I LOVED Licanius (so far), I'm reading the final book next month. Definitely convoluted, for sure, but so fun and impressively done. I also have been meaning to try VE Schwab for way too long. Also Promise of Blood was awesome, I'm not sure why I didn't continue with that series...hmm... Great video, Niki!!
Thanks Theo! I agree - it’s admittedly convoluted but he’s so good he can pull it off. He is working on a new series with no solid release date yet that I’ve been keeping my eye on. Schwab isn’t exactly a top favorite of mine, but it made the list because of how surprising it was to see so much polarization. Promise of Blood was great, and I especially liked the second trilogy! It’s so hard to keep on top of all the series going at once.
Great video Niki! I love Murderbot and Shades of Magic. I’m shocked when I hear people don’t. I, unfortunately, am one of the haters on Rage of Dragons. I finished it, but was sorry I did lol.
Best Served Cold is my favorite stand alone I have ever read, 2nd favorite Abercrombie. Caul Shiver's character arc in this book is top of the line in fantasy!
I adore the Codex Alera series. It's one where I finished it and liked it pretty well, but over time it just kept popping up in my thoughts. It's an all time fave and the second book in the series, Academ's Fury, is tagged in my goodreads in my 'books I love' list lol. When I read this series it comes alive in my mind. I'm there in the water with Tavi when his aunt saves him, I'm watching at the bottom of the stairwell, I'm there in the underground tunnels, I'm on the ship, I'm across the seas, etc. A couple of popular book tubers don't care for it, they don't think it's anything special. I don't get it, I don't. I adore it. Best Served Cold is my favorite of the standalones. It made me laugh and laugh. Some of the other books are on my tbr, 1 or 2 I haven't considered. As for the Brandon Sanderson, I am one of those rare creatures that don't care for his work. He has talent, he writes well. I just don't care about his characters, unfortunately. I don't feel connected to them, they're just like something I see on a painting hanging on a wall as I go by.
I don't get it either!! Maybe low expectations going in played a role but Codex is one that I want to go back to and reread eventually and I don't say that about a lot of series. I'm that way with a couple of authors - where you can appreciate it but at the same time not care for the works. I think they work so well for me because I tend to value style and world building over character development (it's a weird stance), and his books, especially Stormlight, deliver on the things I'm most excited to see.
You are so kind, thank you! I really love everything on this list, to the point where I purchased them in hardcovers for prime displaying. In my mind, you can't go wrong!
Here here!! You’ve named 3 of my top 5!! It just blows me away how wildly different books can be for different readers. You’d think the components would be pretty universally appreciate. So weird.
When I heard about A Darker Shade of Magic, I only heard about so many liking it and nothing but reccomendations for it.. so it's interesting to hear that so many people don't like it. Age of Ash is on my TBR and when I heard about that one it was mixed reviews.The Empeor's blade I found at my library bookstore so thats on TBR. I haven't read the Murder Bot series but have heard that it's good...I just can't justify the price for it... it's a small novella hardback but charged just like a normal hardback.. yeah no thanks (library also dosen't have it I think). The shadow of what was lost is on my TBR, also I liked A Deadly Education, I need to finish that series since book 2 and 3 have come out. I don't know about recently any books that people hated that I loved, the only one I can think of was To Sleep in a Sea of stars. I don't know if people were intimidated by the length or the sceince of it but yeah... I know Babel right now is polarizing as it was hyped up as going to be so good by so many but now it's coming out as some like it and some find it boring.
Maybe it's because I listed it first in the video, but most of the comments I've gotten over the last couple days is how people didn't care for Darker Shade overall haha. I guess it takes a certain mood. I liked To Sleep - there was one whole "quest" section in the back half of the book that I thought didn't add anything to the story, but everything else was enjoyable. I was expecting more people to like that one too. Babel is a great example - I've seen so many love or hate reviews. It will be interesting to see where I land on that when I get to it. Murderbot - I feel you on those prices. I went the digital and library route at first too, it's a shame yours hasn't acquired copies yet.
Great video, Niki. :) I think I gave all three books of Shades of Magic three stars, but I didn't like the main characters, especially Lilla. The story was interesting but fell a bit flat at the end fot me. The world was interesting. Contrary to the impression you got, this series read very ya for me. Fom the Licanius Trilogy I have read only the first book. I liked it, but I was a bit underwhelmed and I didn't feel the urge to pick up the second book right away. I have a lot of other books I would rather read first, so I am not sure if I will continue the series. Livership I couldn't even finish the first book. I abandoned at 40% because I wasn't enjoying reading it. I read spoilers for all three books to see if that would make me want to try again and not even the revelations made me want to continue. It wasn't a journey for me. I will try the The Tawny Man trilogy next, as I did enjoy the Farseer Trilogy, even with all the issues it had. I might give Rain Wild Chronicles a try, but it has some overlap with Livership, doesn't it? If it follows the same tone it might not be for me. We will see when I get to that point. Codex Alera is my list to read, but on a lower priority. I love Daniel Abraham's books too, but I can see why his style isn't for everyone. I still have to read the Kithamar books. I love Mistborn era 2. I make sure to warn people that they should expect something completely different from era one. Era two for me in a nutshell: book one is a western; book two is more of a noir thriller; book three is an "Indiana Jones" style. I am super curious in which style book four will be.
Thanks Miche! I do believe your thoughts on Shades were some of the early ones I saw that made me realize it wasn't as widely recommendable as I thought! Rain Wilds takes on a completely different tone than Liveship, but I'm still not sure you'd like it. I think you'd have much better success continuing with just the Fitz stuff. :) Licanius is so funny - I liked it enough to read twice and it's one of those that I can't predict who it's going to be a hit or miss for.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller when I read Shades of Magic it seemed like everyone around me was loving it and giving 4-5 stars. I think it was one of the first books that I had that "are we reading the same book?" feeling. My problem with Livership wasn't with Hobb's writing. On the contrary, she wrote it so well that I loathed most of the characters, LOL. Without the anchor of a character that I could connect and cheer for, reading the book became an unpleasant chore. Too bad, because I already own the three books and I like her writing. When I get to the Rain Wilds time, I will check if my library has a copy of it so I can check the if I will get into it or not. I wanted to love The Shadow of What Was Lost, but his writing felt choppy and unnecessarily convoluted. I didn't feel any emotional payout and I had lukewarm feelings all around, not making it worth of my time. Both you and Petrik loved Livership and Licanius so I was surprised when I didn't like them. You and I usually have very similar tastes and it is rare when we have different reactions like these.
@@miche_line Oh yes, that makes total sense to me about Liveship - those characters were really hard to read about. I don't usually get angry at characters, but Malta had me close. I definitely remember Rain Wilds having more likable characters. We do! It's funny with those because I can see your points on all of them. It must come down to enough other things singing to me in those series to counter your very valid points against them.
I saw a VoD today about a "summer book tier list" and they had Robin Hobb at the bottom of the list. They had just finished The Liveship Traders trilogy. They went as far as to say they were probably done with Hobb as an author. I know everyone sees things differently but I can't imagine Hobb being anything short of S tier imo. I just finished The Heroes today by Joe Abercrombie and it was such an excellent book. It really got me in the feels towards the end. I think people have hard time with not seeing the PoVs from the first trilogy. They want more. While the standalones focus more on other PoVs, if you give them a chance, they really flesh out the world. You're glad you didn't pass on them. Plus who doesn't want more Nicolo Cosca? I haven't read Codex Alera but I do see Jim Butcher getting a lot of undeserved hate imo. I think people, again, want "more" of how the Dresden Files makes them feel. Codex Alera is a completely different world than Harry's world. Especially with one series being epic fantasy and the other urban fantasy.
This is probably going to make me sound like an old lady... what's a VoD? haha. I'm always surprised when a Hobb series doesn't stick with someone, but I do think expectations and hype from people who have read the whole series inflates expectations considerably. Still though, even among the people I watch who are just on the fence about Hobb mostly seem to enjoy Liveship. It's really uncomfortable to read, but brilliantly done. Oh nice!! That one was so fun. I'll admit up to that point I couldn't tell you which northman was which, so the book helped me a lot haha. I'm glad I read that one because as you said it really helped make the entire saga more rich as i read on. I think if people go into Codex expecting anything similar to Dresden's voice, they'll be disappointed. It actually made me appreciate the author more because of his ability to adapt his style so seamlessly.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller a VoD is "video on demand' which is basically YT in a nutshell. I went into the Farseer Trilogy completely blind, so you might be onto something. Of course this person couldn't do a deep dive into why they didn't enjoy the books because it would have spoiled the plot. I think Jim Butcher doesn't get enough credit on just being a great author. I'll get to Code Alera eventually.
@@bottle1211 Ah, thank you. :) That makes sense. And yeah I agree with that on Butcher. I think because of the types of stories he's telling with Dresden, it doesn't always give him the opportunity to showcase all of his techniques. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts when you do get to Codex eventually.
I really love the powder mage and I also do love the characters. I thought that everyone would love it! Now, I'm close to buying the scholomance trilogy, just talk about it one or two times more 😁😉 I love Terry Goodkind's books. I'm only starting the third book soon, but I love it and so far cannot understand the hate. I'm so much looking forward to the rainwild chronicles, because the main trilogies really made me curious. So there I don't get the hate neither. I know many people who don't like Harry Potter! Can you imagine that!?
Haha I'm going to be reading the final Scholomance before the end of the year, so brace yourself!! I had nothing for absolute delight for Goodkind's series when I read it. I hated Pillars of Creation, but not for any of the reason people generally hate Goodkind. I will say I tried to do an audiobook reread of the series several years ago and had to abandon it because the narrator made Richard sound so whiny!! And the recap felt endless. It made me wonder how the different formats might have made people not like it as much. I refuse to wrap my head around people not liking the HP story haha.
Great video, although yet another reminder of how many unread books I have that I am anxious to get to! More than half of what you've mentioned here are on my TBR. I've read only two on your list. Best Served Cold, which as you know, I liked a lot and it's my favorite Abercrombie book. And The Alloy of Law. I enjoyed this book, the change in setting/style was great, I didn't mind that at all. The story was good from what I can remember, but it didn't really stick with me long term. There follow-up wasn't published yet when I read it, so I wasn't able to continue it right away, and I've never gotten around to going back to it. Not sure that I ever will at this point, with so many other priorities vying for my attention.
Thanks! I think I was just okay with Mistborn Era 2 until I read the second book. That one really won me over. It's understandable to backburn it though with how many other amazing series are on the docket. My new schedule is going well but in some ways it's depressing that I can't get to everything I want to. I swear there's no making me happy lol.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller Haha, I can complete relate! Yes, just within Sanderson's books alone, SA is currently higher in my priority list than Mistborn era 2, let alone all of the dozens of other series out there, so who knows if I will ever get to it. Sanderson is good, but I am not necessarily in the "must read everything he writes" camp like I am with a few other authors.
@@johnnyp2002qq I think it helped that I started reading Sanderson early, so I was able to keep up with new releases. Trying to consume everything now would be daunting. I still haven't done his Evil Librarian yet, but have done the adult stuff. I didn't remember you haven't done SA yet - I'm really interested to hear how those go. Top 3 fav series for me there - I love the scope of the world building!
@@TheObsessiveBookseller I think I read that the first 5 SA books will make up the first SA arc, and then Sanderson will take a break from it for a few years before writing the second arc. So maybe I'll binge the first arc when all 5 are available. I own the first three already and each volume is daunting!
@@johnnyp2002qq wow two weeks out from your comment - sorry for the delay. I can totally understand the desire to wait. I wish you’d dive right in now because they’re so wonderful, but that’s just because they’re my all-time favorites aside from Hobb. I’ve reread them a couple of times, which is saying something considering how weird I am about reading schedules and my extensive TBR.
You're one of my stat-points for not liking Powder Mage. It's so wild how vastly different series are for some people. I'm getting the impression you're thoroughly enjoying WoT and I just couldn't anymore with that one.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller See, you make me want to give Powder Mage another chance. Am I the one who was missing something? Haha. I finished Wheel of Time. I think listening to it helped a lot.
This is a great video. I 100% agree with you about Age of Ash. It's very underrated for how well it's written. However, I really hated A Deadly Education but it was mainly due to the excessive info dumping and insufferable main character. Also I didn't like All Systems Red because the plot bored me to death. Murderbot character is great, but that wasn't enough for me to like the book.
Thank you! I can definitely see your point about the info dumping in Deadly Education. It's almost like her strategy for the narrative was to have a page of forward plot-progression followed by three pages of character introspection and her take on what happened. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it's a deliberate part of the writing voice, but it definitely slows down the story considerably. It's funny how completely different the experience for Murderbot was for both of us. I don't remember it for the plot, but I was on board enough not to notice a lag.
I read Darker Shade, only after avoiding it due to so much hype. Although I enjoyed the writing style and the characters, I lost interest as I neared the end of the book. I really had to force myself to finish. The only character I really liked; the tavern keeper; got killed. I gave Schwab a second chance, with Addie LaRue and it was ok, but I really didn't get into one of her books till Gallant. I haven't read the Rainwild Chronicles yet, even though I've read all of Fitzchivalry's story. I guess I needed to cleanse my palate with something different. I sat up; most of last night; reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King. I have ordered Red Country from Book Depository, as it seems to be another book that my library doesn't have. I did; very much; enjoy Best Served Cold and The Heroes. I also enjoyed Savine's arc, in A Little Hatred. I haven't tried Mistborn 2.0. I was just a little let down by how the original ended.
I will say I did read Schwab during a time when I was also enjoying a lot of YA, so perhaps it felt more sophisticated just by immediate comparison, but had I been reading grimdark I would've thought it too much fluff. It's hard to say. I tried the Vicious series but not LaRue yet. It's so funny how different books speak to different people - the end of the mistborn 1-3 is one of my all-time favorite endings. XD
Niki, great video, I agree with you in most cases. Sorry for being so long winded. VE Schwab, I read the first book , but was not compelled to move forward, too many other series. Age of Ash is on my TBR, I do enjoy him. I enjoyed the Rain Wild Chronicles, and love Hobb. Staveley, another series I thoroughly enjoyed, the three main points of view, were wonderful. Murderbot, I have only read one, not sure what I was expecting, its short, which I am not used to this. Abercrombie is a consistent writer wonderful stories, so gritty, and the strong character development. Evan Winter another one that started slow but yes as the training sequence starts its' finds its stride. Islington, a true Epic trilogoy that ended in the right place, some wonderful twists and turns. I have only read one Jim Butcher. Stormfront and wasn't that impressed by it. I have seen this series around but have been hesitant to try. While I have enjoyed the Wax and Wayne series, I am a bigger fan of the Stormlight books. I actually got to speak with Sanderson this past weekend and I asked him about his output?? I just finished the Last Graduate days ago, and am enjoying the series, some interesting characters and plot twists. I enjoyed McClellan's series, but like Wexler's a bit better, I know you don't agree with that.
Such a great comment - thanks Frank! We agree on so many things. I think you'd have more success with Butcher's Codex than Storm Front - so vastly different and much more classic fantasy feel. I agree with you on Stormlight being the best of Sanderson - I'd take a new one of those over a Wax and Wayne book any day. That is so cool you got to speak with him!!! What did he have to say about his output?! That's amazing. I'm still open to Wexler, I just need to read the whole thing before deciding. It's one of those where I feel like it's ME missing something and not the other way around.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller I specifically asked Sanderson about his timeline for finishing the Stormlight Archive, he did want to mention that he was aware of more older readers were concerned about it getting finished, and said he was working on it. Although of course in light of his recent announcement, I'm wondering how this will speed up the process??
@@fjuran1 That makes sense! It has to be weird producing content that people are so deeply connecting to seeing finished. Which announcement are you referring to?! I may have missed one.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller ua-cam.com/users/shortsT5Db-wMJOMw Sanderson hired another author to work with him on the Cosmere, where in the books, we do not know.
Yep. Daniel Abraham is wonderful but I've seen the same thing that a lot of people don't like his writing. I think it might be because they don't like slow burn, character studies. Hobb is the same way, imo. I still haven't read Rain Wilds or the final trilogy. Whrn I read the first three trilogies years ago, that was all that was out. I keep meaning to read them after rereading the first 9 books. It's been about a year since I reread the first trilogy and I don't know why I haven't continued. I also really loved the Unhewned Throne trilogy. I still need to read the standalone, Skull Sworn. and then get into the sequel trilogy. One person who does like this series is Petrik so we are in good company. I have to disagree with you on Best Served Cold. It went on for too long and put me in a reading slump. It is my least favorite FL book besides the short story collection. I still need to read the Age of Madness trilogy but I doubt any of those will be below BSC for me. Licanius! YES! Love it! Codex Alera--love it too. Definitely gets better with each book ( like Licanius).
We line up on so many of them. It's funny with Skull Sworn - that was just a meh title for me (3 stars) yet it's Petrik's fav haha. We'll keep good company in liking the series as a whole though. I'm curious to see where you land with the prequel. I just can't with Best Served Cold - I was hanging off of every word in that book, so it just baffles me hearing your experience with it. That said, the short story collection was my second favorite (haha) so maybe what we're looking to get when we pick up an Abercrombie is slightly different.
I really liked The Emperor's Blades. It was the second book that I couldn't get into for some reason. I also loved Murderbot, and I thought most people did. All my friends from book club loved it. A Darker Shade of Magic was a fun read for me. I liked it enough to buy it in hardcover and read the other two books in the trilogy. I liked the other two books less, but I still own them all in hardcover and like them. I love the Mistborn second era books. I love them more than the original series. I love the genre that it's written in. I love the humor. I love everything about it. I thought the original series was really good, but too wordy at times. The Powder Mage was good. I've never gotten around to reading the other books in the series, but probably will one day. I liked the first Furies of Calderon book. It wasn't spectacular but I think what put me off was the time jump in book two? I could be getting it mixed up with something else. I love Jim Butcher as a writer, so I may revisit those one day. My main problem with The Shadow of What Was Lost is that it wasn't what I was expecting. It was the time travel thing. I wasn't wanting to read that. It wasn't a bad book though, and I may revisit it one day too. Robin Hobb and Daniel Abraham, and Joe Abercrombe are authors that I have never read, with the exception of a couple of the expanse books. I am really apprehensive to try them because I've heard how dark their books can be. In the case of Robin Hobb, I think the word is sad. I don't know if I can handle all the sadness. I know I can't handle anything approaching grimdark. Am I wrong about those being really dark? I keep trying to talk myself into trying Hobb in particular. I keep thinking I might actually like The Rain Wilds books better than the others.
Tammie, Hobb grabs your heart and breaks in a thousand little pieces over and over again. Her writing and character work are spectacular, but you will be constantly sad. At times I have to put her books down and go read something happy to cheer me up. Abercrombie is grimdark, but it is had a comical side that makes it easier to read. However, some descriptions are gruesome. Abraham has such a unique style, that I find hard to describe. Beautiful and touching character development with a somewhat poetic prose. The books start slow as he develops the threads. Long Price Quartet is really good, but the first book is the weakest one.
@@RecordingsofaReader I don't find Abraham's books dark. Give Long Price Quartet a try, you might enjoy it. The Sword of Kaigen comes to my mind when thinking of a similar style.
Many of those series are on my list to read( Elderlings, Powder mage, Kithamar, etc...) so i still don't know how it will go for me, but from the ones i have read.......ohhh i have some thoughts on some of those...............
@@TheObsessiveBookseller Ahahahah well my issue is with The Rage of Dragons and The Emperor's Blade. For the Rage of Dragons i know you loved the training sequences but the main char just drove me crazy,....... As for The Emperor's Blade, again i liked the world building but i hated the rest....
@@KainPT I can totally see that with the main character on Rage. I view him as more a vessel for giving me cool training sequences rather than an actual person. His blind doggedness to seek revenge was annoying. I am floored about EB though. I feel the need to reread it to see what I missed lol.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller For Rage, i also found the entire premise for his "power up" to be a bit too ridiculous. As for EB, you have two setting you like( training and school) but apart from the worldbuilding i did not like much about this book. Valyn is probably the most incompetent Kettral students, his "plot" is really predictable and the "love interest" just seems so artificial it hurts. Kaden is a bit better( at least not so annoying) but his all "training" just sound so ridiculous. The only POV i found remotely interesting is Adare but it is also the one who has the least "page time". The series was selected for a group read on Allen's discord early this year and it was dropped because almost no one liked the book, which came as a surprise because it is a really popular series. I may pick the second one just because the world seems really cool but it is not something for the near future.
@@KainPT You make all good points. It's funny because Adare was the only POV I had trouble with in that one haha. I do know world-building for me can compensate for other flaws, so that may have been a factor here. I remember the failed group read on Allen's channel and was so surprised!
I can totally see not being satisfied with the trilogy as a whole. I really hated where the sister’s story went and remember feeling like there should’ve been more with the warrior POV. That first book though… maybe people who didn’t like it could see where it was going a bit better than I could lol. I will say the new one was pretty good.
I am one of the people who really disliked A Darker Shade of Magic. I thought that the concept of different Londons, was really cool. I did not enjoy the characters, I did not like the story. I dont think its YA, but it is a sort of inbetweener where it feels kind of young for adult but also kind of old for the YA crowd. Which can work well - especially with readers moving up into adult- and even with other adult readers, I just havent connected with any of Schwabs work so far which sucks because I think her concepts are always pretty cool and then the books are never for me. I was disappointed by the mediocre reviews for Age of Ash - I still really want to read it (Ill probably grab a paperback of it when that comes out in Feb).
I think you're right - Darker Shade seems like one of those great transition novels between YA and Adult stuff. You're not the first person I've seen with issues with the characters, to the point where I'm almost tempted to reread it to see what I missed. Although I will say world-building and plot usually go a little further with me than character development, slightly, so that could be why I didn't mind as much. I'm disappointed on those underwhelming reviews as well. I hope you end up enjoying Age of Ash as much as I did. Everything I liked about it was subtle and very on par with Abraham's other works.
A Darker Shade of Magic read as an Y A for me.the premise is awesome but my gosh does the author write flat and boring. i just lost my time with Schwab.
I hate it when books make me feel like that. I'm not sure why the Schwab series worked for me - possibly because I was reading a lot of YA at the time and it felt more elevated. I wonder how it would hold up now with all the grimdark I've been doing...
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I LOVED Licanius (so far), I'm reading the final book next month. Definitely convoluted, for sure, but so fun and impressively done. I also have been meaning to try VE Schwab for way too long. Also Promise of Blood was awesome, I'm not sure why I didn't continue with that series...hmm...
Great video, Niki!!
Thanks Theo! I agree - it’s admittedly convoluted but he’s so good he can pull it off. He is working on a new series with no solid release date yet that I’ve been keeping my eye on.
Schwab isn’t exactly a top favorite of mine, but it made the list because of how surprising it was to see so much polarization.
Promise of Blood was great, and I especially liked the second trilogy! It’s so hard to keep on top of all the series going at once.
Great video Niki! I love Murderbot and Shades of Magic. I’m shocked when I hear people don’t. I, unfortunately, am one of the haters on Rage of Dragons. I finished it, but was sorry I did lol.
Thanks Chas! I remember you not liking that one haha. I at least can appreciate the whys - it did have a ton of problems.
Best Served Cold is my favorite stand alone I have ever read, 2nd favorite Abercrombie. Caul Shiver's character arc in this book is top of the line in fantasy!
It’s so good. And I love that it was a character I didn’t even think twice about in the first trilogy that has all of this depth.
I adore the Codex Alera series. It's one where I finished it and liked it pretty well, but over time it just kept popping up in my thoughts. It's an all time fave and the second book in the series, Academ's Fury, is tagged in my goodreads in my 'books I love' list lol. When I read this series it comes alive in my mind. I'm there in the water with Tavi when his aunt saves him, I'm watching at the bottom of the stairwell, I'm there in the underground tunnels, I'm on the ship, I'm across the seas, etc. A couple of popular book tubers don't care for it, they don't think it's anything special. I don't get it, I don't. I adore it.
Best Served Cold is my favorite of the standalones. It made me laugh and laugh.
Some of the other books are on my tbr, 1 or 2 I haven't considered. As for the Brandon Sanderson, I am one of those rare creatures that don't care for his work. He has talent, he writes well. I just don't care about his characters, unfortunately. I don't feel connected to them, they're just like something I see on a painting hanging on a wall as I go by.
I don't get it either!! Maybe low expectations going in played a role but Codex is one that I want to go back to and reread eventually and I don't say that about a lot of series.
I'm that way with a couple of authors - where you can appreciate it but at the same time not care for the works. I think they work so well for me because I tend to value style and world building over character development (it's a weird stance), and his books, especially Stormlight, deliver on the things I'm most excited to see.
I adore the Codex Alera books too. I have read it twice all through and it has become one my rare comfort series.
I think I am due for a reread...
Wonderful.. thx niki .. wil try to read one of these recommandations coming week.. thx again.. you are stil the best on Ytube :-)
You are so kind, thank you! I really love everything on this list, to the point where I purchased them in hardcovers for prime displaying. In my mind, you can't go wrong!
Hobb, Abercrombie, Butcher, McClellan. All of my favorite authors!
Here here!! You’ve named 3 of my top 5!! It just blows me away how wildly different books can be for different readers. You’d think the components would be pretty universally appreciate. So weird.
When I heard about A Darker Shade of Magic, I only heard about so many liking it and nothing but reccomendations for it.. so it's interesting to hear that so many people don't like it. Age of Ash is on my TBR and when I heard about that one it was mixed reviews.The Empeor's blade I found at my library bookstore so thats on TBR. I haven't read the Murder Bot series but have heard that it's good...I just can't justify the price for it... it's a small novella hardback but charged just like a normal hardback.. yeah no thanks (library also dosen't have it I think). The shadow of what was lost is on my TBR, also I liked A Deadly Education, I need to finish that series since book 2 and 3 have come out.
I don't know about recently any books that people hated that I loved, the only one I can think of was To Sleep in a Sea of stars. I don't know if people were intimidated by the length or the sceince of it but yeah...
I know Babel right now is polarizing as it was hyped up as going to be so good by so many but now it's coming out as some like it and some find it boring.
Maybe it's because I listed it first in the video, but most of the comments I've gotten over the last couple days is how people didn't care for Darker Shade overall haha. I guess it takes a certain mood.
I liked To Sleep - there was one whole "quest" section in the back half of the book that I thought didn't add anything to the story, but everything else was enjoyable. I was expecting more people to like that one too.
Babel is a great example - I've seen so many love or hate reviews. It will be interesting to see where I land on that when I get to it.
Murderbot - I feel you on those prices. I went the digital and library route at first too, it's a shame yours hasn't acquired copies yet.
Great video, Niki. :)
I think I gave all three books of Shades of Magic three stars, but I didn't like the main characters, especially Lilla. The story was interesting but fell a bit flat at the end fot me. The world was interesting. Contrary to the impression you got, this series read very ya for me.
Fom the Licanius Trilogy I have read only the first book. I liked it, but I was a bit underwhelmed and I didn't feel the urge to pick up the second book right away. I have a lot of other books I would rather read first, so I am not sure if I will continue the series.
Livership I couldn't even finish the first book. I abandoned at 40% because I wasn't enjoying reading it. I read spoilers for all three books to see if that would make me want to try again and not even the revelations made me want to continue. It wasn't a journey for me. I will try the The Tawny Man trilogy next, as I did enjoy the Farseer Trilogy, even with all the issues it had. I might give Rain Wild Chronicles a try, but it has some overlap with Livership, doesn't it? If it follows the same tone it might not be for me. We will see when I get to that point.
Codex Alera is my list to read, but on a lower priority.
I love Daniel Abraham's books too, but I can see why his style isn't for everyone. I still have to read the Kithamar books.
I love Mistborn era 2. I make sure to warn people that they should expect something completely different from era one. Era two for me in a nutshell: book one is a western; book two is more of a noir thriller; book three is an "Indiana Jones" style. I am super curious in which style book four will be.
Thanks Miche!
I do believe your thoughts on Shades were some of the early ones I saw that made me realize it wasn't as widely recommendable as I thought!
Rain Wilds takes on a completely different tone than Liveship, but I'm still not sure you'd like it. I think you'd have much better success continuing with just the Fitz stuff. :)
Licanius is so funny - I liked it enough to read twice and it's one of those that I can't predict who it's going to be a hit or miss for.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller
when I read Shades of Magic it seemed like everyone around me was loving it and giving 4-5 stars. I think it was one of the first books that I had that "are we reading the same book?" feeling.
My problem with Livership wasn't with Hobb's writing. On the contrary, she wrote it so well that I loathed most of the characters, LOL. Without the anchor of a character that I could connect and cheer for, reading the book became an unpleasant chore. Too bad, because I already own the three books and I like her writing. When I get to the Rain Wilds time, I will check if my library has a copy of it so I can check the if I will get into it or not.
I wanted to love The Shadow of What Was Lost, but his writing felt choppy and unnecessarily convoluted. I didn't feel any emotional payout and I had lukewarm feelings all around, not making it worth of my time.
Both you and Petrik loved Livership and Licanius so I was surprised when I didn't like them.
You and I usually have very similar tastes and it is rare when we have different reactions like these.
@@miche_line Oh yes, that makes total sense to me about Liveship - those characters were really hard to read about. I don't usually get angry at characters, but Malta had me close. I definitely remember Rain Wilds having more likable characters.
We do! It's funny with those because I can see your points on all of them. It must come down to enough other things singing to me in those series to counter your very valid points against them.
I saw a VoD today about a "summer book tier list" and they had Robin Hobb at the bottom of the list. They had just finished The Liveship Traders trilogy. They went as far as to say they were probably done with Hobb as an author. I know everyone sees things differently but I can't imagine Hobb being anything short of S tier imo.
I just finished The Heroes today by Joe Abercrombie and it was such an excellent book. It really got me in the feels towards the end. I think people have hard time with not seeing the PoVs from the first trilogy. They want more. While the standalones focus more on other PoVs, if you give them a chance, they really flesh out the world. You're glad you didn't pass on them. Plus who doesn't want more Nicolo Cosca?
I haven't read Codex Alera but I do see Jim Butcher getting a lot of undeserved hate imo. I think people, again, want "more" of how the Dresden Files makes them feel. Codex Alera is a completely different world than Harry's world. Especially with one series being epic fantasy and the other urban fantasy.
This is probably going to make me sound like an old lady... what's a VoD? haha.
I'm always surprised when a Hobb series doesn't stick with someone, but I do think expectations and hype from people who have read the whole series inflates expectations considerably. Still though, even among the people I watch who are just on the fence about Hobb mostly seem to enjoy Liveship. It's really uncomfortable to read, but brilliantly done.
Oh nice!! That one was so fun. I'll admit up to that point I couldn't tell you which northman was which, so the book helped me a lot haha. I'm glad I read that one because as you said it really helped make the entire saga more rich as i read on.
I think if people go into Codex expecting anything similar to Dresden's voice, they'll be disappointed. It actually made me appreciate the author more because of his ability to adapt his style so seamlessly.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller a VoD is "video on demand' which is basically YT in a nutshell.
I went into the Farseer Trilogy completely blind, so you might be onto something. Of course this person couldn't do a deep dive into why they didn't enjoy the books because it would have spoiled the plot.
I think Jim Butcher doesn't get enough credit on just being a great author. I'll get to Code Alera eventually.
@@bottle1211 Ah, thank you. :)
That makes sense. And yeah I agree with that on Butcher. I think because of the types of stories he's telling with Dresden, it doesn't always give him the opportunity to showcase all of his techniques. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts when you do get to Codex eventually.
Hi 👋 like ur top books on ur list!! Happy reading to you!! 🎥⚔️
Thank you!! :)
I really love the powder mage and I also do love the characters. I thought that everyone would love it! Now, I'm close to buying the scholomance trilogy, just talk about it one or two times more 😁😉 I love Terry Goodkind's books. I'm only starting the third book soon, but I love it and so far cannot understand the hate. I'm so much looking forward to the rainwild chronicles, because the main trilogies really made me curious. So there I don't get the hate neither. I know many people who don't like Harry Potter! Can you imagine that!?
Haha I'm going to be reading the final Scholomance before the end of the year, so brace yourself!! I had nothing for absolute delight for Goodkind's series when I read it. I hated Pillars of Creation, but not for any of the reason people generally hate Goodkind. I will say I tried to do an audiobook reread of the series several years ago and had to abandon it because the narrator made Richard sound so whiny!! And the recap felt endless. It made me wonder how the different formats might have made people not like it as much.
I refuse to wrap my head around people not liking the HP story haha.
Great video, although yet another reminder of how many unread books I have that I am anxious to get to! More than half of what you've mentioned here are on my TBR. I've read only two on your list. Best Served Cold, which as you know, I liked a lot and it's my favorite Abercrombie book. And The Alloy of Law. I enjoyed this book, the change in setting/style was great, I didn't mind that at all. The story was good from what I can remember, but it didn't really stick with me long term. There follow-up wasn't published yet when I read it, so I wasn't able to continue it right away, and I've never gotten around to going back to it. Not sure that I ever will at this point, with so many other priorities vying for my attention.
Thanks! I think I was just okay with Mistborn Era 2 until I read the second book. That one really won me over. It's understandable to backburn it though with how many other amazing series are on the docket.
My new schedule is going well but in some ways it's depressing that I can't get to everything I want to. I swear there's no making me happy lol.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller Haha, I can complete relate!
Yes, just within Sanderson's books alone, SA is currently higher in my priority list than Mistborn era 2, let alone all of the dozens of other series out there, so who knows if I will ever get to it. Sanderson is good, but I am not necessarily in the "must read everything he writes" camp like I am with a few other authors.
@@johnnyp2002qq I think it helped that I started reading Sanderson early, so I was able to keep up with new releases. Trying to consume everything now would be daunting. I still haven't done his Evil Librarian yet, but have done the adult stuff. I didn't remember you haven't done SA yet - I'm really interested to hear how those go. Top 3 fav series for me there - I love the scope of the world building!
@@TheObsessiveBookseller I think I read that the first 5 SA books will make up the first SA arc, and then Sanderson will take a break from it for a few years before writing the second arc. So maybe I'll binge the first arc when all 5 are available. I own the first three already and each volume is daunting!
@@johnnyp2002qq wow two weeks out from your comment - sorry for the delay.
I can totally understand the desire to wait. I wish you’d dive right in now because they’re so wonderful, but that’s just because they’re my all-time favorites aside from Hobb. I’ve reread them a couple of times, which is saying something considering how weird I am about reading schedules and my extensive TBR.
Unhewn Throne, my misunderstood love ❤️
Ahhh a kindred spirit!! We'll just sit in our corner and ignore everyone who doesn't like those books haha.
So I've read 5 of these and really liked 4 of them. A few more of these are on my list to read eventually.
You're one of my stat-points for not liking Powder Mage. It's so wild how vastly different series are for some people. I'm getting the impression you're thoroughly enjoying WoT and I just couldn't anymore with that one.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller
See, you make me want to give Powder Mage another chance. Am I the one who was missing something? Haha. I finished Wheel of Time. I think listening to it helped a lot.
@@FantasyNerd365 haha it's so hard to tell. You're not the only one who's given me that feedback on it.
This is a great video. I 100% agree with you about Age of Ash. It's very underrated for how well it's written. However, I really hated A Deadly Education but it was mainly due to the excessive info dumping and insufferable main character. Also I didn't like All Systems Red because the plot bored me to death. Murderbot character is great, but that wasn't enough for me to like the book.
Thank you! I can definitely see your point about the info dumping in Deadly Education. It's almost like her strategy for the narrative was to have a page of forward plot-progression followed by three pages of character introspection and her take on what happened. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it's a deliberate part of the writing voice, but it definitely slows down the story considerably. It's funny how completely different the experience for Murderbot was for both of us. I don't remember it for the plot, but I was on board enough not to notice a lag.
I read Darker Shade, only after avoiding it due to so much hype. Although I enjoyed the writing style and the characters, I lost interest as I neared the end of the book. I really had to force myself to finish. The only character I really liked; the tavern keeper; got killed. I gave Schwab a second chance, with Addie LaRue and it was ok, but I really didn't get into one of her books till Gallant. I haven't read the Rainwild Chronicles yet, even though I've read all of Fitzchivalry's story. I guess I needed to cleanse my palate with something different. I sat up; most of last night; reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King. I have ordered Red Country from Book Depository, as it seems to be another book that my library doesn't have. I did; very much; enjoy Best Served Cold and The Heroes. I also enjoyed Savine's arc, in A Little Hatred. I haven't tried Mistborn 2.0. I was just a little let down by how the original ended.
I will say I did read Schwab during a time when I was also enjoying a lot of YA, so perhaps it felt more sophisticated just by immediate comparison, but had I been reading grimdark I would've thought it too much fluff. It's hard to say. I tried the Vicious series but not LaRue yet.
It's so funny how different books speak to different people - the end of the mistborn 1-3 is one of my all-time favorite endings. XD
Niki, great video, I agree with you in most cases. Sorry for being so long winded.
VE Schwab, I read the first book , but was not compelled to move forward, too many other series. Age of Ash is on my TBR, I do enjoy him. I enjoyed the Rain Wild Chronicles, and love Hobb. Staveley, another series I thoroughly enjoyed, the three main points of view, were wonderful. Murderbot, I have only read one, not sure what I was expecting, its short, which I am not used to this. Abercrombie is a consistent writer wonderful stories, so gritty, and the strong character development. Evan Winter another one that started slow but yes as the training sequence starts its' finds its stride. Islington, a true Epic trilogoy that ended in the right place, some wonderful twists and turns. I have only read one Jim Butcher. Stormfront and wasn't that impressed by it. I have seen this series around but have been hesitant to try. While I have enjoyed the Wax and Wayne series, I am a bigger fan of the Stormlight books. I actually got to speak with Sanderson this past weekend and I asked him about his output?? I just finished the Last Graduate days ago, and am enjoying the series, some interesting characters and plot twists. I enjoyed McClellan's series, but like Wexler's a bit better, I know you don't agree with that.
Such a great comment - thanks Frank!
We agree on so many things. I think you'd have more success with Butcher's Codex than Storm Front - so vastly different and much more classic fantasy feel. I agree with you on Stormlight being the best of Sanderson - I'd take a new one of those over a Wax and Wayne book any day. That is so cool you got to speak with him!!! What did he have to say about his output?! That's amazing. I'm still open to Wexler, I just need to read the whole thing before deciding. It's one of those where I feel like it's ME missing something and not the other way around.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller I specifically asked Sanderson about his timeline for finishing the Stormlight Archive, he did want to mention that he was aware of more older readers were concerned about it getting finished, and said he was working on it. Although of course in light of his recent announcement, I'm wondering how this will speed up the process??
@@fjuran1 That makes sense! It has to be weird producing content that people are so deeply connecting to seeing finished. Which announcement are you referring to?! I may have missed one.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller ua-cam.com/users/shortsT5Db-wMJOMw Sanderson hired another author to work with him on the Cosmere, where in the books, we do not know.
@@fjuran1 Ohhh I did miss that! Holy cow. I don't like that. I would like to think he'll have them work on the less special projects, but we'll see.
I love Emperor's blades and I don't know why people don't like it !!!!!
Preach!!! I just don't get it - it was such a cool mix of so many good things!
Yep. Daniel Abraham is wonderful but I've seen the same thing that a lot of people don't like his writing. I think it might be because they don't like slow burn, character studies.
Hobb is the same way, imo.
I still haven't read Rain Wilds or the final trilogy. Whrn I read the first three trilogies years ago, that was all that was out. I keep meaning to read them after rereading the first 9 books. It's been about a year since I reread the first trilogy and I don't know why I haven't continued.
I also really loved the Unhewned Throne trilogy. I still need to read the standalone, Skull Sworn. and then get into the sequel trilogy. One person who does like this series is Petrik so we are in good company.
I have to disagree with you on Best Served Cold. It went on for too long and put me in a reading slump. It is my least favorite FL book besides the short story collection. I still need to read the Age of Madness trilogy but I doubt any of those will be below BSC for me.
Licanius! YES! Love it!
Codex Alera--love it too. Definitely gets better with each book ( like Licanius).
We line up on so many of them. It's funny with Skull Sworn - that was just a meh title for me (3 stars) yet it's Petrik's fav haha. We'll keep good company in liking the series as a whole though. I'm curious to see where you land with the prequel.
I just can't with Best Served Cold - I was hanging off of every word in that book, so it just baffles me hearing your experience with it. That said, the short story collection was my second favorite (haha) so maybe what we're looking to get when we pick up an Abercrombie is slightly different.
I really liked The Emperor's Blades. It was the second book that I couldn't get into for some reason. I also loved Murderbot, and I thought most people did. All my friends from book club loved it. A Darker Shade of Magic was a fun read for me. I liked it enough to buy it in hardcover and read the other two books in the trilogy. I liked the other two books less, but I still own them all in hardcover and like them. I love the Mistborn second era books. I love them more than the original series. I love the genre that it's written in. I love the humor. I love everything about it. I thought the original series was really good, but too wordy at times. The Powder Mage was good. I've never gotten around to reading the other books in the series, but probably will one day. I liked the first Furies of Calderon book. It wasn't spectacular but I think what put me off was the time jump in book two? I could be getting it mixed up with something else. I love Jim Butcher as a writer, so I may revisit those one day. My main problem with The Shadow of What Was Lost is that it wasn't what I was expecting. It was the time travel thing. I wasn't wanting to read that. It wasn't a bad book though, and I may revisit it one day too. Robin Hobb and Daniel Abraham, and Joe Abercrombe are authors that I have never read, with the exception of a couple of the expanse books. I am really apprehensive to try them because I've heard how dark their books can be. In the case of Robin Hobb, I think the word is sad. I don't know if I can handle all the sadness. I know I can't handle anything approaching grimdark. Am I wrong about those being really dark? I keep trying to talk myself into trying Hobb in particular. I keep thinking I might actually like The Rain Wilds books better than the others.
Tammie, Hobb grabs your heart and breaks in a thousand little pieces over and over again. Her writing and character work are spectacular, but you will be constantly sad. At times I have to put her books down and go read something happy to cheer me up.
Abercrombie is grimdark, but it is had a comical side that makes it easier to read. However, some descriptions are gruesome.
Abraham has such a unique style, that I find hard to describe. Beautiful and touching character development with a somewhat poetic prose. The books start slow as he develops the threads. Long Price Quartet is really good, but the first book is the weakest one.
@@miche_line thanks for the feedback! So is Abraham not as dark then? The two Expanse books I read weren't.
@@RecordingsofaReader I don't find Abraham's books dark. Give Long Price Quartet a try, you might enjoy it. The Sword of Kaigen comes to my mind when thinking of a similar style.
@@miche_line ooh! I love The Sword of Kaigen.
@@RecordingsofaReader then there is a good chance you will enjoy Long Price Quartet. It is a beautiful coming of age story.
Many of those series are on my list to read( Elderlings, Powder mage, Kithamar, etc...) so i still don't know how it will go for me, but from the ones i have read.......ohhh i have some thoughts on some of those...............
Haha please do rant/praise! I don't remember off hand which ones you've read but your words make me think we could be in for a throwdown! lol
@@TheObsessiveBookseller Ahahahah well my issue is with The Rage of Dragons and The Emperor's Blade.
For the Rage of Dragons i know you loved the training sequences but the main char just drove me crazy,.......
As for The Emperor's Blade, again i liked the world building but i hated the rest....
@@KainPT I can totally see that with the main character on Rage. I view him as more a vessel for giving me cool training sequences rather than an actual person. His blind doggedness to seek revenge was annoying.
I am floored about EB though. I feel the need to reread it to see what I missed lol.
@@TheObsessiveBookseller For Rage, i also found the entire premise for his "power up" to be a bit too ridiculous.
As for EB, you have two setting you like( training and school) but apart from the worldbuilding i did not like much about this book.
Valyn is probably the most incompetent Kettral students, his "plot" is really predictable and the "love interest" just seems so artificial it hurts.
Kaden is a bit better( at least not so annoying) but his all "training" just sound so ridiculous.
The only POV i found remotely interesting is Adare but it is also the one who has the least "page time".
The series was selected for a group read on Allen's discord early this year and it was dropped because almost no one liked the book, which came as a surprise because it is a really popular series.
I may pick the second one just because the world seems really cool but it is not something for the near future.
@@KainPT You make all good points. It's funny because Adare was the only POV I had trouble with in that one haha. I do know world-building for me can compensate for other flaws, so that may have been a factor here. I remember the failed group read on Allen's channel and was so surprised!
Loved The Emperor's Blades but HATED the way the trilogy ended with respect to to the three royal siblings.
I can totally see not being satisfied with the trilogy as a whole. I really hated where the sister’s story went and remember feeling like there should’ve been more with the warrior POV. That first book though… maybe people who didn’t like it could see where it was going a bit better than I could lol. I will say the new one was pretty good.
People don't like Best Served Cold? Surely not, that's an amasing book!
Right!? I can't even wrap my brain around that. It's one of my favorite things I've EVER read.
Wait...there are people who don't like Murderbot?
Right?! I'm shocked every time I see a negative review for it or people abandoning the series. That one oozes with appeal for me.
I am one of the people who really disliked A Darker Shade of Magic. I thought that the concept of different Londons, was really cool. I did not enjoy the characters, I did not like the story. I dont think its YA, but it is a sort of inbetweener where it feels kind of young for adult but also kind of old for the YA crowd. Which can work well - especially with readers moving up into adult- and even with other adult readers, I just havent connected with any of Schwabs work so far which sucks because I think her concepts are always pretty cool and then the books are never for me.
I was disappointed by the mediocre reviews for Age of Ash - I still really want to read it (Ill probably grab a paperback of it when that comes out in Feb).
I think you're right - Darker Shade seems like one of those great transition novels between YA and Adult stuff. You're not the first person I've seen with issues with the characters, to the point where I'm almost tempted to reread it to see what I missed. Although I will say world-building and plot usually go a little further with me than character development, slightly, so that could be why I didn't mind as much.
I'm disappointed on those underwhelming reviews as well. I hope you end up enjoying Age of Ash as much as I did. Everything I liked about it was subtle and very on par with Abraham's other works.
A Darker Shade of Magic read as an Y A for me.the premise is awesome but my gosh does the author write flat and boring. i just lost my time with Schwab.
I hate it when books make me feel like that. I'm not sure why the Schwab series worked for me - possibly because I was reading a lot of YA at the time and it felt more elevated. I wonder how it would hold up now with all the grimdark I've been doing...