"What are you reading?" thread.
- Thread starter HoboNinja
- Start date
Cutting out the middleman. He's able to charge a bit of a premium for the secret books, and because they're not going through Amazon as a self-pubber or his publisher as a trad pubber, he's getting a larger cut even with the kickstarter fee.
Kickstarter charges 5%. That means he'll keep 95% of the dough. Trad publishers would give him maybe 10% on the e-books and maybe $5.00 on the hardbacks going by numbers I researched years ago. But even if numbers have swung more in favor of authors (doubtful) doing it this way would *still* give him more of the dough. At Amazon, the most he'd keep is 70%.
You go through distributors and publishers because in theory, they help you sell/move books. If you can sell them directly to the public, you reap much greater rewards. Though I'm sure it isn't making whoever he's publishing with very happy to hear about, because he's just moved millions into his pocket that they'd normally be putting in theirs.
He doesn't need kickstarter to get off the ground. He's using it as a method to reap more of the rewards of his work into his own pocket instead of the middlemen. And because he has a following, he's able to do that in a way that, for instance, I couldn't. And because of the "Secret book" hype, he's able to charge a bit more per book than a traditional publishing house would. It's a smart move for him.
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You're right. For some reason, I had it stuck in my brain that the entry-level for all 4 books was $100 not $40. $10/book isn't even a premium price. He's just cutting out the middlemen that he doesn't need in order to shift copies, in the same way that Amazon cut out publishers when they started allowing self-pubbers to sell directly on the site.
So, Sanderson's made a ton of money, and easily put millions more into his pocket than if he'd have gone Amazon or through his publisher.
So, it's nice to see him giving back to the community--he's pledged to back all other publishing kickstarters currently going on.
So, it's nice to see him giving back to the community--he's pledged to back all other publishing kickstarters currently going on.
figmentPez
Staff member
Not sure how many Halforumites both read the romance genre and read ebooks, but for anyone in that demographic there are a ton of books that are free today only. Romance Bookworms , just choose what platform and you'll get a list of books with links to the store of your choice. No personal info input, no email signup. All sorts of sub-genres as well: mystery, fantasy, urban fantasy, sci fi, young adult, contemporary, etc.
I'd recommend:
I See Me (Oracle 1) by Meghan Ciana Doidge
"Despite suffering debilitating hallucinations, Rochelle plans to travel while making a modest living with her art. She meets and immediately falls for the mysterious Beau, discovering that she is also being hunted by a sorcerer. Because Rochelle is actually an oracle, a rarity even in the magical world."
I've loved every book I've read in Doidge's Adept Universe, and this one is a fine place to start. Her characters are endearing, and I'm really enjoying the world she's creating. I'm currently reading "Mystics and Mental Blocks", and I'm absolutely loving it. I'll post about the Amplifier series in general later.
If anyone else has a favorite author on the list, I'd love to hear about it.
I'd recommend:
I See Me (Oracle 1) by Meghan Ciana Doidge
"Despite suffering debilitating hallucinations, Rochelle plans to travel while making a modest living with her art. She meets and immediately falls for the mysterious Beau, discovering that she is also being hunted by a sorcerer. Because Rochelle is actually an oracle, a rarity even in the magical world."
I've loved every book I've read in Doidge's Adept Universe, and this one is a fine place to start. Her characters are endearing, and I'm really enjoying the world she's creating. I'm currently reading "Mystics and Mental Blocks", and I'm absolutely loving it. I'll post about the Amplifier series in general later.
If anyone else has a favorite author on the list, I'd love to hear about it.
Just finished Horns by Joe Hill. Really loved this book. Now I need to watch the movie.
With every sentence in this synopsis my interested rose more.
figmentPez
Staff member
Here's the last time I talked about Meghan Ciana Doidge's Adept Universe and Doidge's website
Sadly I've only recently been able to get back to reading regularly, so I'm way behind on the latest releases, but here's my short summaries on the various sub-series within the whole:
Dowser - this one follows Jade Godfrey, a young half-witch who runs a cupcake shop in Vancouver. Her life gets turned upside down when a werewolf she met at a club gets murdered, a vampire shows up in town, and she finds out that her absentee father may not be the human she'd assumed he was. While the series starts off as kinda Twilight knock-off, Jade is not just a blank slate, and Doidge manages to move past the "Alpha wolf" cliches she originally burdens her werewolf lore with. The series starts a little cliche, but definitely finds it's voice. Especially once Kandy the werewolf becomes Jade's BFF. Kandy dyes her hair green, and likes to gift people custom t-shirts based on their personality. "Never mind the cupcakes. I can totally kick your ass", "Fueled by coffee and epic mystical powers" and her own "I do bite" (which I should totally get for @LittleKagsin )
Oracle - Rochelle is a fantastic protagonist. She is a sweet little babby I would die to protect (though she'd probably be the one saving my ass). As I've previously stated, this series is where the Adept Universe really sets itself apart from other fantasy I've read.
Reconstructionist - this series follows Wisteria Fairchild is a witch who specalizes in magical reconstructions, catching echoes of past magic inside of physical objects so it can be viewed later, as keepsakes, crime scene investigation, etc. This series shows off Doidge's range. Whereas Jade and, especially, Rochelle are young and very often fish-out-of-water, Wisteria is much more settled in her career, and her dark past makes her already hardened to the darker side of magic. The range of tones from different protagonists make the Adept world feel expansive.
Amplifier - Emma is far less grounded than the other protagonists, which feels weird to say about a fantasy series, but she's a genetically modified magical weapon created by a shady group called the Collective. It's a bit of a cliche that she and her "siblings" are scheduled for termination when they're deemed a failed experiment too dangerous to keep, but like so many other things Doidge makes this her own story. I just finished reading "Bonds and Broken Dreams" and immediately jumped into "Mystics and Mental Blocks" because I just couldn't get enough. I'm so glad I've convinced my brain to focus on reading again, Emma is a grumpy delight.
Misfits - I have not read this series yet, but the characters in it have already shown up in the Dowser series, and they're fantastic. The narrator is Morana "Mory" Novak, a teenage necromancer whose Kandy gifted t-shirt reads "I knit so I don't rip out your soul and send it straight to hell", and her pet undead turtle is awesome.
Hopefully my brain will continue to cooperate, so that I can catch up and get on to reading the Archivist to meet Doidge's latest, who I'm sure will be just as enchanting as the rest.
The Power
I saw the Amazon Prime series was coming out, so I figured I'd get a jump on this book which has been on my recommended list for a while. It's like X-Men, but if only girls and women got mutant powers. The same mutant power, actually. And if you think only women getting super powers means the world is fixed and everyone holds hands and sings "kumbaya", well, you'd be wrong. It's a dark book, but a good book, although I'm not sure I love the somewhat ambiguous ending. But I am going to give the adaptation a shot to see what they do with it.
I saw the Amazon Prime series was coming out, so I figured I'd get a jump on this book which has been on my recommended list for a while. It's like X-Men, but if only girls and women got mutant powers. The same mutant power, actually. And if you think only women getting super powers means the world is fixed and everyone holds hands and sings "kumbaya", well, you'd be wrong. It's a dark book, but a good book, although I'm not sure I love the somewhat ambiguous ending. But I am going to give the adaptation a shot to see what they do with it.
I also read a book before the movie.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Incredible, heart-wrenching, and exciting in a brutal way.
Oklahoma state motto: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Incredible, heart-wrenching, and exciting in a brutal way.
Oklahoma state motto: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
I just saw a headline that said Patrick Rothfuss announced he was finally releasing his next book! Excited, I clicked on the link right away...
...only to see it's another novella, set in the same universe, but following a side character. Again.
So, if the idea of an entire book dedicated to Bast excites you, you're in luck! On the other hand, if you actually wanted that asshole to finally finish his series, you are just as fucked as the rest of us.
...only to see it's another novella, set in the same universe, but following a side character. Again.
So, if the idea of an entire book dedicated to Bast excites you, you're in luck! On the other hand, if you actually wanted that asshole to finally finish his series, you are just as fucked as the rest of us.
So, he’s taking the George RR Martin approach to his series.
His blog page is so frustrating. I gave up reading it some time ago.
Meanwhile I'm waiting for the next book in the Cradle series to drop. Book 1 came out in 2016, the last book has a release date of June 6th. That's 12 books in 5 years less time than Rothfuss has spent on one.
At a certain point you really should be able to ban people from calling themselves "authors" anymore.
Dave
Staff member
I started reading “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” by Stephen Donaldson again. I just can’t do it. The protagonist is so unlikeable and abrasive (not to mention a rapist) that I just can’t help but hope the bad guy destroys him. I’ve never been able to get through this book and I remember again why.
Those books are absolutely terrible. Even ignoring how awful the main character is, the plot is absolute shit and doesn't warrant the time spent reading.
I had never heard of this book before. Sounds fucking awful.
I read through the first trilogy. I debated reading through the second, I think I made it partway. I have never touched it since, and I actively discourage people from reading it. And any time I hear someone say, "Thomas Covenant? Oh man, I loved that series!" I make a mental note to always ask for more detail whenever they describe anything as "fun."
If I want to be simultaneously depressed and entertained, I would instead choose something infinitely superior, like Peter David's* Sir Apropos of Nothing.
--Patrick
*Yes, THAT Peter David.
I have a friend who still holds it against me for introducing him to that series.
I think at the time he claimed that reading it killed his creativity.
Since I recently realised I'd never actually read the original Frankenstein novel.
Victor's a self-entitled asshole who to modern eyes would be a lot happier if he'd just admit how much he wants a good hard dicking. The Creature is nothing like the pop-culture version of himself, being intelligent, eloquent & willing to use guns. His hard life & undeniably unfair treatment do not justify his crimes however. It's a shame the phrase Uncanny Valley hadn't been invented yet when this was written as this is clearly a large part (if not most) of just how "monstrous" the Creature's appearance really is.
The book (unsurprisingly) has massive amounts of values dissonance but is still very much a worthwhile read. Particularly if you're happy with electronic copies, as with this being in the public domain it's fairly easy to find a free copy.
Victor's a self-entitled asshole who to modern eyes would be a lot happier if he'd just admit how much he wants a good hard dicking. The Creature is nothing like the pop-culture version of himself, being intelligent, eloquent & willing to use guns. His hard life & undeniably unfair treatment do not justify his crimes however. It's a shame the phrase Uncanny Valley hadn't been invented yet when this was written as this is clearly a large part (if not most) of just how "monstrous" the Creature's appearance really is.
The book (unsurprisingly) has massive amounts of values dissonance but is still very much a worthwhile read. Particularly if you're happy with electronic copies, as with this being in the public domain it's fairly easy to find a free copy.
Yeah, the way the Creature is now known in popular culture is... Pretty weird compared to the original.
Vampires, werewolves, etc - everything changes over time and some things are barely recognizable. But Frankenstein's Creature, as far as I know, is literally never shown as anything other than the one dimensional bruiser he isn't, unless deliberately to play with expectations. It's weird.
Also, for its age, the original is still surprisingly readable.
Vampires, werewolves, etc - everything changes over time and some things are barely recognizable. But Frankenstein's Creature, as far as I know, is literally never shown as anything other than the one dimensional bruiser he isn't, unless deliberately to play with expectations. It's weird.
Also, for its age, the original is still surprisingly readable.
If you want to talk about weird ways literary characters are known in pop-culture, try telling someone who only knows The Jungle Book through the Disney adaptations that Kaa is an ally of Mowgli's in the novel, who helps rescue him from the Bandar-Log. You can almost see their brain blue-screen at the concept.
That's because all of the pop culture depictions are based off of the universal movie from 1931 staring Boris Karloff
Dave
Staff member
Richard is angry and always right, also everyone brings him pain. Also he's a rare person and everyone loves him.
Kahlan is beautiful and can only ever love Richard and wants to get dicked bad but they always get split up. Oh, and everyone wants to rape her.
Zed knows everything but tells no one anything because doing so would cloud their judgement. Also he eats a lot and nothing is ever easy.
Kahlan is beautiful and can only ever love Richard and wants to get dicked bad but they always get split up. Oh, and everyone wants to rape her.
Zed knows everything but tells no one anything because doing so would cloud their judgement. Also he eats a lot and nothing is ever easy.
Dave
Staff member
I can’t do it. I’m halfway through the second book and there’s just so much rape. Every other page is a new rape. Men, women, doesn’t matter. Someone will rape them. It’s like watching Oprah when everyone reaches under their seat and instead of a car they get raped.
I thought it was rapey when I read it in the 90’s but holy shit it’s worse than I remembered.
I thought it was rapey when I read it in the 90’s but holy shit it’s worse than I remembered.
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
(incomplete review, as I'm on ~pg 350 of 800 or so, but I'm at a "part" boundary, so this seemed like a good time)
First off, a shout-out to @ThatNickGuy who picked this up (and the rest of the trilogy!) for Secret Santa for me this year.
I have really been enjoying this book. It's not a super swift read, but it's quicker than the Brandon Sanderson novel I've been working on for months.
The world-building is just wonderful, a joy to read, and really top-notch. It's full and rich without feeling over-drawn or ham-fisted. And there's no multi-page long descriptions of meals or locations! But there's still enough detail to get a vivid and living world across. I want to learn more about this world, how it works, and even (for probably the first time ever) the politics of it all. It's genuinely just really good and masterfully done.
The characters also feel surprisingly fully-fleshed. Even the ones I absolutely loathe and want to kick in the nuts. Their behaviours seem internally consistent and reasonable from their perspectives, even if they do tend to the over-the-top dramatics. Though I understand the need to the larger-than-life reactions and emotions - this is a book after all, and if everyone behaved well, there would be much less of a plot. And the characters are varied. I can tell them apart with relative ease. My only beef is that it took almost 100 pages to be introduced to the first woman! At this point, I think we've managed to cross the very low bar that is the Bechdel Test, but it's not by much.
Plot-wise, I'm interested to see where it all goes, I want to see these characters meet and interact, and I really want to see more of this world.
I'm getting The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Tamora Pierce's Alanna vibes, and this is so not a complaint! These were some of my absolute favourite books as a kid/tween, and this kind of feels like a grown-up version of those books, with it's own twist of course.
On the whole I can't believe I've only just started reading this series. This first book apparently came out in 1998!! How have I been sleeping on this?!
8.5 or 9/10
Outstanding. And thanks again Nick!
(incomplete review, as I'm on ~pg 350 of 800 or so, but I'm at a "part" boundary, so this seemed like a good time)
First off, a shout-out to @ThatNickGuy who picked this up (and the rest of the trilogy!) for Secret Santa for me this year.
I have really been enjoying this book. It's not a super swift read, but it's quicker than the Brandon Sanderson novel I've been working on for months.
The world-building is just wonderful, a joy to read, and really top-notch. It's full and rich without feeling over-drawn or ham-fisted. And there's no multi-page long descriptions of meals or locations! But there's still enough detail to get a vivid and living world across. I want to learn more about this world, how it works, and even (for probably the first time ever) the politics of it all. It's genuinely just really good and masterfully done.
The characters also feel surprisingly fully-fleshed. Even the ones I absolutely loathe and want to kick in the nuts. Their behaviours seem internally consistent and reasonable from their perspectives, even if they do tend to the over-the-top dramatics. Though I understand the need to the larger-than-life reactions and emotions - this is a book after all, and if everyone behaved well, there would be much less of a plot. And the characters are varied. I can tell them apart with relative ease. My only beef is that it took almost 100 pages to be introduced to the first woman! At this point, I think we've managed to cross the very low bar that is the Bechdel Test, but it's not by much.
Plot-wise, I'm interested to see where it all goes, I want to see these characters meet and interact, and I really want to see more of this world.
I'm getting The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Tamora Pierce's Alanna vibes, and this is so not a complaint! These were some of my absolute favourite books as a kid/tween, and this kind of feels like a grown-up version of those books, with it's own twist of course.
On the whole I can't believe I've only just started reading this series. This first book apparently came out in 1998!! How have I been sleeping on this?!
8.5 or 9/10
Outstanding. And thanks again Nick!