I'm happy that Durphy resonated with you, having a book that lingers that way? Wonderful. Death Masks getting 5 stars made me cheer out loud, that's where I got fully on board with continuing the series. This is the point on a roller-coaster ride, where you've finally finished that initial climb, and the first stomach lifting drop begins. You're in for a hell of a ride 😁
I'm really glad to hear the Five Warrior Angels has a strong conclusion. I'm starting it in June. And I hope Durfee gets out of the hospital soon. He's such an awesome guy.
Good to hear some love for Dresden! That series is still one of my all-time favorites, and I look forward to getting more of your reactions to later installments.
I made almost the exact same comment about Durfee’s battle scenes, because if listing the things I care about when reading a book, battles are last. But Durfee actually made me care about battles. He excels in that. That sucks about the edits. I had NO idea about the Firefly novels. It’s one of my favorite shows. I’m currently on my annual Whedonverse binge, during which I binge watch Buffy, Angel, and Firefly back-to-back. Now I need to include a firefly novel or two.
Josh, thanks for reviewing volume one of my “Nicholas Raven…” novel. Sorry it wasn’t a story that fully grabbed you, but I do appreciate your comments. It’s definitely a time commitment at 1800 pages, and I thank you for giving my story a shot. But your structural suggestion about the end of the first book (at Chapter 39) really intrigued me. I ended it there as a pre-battle cliffhanger as there were two other major storylines to continue weaving throughout the book. But if I tacked on those three battle chapters (Chapters 64 - 66) at the end of volume one, I believe it would create a more satisfying (and exciting) ending to the first book and tighten up the section in volume two from where they’re removed. The more I think about it, the more eager I am to do it. I have other writing projects to tackle first, but I hope to semi-retire next year (fingers crossed) which will free up more writing time to make these changes. Thanks for the great idea, and continued success on your channel!
Thank you for taking my suggestions, as I do think the structure can be changed for the better. But also remember I'm just one reader, so others may find the way you've written it is absolutely perfect. I do wish you the best of luck with your book and any future works!
@@RedFuryBooks I somehow got the impression, before starting, that it’s dense, deeply philosophical, and complex. There’s plenty of food for thought, no question, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it’s an addictive page-turner! 😀
Currently reading The Forgetting Moon because of your great reviews of this series. Really loving it so far. Nail & Co are about to descend on the Abby!
You got me to read Shogun and I can't thank you enough for that gift! And now just finished The Forgetting Moon, and can't wait to watch your discussion on it
It's good to know your thoughts on Gai-Jin. I keep meaning to continue on from Shogun, but never seem to get round to it. I managed to read 4 books and 1 comic book in March. All the books were between 4 and 5 star reads. Books: Winterset Hollow - Jonathan Edward Durham Golden Son - Pierce Brown Eversion - Alastair Reynolds I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett (which was a re-read) Comic book: Rat Queens - Volume 3: Demons My book of the month was Winterset Hollow. It was very close between that and Golden Son.
Five Warrior Angels hits differently for me because outside of Harry Potter, it was the first Fantasy series I ever read and it's how I found this little cornor of booktubers
3 epilogues? Wow! That’s crazy that Simon and Schuster Saga Press published so many typos, but I’m glad to hear that the Lonesome Crown was your book of the month!
You summed up again-Jin perfectly. You covered every issue and every strength that I could think of 👏. I was shocked by the 2.5 stars but understand exactly why. I too thought the main protagonist fake out didn’t land how Clavell intended and that the cliff hanger fizzled but the quality of writing, plotting and character work leading up (though overly long) was too good to mark down too harshly. Ultimately I was enthralled throughout despite being let down which worked well enough for me.
Yes, I think I was a bit salty in giving Gai-Jin a 2.5, although it was originally a 3-star rating for me. I think because my expectations were so high because of Shogun and Tai-Pan, I was probably harsher in my rating. But I've heard great things about King Rat so hope to get to that one later this year!
Oooh I love it when a book just keeps lingering in your mind after finishing it! Sounds like I need to get onto 5 Warrior Angels asap. And I really appreciate the honesty in reviewing that selfpub book. You'd be doing everyone, including the author, a disservice by viewing it with a less critical lense. Still sucks to hear that it was not the book for you. But hey, you had lots of other brilliant reads this month! Hope April treats you well, happy reading ☺
What a packed month! Love that Durfee nailed the ending for you, and that makes me much more eager to pick up the series soon. Also, I do love a massive fantasy battle, so that’s a major appeal. So happy Death Masks hit big with you too! Shiro is one of the most impactful side characters in a single book I can remember reading, and the stuff with the Denarians was so tense and high stakes. You’re in for a wild ride ahead with Dead Beat! Interesting to hear about Gai Jin-I am in Part 2 of Shogun right now and ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT!!!! It definitely doesn’t feel bloated, and the continual switching of POVs provides such a thrilling look into all the different cultures and personalities at play.
YES! Shiro's really hit me and really showed me this series is absolutely on the upswing. I'm glad you are loving Shogun - you know it's one of my all time favorites! And I think when you find the time to fit in Durfee's books, you're going to enjoy them!
@@ithrahmunchswallow468 You and me both. It's in my top 10 for a reason . . . once I started one of those almost nothing could get me to stop reading until I was done.
I love that you read around the spectrum and don’t just stick to one type of book (I still love reading RA Salvatore’s Drizzt books) and I told you that Dresden gets exponentially better every book starting at book 3 - enjoy!
Wow. I did not know you read the Firefly novels. I think Lifesigns is one of the last ones I read a few months ago. I need to continue the series, but I got hooked on Dungeon Crawler Carl in the meantime. And those have become my "pallette cleanser" books instead of Firefly.
@RedFuryBooks yeah I think it'll be good to have a different author give it a try. I do think Lovegrove got the tone and dialog of Mal correct. I could totally see the show in my head as I read these books.
I really liked Shogun, loved Tai-Pan, but have had to come back to Gai-Jin 3 or 4 times attempting to finish it. I think I’ve given up at 85%, you saying the finale was underwhelming has likely put the final nail in the coffin…
Glad to see Dresden is continuing to get better for you. The next book Blood Rites is, imo, the last "not great" book and from then on the series never lets up. March mostly consisted of re-reads for me: *Fantasy* Kithamar 1: Age of Ash (re-read) - i liked it better on re-read, but i still don't love it. I do remember loving the 2nd book though. *Grimdark Fantasy* R Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy (re-read) - Bakker truly is one of the goats of modern Fantasy. Truly like if Frank Herbert wrote A Game of Thrones. Aspect-Emperor 1: Judging Eye (re-read) - Honestly, one of if not my favourite book of the whole series. Bakker channels Tolkien. *Silkpunk* Dandelion Dynasty 3: The Veiled Throne - Not my favourite of the series so far, honestly my least favourite but still superb stuff. I'll be very bad when i conclude this series.
I read 'The Lonesome Crown' as well in March and gave it 4.5 stars. Like you, I'm usually not a fan of battles but the one in this book was so well done , I had no problems with its length. This book made me think a lot about how in the real world people can be so obsessed with their religion being the 'right' one, leading to terrible wars, terrorism etc. I really enjoyed how the author mislead us all so much during most of the trilogy.
The Firefly books are my guilty pleasure as well. I don't expect a whole lot from them, they just keep the world and characters alive (if we pretend the movie didn't happen). Life Signs is the next one for me and boooo for getting Zoe's character so wrong at this late stage!
I read 10 books in March Im surprised i was able to that much because I got sick with a cold my favorite reads were Chain gang all stars by nana Kwame adjei brenyah The girl in the eagle's talons by karin Smirnoff book 7 in the millennium series Happily ever after by Lynn painter My least favorite You again by kate goldbeck Elektra by Jennifer saint
i don't understand when you talk about classic fantasy referring to Wizard's Web. Nicolas Raven is a modern writer if he can self publish, so what do you mean that he wrote a classic fantasy? Well, I read 5 books in March, mostly historical mysteries. My favorite is Silver Wedding by Maeve Binchy. I always love the way she delivered a story.
When referring to Mr. Prestopnik's book and calling it a work of "classic fantasy," it's more about the stylistic choices he made that harkens back more to that era of storytelling than what modern authors are doing with the genre. In the case of this book well delineated good vs. evil, the hero's journey from a small village to something larger, etc.
I'm happy that Durphy resonated with you, having a book that lingers that way? Wonderful.
Death Masks getting 5 stars made me cheer out loud, that's where I got fully on board with continuing the series. This is the point on a roller-coaster ride, where you've finally finished that initial climb, and the first stomach lifting drop begins. You're in for a hell of a ride 😁
Yes, you and Jake assured me that Dresden would start to get good and indeed it has!
I'm really glad to hear the Five Warrior Angels has a strong conclusion. I'm starting it in June. And I hope Durfee gets out of the hospital soon. He's such an awesome guy.
Yes, I hope his health continues to improve. I hope you love his books as I did!
Good to hear some love for Dresden! That series is still one of my all-time favorites, and I look forward to getting more of your reactions to later installments.
It just gets better and better!
Book of the month! I’m excited for our chat, very much felt the same with your thoughts
I made almost the exact same comment about Durfee’s battle scenes, because if listing the things I care about when reading a book, battles are last. But Durfee actually made me care about battles. He excels in that. That sucks about the edits. I had NO idea about the Firefly novels. It’s one of my favorite shows. I’m currently on my annual Whedonverse binge, during which I binge watch Buffy, Angel, and Firefly back-to-back. Now I need to include a firefly novel or two.
I love that you love the Whedonverse! The Firefly novels are hit and miss, but really fun for big fans of the show!
Dark-O you just joined the most awesome sub-set of booktubers!
BROWNCOATS UNITE!!
@@derrisreaditbefore Thank Derri! Could not be prouder!
I didn't know about Firefly either 🤓👀😛
King Rat by Clavelle is pretty amazing. So many great characters. Hopefully Brian Durfee is improving and can get back to writing and UA-cam soon.
I'm definitely still looking forward to King Rat, despite Gai-Jin being a let down. And I agree - hopefully Durfee is better very very soon!
really good info to know about Gai-Jin.. I think I'll wait on the rest of the Asian Saga for a while. Glad you are loving the Dresden audiobooks!!
Yeah, Dresden is starting to really ramp up!
Josh, thanks for reviewing volume one of my “Nicholas Raven…” novel. Sorry it wasn’t a story that fully grabbed you, but I do appreciate your comments. It’s definitely a time commitment at 1800 pages, and I thank you for giving my story a shot. But your structural suggestion about the end of the first book (at Chapter 39) really intrigued me. I ended it there as a pre-battle cliffhanger as there were two other major storylines to continue weaving throughout the book. But if I tacked on those three battle chapters (Chapters 64 - 66) at the end of volume one, I believe it would create a more satisfying (and exciting) ending to the first book and tighten up the section in volume two from where they’re removed. The more I think about it, the more eager I am to do it. I have other writing projects to tackle first, but I hope to semi-retire next year (fingers crossed) which will free up more writing time to make these changes. Thanks for the great idea, and continued success on your channel!
Thank you for taking my suggestions, as I do think the structure can be changed for the better. But also remember I'm just one reader, so others may find the way you've written it is absolutely perfect. I do wish you the best of luck with your book and any future works!
My book of the month was definitely Demon in White. I’m chewing through Sun Eater crazy fast. It’s so good. Glad you had a good month, mate! 😀
My goal when I start Sun Eater is to read them slowly, but it seems that most people are like you and go through them quickly!
@@RedFuryBooks I somehow got the impression, before starting, that it’s dense, deeply philosophical, and complex. There’s plenty of food for thought, no question, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it’s an addictive page-turner! 😀
These are on my May list. I was hoping for audio on the shorts before I started but I can't wait any longer 😝
Currently reading The Forgetting Moon because of your great reviews of this series. Really loving it so far. Nail & Co are about to descend on the Abby!
Oh, you have a long road ahead. I hope you enjoy the ride like I did!
I'm glad to hear that you liked The Lonesome Crown. I finished The Forgetting Moon a few hours ago and really enjoyed it,gave it 4,5/5.
Awesome! I hope you continue to enjoy the series!
I too really loved the ending for the Five Warrior Angels
Awesome!
You got me to read Shogun and I can't thank you enough for that gift! And now just finished The Forgetting Moon, and can't wait to watch your discussion on it
Awesome - glad you loved Shogun!
Fun video 🙌🏼
My favorites in March: Titan's Son, Aching God, City of Songs (Seven Swords book 3), and The Gap into Conflict.
Thanks!
So excited to continue with Five Warrior Angels. Glad the Cycle of Dresden is doing its job.
Yes, Jake's Dresden theory is holding form.
It's good to know your thoughts on Gai-Jin. I keep meaning to continue on from Shogun, but never seem to get round to it.
I managed to read 4 books and 1 comic book in March. All the books were between 4 and 5 star reads.
Books:
Winterset Hollow - Jonathan Edward Durham
Golden Son - Pierce Brown
Eversion - Alastair Reynolds
I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett (which was a re-read)
Comic book:
Rat Queens - Volume 3: Demons
My book of the month was Winterset Hollow. It was very close between that and Golden Son.
Five Warrior Angels hits differently for me because outside of Harry Potter, it was the first Fantasy series I ever read and it's how I found this little cornor of booktubers
That's quite a swing from Harry Potter to Brian Lee Durfee!
Sounds like a great month Josh! Glad you enjoyed Death Masks. I need to get on to Durfee’s books. I just haven’t been ready for more chunkers yet.
Thanks, Chas!
Great book of the month Josh!!And thanks for letting us know about the Firefly books, i will be on amazon in 2 mins looking for copies 😂
Hope you enjoy them! #shiny
3 epilogues? Wow! That’s crazy that Simon and Schuster Saga Press published so many typos, but I’m glad to hear that the Lonesome Crown was your book of the month!
Yes, the 3 epilogues were great - it was nice to get some closure with a lot more characters.
@@RedFuryBooks that's epic fantasy for you! 😁
You summed up again-Jin perfectly. You covered every issue and every strength that I could think of 👏.
I was shocked by the 2.5 stars but understand exactly why.
I too thought the main protagonist fake out didn’t land how Clavell intended and that the cliff hanger fizzled but the quality of writing, plotting and character work leading up (though overly long) was too good to mark down too harshly. Ultimately I was enthralled throughout despite being let down which worked well enough for me.
Yes, I think I was a bit salty in giving Gai-Jin a 2.5, although it was originally a 3-star rating for me. I think because my expectations were so high because of Shogun and Tai-Pan, I was probably harsher in my rating. But I've heard great things about King Rat so hope to get to that one later this year!
@@RedFuryBooks it’s a shame it’s a step down on the first two books in the saga but I will look forward to your coverage of King Rat 👍
I am an urban fantasy adict because of Dresden Files 😛 Death Masks is sooooo good.
My book of the month was Song For Arbonne, thanks to you. Kay is brilliant!
So glad you loved it! I'm 2/3 through Tigana and really enjoying it as well.
Oooh I love it when a book just keeps lingering in your mind after finishing it! Sounds like I need to get onto 5 Warrior Angels asap.
And I really appreciate the honesty in reviewing that selfpub book. You'd be doing everyone, including the author, a disservice by viewing it with a less critical lense. Still sucks to hear that it was not the book for you. But hey, you had lots of other brilliant reads this month! Hope April treats you well, happy reading ☺
Yes, March was up and down, but the two 5-star reads redeemed some of the others. On to April!
What a packed month! Love that Durfee nailed the ending for you, and that makes me much more eager to pick up the series soon. Also, I do love a massive fantasy battle, so that’s a major appeal.
So happy Death Masks hit big with you too! Shiro is one of the most impactful side characters in a single book I can remember reading, and the stuff with the Denarians was so tense and high stakes. You’re in for a wild ride ahead with Dead Beat!
Interesting to hear about Gai Jin-I am in Part 2 of Shogun right now and ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT!!!! It definitely doesn’t feel bloated, and the continual switching of POVs provides such a thrilling look into all the different cultures and personalities at play.
YES! Shiro's really hit me and really showed me this series is absolutely on the upswing. I'm glad you are loving Shogun - you know it's one of my all time favorites! And I think when you find the time to fit in Durfee's books, you're going to enjoy them!
It's good you're hooked with Death Masks, the series only begins to ramp up from there!
Can't wait! (I actually finished Blood Rites this week too!)
Right and I still think Summer Knight is my favorite tied with Changes 🤔
@@ithrahmunchswallow468 No arguments from me, I absolutely loved Summer Knight!
@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels I can listen to the whole series without hesitation 😍🙌🏼🤓
@@ithrahmunchswallow468 You and me both. It's in my top 10 for a reason . . . once I started one of those almost nothing could get me to stop reading until I was done.
My book of the month was Maurice by EM Forster. Loved the video ❤
Thank you!
I love that you read around the spectrum and don’t just stick to one type of book (I still love reading RA Salvatore’s Drizzt books) and I told you that Dresden gets exponentially better every book starting at book 3 - enjoy!
I'm excited to be at the point of the Dresden books that everyone starts to rave about!
Wow. I did not know you read the Firefly novels. I think Lifesigns is one of the last ones I read a few months ago. I need to continue the series, but I got hooked on Dungeon Crawler Carl in the meantime. And those have become my "pallette cleanser" books instead of Firefly.
There are 8 Firefly novels now - I just picked up the 6th one called Carnival - and am looking forward to squeezing it in there some time.
@RedFuryBooks yeah I think it'll be good to have a different author give it a try. I do think Lovegrove got the tone and dialog of Mal correct. I could totally see the show in my head as I read these books.
I really liked Shogun, loved Tai-Pan, but have had to come back to Gai-Jin 3 or 4 times attempting to finish it. I think I’ve given up at 85%, you saying the finale was underwhelming has likely put the final nail in the coffin…
Yeah, it seems from what people have told me after watching that that it's considered his worst book.
Glad to see Dresden is continuing to get better for you. The next book Blood Rites is, imo, the last "not great" book and from then on the series never lets up.
March mostly consisted of re-reads for me:
*Fantasy*
Kithamar 1: Age of Ash (re-read)
- i liked it better on re-read, but i still don't love it. I do remember loving the 2nd book though.
*Grimdark Fantasy*
R Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy (re-read)
- Bakker truly is one of the goats of modern Fantasy. Truly like if Frank Herbert wrote A Game of Thrones.
Aspect-Emperor 1: Judging Eye (re-read)
- Honestly, one of if not my favourite book of the whole series. Bakker channels Tolkien.
*Silkpunk*
Dandelion Dynasty 3: The Veiled Throne
- Not my favourite of the series so far, honestly my least favourite but still superb stuff. I'll be very bad when i conclude this series.
I'm definitely looking forward to the area of peak Dresden books! I've been enjoying how they are starting to ramp up.
I read 'The Lonesome Crown' as well in March and gave it 4.5 stars. Like you, I'm usually not a fan of battles but the one in this book was so well done , I had no problems with its length. This book made me think a lot about how in the real world people can be so obsessed with their religion being the 'right' one, leading to terrible wars, terrorism etc. I really enjoyed how the author mislead us all so much during most of the trilogy.
Yes, the misdirection and the discussions on religion were so well done. And definitely a lot of real world parallels.
The Firefly books are my guilty pleasure as well. I don't expect a whole lot from them, they just keep the world and characters alive (if we pretend the movie didn't happen). Life Signs is the next one for me and boooo for getting Zoe's character so wrong at this late stage!
#shiny :)
I read 10 books in March
Im surprised i was able to that much because I got sick with a cold my favorite reads were
Chain gang all stars by nana Kwame adjei brenyah
The girl in the eagle's talons by karin Smirnoff book 7 in the millennium series
Happily ever after by Lynn painter
My least favorite
You again by kate goldbeck
Elektra by Jennifer saint
I hope you're feeling better!
@@RedFuryBooks I am thanks
i don't understand when you talk about classic fantasy referring to Wizard's Web. Nicolas Raven is a modern writer if he can self publish, so what do you mean that he wrote a classic fantasy? Well, I read 5 books in March, mostly historical mysteries. My favorite is Silver Wedding by Maeve Binchy. I always love the way she delivered a story.
When referring to Mr. Prestopnik's book and calling it a work of "classic fantasy," it's more about the stylistic choices he made that harkens back more to that era of storytelling than what modern authors are doing with the genre. In the case of this book well delineated good vs. evil, the hero's journey from a small village to something larger, etc.
I'm with you...battle scene's are very 'meh' for me...give me character work all day long.
YES
Putting those woke thoughts on a barbarian is a wild take!🤣
HA!
GaiJin is Clavells worst book. Noble House and King Rat is way better
Great to know! I already have both of those ready to read at some point.