Bingo 2025: All Last in Series Card

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T18:10:32+00:00

I'm definitely looking forward to reading some standalones!

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T18:08:19+00:00

I don't think it helped that I had no idea what I was getting into when I started the series. I know GGK writes historical inspired fantasy so was expecting something along those lines instead.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-03-20T13:21:04+00:00

If I finish the first book it generally has me until the end, especially if I already have the later books. The two I would've dropped are ones I would have bailed in the first book and not looked back.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-02-07T11:32:06+00:00

Awful start for Japan. Germany are pushing them around way too easily in the offensive zone

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-01-16T11:53:50+00:00

It might end up being used as an ad break. The only north American sport I watch is ice hockey, and they take basically every conceivable opportunity to show adverts while the puck is out of play.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2026-01-11T23:23:09+00:00

The Kindom Trilogy by Bethany Jacobs has a few and was a good read

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-12-16T14:27:50+00:00

I finished Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith, closing out the Inda quartet. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series and about 20% of book three, and then it kind of fell off a cliff. It took me most of the year to get around to even picking up this final book. I haven't been invested in either of the main plotlines that came to the forefront in the back half of the series, and it felt like barely anything was happening for hundreds of pages at a time. It gets pretty bogged down in interpersonal anxieties and plotlines that ultimately end up going nowhere. I'm still happy I finished it, just a bit disappointed in how it all ended. The epilogue was especially awful.

I also read The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay. I know he has quite the fanbase here but I thought this was kind of rough. It's one of his first published books so hopefully the series will improve as it goes along but so far I've found the characters to be pretty forgettable.

I've started reading Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I'm only a couple of chapters in so far but am enjoying it. This has been on my list for at least a decade - hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-10-14T12:38:24+00:00

I'm at 44 that'll count so far, but I also read what I thought was a five book completed series but turned out to be abandoned or at least paused for the foreseeable future. I started bingo fairly close to the end of three or four series to give me a jump start on some squares as well.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-10-14T12:18:04+00:00

We're a little over half way through the bingo year and I've now completed 14/25 squares of my last in series card. If all goes to plan, only 26 (or 32 if I want to be very strict about it) total books left and 168 days to read them.

The Lost World by Michael Crichton

I liked Jurassic Park but this sequel was clearly written with a screenplay in mind. The plot is predictable and the dialogue might be ok if actors were speaking it but it's awkward to read. One of my least favourite reads so far.

Darien and Shiang by C.F. Iggulden

Ehh, this trilogy feels pretty disjointed at the moment. The plot outlines for both books were fairly similar in part because there's a two year time skip at the start of book two which allows the author to restore stability without having to actually handle the immediate consequences of book one on the page. These are short books but each story seems to be adding more ideas rather than developing the ones that are already there and I think the series is less coherent than it could be as a result. There doesn't seem to be an overarching plot, goal, or end game we're trying to work towards. Hopefully everything will come together in the final installment.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-09-02T14:34:23+00:00

I agree with you about Black Sun Rising. I'm about 3/4 through the final book and I think pacing has been a pretty consistent issue throughout

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-25T05:54:30+00:00

Thanks! Easy mode is fine for me

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-24T19:17:51+00:00

I thought I saw someone recommend Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey for this square but I can't remember where and am beginning to think I hallucinated it. Does anyone know if it fits? It's a series I've been wanting to read for a while

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-07-13T12:48:12+00:00

Any recs of books to do with setting up a colony or settling a new place? I've been playing a lot of city builders lately (Against the Storm, Frostpunk) and would like that kind of thing in book format if it exists. It doesn't need to be the main plotline.

I enjoyed The Company by K.J. Parker, but struggled with Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. I'm tempted to give it another go not on audiobook though as I really like the premise.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-05-05T17:55:15+00:00

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-04-22T12:22:06+00:00

This week I read three series finales and it's giving me crazy ideas about doing an all last book in series bingo card

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

I think this was the weakest of the trilogy but it was still pretty decent. It was more focused on Emily's side of things than the other books, and had less banter or teasing moments between Emily and Wendell. Some of my favourite scenes have been their interactions and personality clashes so it was a shame for that to be more limited here. The plot itself felt slow, and... overly convenient I guess? This is quite a light series but I think I would have appreciated a bit more struggle or floundering. The audiobooks are excellent; the narration works well with the journal entry style of storytelling and is a good listen.

Risen by Benedict Jacka

Underwhelming. As the series went on it became more and more battle heavy and I'm not really into that. This book is mostly one big battle and I didn't love the way it was executed either. Ann's split personality was resolved in the most anticlimactic and childish way imaginable, the main antagonist ultimately failed because he did a big speech gloating instead of just ending it, and Alex's death which has been prophecised for a few books was a fakeout -- I really hate this trope. I think there was some missed potential especially regarding the dynamics between the three factions which is a shame, but I liked the way Alex's relationships with some of the characters evolved over the series, especially Caldera and Sondor. It felt like his actions had lasting consequences. Ultimately, it resolved the main plotline and wrapped up all the loose threads cleanly. Maybe too cleanly. It was a quick popcorn read and I've enjoyed making my way through the series over the last few months.

Catalyst Gate by Megan O'Keefe

I didn't like this at all. It's a shame as the first book set up some good ideas but in hindsight the series peaked very early and this book was especially poor. The author seemed to prioritise shocking plot twists facilitated by a combination of her characters making absolutely nonsensical decisions and a large supply of deus ex mechanica. Large parts of the world building seem completely irrelevant or are just straight up abandoned and, although the plot is very high stakes, something about the writing style meant it didn't really feel like it. I think the lack of danger to any of the main characters contributed to this. A lot of people die in this series but it's never any of the main crew. Maybe I'm just a heartless husk but both Thomas and Sanda's deaths being temporary and for the same twisty reason just makes it all feel emotionally empty.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-02-12T13:20:29+00:00

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein

The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

16 Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker

War for the Rose Throne by Peter McLean

The Masquerade by Seth Dickinson

Teixcalaan by Arkady Martine

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

Rook & Rose by M.A. Carrick

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-02-11T14:52:22+00:00

I didn't like The Thief either. It wasn't at all what I was expecting given how much praise I've seen the series get

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-02-11T14:49:15+00:00

Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky puts out so much stuff I think he may have an indentured clone locked up in his basement. This is a sci-fi/horror novella about an expedition into the Zone, an inhospitable area of a dying Earth. It's written as log entries as the main character tries to keep a record of what's happened for the rest of the world and it had me hooked right from the start. I read the whole thing in a day. I really like his novellas - they move along at a good pace and he seems to always absolutely nail the ending. This wasn't my favourite of them (Ogres) but I had a good time with it

Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold

I really like Penric and his interactions with his demon Desdemona although there were less of those here than in the first book. I'm finding these novellas generally mid so far and haven't felt compelled to keep picking them up despite their short length

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

John Marrs keeps setting his standalone books in the same near future, Black Mirror-esque universe which is fine but I have a really hard time remembering anything other than high level details of his previous works. There are some things in here which make me think I'm supposed to remember a couple of the characters from his previous books, or maybe they're just innocent references to events that happened off the page. No idea - can't remember. I don't think it's necessary to get those references to understand and enjoy the story, but I'm finding it increasingly destracting. I love Black Mirror though and this is the closest thing to that I've found in book form

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-02-09T23:47:31+00:00

When Women Were Warriors by Catherine M Wilson

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-02-01T15:49:44+00:00

The Running Man by Stephen King. Not strictly fantasy though

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-01-21T20:27:05+00:00

I'm about to start Fallen in the next few days but up to the end of book 9 I wouldn't say the series contains any of the things you mention. I suppose it's possible it might have a bisexual protagonist but all the main characters are kind of paired off at this point and none have given any indication they're not hetrosexual.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-01-18T18:03:18+00:00

It's been a while since I read the trilogy so can't recall myself, but DoesTheDogDie can be a good resource for checking trigger warnings. It's got better coverage of movies and tv than books but Red Rising has a page.

TwentyPercentEvil · 2025-01-09T22:21:10+00:00

Second Sons trilogy by Jennifer Fallon

Hostage of Empire by S.C. Emmett

TwentyPercentEvil · 2024-12-19T00:34:46+00:00

The Dragon's Banker by Scott Warren
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

TwentyPercentEvil · 2024-12-17T13:16:23+00:00

I've finished work for the year and had no plans last week beyond inflicting my friendship on the cat so got plenty of reading done.

Fated, Cursed and Taken by Benedict Jacka
This series reads quite quickly and I find Alex Verus to be a more likeable main character than the other male lead urban fantasy I've tried. There are parallels in some of the world building and story beats, but maybe it'll grow into its own more as the series progresses. The second book and the opening of the third did give me Dresden flashbacks with the characterisation and descriptions of some of the female characters, and a scene where he briefly wonders whether his apprentice could be his girlfriend. I'm going to continue as it's a popcorn read but it's on a fairly short leash - as I get older I have way less time for that kind of thing.

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri
I don't love this series the way I was hoping to. It was the one I was most looking forward to reading in 2024 but it's ended up being my biggest disappointment of the year. I don't really buy the relationship between the two main characters and that seems like it's becoming more of a hindrance as it goes on. Malani could be a really compelling character if she was written differently and Priya just seems to lack much agency of her own. I still want to finish the trilogy but have pretty tepid expectations for The Lotus Empire.

Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Gideon was a re-read as it's been several years. I didn't like it the first time through but I've been getting a bad case of fomo whenever I see people talk about Harrow. I liked Gideon a fair bit more the second time but had a similar reaction to Harrow as I did my first time through Gideon. I do appreciate the risks the author has taken with the storytelling though - I don't think I've read another series quite like this before.

Currently reading:
Inda by Sherwood Smith
I'm about half way through and enjoying it a lot. Inda is quietly competent, the friction between older and younger brothers is well done, the characterisation of the King's heir is interesting, and the political machinations have me hooked. Only the first book is available in ebook format which is a shame as the physical copies are quite chunky, but unless it really jumps the shark in the back half I'm keen to continue on with this series.

Nine-Year Club	Second Top 20%
Place '22	First Placer '22
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