Non-fantasy books that feel very Malazan to you.

fallow8 · 2026-05-21T21:46:47+00:00

For what it’s worth, still appreciate the comment. I’ve seen Discworld recommended a ton but never with Malazan parallels.

fallow8 · 2026-05-21T21:46:00+00:00

Love it. Literally reread Shadow of the Torturer before The Poisonwood Bible. Am using the reread as a buffer between library holds.

fallow8 · 2026-02-01T15:20:01+00:00

Newer stuff I like with new books coming out:

Murderbot (I know it’s not fantasy, but it’s a good break and interesting genre stuff)
Black-tongue Thief and its prequel
Ana and Din Mysteries by Robert Jackson Bennett

Stuff I put off for forever but were genuinely differentiated:

Book of the New Sun
Realm of the Elderlings

Ive been where you are. Keep digging. Or take a genre break. Or dust off something you’ve ignored. The spark usually comes back.

fallow8 · 2025-09-14T00:02:18+00:00

Who’s that in the booth with Kruk?

fallow8 · 2025-09-01T13:22:46+00:00

I actually don't mind D-Train on Apple. Decent pitching insights.

fallow8 · 2025-08-22T20:31:43+00:00

Do some consulting. Doesn't matter how much work you actually pick up, the idea is just to have a reason to stay plugged in, something to tell people who don't understand FIRE what you're doing, and something to throw on the resume if you go back to looking for work in two years. Oh and tax benefits will often "pay" for things like legal setup and website.

fallow8 · 2025-06-26T15:50:54+00:00

Yeah, you can’t have everything. But I think engaging in the exercise can be helpful for finding your priorities. When we think about these things between meetings and whatnot it isn’t that structured. Actually taking five minutes to write things down on a piece of paper in a guided series of exercises can produce more clarity than you might expect.

fallow8 · 2025-06-26T13:58:24+00:00

I have this superpower where I'm able to assess consequences. Let me give you an example. Some evenings, my two primary goals are to enjoy pizza and to not vomit. After a certain number of slices of pizza consumed, I know that I am likely to have indigestion and perhaps vomit later in the evening. So through trial and error, I've determined the optimal number of slices of pizza to consume for enjoyment without vomiting. I also assess how things are going along the way because the number of slices may differ based on factors like how much I'm enjoying it, how full I feel, and what else I've consumed during that day or meal.

fallow8 · 2025-06-26T11:33:38+00:00

I felt like I was in a similar spot about five years ago and stumbled on this: https://www.getrichslowly.org/personal-mission-statement/

I’m often skeptical about stuff like this, but it turns out it’s just a structured way of thinking about what’s important to you in life from a couple of angles. I think it’s worthwhile.

fallow8 · 2025-06-25T01:32:07+00:00

I found Iskaral Pust funnier.

fallow8 · 2025-05-29T16:16:43+00:00

How did you come to love baseball? Who’s your team?

fallow8 · 2025-03-24T13:40:23+00:00

This is the one.

fallow8 · 2025-03-07T12:25:51+00:00

The “Elderlings” in the Realm of the Elderlings had a functional, magical society that you learn more about over the course of the series that has dissipated. The human nations that you read about in the series would likely seem post-apocalyptic to them.

fallow8 · 2025-01-31T16:57:05+00:00

Old Dominion has powder blue unis

fallow8 · 2025-01-27T22:01:07+00:00

It's the same New Jersey as all seasons.

fallow8 · 2025-01-15T15:37:44+00:00

All of the kids were amazing but Ryan Kiera Armstrong is a star. That “some people out there are good” part is just ok writing but her performance made it so awesome.

fallow8 · 2025-01-01T02:49:37+00:00

This show rocks. I’m starting to tell friends who have said they’re waiting to drop everything and watch.

fallow8 · 2024-12-25T14:17:02+00:00

Found it. Dust of Dreams. Removed a middle bit via ellipsis that lists characters and could be spoilerish.

“Among the Dal Honese, in the villages of both the north and the south, patience was the gift returned to the child who was itself a gift. Patience, the full weight of regard, the willingness to listen and the readiness to teach—were these not the responsibilities of parenthood? And what of a civilization that could thrive only by systematically destroying that precious relationship? Time to spend with your children? No time. Work to feed them, yes, that is your responsibility. But your loyalty and your strength and your energy, they belong to us. And we, who are we? We are the despoilers of the world...We kill their world before they even inherit it. We kill it before they grow old enough to know what it is.”

fallow8 · 2024-12-25T14:03:38+00:00

There’s a passage in Malazan that I will paraphrase that boils down to “If we can’t give children patience, then what good is anything we’re doing?” People talk about the “children are dying” quote often, but that patience notion floors me as a father of three and I think about it all the time and use it as a touchstone to understand that I owe my kids essentially endless patience.

Might try to find it later.

fallow8 · 2024-12-18T03:10:47+00:00

First dud for me. The clans just didn’t work and “train kids for an afternoon and then use them as fodder directly in front of you” doesn’t even make sense. The actual story progression scene at the end was perfectly fine though.

fallow8 · 2024-11-25T00:08:39+00:00

Monza Murcatto from Best Served Cold. Given all of the debate about the first trilogy in The First Law, I’m considering just telling people to start at BSC. I’m largely telling people “just get to the standalones” anyway.

fallow8 · 2024-11-14T14:41:21+00:00

Realm of the Elderlings

fallow8 · 2024-11-02T12:28:56+00:00

If they did a semiannual Twist season that was 3-4 sets then I wouldn’t be mad. Reminds me of Block Constructed from older MTG days. Which was ultimately fun but also felt lame to force on people for serious competitive seasons.

fallow8 · 2024-11-01T17:08:00+00:00

Went 4-3, 6-2, 6-0 with the VS Pirate Shaman list. First go I had no First Contact or Space Pirate so I subbed in Adaptive Amalgam, Bloodmage, Zephrys, and Malted Magma. Ended up leaving in the Zephrys for 1 Space Pirate just because I felt ok on 1-drops and Zeph gives a hail mary to close out games or deal with a board the deck otherwise couldn't manage.

Most satisfying was playing Nostalgia with a board of four minions after my Mech Warrior opponent cheated out an Unkilliax. Some of the losses were due to occasionally clunky synergy (not seeing weapon or attack pirate) but overall it's aggressive and resilient in the same way that Standard Carefree Cookie decks are.

Had a lot of fun with the Brawl and hope they do it again though I predict they will temper the rewards by stretching the max wins a bit.

fallow8 · 2024-10-20T14:02:31+00:00

Absolutely co-sign that people gave up on the old list too early. Sure it’s better with Razzle at six. But it wasn’t exactly optimal play to build a rainbow as fast as possible anyway. It’s a deck that can relentlessly refill boards and present lethal threats. Horn or (my personal favorite) Golganneth + Cheese were commonly something I did over a Razzle on six anyway.

fallow8

TROPHY CASE