Yes, this is on the correct channel 😂 I was on vacation and took time off from the second channel so I could chill while away, which is why this is here. Hope you enjoy it 🤓
One book I wish you would look into hell divers by Nicholas sansbury smith very good series friends family and surviving the end of the world on an air ship that ended the world 250 years previous
Off topic but I just wanted to thank you for the One Piece rec because I'm on Volume 5 rn and I am HOOKED. It's my first deep dive into manga and holy smokes, this could actually be a new fave if it only gets better with future volumes. I am compulsively reading it like crazy 😭😭 I also started First Law based on your recs and omg I am halfway through The Blade Itself and this book is absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much.
@@Ghost.Nappa56 Thanks. I was just on Instagram recently and I saw the recent One Piece post on the Netflix account and realized avoiding spoilers was going to be harder than I thought 😭😭
I didn't know you were starting Discworld so I instantly broke into a full-on smile when you pulled out Guards Guards. I'm glad you instantly fell in love with the goofy cast just like me and am looking forward to discussions about next books. 😆
If you end up loving Vagabond I highly recommend Slam Dunk, it's by Inoue (the mangaka) as well and its about basketball. I was never really into the sport that much, but Inoue made me cheer at the edge of my seat for the main story's team. Its also a lovely story about someone that doesnt know much about basketball slowly falling in love with the sport too.
Slam Dunk and Real. Real unlike Slam Dunk is about people with disabilities who find solace in sports (mostly wheelchair basketball). It's very heavy when it comes to exploring some darker themes, which is almost the complete opposite of Slam Dunk.
I am happy, joyous - in fact DELIGHTED that you enjoyed Guards Guards! And when you said you'd read a Pratchett every month this year I cheered. My kids look at me strange now. 😉 Welcome to Pratchett-land! Strange isn't strange here.
Discworld! If you do do the Witches next, make sure to include the young adult books with starting with The Wee Free Men, it's an epilouge of sorts to the sub series. As well as some of Pratchett's best prose
Oh dear Lady Napier, we, your sometimes faithful servants, have successfully spamed Roger's chat enough times to make him commit to reviewing Mistborn at 425k subs. We are grateful to serve in this noble mission of unifying the booktube and manga community 😋. (Also he was thinking about making a collab stream with your excelence and that despicable goblin, it'd be quite cool if that actually happened, a great opportunity to bull.. *ough *ough, i mean encourage and introduce him to reading fantasy novels). (*Noble book knight voice off) It looks like yall had a great time Merph, you deserve it girl 😊✌🏻
Vagabond's story might feel "simple" and "slow" but as You go on You will realize there is a certain depth to it, t the philosphies presented. The Art is stunning and it only gets better and better....
Yeah the art isn't pencil drawings He Draws with Calligraphy Brush. Straight up Ink. 💀💀💀 It's so hard to even do calligraphy with the Brush but the Mangaka's just Built Different.
Mushishi is so amazing!! My mom has had the Blue-ray for most of the series ever since I could remember, I think I was 6-7 when I first watched it back in 2009-2010. Such a beautiful anime.
I just stumbled upon your channel, but I'm glad you enjoyed our lovely Aguadilla. Most travelers only know the San Juan area and they are missing so much. I've lived in Aguadilla most of my life and I wouldn't change it.
Wonderfull place to read Vagabond, i love reading while at the mountain in general but Vagabond with the great sceneries you see really get something extra with it
Saw Puerto Rico, saw Vagabond and saw Merphy, immediate click. Vagabond is a very slow meditative story despite its high intensity action - the author Inoue Takehiko is a beast and you might like his other works. I adore Real and everyone is going to recommend Slam Dunk too, can’t go wrong with either but I prefer Real
Our taste in books are so similar, it's unbelievable. I mean, it was already before you started reading manga but now it's just ridiculous. Guards! Guards! is a blast!!!
"Build a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life."--Terry Pratchett. I have got to read more of his work.
So happy you loved Guards Guards! Discworld was my favourite series growing up and I must have read each book at least 3-4 times now - reading them is like putting on a comfy pair of slippers now :) I love them all, but if I had to pick my top 5 discworlds: Maskerade Interesting Times Night Watch Feet of Clay Soul Music
i couldn’t be happier seeing you started reading vagabond, for me it brought more lesson than anything i’ve ever read and reconnected me to a more spiritual side, i hope you enjoy it :,)
Glad you're reading Vagabond! It's one of my absolute favorites. Also fun fact, the mangaka Takehiko Inoue's previous work was a long running basketball series called Slam Dunk, which is considered one of the most iconic and influential sports manga ever written, and you can tell he is passionate about the sport (he also teaches and coaches kid basketball leagues over here in japan). Inoue is one of the most respected managaka in recent manga history and seems like a genuinely cool dude. Vagabond, Vinland Saga, and Berserk are usually considered like "the Big Three" of seinen manga, kinda like how "the Big Three" of Shonen were One Piece, Bleach, and Natuto (though only OP is still going haha with many other Shonen being put in as candidates for the other two unofficial slots lol).
I recently started Re:Zero (the Anime) and I can highly recommend reading it. The original is not a Manga, it's a Light Novel, but the people that love it call it "peak fiction" and I can't disagree. The setup genre (Isekai) may be weird if you've never read such a story, but the basic premise of the story is really good (teaser below) and the characters are surprisingly deep with rich backstory. It has a very unique way of fleshing out characters, while the story takes various different turns. I just ordered the first volume that starts after the Anime ends and I love it! Small teaser / basic premise: The main character gets teleported from our world into a fantasy world and gets cursed. Every time he dies, time gets rewinded to a random spot in the past and he is the only one to remember what happened. This way, we get to see various different sides of the characters (the good, the bad, the ugly), while the story can take various turns.
The Witches series is amazing! I just finished The Shepherd's Crown. Starting the series with Wyrd Sisters makes sense, or with Equal Rites as a kind of prequel. I'd definitely recommend reading Equal Rites before the Tiffany Aching books, which are the 5 books that finish off the Witches Series.
I just started Vinland saga yesterday and I haven't gotten to the point where I'm obsessed with it yet, but I'm still going to get continued because I'm at the beginning. (P.s I was the one that wasn't sure about the Chimera ant arc but now I love it so thank you Merphy) 😁 I just notice how cautious with new things....OH WELL, ANYWAY
What a coincidence, I’m currently reading my first Discworld book and absolutely loving the absurdist humour as well! I’m reading Monsterous Regiment which is considered a “stand alone”/entry point into the Discworld & so highly recommend! 🙌
I love Sir Prachett! I joined when you started one piece and have been holing youd also check Prachett one day. So happy. The guard series is my favorite
Absolutely delighted you loved Guards Guards! I had a feeling you would. You’re gonna have a blast with Pratchett, I’m excited to see what you think of the others you read next.
So glad you had a nice and safe trip! I certainly enjoyed the footage. May I add, for someone who's not really into music, you always choose some nice, atmospheric music to enhance it. "Island of the Lost" sounds interesting, I love shipwreck stories. Will check it out! Thanks!
What a wonderful vacation! Loved every scene with Carrot and Nobbs in “Guards, Guards!” 😂 Overly Sarcastic Production had a lovely livestream reading the start of the story, great fun!
I'm glad you're reading Discworld. Equal Rites is the first book to feature one of the witches, but I'd argue that Wyrd Sisters is where the series really begins. The first one feels like reading a Vimes book without Ankh-Morpork, Colon, Nobby, Carrot, or Vetinari. It's an enjoyable read, but I'd recommend waiting until Wyrd Sisters before you decide whether the series is for you.
I just got back from a week in Puerto Rico myself so this was a surprise to see but glad you had fun ❤️ You definitely were able to read more than I could
Thank you for visiting our island! ❤️ Hope next time you get to visit parts from the center. There are lots of amazing hiking/adventure spots you can't miss out on. Also, have you visited El Yunque?
Oh my, it is minus temperatures here (celsius, under 32 Farenheit) and looking at you in your tshirts and bare feet... I need some holidays :D I'm glad you enjoyed Guards, and looking forward to Witches!
Hope you liked it!! The island is fucking beautiful in the rural regions, and the beaches are lovely. Btw, did you have any of the food from here? What did you like the most?
My father had a house in Aguada. He has since passed away. But I grew up and enjoyed visiting during the summer months. It is definitely the area I tell people to visit to get an idea of what Puerto Rico is truly like. Cabo Rojo has great restaurants.
Yeah unfortunately the Vizbig editions of Vagabond are pretty notorious for their bindings/spines being pretty weak. It sucks too, because I personally think they're gorgeous books, but their durability is kinda garbage for a lot of people.
So you know, if you don’t already, Vagabond is an adaptation of Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, I believe Vagabond is yet to finish but when you catch up to it you can read the novel
Vagabond being "quiet" is apparently a pretty common complaint about the series, at least common enough for there to be videos talking about the criticism of it being "boring" like The Masked Man's video. In that video he actually refers to it the same way you do, "quiet", but he also calls it "intimate", both of which I think perfectly describe Vagabond. There's beautiful artwork on every page, there's cool, tense, amazing fights every once in a while, but the main thing driving it's popularity and renown are the quiet, intimate looks into Musashi as a person that take up the majority of the manga's contents. Outside of the amazing artwork, that's also why you'll often hear Vagabond being talked about in the same breath as Berserk, or vice versa. Except in Berserk's case it's actually the opposite, where the majority of the manga is violence and death, but every once in a while has really quiet and intimate moments with the main character. I think it's actually pretty cool how two of the "Greatest manga of all time" manga are extremely character driven stories, both with amazing artwork, yet deal with it's story and characters in completely different ways, like Musashi and his love for combat, wanting to test his ability and be the best swordsman ever, contrasted with Guts and him not really caring for combat, but being forced into it constantly because of the cruel world of Berserk. It's insane how perfect they are for people who don't like one or the other lmao.
Just letting you know, unfortunately, all vagabond volumes are prone to breaking that easily. I used to own all of them but everytime I picked up the series again I'd break a volume or two.
Hey Merphy! I am going to Puerto Rico for the first time this summer🤩 I’m currently learning Spanish as well, though with a Mexican dialect. What did you do there that was less touristy? I really want to interact in Spanish while I’m there :)
@Merphy Napier You're more than welcome to hop along! 😂 In fact, I have a coworker that wants to visit, and she and her husband are planning on going at the same time as us this year. 😁 I feel proud and happy when other people get to experience the beautiful (and delicious) things from my island. I hope you had coffee from PR! 😆
Welcome to Pratchett. If you liked Guards! Guards!, it just gets better. I'm currently in my second read-through of the Discworld novels and just about to finish the Witches' arc.
You've got me looking for flights to Puerto Rico! It looks like flying to Aguadilla is far more expensive. Do you recommend flying to San Juan and renting a car?
I started discworld with the color of magic because I like reading things in chronological order and I loved it haven't made it to guards guards yet though getting ready to start Mort in a couple of days though
Me encanta Vagabond, lo leí cuando tenía 12 años, con él vi lo "artístico" que podía llegar a hacer el manga como medio. Muy sorprendente ver el cambio tan drástico entre Slam Dunk (El trabajo anterior de Inoue-sensei) y este. Una obra maestra, ciertamente.
If you're getting to like those British style books then you could try the Alex Verus books by Benedict Jacka. First one is called Fated. It's a similar vein to the Dresden books but much more of a British mindset. For example, he's a shopkeeper rather than a detective and at one point meets someone who is mad for bitter (british beer). The series has just finished so there are a lot of them but they're nice and short. And the audiobooks in particular are fantastic.
First of all great vlog. Hopefully Merphy and your family had time to fully recharge your battery! The same thing btw happened to my Vagabond binding, so shame on you Viz! Anyways, so excited to see your Vagabond journey. Looking forward to the upcoming content for the rest of the year.
While I do think The Witches series is wonderful, I do want to tell you I think Equal Rites is a bit bumpy. It’s fine , but it’s not quite a full witches book because it’s still half of a wizard book a bit. Plus there isn’t the full coven. I say all this not to discourage you from reading it, rather to let you know The Witches we know and love are more properly introduced in Wyrd Sisters, so don’t give up on ole Granny Weatherwax after Equal Rites, because Wyrd Sisters is wonderful!
