I recently listened to “A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking” recently and I was NOT expecting YA fantasy fiction to go that hard on the subject of “heroism” being a term used to excuse the phenomenon of pushing people into dangerous jobs way too young to cover for the systemic failures and often outright corruption of existing power structures. I had a good few years experience in Healthcare beforehand but I graduated nursing school mid-covid and that book really spoke to me.

Somewhat coincidentally iirc it was actually released mid COVID as well, and I imagine had been worked on for years beforehand. So it’s interesting to me that the author picked up on the already existing manifestations of this phenomenon in a way that would speak so well to the epic clusterfuck that ultimately occurred.

I’ve started reading the somewhat expansive Cosmere universe of books by Brandon Sanderson.

I like actually reading, but there is a LOT to get through, so I’m reading the series (a couple trilogies, a series of 5 books) in actual print, and listening to the standalone novels in the universe on audio.

It’s actually been a nice day to keep moving through all the different overlapping character lines. One particular character, who I’ll call H, spans the various worlds and stories often. It’s fun reading something about H in one book and then hearing him as the narrator or showing up as a character in the audio book I’m listening to later.

11-22-63 by myself and The Hail Mary Project with my wife.

I just finished listening to all 14 Honor Harrington novels.

I’m listening to the Bobiverse again because the fifth book came out recently. The universe, pun intended, was really interesting and the entire idea of digital people is fun to think about while doing chores.

I’m currently listening to Livesuit by James SA Corey. It’s part of their new series that released this year called The Captives War. It’s a Novella/Interquel pretty typical of their release style.

It takes place in an incredibly unknowably distant future for humanity. We follow a squad of Livesuit infantry who have fused their bodies with technology to fight an unfathomable legion of alien conquerors. An enemy that has never lost a war then uses the best traits of conquered races to continue their war.

Why it’s so good is because the author(s) have an incredible way of describing people and the world they interact with. Images are vivd and believable. While being so alien, and futuristic Corey manages to write a world you can imagine yourself in.

Additionally, their novellas always take place in the same world, but are completely stand alone stories from the main series so the depth of world building is just… chef’s kiss

Both writers were originally working on writing RPGs and TTRPGs so their style just brings me back to sitting at a table with friends, some drinks and a Character Sheet for a hopeful lvl 3 wizard.

I’ve been listening to the graphic audio versions of The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson.

I just finished listening to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy. The narrator was fantastic. Probably the best I’ve listened.

Best audio book I’ve listened to… Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.

Dungeon Crawler Carl 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matthew Dinniman. Its just good fun and the sound effects are amazing. Though I think Carl sounds too old for a 27 year old.

It has also been a good break after Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

Not listening to it at the moment, but I listened-through my Alastair Reynolds audiobook collection recently.

Aside from the quality of the stories (love me some good hard sci-fi), all of the audiobooks were narrated by the same guy. Several of the books are part of a series, and the narrator did a pretty good job, though not perfect, of using the same voices between books for all of the recurring characters.

The Lightbringer series by author Brent Weeks.

The type of “magic” in this fantasy series is unlike any other that I know of. Light can be split by some people into it’s individual colors, 1st book is The Black Prism, and those colors are able to be used/cast in a physical form with each color having specific properties and effects on the person that has the ability to use that color. Green is wild/free, red is anger/impulsive and so on. The prism, god chosen representative, is able to use all colors without limits. Murder, spies, politics, love, plot twists, magic…it’s got it all.

The reading is fairly easy and the story is easy to follow. This is, I think, the 4th time I am listening to the series. All of Brent Weeks books have been good…but something about this series is great.

There’s a podcast done by a well known Tolkien nerd in which he reads The Silmarillion and explains it along the way. I’ve been slowly making my way through it while driving to work and falling asleep.

Mariette Lindsteins “Pako Kultista” (or Lång väg hem Mina 25 år i sekten) that tells of her life in the scientology cult, almost finished it. Couldn’t find if it had an English translation. It’s chilling to listen to how the members are thoroughly abused, controlled and forced to become husks of themselves.

Confederacy of Dunces, read by Artie Johnson. I’ve read and listened to it at least a dozen times. Johnson really puts a lot into his reading of it.

Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model”. It was excellent. But be warned, if you’re looking for military, adventure sci fi with snarky AI’s this will not be your cup of tea. The author takes on modern societal issues in the setting of post collapse human society. Yes, I’m aware of the dichotomy there.

If you do want snarky AI’s and adventure, then I recommend the following series:

“Backyard Starship” series. I think it’s up to book 17 so far and the quality of the books have stayed pretty consistent. The prequel series “The Peacemaker Wars” is also pretty good.

“Expeditionary Force” The quality does NOT stay consistent in this series and quite frankly, it’s not very well written. However, it’s like Lofthouse cookies, a lot of mediocre ingredients come together to make something great. I am a die hard fan of the series and highly recommend it if you want something that just removes you from reality for a while.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

A funny little romance as told from the point of view of the monster terrorizing a town. She tries her best to woo a human and actually is a pretty supportive partner. It’s so weird and I love it.