Five Star Fantasy Book and Some Strange Sci-fi - May 2024 In A Nuttshell! #booktube #books #reading May 2024 in a Nuttshell is my May wrap up video of books I read in May as well as my June TBR. Patreon / thefantasynuttwork
I recently made a video where I ranked all of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. I liked Breakfast of Champions (they’re all good!) but it ranked a little bit lower for me as I found others of his even more cohesive and poignant. I am reading Klara and the Sun at the moment and enjoying it so I’m glad to hear you’re a fan of Ishiguro. And I haven’t read any VanderMeer yet, but I own Annihilation, which I’m looking forward to reading soon.
So glad you liked bourne and breakfast of champions! The drawings in breakfast of champions always made me laugh. My personal favorite vonnegut is the sirens of titan- it deals with some of the same themes as breakfast of champions. Thanks for the video Jimmy and the hilarious intro!
I know I'm late, but I think Sum by David Eagleman might be right up your alley. It is to the afterlife what Invisible Cities is to civilization and what Einstein's Dreams is to time. It's been on my list for a while!
Epic month! I’m so hyped for Sarantine Mosaic and definitely will check out Soldier Son once I’m done with Elderlings. I laughed so much reading Breakfast of Champions back in college, though I think his more serious books in Slaughterhouse Five and (slightly more serious) Cat’s Cradle left much more impact with me.
"Opening jingles the way they ought to be jingled!" -Bobby "Breastplate Stretcher" B I absolutely LOVED book 1 of the Expanse, but wasn't a huge fan of the rest of the series. I'm planning on giving the audiobooks a try eventually, so hopefully that will be a better experience.
In may I read 12 books, my first SF of 2024, "Light From Uncomon Stars", highly recommended for music lovers, "The Vanished Birds" lovely prose, just the story did not cliked with me. Not counting the fact that I re-read one of my favorite books of all times, "Black Sun" and its sequel "Fevered Star", my favorite book of the month and of the year so far was "A Master of Djin". I also read a great Epic Fantasy debut, "Kavithri" by Aman J. Bedi. My most anticipated book of the year needs to arrive to my place ASAP, "Mirrored Heavens". That is my only priority for June.
A nicely varied list there. In May I got through 6 books. Blowback - (Save America from the next Trump), Howling Dark, Sirens of Titan, Demon in White, Flamer, The Thursday Murder Club. Am already on book #10 for June - lots of rainy days where I live. Also in May I started getting my reading onto Hardcover, have got 2023 and 2024 on there now. It's handy to have easy access to my reviews etc. I've now got Remote Control on my TBR. Thanks for the tip.
You definitely have me even more excited to read Sarantine Mosaic - probably later this year. I will echo your thoughts with Shaman's Crossing - I didn't love the series, but do think it's unfairly maligned because Hobb fans wanted more Fitz. I enjoyed the wrap up and hope you have a great June!
Remote Control and Noor are my favorite Nnedi Okorafor. Unfortunately the rest of the works I have tried by her haven’t quite landed for me. She always gives me a bit of plot whiplash, and although I try to go with it I find that it does pull me out
Excellent reading month! The only Vonnegut I've read so far is "The Sirens of Titan." I have no words for your intro other than that I'm inspired to get a cape, a half mask, and do a video swinging down from a chandelier now.
I think it is really cool that you read Borne! I picked it up completely on a whim a couple of weeks ago that I have not been able to stop thinking about it since. It is awesome that you like it!
Vonnegut was a part of my May's list as well, and I'm about to go back to Robin Hobb and GGK, plus I'm currently re-watching the Expanse show (which I love) - so, many similarities! The Witchwood Crown has been impatiently sitting on my shelf for a while now though, so perhaps this is a sign to start it soon 😂
Vonnegut’s short story collections are exceptional. I’d highly recommend Galapagos and Slaughter House Five (especially if you haven’t seen the movie).
Ngl i enjoyed Lapvona. It continues her absurdist style, but in a dark fable-like setting. A farce that doesn't focus on humor. I just feel like she's always thumbing her nose at how serious we take life, or pretend everything is so prim and proper.
I love the variety here Jimmy, it’s really refreshing. It looks like it pays off, you had good month here. I’ve only read 3 books last month. Those were, Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell which was good, but not the best(in hindsight I should have rated this 3 stars not 4). The Warlord Chronicles just overshadows everything Cornwell writes, it’s just so much better. So not cash-money as you often say 😆 My first Heinlein with Double Star, sci-fi thriller about an actor who takes on a shady job on mars as a body double. A bit dated, but interesting as I’ve never read anything from him before. The last one was Mr. Monster by Dan Wells. This one was a well written crime thriller with a twist when I needed a palete cleanser I’ll join you in June with Starfish, and I’ve read 130 pages so far. Grim, unique and really interesting, I have no idea where Peter Watts is taking me. Other than that, I’ll read Elric of Melnibonê, Legend by David Gemmel and The Dark Forrest by Cixin Liu.
The writers of the expanse are collaborating on a new space opera trilogy called "The Captives War." The first book is set to come out this August. "The Mercy of Gods"
Probably the first person to say something positive about Soldier Son, lol. I need to check it out at some point. Nnedi Okorafor writes great stuff. At some point it'll be worth your time to check out Lagoon, her take on first contact.
Nice reading month! Not so into hot girl literature myself but I have to say, Jimmy, that the hot girl literature era of your channel rocks! If you like Okorafor check out her graphic novel LaGuardia. And for cool library setting: Mark Lawrence The Book That Wouldn't Burn. Keep up the good stuff!
If it's about death, then perhaps a lesson to be learned is that death cares not for any unfinished threads. Death just comes and that's it. Whatever is not resolved is not going to happen
Hello from Ukraine, Jimmy!:) Glad that you read Vonnegut’s work, he is my favorite author. And my favorite his book is “Mother night”. It’s realistic, it’s not bizarre like other his stuff. Very interesting, impactful, thought provoking. It has some amazing plot twists.
Good month! Southern Reach trilogy was good, I’m intrigued by your description of Borne, sounds wild. I’m buddy reading Klara and the Sun with Johnathan from Words in Time and Robin from Bookspin. We just started, but so far it’s great. I read Binti by Okorafor last year and it was good, not great, but good. Happy reading!
@@thefantasynuttwork It’s too early for me to judge, but the beginning has a degree of innocence and sweetness that I did not expect. It’s just lovely.
I'm really interested in Remote Control. I've been enjoying speculative novellas lately! I'm glad to hear you liked Shaman's Crossing. I need to get back to reading Robin Hobb. I only read two short books (Lost Ark Dreaming and In the Shadow of the Fall) in May, but one of them might be my book of the year, so it was still a good reading month!
Okay okay, more Hobb content that is on par with some of the RotE... I am going to have to go back to it for sure!! And ooooh I am so curious to hear your thoughts on Lapvona. From all I have heard, that book is wildly unhinged and absolutely disgusting, but in the most morbidly fascinating way. Hope you love it!!
Borne is such a good book! I’m glad you enjoyed it and I definitely think it can be read as a stand alone, I think the other books are companions not sequels necessarily. I’m reading Bone Clocks right now, really enjoying it, it is giving me real Stephen King vibes. Thanks for talking about it. I mean king in the way he writes characters
I’m glad you enjoyed Borne! The unique world and the book’s exploration of motherhood really captured me. Also I need more giant bear books because of that story 😂. In May, read through one of my fiancée’s favorite books “Song of the Silence” by Elizabeth Kerner this last month because she will be drawing quotes from it for her wedding vows for our wedding in June! For the month June I’ll be finishing Tigana before my wedding as I’ll be using a quote from that book in my vows. I’ll also continue to slowly read and do copy work for Blood Meridian and hopefully finish up with Star of the Unborn by Franz Werfel. Big month! 😂
I mostly read pages of my dissertation, which I’m revising. (So close….so close…) I also read Declare by Tim Powers, which I think is head and shoulders above Anubis Gates. (Though most people have a higher opinion of Anubis Gate’s than I do.) I need to reread A Short Stay In Hell. I’ve thought about it far more than I’d expected, and often reflect on the closing passage about “I am trying…” If you ever make it back to ICFA we can discuss it. Have you read Borges’s short stories, particularly “The Library of Babylon” that provided the conceit for Short Stay in Hell? I think you may like Borges. He was a major influence on Gene Wolfe, and the blind librarian in Book of the New Sun is an avatar of Borges himself.
Loved, LOVED A Pale View of the Hills. I can see how the lack of plot can bore some people, but to me, his deceptively simple writing style evokes many emotions. “Psychological” is a perfect word for it. I enjoyed the unreliable narration and the tensions between the older generation and the younger generation regarding the social changes in post war Japan. I am curious to see what you think of his spec fic. Never let me go is his most well known work but his other scifi/fantasy like Klara and the Sun and the Buried Giant are very polarizing.
Nnedi Okorafor is becoming a favorite author. I read her Amazon original short story Black Pages, and it's so powerful. So I read Who Fears Death, and love her world building. I'm reading Binti next, but sounds like Remote Control would be a good one to grab.
I also feel 'A Short Stay in Hell' didn't make me think existentially about what comes after as much as I had hoped. So I picked up 'Solenoid,' which apparently does delve much deeper into questions of death and mortality. It has won a bunch of awards. The Active Mind booktube channel did an excellent review of it and piqued my interest.
Jimmy have you read Between Two Fires? I was shocked to see it wasn’t on your patron list anywhere. I just read it this month and I’ve never been so convinced of a book matching a booktuber as you and this book! It’s like a mix of Berserk meets The Last of Us with some 1500’s Catholic horror. Seriously don’t make me become a patron to force you to read this!!! (My wallet won’t survive 😅😅😅)
Yeah. Soldier Son is a good book. Not great, but good. I read The Trouble with Peace for the first time in May. It was really good, one of my two best reads for May. The other was Stones of Light by Zach Argyle. I'm really liking the Threadlight series so far.
@thefantasynuttwork I see why people say that. Personally I think it's more similar to Mistborn. It's actually completely different than either of them, in my opinion. The vibe is different. The magic isn't quite as hard as Sanderson's either. It's not as science-y, if that makes sense. I haven't read the 3rd book, so maybe I'm completely wrong. I just think the comparisons to Sanderson are pretty surface level after you get into it.
So glad you're skipping Never Let Me Go. Good grief I've never been so bored reading in my life. I LOVE Ishiguro's work, but that book is a miserable read. I'll be sure to offer more chili peppers in the cookie jar in other videos haha!
Glad you enjoyed «Lord of Emperors»! 😊 My notes and all the references I caught in the Sarantine Mosaic: Jad: A fusion of Jesus with the Ancient Sun Gods Helios/Sol Invictus Rhodias: Mix of mostly Rome with a dash of Rhodes, such as the Helios Colossos of Rhodes (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) with the Colossos of Nero (reworked by later Emperors into Sol Invictus) outside the Colosseum (possible reason why it got that name!) Sarantium: Byzantium/Comstatinople Sailing to Sarantium: «Sailing to Byzantium», Famous Poem by Yeats The Attenine Palace: The Pallatium of Byzantium, possible mixed with The Palatine and the Aventine Hills of Rome The Excubitors Imperial Bodyguard: The Byzantine Excubitors, with a dash of the Scholar Palatinae and the Pretorian Guard of the Roman Empire Imperial Silk Guild: The Byzantine Silk Industry is said to have started when during Emperor Justinan Christian Munk smuggled slik worms in their walking canes! Emperor Apius: Roman Emperor Antonius Pius/Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (who preceded Justin as Emperor) Valerius of Trakasia: Byzantine Emperor Justin of Illyria (who was Illyrian- or Thracian-Roman) Petrus/Valerius II: Byzantine Emperor Justinian (born Flavius Petrus Sabbatius) Alixana: Justinian’s wife and Empress Theodora The Blues vs the Greens Charioteer Rivalry: Straight out of Byzantine History! Heladikus in the Chariot/Father Sun: Again GGK showing his Ancient Greek influences, referring to the story of when the Sun God Helios’ son Phaethon borrowed his father’s Sun Chariot and crashed it into Africa (the Mythical explanation for the Sahara Desert!) The Heladikian Heresy: Here GGK mix various Christian unorthodox groups: The outreach to the Antae, mirror how Arian missionaries (preaching that Jesus was not equally divine as God the Father as God incarnate on Earth, as he is in the Trinity of most Major Christian Churches, but a subordinate figure) converted several Germanic peoples (ironically more fitting the Orthodox view in the Sarantine Mosaic, denouncing/erasing Heladikus), while the Religious element of the Blue/Green Rivalry, mirror how the theological debate over the nature of Jesus is said to have impacted the factions: The Blues leaned towards Dyopysittism (that Jesus was both fully Divine and fully Human, the modern Orthodox view in most of Christianity, supported by Emperor Justinian) and the Greens towards Monophysittism (that Jesus was just Divine) The Bassanid Empire:The Persian Sassanid Empire (as well as the later Islamic Abbasid Caliphate, and some Slavic touches) The Bassanid Capital Kabadh: The Kaba Stone in Mecca/the Abbasid Capital of Baghdad The Antae: (Visi/Ostro-)Goths/Vandals Varena: Ravenna, late Western Roman/Ostrogothic Capital Forties and Pappio: Love those two!😄 Cheiromancers: Palm reading Senator Plautus Bonosus: Clever man! Flavius Daleinus: Sarantine (Byzantine/Greek) Fire to the Face! Linon:The Automatrons from «Clash of the Titans»! 😄 Lady Massina’s Foot flirting: Tarantino approved! 😜🤣 Linon: GPS 😜 Thief Alarm 😜 Vargos: Good Man! Ludan of the Forest: Mix of Wotan (the Germanic version of the Norse Diety Odin, often tied to Oak trees), the Celtic Diety Logus and the British Celtic Diety Nodens (famously JRR Tolkien aided in translating Archaeological finds tied to Nodens, and GGK aided Christopher Tolkien in editing the Silmarillion) Sauradia: Geographically Illyria (Western Balkans) with name mixed with Isauria in Southern Anatolia/Turkey (also one of the Byzantine Dynasties), it’s history inspired by the many Illyrian rebellions (with a dash of the Battle at Teutoburg Forest between the Germanics and the Romans) The Day of the Dead: Celtic Samhain, with elements of Norse Blot/Bloting Kasia: Inspired by Cosette from «Les Miserables»? The Zubr, the European Bison, can be found depicted in the Neolithic Cave of Altamira, with only about 2000 left today in Modern Poland, Lithuania & Belarus The Bassanid Dieties of Perun and Anahita reminded me of the Kushan Diety Duo of Oesho (related to the Hindu Diety Shiva, with his name obviously referring to Slavic Sky/Thunder/War God Perun) and Ardoksho (related to Persian Diety Anahita and Hindu Shri/Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu) Chariot racing no doubt inspired by the famous chariot race in the Sword & Sandal Epic «Ben Hur»! Shirin: Shares the name of Sassanid Emperor Khosrow II’s Christian wife (contemporary and rival of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius) Ashes ibn Ashar: Obviously inspired by the Islamic Prophet Mohammed, mirroring how the Islamic Arabs conquests took advantage of how the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires had exhausted each other militarily and economically, leaving them both vulnerable for foreign invasions Antae Queen Gisel: Ostrogothic Queen Amalasuintha (whose death stated the Gothic War and the Byzantine (Temporarily) Reconquest of Italy under Justinian and Belisarius) Leontes/Valerius III: Mix of Justinian’s General Belisarius (often dubbed «The Last Roman», for reconquering North Africa and Italy) and Emperor Heraclius (who recaptured the Relic of Jesus’ Cross captured by the Sassanids and sieged their capital of Ctesiphon) with some Iconoclastic views (based on the Second Commandment, that God should not be depicted visually, a later Theological View in Byzantine History that gained popularity as a reaction to the Islamic Capture of their territories North Africa and the Levant, as viewing it as a divine punishment for the many Icons popular in Orthodox Christianity, causing a new major theological debate and political rivalry for many decades in the Byzantine Empire) Pertennius of Eubulus: Procopius of Caesarea, author of both the Official «History of the Wars» (detailing Justinian and Belisarius’ wars to reconquer lost Roman Territory) and the unofficial «Secret History» (trash-talking both Justinian and (especially) his wife Empress Theodora)
@@thefantasynuttwork «Holy» is indeed the operating word! 😄 There is a regular argument that GGK just write Historical Fiction, not Fantasy: Even disregarding the touches of magic and the second blue moon, I hope my notes show how while GGK clearly knows his history, he fuses people, events and cultures over multiple centuries to create both similar but also completely different outcomes, which squarely puts him in (Historical) Fantasy: Belisarius never became Emperor in our history (GGK tipping his hat to a often used trope in Alt-History), Justinian outlived Theodora, as mentioned Queen Amalasuintha died during Justinian’s reign etc.
Your comments about “A Short Stay in Hell” remind me of how I felt about “Midnight Library.” As someone who’s philosophically inclined and also thinks about death quite a bit, I wanted that book to move me way more than it actually did. I’d still like to read this book though and see if I feel the same way.
I think Sarantine will be my next GGK read. Among other things I slowly read through a bunch of GRRM short stories (Dreamsongs vol. 1) late April and May. I can confirm that Sandkings is very good. Alongside Sandkings my personal favorites were Song for Lya (which I mentioned in an earlier comment) and The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr. Also maybe The Ice Dragon, The Stone City, and Nightflyers. Have you read any of these, and if so what do you think of them?
Another Jimmy B-B-B-Bangerrrrrrr (rap airhorn sound effect)(cash register sound effect). Great wrap up my friend. May was the month of Maas for me as I read Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, and Kingdom of Ash to close out the series. I also did Boy Parts by Eliza Clark on audio which was excellent. In June I'm taking a bit of a break from heavier fantasy. Im reading: - The Long Walk by Stevie King (already finished) - Dead Lions by Mick Herron (Slough House 2) - Dissolution by CJ Ransom - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Ngyuen - Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy - Severed Echoes by Anya Dylan - Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak Let's Get It Jimmy!
I just saw that The Etched City is in your patron picks! I hope it comes up soon in one of these. Or I hope you read it before you get the chance to draw it from these patron picks. I think you'd really love it, a monumental work of weird fantasy fiction. Surprised you started Vonnegut with Breakfast of Champions, I think people typically go for Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse 5. I haven't read those since high school but I remember liking them a lot. I wonder how you'll feel about Lapvona, I personally couldn't really get into it, it felt a bit childish to me with its morbidity? Perhaps like it was trying too hard. I don't quite know how to explain it but it rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know that Moshfegh is for me in general, though. Something about her style just puts me off. Can't wait for you to read more Ishiguro. He's a treasure. The Buried Giant in particular is a beautiful fantasy novel about memory. Oh, and I forgot about mentioning Vandermeer, if you love Borne's strangeness, the other two novels in the quasi-trilogy get far weirder. Dead Astronauts is probably my favourite Vandermeer novel. He completely explodes his form with wild space and time shenanigans.
Oh cool! Just noticed one of your patrons has The Terror as their book in the raffle, hope that gets pulled one of these days it truly is a banger of a book. Just finished up reading Into The Narrowdark and now I'm just annoyed that I have to wait until the end of the year for the final book in the series, planning a re read just before that comes out. Needless to say i absolutely loved it, if you're enjoying The Witchwood Crown right now then you have a lot to look forward to, for my money it's the weakest in the series, which isn't any shade against it, still a great book. At this point I think I can confidently say that I prefer this Osten Ard series over Memory Sorrow and Thorn. Glad you enjoyed Shamans Crossing, personally a little bit tired of the Soldier Son slander, sure Nevare isn't Fitz but that's no reason to hate on the series. As for what I'm reading in June, who knows. I guess I'll have to pick a book out of the cripplingly large stack of unread books I have, a true nightmare to behold.
Great wrap up! The Shaman's Crossing hate makes no sense. Those are some salty ass 1 stars. The book is good. Not great but it is well written. The second book is great. I just didn't enjoy book three at all. I need to read Breakfast of Champions again. It has been a long time since I read it. I read a lot of Vonnegut as a teenager. My standouts in May were "The Grace of Kings" , "Funny Story" , and the nonfiction banger "Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds" (that is a long ass title 😂). June is all about Red Rising, Westerns, and more Glen Cook. I'm also reading three short stories. When I finish them I will have read everything nominated for Hugo Award in 1964. Which sounds strange but I had already everything in the novel category other than the winner(Way Station by Clifford D Simak, it is great) so I thought "I guess I'm going to read everything else" . "Rose for Eccesiastes" by Roger Zelazny was nominated that year and it is one of the most beautiful and sad short stories I have ever read. I loved it. (I just realized I gave a small lecture about the Hugo Awards from 1964). If my book ever wins the drawing it might ruin you 😂. It isn't satire but it is absurd. It is to other humorous lit fic what "It's Always Sunny" is to other sitcoms. I'm done with my wall of text now, see you next time!
@@thefantasynuttwork It's like nothing else I have read for sure. It's nice to find something wholly different than the traditional sci-fi/fantasy stuff.
Here's what I read Murtagh by Christopher paolini A very private school by Charles Spencer memoir How to end a love story by yulin kaung It happened one summer by tessa bailey The green mile by Stephen king City of fire by don Winslow Interview with the vampire by Anne rice Binding 13 by chloe Walsh Steelstriker by marie lu You might want to check out city of fire by don Winslow it's a crime drama first book in a trilogy i really enjoyed this one
Of course The Soldier Son trilogy is better than many Realm of the Elderlings books! Book 2 specifically is Hobb’s masterpiece in my opinion, up there with Fool’s Fate. I read that trilogy a while ago and believe me, it’s still very much on my mind. It’s fantastic. I genuinely distrust people who don’t value the Soldier Son Trilogy as the gem that it is 😂
Hey Jimmy, I just finished Child of God and I'm back in the mood for more McCarthy. I've Orchard Keeper and the Border trilogy. Which would you recommend? Also which GGK do you plan on picking up next?
@@thefantasynuttwork Sweet. Cheers Jimmy. BTW, just watched your live with Fantasy Awash, glad I'm not the only one that doesn't like Ryan Cahill's books 🤣
@@thefantasynuttwork We shall be the shield walls hahaha BTW, I've been binge reading GGK, you gotta do A Brightness Long Ago, that's my new favourite book of his.
