probably something I need to do more often. Unfortunate to hear your take on SoK but can't win em all, lol.
I'm glad you liked today's One For The Road! I'm really becoming a huge Daniel Abraham fan and that series will probably wind up happening in 2025. Yeah, as far as SoK, just my thoughts and for sure everyone's mileage will vary.
I read Blood Over Brighthaven this month, and when you were talking about Sword of Kaigen and that one character, I thought of Blood. Her MC undergos a similar change in a short time but she is being given new information and new perspectives and struggling. It's an area she's really improved in. You're going to really enjoy The Last Kingdom, and it covers well the parts the show glossed over. Reading the Golden Hero by Rachel Aaron, sequel to her SPFBOX finalist, Elder Epoch by Zamil Aktar, Daughter of the Beast by E C. Greaves, and probably a few other things I haven't chosen yet.
Cool, I'm excited to get to The Last Kingdom on Dec 1! That's super cool you have some planned and some mood-reads coming up. That's always fun :)
Appreciate your thoughts on Sword of Kaigen. I will temper my expectations now 😅 Hope you had a nice turkey day!
Thank you! I hope you did as well!
Just finished shadow of the gods and it was incredible! I didn’t realize there was a glossary till I was almost done and it helped a lot. There is an even better glossary in the second one and it helps with all the names and who is who. So far I am really liking the second book!
ha, I didn't even know it had a glossary until you just mentioned it. Cool! I'll use it for Hunger :)
Was not ready to see myself in the video lol. Random fun fact Ive competed in Strongman twice with a two time winner of the national beard and mustache competition. Also great one of the road its so true we can be so hard on ourselves
You never know where Tom and Jim Orange may appear! Glad you liked the video!!
Thanks Brian and Rick, I feel almost the same about TSOK I felt like I was reading the middle book of a trilogy, and I am so excited about LPQ got it on my shelf now, and it's calling to me 🥳🤠😎
Yes! Hit that LPQ! :)
LPQ is strongly hyped in our corner of BookTube, as it should be!
While there are some majorly clunky parts in The Sword of Kaigan, I still think the good parts are better than most modern published fantasy. It’s probably my favorite self-published book to date, but I do acknowledge its flaws.
I felt the same way bout The Shadow of the Gods when reading it after The Crippled God. So happy MBotF is becoming a favorite series!
It totally IS becoming a favorite! Quickly! I agree that the good parts of SoK are very good. It just didn't come together as a whole for me the way I thought it might. It needed a sequel as it feels very unfinished to me. Dr. Philip Chase, aka, Dr. Fantasy, aka Philip 's Edan Trilogy for me was a far better overall experience. That's wild we both read Shadow right after Malazan!
Thank you for your review of the long price quartet. I am on book one
I hope you like it as much as I do!
Your intros are so good 😅
Thank you! I really put some effort into making them fun to get the party started :)
Rick Thunder really sold me on finally starting Red Rising series!
If I can track him down, I will for sure let him know. He's in the wind right now!
Agree with you about sword of kaigen for sure. good boook, nothing crazy
Thanks. Not bad by any stretch, just didn't get the mega-hype. Glad someone agrees!
Omg Rick Thunder 😂😂
He's truly a force of nature.
I love the intro, but why did you feature Tom Orange twice . . . and, weirdly, with glasses the second time?
It was the only two images I could get of Tom that I felt showed off his glorious stache enough for a high quality intro.
Rick seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Reddi Whip I hope he didn't huff all those cans😂😂
I have no idea. It's in his contract rider. I just make sure it's available. He's hard to pin down.
I always thought that Red Rising was missing something, but I wasn't sure until now.
I started out last month with wrapping up Assasin's Quest, knocked out another Suneater with Kingdoms of Death, then I moved on to The Two Towers and Return of the King. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most was the end of Return of the King. I've watched the movies multiple times and I think the ending in the book was done much better and that is pretty much the only gripe I have with the adaptation.
it's been so long since I've read that last book, I don't remember the difference lol. Now you know what was missing in RR!
@@BrianBell7 The main thing was that the hobbits went back to the Shire and kicked out out the ruffians and restored it back to it's peaceful order. It was such an interesting contracts to go from these happy-go-lucky when it the next breakfast hobbits to these battle hardened men who don't skip a beat righting a wrong in an organized fashion and not backing down from anyone.
@@christhewritingjester3164 filthy tricksy hobbittssess.
The Long Price Quartet sounds like my kind of thing, so will try to check it out early next year, thank you!
Interesting hearing your thoughts on the Sword of Kaigen, it's certainly tempered my expectations of it, given the universal love on BookTube.
Book of the month - The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (though I'd read most of it in October) or The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper.
I absolutely have to get The Paper Menagerie going in 2025. He's an author that I have read nothing from yet but based on booktubers that I really enjoy, I suspect I'll like his stuff. For sure check out LPQ and let me know what you think!
@@BrianBell7 Will do, thanks! It's the only book I've read of his, but it blew me away. I'll get to the Dandelion Dynasty at some point, but in the middle of too many series to start a new one...
That's the thing about Booktube-darlings, is that it's raises expectations too high. I didn't read Sword of Kaigen yet, but I felt that way last year with RF Kuang's Babel. That wasn't something I felt was 5☆ book of the year like I was expecting. So all the praise tarnished my experience
I'm glad you are like-minded in this thinking. Maybe I'll do a video about series or standalones that are not booktube darlings, but should be.
I finished Reapers Gale by Erikson in November. Continued excellence. I’ve started Toll the Hounds after a 10 day break. I agree with you that trying to read other fantasy books right after a Malazan book is tough. I don’t want to taint my opinion of other series by directly comparing with Malazan. I can’t read much else while I’m reading Malazan due to the focus required on that series. I am trying to mix in other genres between though.
You totally get it. Hard to follow Malazan with fantasy....
Right with you on being let down by Sword of Kaigen after seeing so much hype for it for years. Can’t wait to try LPQ though!
You're going to love LPQ, Ben!
I'm glad to find someone who feels as I do about the Sword of Kaigen. I also thought it was 3-star good. But I've been confused about the Booktube Darling status. [Update: I share your thoughts on Long Price too. Are you reading my mind?]
YES! I am reading your mind! It was a power granted to me by the local poet :)
Someday I'll manage to convince you to read a book in the community polls other option, even though I'm terrible at pitching books to others. 😝
I know you will!
Perhaps the best thing I read in November is the fourth book of the cycle “Expance” Cibola Burn by James Corey, although I didn't really like the beginning, but then I got involved and events rushed, in general it was good! I'm planning Dan Simmons Hyperion for December!
I love Hyperion! Make sure to let me know what you think of it! Yeah, The Expanse is fantastic!!
Red Rising has been on my list of series to read, but now I hear there's no Battle of the Bands...I dunno Brian, this could be a deal-breaker. All the great sci-fi epics have at least one after all, except for the ones that don't.
Self-forgiveness is a thing I'm in the very thick of right now. If anything, that societal fixation on forgiving others becomes toxic in that it reverse-teaches us that we're less worthy of forgiveness from ourselves, and nothing in society tells us differently until we're spending $100 in a therapist's office.
Great, and now you're telling me the floor is lava. Dammit, I'm never getting out of bed.
lol. it's not really made of lava. I say go for Red Rising. You'll be OK :)
Those Broken Binding Editions of «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn» are glorious! LPQ is on my 2025 MBR/2026 TBR list, for sure! 😄
So far in November I have read (not too much due to travel and some heartbreak! 😅)
«The Steel Tsar» (A Nomad of the Time Streams» Trilogy #3) by Michael Moorcock (Multiverse/Alternative History/Time Travel Steampunk(?)😅)
«The Stranger» by Albert Camus/illustrated by Jacques Ferrandez (Graphic Novel adaptation of the Absurdist Philosophical Novel)
«The Duel» by Joseph Conrad (Napoleonic Historical Military Fiction Novella)
Currently reading:
«Lord of Light» by Roger Zelazny (Science Fantasy inspired by the Legend of Siddhartha Gautama/the Buddha)
«The Fury of the Gods» (Bloodsworn Saga #3) by John Gwynne (Epic Fantasy inspired by Norse Mythology)
«The Power Broker» by Robert Caro (Political Biography/Investigative Journalism Classic, my Q4 long-read)
I have this month received the final two novels in Mary Gentle’s «The Book of Ash» series (Alt-History Military Fiction), «The Wild Machines» & «Lost Burgundy», as well as a Hardback Edition of Tolkien’s «The Fall of Numenor», Matthew Harffy’s «Forest of Foes» (Historical Fiction set during the Anglo Saxon era), «The Lion & the Sword» by Roberta Cray (90s Fantasy inspired by Alexander the Great’s Conquest of Greece: Something of a hidden gem going by the few, but enthusiastic reviews I found of it, I saw that glorious cover by the lauded Tolkien Illustrator John Howe, and just had to have it!😄).and «The Women of Troyr»by Pat Barker (retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, the «War Bride» of Achilles)!
The One of the Road is always a thoughful moment, but this one is done right important, thanks Brian!
Rick, you stay cool, stay safe! 😄
Cheers!
Thanks, Mac! I always appreciate your insights on the books you are reading (which is incredible!). I hope the heartbreak is getting better. I'll pass along your words to Rick, if I hear from him. He's usually in the wind somewhere and very hard to find. I'll start by scouring public hot tub facilities.
@ Oh, yeah: Hard there and then, but I am definitely already on the mends, as she is such a wonderful person and creative inspiration for me, and her continued friendship means the world to me: I have literally dropped 5kg/10 pounds+ in three weeks from loss of stress ( in the midst of Company Christmas Party Season 😆!), and still counting! So have much to be grateful for in this time of Thanksgiving!
Brian is like Gollum, he has two personas 😆
He isssss!
Mickey 7 good book. LitRPG THE WAY OF THE SHAMAN
I love The Way of the Shaman! I do remember disliking one of the last books in it, or maybe it was the last one.. I have to look it up. But overall as a series, big winner for me.
I thought chapter 1 of A Journey Thrice Begun was promising as well. Glad you’re enjoying He Who Fights With Monsters and I think I understand your criticism but I’m only 3 books in. Not sure when I’ll return to it.
Also, based on our similar taste, I think I’ll pass on Sword of Kaigen for now. Cheers 🤘
You'll see what I mean more in the second arc of HWFWM, books 4-6.
Nooooooooo! I'm so sorry you did not get out of the sword of Kaigen what I got out of it. I understand the flaw people complain about where the ending leads up to a sequel that has never been written. Still, I thought it thematically connected very much to the rest of the book. There are overarching thematic arcs concerning traditional versus modern values, coping with family conflict, coping with loss and getting into one's own. Especially, as a parent I was So moved by this book...
Luckily you loved LPQ book 2, which is similarly one of my favorite books ;)
For sure. All the themes are there for SoK. It's just that the elements that I really needed (either wrap it all up or have a sequel) were missing for me. Yay LPQ!
THERE IS NO WAY PHILIP IS READING SAXON BEFORE WARLORD
Like, is this real life?
lololol. I think his get out of jail free card is that he read Saxon like 25 years ago and forgot it.
hey, it could be an entirely different author buddy read with Johanna....
November wasn't a great reading month for me. Only 16 books (though we were on vacation for a week, so that reduced my reading) and the only 5-star read was a reread of Daughter of the Empire. Servant of the Empire was still good, but a step down from the first book in that sub-series.
I was pleasantly surprised by both Return of the Runebound Professor and Only Villains Do That (two new-to-me prog fantasy series) and disappointed by the first two books of The Primal Hunter. Book 6 of The Tower of Power, Ivan Kal, was just bad and I won't be continuing that series.
I just finished book 10 of He Who Fights with Monsters and was very disappointed in that as well. I found myself drifting away as the book continued and the cliffhanger ending was infuriating. I won't be reading book 11 for at least a while.
I was planning on Primal Hunter 2 this coming month, but I liked the first one enough. What about it didn't work for you? I should check out Only Villains Do That. Yeah, HWFWM is so inconsistent. Some books are tremendous and others are messy.
@@BrianBell7 I have a fairly detailed review over on Goodreads, but the very short version is that this undergoes a bad Lensman Arms Race (see TVTropes for definition) and then loses its way. For me, book 1 was a 3-star (perfectly serviceable but nothing special) LitRPG, but book 2 went rapidly downhill. YMMV, of course.
@@dougsundseth6904 you are the LitRPG Sherpa, so I don't doubt it!
Skeletor
Don't want to alarm you Brian, but you may be getting a visit from the Goodreads police. The Sword of Kaigen is rated 4.47, while the first and second books in Long Price Quartet are 3.63 and 3.91. If your next video is titled "Change of Heart" and this video gets deleted, we'll know they got to you.
Thank you, Thatcher. If you see a title like that, I'll blink 7 times at the beginning of the episode and you'll know things have gone sideways.
Wow another copyright strike coming your way. Thought you’d learn by now smh.
I mean, technically it's the first time I've infringed on Jim Orange....
@ semantics, you’re going to suffer for this one bell