What book did you just read and how was it?

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Networkn
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#2854046 20-Jan-2022 12:17

blackjack17:

Really enjoyed the word and the void series by Terry Brooks

Running with the Demon (1997)
A Knight of the Word (1998)
Angel Fire East (1999)

Part of the Shannara series but set in today's time (well the 90s)

Perhaps you could let us know a bit about them and what you liked :)

JaseNZ

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#2854066 20-Jan-2022 13:12

jamesrt:

JaseNZ: Magician by Raymond E. Fiest , I read this book about 20 years ago , Loved it then and loved it now.

Original or Expanded? Thy're both very good; but the Expanded version does add a lot more detail. And pages!

(I've got personally signed edtions of Magician, Silverthorn, and A Darkness at Sethanon...)

Yup expanded 😀

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blackjack17

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#2854067 20-Jan-2022 13:15

networkn:

blackjack17:

Really enjoyed the word and the void series by Terry Brooks

Running with the Demon (1997)
A Knight of the Word (1998)
Angel Fire East (1999)

Part of the Shannara series but set in today's time (well the 90s)

Perhaps you could let us know a bit about them and what you liked :)

Read them a while back but the post about the magician reminded me about them (in my head they were written by the same author, they weren't).

On the hottest Fourth of July weekend in decades, two men have come to Hopewell, Illinois, site of a lengthy, bitter steel strike. One is a demon, dark servant of the Void, who will use the anger and frustration of the community to attain a terrible secret goal. The other is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, a man who, while he sleeps, lives in the hell the world will become if he fails to change its course on waking. Ross has been given the ability to see the future. But does he have the power to change it?

At stake is the soul of a fourteen-year-old girl mysteriously linked to both men. And the lives of the people of Hopewell. And the future of the country. This Fourth of July, while friends and families picnic in Sinnissippi Park and fireworks explode in celebration of freedom and independence, the fate of Humanity will be decided . .

Fantasy series, but set in the real world. Reading the description makes it sound more fantasy but they they are quite grounded. I remember reading each book in a couple of days I was that engaged.

Followed by the The Genesis of Shannara series which links the word and the void series with the rest of the Shannara series which is more of a traditional fantasy style.

If you like Raymond E Feist and such authors you will probably like these ones.

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mdf

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#2854211 20-Jan-2022 15:34

@JaseNZ and @jamesrt

Magician is one of my all time favourites, but I've learned something new today - there is an expanded version! I'd heard the original was in two volumes but I've only ever come across the single volume versions. I've just gone down to get my copy off the shelf and it is a 1996 edition with "New Revised Edition" on the cover and an "Acknowledgements to the Revised Edition" inside the front cover. That refers to this "author's preferred edition".

Is this the same thing as the expanded edition or do I have something new to read?

jamesrt

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#2854240 20-Jan-2022 16:25

mdf: Is this the same thing as the expanded edition or do I have something new to read?

@mdf; no, that's what I'm referring to - the Revised edition aka "Author's Preferred". Just couldn't remember the actual name, and given I'm at work in an office today (!) couldn't check my bookshelf...

My version comes from the 1980s or early 90s; and I would have had it signed around that timeframe, as it was signed when I met R.E.F. in Wellington; and I went to live in the UK early 90s until early 2000s. So definitely before 1996!

jamesrt

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#2854245 20-Jan-2022 16:31

And here's what Wikipedia says:

Magician is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the first book of the Riftwar Saga and was published in 1982. It led to many books written by Feist in the world of Midkemia, which was the setting for this book. Originally reduced in size by his editors, it was re-published in 1992 (after the author's fame had grown) in an edition titled "The Author's Preferred Edition" (or "revised edition" in some markets) with much of the deleted text restored.

Magician was separated into two volumes for the United States market and published as: Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. The book is still published as a single volume, titled Magician, in the UK.

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JaseNZ

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#2854251 20-Jan-2022 16:49

jamesrt:

And here's what Wikipedia says:

Magician is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the first book of the Riftwar Saga and was published in 1982. It led to many books written by Feist in the world of Midkemia, which was the setting for this book. Originally reduced in size by his editors, it was re-published in 1992 (after the author's fame had grown) in an edition titled "The Author's Preferred Edition" (or "revised edition" in some markets) with much of the deleted text restored.

Magician was separated into two volumes for the United States market and published as: Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. The book is still published as a single volume, titled Magician, in the UK.

Either way Pug is my hero hahahahaha

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TLD

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#2854992 22-Jan-2022 22:48

Hey, I forgot the Victor the Assassin books by Tom Wood. Victor appears to have a background with the Russian mob, but we never get to learn his true background. Only that he could kick Jack Reacher's ass without breaking a sweat. Eleven books so far, and all excellent with a strong Orphan X flavour to them.

Victor the Assassin Series by Tom Wood | Goodreads

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networkn

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#2855047 23-Jan-2022 10:07

TLD:

Hey, I forgot the Victor the Assassin books by Tom Wood. Victor appears to have a background with the Russian mob, but we never get to learn his true background. Only that he could kick Jack Reacher's ass without breaking a sweat. Eleven books so far, and all excellent with a strong Orphan X flavour to them.

Victor the Assassin Series by Tom Wood | Goodreads

Thanks. I only have 2 Orphan X books to read.

It's such a shame they take a year to write and 3 days to read :)

I might have a chance of pace and pick up a Grisham book in the mean time. I like legal thrillers too.

TLD

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#2855146 23-Jan-2022 12:59

networkn:

I like legal thrillers too.

Check out Scott Pratt and his Joe Dillard series. There are ten so far and they are a good read.

For what it is worth, when I find a really good series I work through them all. A REALLY good series leaves me bereft when I finish the last one. I only managed the first four Jo Dillard books before deciding I needed a break, so for me they are good, but not great. That can also happen if something impossible to resist comes along like a new Jack Reacher, or Daniel Silva, Barry Eisler, or Mick Herron book. With the Scott Prat book it was finding John Lecarre's Silverview that pulled me away, but I moved to some Marc Cammeron and Nick Petrie books and don't feel like going back to Jo Dillard just yet.

Trevor Dennis
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ToPGuNZ

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#2875296 26-Feb-2022 14:30

Thank you @vexxxboy and @TLD for the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz suggestion. I am onto book three now and enjoying them a lot. I am not much of a reader, Jack Reacher series is the only one I have stuck with so it is nice to have something else. Victor the Assassin looks like a good option for me to try next.

My suggestion was a surprise find. A very quick and easy read but fun, cosy with loads of feel good vibes. Legends & Lattes first book for Travis Baldree, I follow him due to his involvement with making the PC game Torchlight.

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TLD

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#2877830 2-Mar-2022 15:53

Have we mentioned that Mick Herron's Slow Horses is starting in April on Apple TV? They are among my my absolute favourite books to read. The sort of thing I will stop another book half way through when a new one comes along. The casting looks promising — Jackson Lamb is going to be a gift to the actor who plays him, and I think Gary Oldham will do the role proud. I am wondering if they dare making quite as uncouth in the TV show as he is in the books deliberately farting regardless of company?

Trevor Dennis
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#2877859 2-Mar-2022 17:40

Light in the dark - Black holes, the universe and us. by Heino Falcke

It is an interesting and well-written account of the theoretical and experimental physics that led to the first photo of what is probably a black hole. Unfortunately, at 20% before the end, it devolves into the author's personal concept of God. I'm not sure I even disagree with anything the author has to say. The arguments just seemed off-topic in context. Nevertheless the book is definitely worth reading and a fascinating story.

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet.
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In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who someone is.

Geektastic

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#2878234 3-Mar-2022 11:21

I always forget to come and post here. I am a prolific reader - at least an hour a day I should think. Often two or three. Have been since I was a child.

I enjoy historical fiction and have enjoyed both the Marius' Mules series and the Wolves of Odin series by Simon Turney. I have also been enjoying a series of (in effect) detective/crime novels by I J Parker which begin with The Dragon Scroll.

I shall also be investigating some of the suggestions above, so thanks for them.

Geektastic

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#2878236 3-Mar-2022 11:23

TLD:

Hey, I forgot the Victor the Assassin books by Tom Wood. Victor appears to have a background with the Russian mob, but we never get to learn his true background. Only that he could kick Jack Reacher's ass without breaking a sweat. Eleven books so far, and all excellent with a strong Orphan X flavour to them.

Victor the Assassin Series by Tom Wood | Goodreads

Wow those are expensive books - $12 even for the Kindle edition!

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