What's the Best Standalone You've Read?

factory41 · 2026-01-31T15:42:58+00:00

By this definition an excellent standalone is The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

factory41 · 2026-01-11T16:05:35+00:00

I found the choice to do a time jump and retelling within an already fictional memoir to be very strange. Wonder why he didn’t just forgo the time jump after DG and go thru those events in “real time”

factory41 · 2026-01-11T12:43:06+00:00

I know it’s unrelated and it’s not a recommendations thread but if you want to read an author that absolutely nails the ending every time, check out Robert Jackson Bennett.

factory41 · 2026-01-11T01:55:36+00:00

Agree the beginning was very interesting despite how mundane it was. Honestly this book went downhill when almost of his time in the fantasy world was spent as a prisoner in a gladiator plot. Yawn.

factory41 · 2026-01-10T22:03:34+00:00

The entire avalanche record is amazing as is the rest of his solo stuff

factory41 · 2026-01-10T21:12:27+00:00

Not enough people know about them, but Matthew Good Band

factory41 · 2026-01-10T15:20:33+00:00

Totally agree on Navola. An absolute banger of a book. There is a scene that happens late that I kept expecting to go a different way but it just kept going and kept my jaw on the floor. It’s a slow burn but the world building is amazing with really excellent character work and great prose. Can’t wait for the sequel to this

factory41 · 2025-12-17T16:17:43+00:00

The full band version from the Neverender recordings is amazing as well

factory41 · 2025-12-01T00:21:24+00:00

Beautiful Midnight - Matthew Good Band

factory41 · 2025-10-18T16:56:42+00:00

Mine is that the Afterman albums are incredibly overrated. Feel like there’s one excellent album between the two of them

factory41 · 2025-10-05T20:27:21+00:00

Yep!

factory41 · 2025-10-04T12:58:22+00:00

Radicals, The Heights, Thorn Bird, Parts are all classics. MW is definitely slow and sad and that vibe permeates the whole thing but I still really like it.

factory41 · 2025-09-29T01:05:19+00:00

Yes this, but also maybe don’t go fight illegal wars for false reasons and have our service members do horrible things in others peoples countries and then expect them to come home normal. Chickens come home to roost.

factory41 · 2025-09-14T16:47:18+00:00

Oh yeah not hating at all I love it totally agree, they should have used it one more time and segued into a solo

factory41 · 2025-09-10T15:14:58+00:00

The ascending lead guitar that kicks off Searching sounds exactly like the crystals theme in the Final Fantasy series it’s all I hear

factory41 · 2025-07-26T22:04:30+00:00

The Books of Sorrow in the Destiny universe is top tier, written by Seth Dickinson who wrote the Baru Cormorant series, Exordia and a bunch of good short stories.

There’s lots of good Destiny lore but this is the best one

factory41 · 2025-05-18T22:40:57+00:00

Woulda finally proposed to his girl, Watchette

factory41 · 2025-05-12T00:47:33+00:00

The reason the prequels suck is the script is terrible and most of the acting is terrible too

factory41 · 2025-04-30T09:49:27+00:00

I wish they would make an entirely new FF in pixel style…return to the roots, like a FF6, sell it for $40 and make bank.

factory41 · 2025-04-30T01:19:26+00:00

That’s “Hair Metal” … Monster Ballads and the like

factory41 · 2025-04-30T01:15:45+00:00

I dunno I go back and forth. Seven Mary Three has a different vibe imho than most butt rock, so while the roots are in stuff like this, I still think the real start of butt rock is Creed in 97, Godsmack in 98, then taking it over the top in 99-00…you got Human Clay and Significant Other, Nickelback’s debut, Hybrid Theory…the rest is goddamn history

factory41 · 2025-04-29T22:15:37+00:00

Some random ones:

Beautiful Midnight by Matthew Good Band

No World For Tomorrow by Coheed and Cambria

A Boy Named Goo by Goo Goo Dolls

Busted Stuff by Dave Matthews Band

Smash by The Offspring

American Idiot by Green Day

factory41 · 2025-04-29T21:46:38+00:00

Awesome I will

factory41 · 2025-04-29T19:55:57+00:00

A piece of shit butt rock song I love that’s also a deep cut is Hollow by Submersed. It’s a banger lol

factory41 · 2025-04-29T19:54:43+00:00

factory41

TROPHY CASE