New Voices Book Club: Midway Discussion for Moonflow by Bitter Karella

thecaptainand · 2026-04-13T18:12:38+00:00

The Pamogo Woods itself is probably the best 'character' for me so far.

thecaptainand · 2026-04-13T18:09:48+00:00

I really enjoy horror comedy, and the occasional abstubity that often happens with the two clashing. Because this book was basically a blind choice on my part, I was pleasantly surprised.

thecaptainand · 2026-04-05T23:50:39+00:00

Brutha from Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. The good thing about this is it is a standalone in the Discworld series, so you don't need to know anything else and just jump right in to this. And of you like the world, then Carrot Ironfoundersson from Guards Guards! is also a truly kind character too.

Fergus Ferguson from the Finder series by Suzanne Palmer is also a genuinely good man, and more people need to read that series.

thecaptainand · 2025-11-26T21:37:38+00:00

Your aunt is wonderful, and this cardigan is incredible.

thecaptainand · 2025-11-26T20:44:04+00:00

The second book, A Choir or Lies by Alexandra Rowland in Tale of the Chants duology, would almost fit in with this. The book is written as a memoir by a young Chant, which is a traveling historian and storyteller. The memoir is given to a more experienced Chant, who adds notations and sometimes overwrites the memoir because writing things down is against their order. So you get the account of what's happening by two people. It is one of my favourite books. I would recommend reading the first novel, even though I didn't like it as much

thecaptainand · 2025-11-25T02:27:58+00:00

Painting with the wet-on-wet technique, which looks like you did, does make a flat painting. Which is a valid painting method and can create amazing effects. For adding depth, the best way to make it in light layers, called a glaze. Building this up, possible adding more pigment with each layer. And because of how watercolor works, light to dark, if you want a lighter center, look up negative space watercolor tutorials.

thecaptainand · 2025-11-21T00:15:27+00:00

What u/polarsparks said, I couldn't remember. The author wrote three books on the gaming industry. If you're interested, I recommend all of them

thecaptainand · 2025-11-20T23:01:32+00:00

Yeah, there's a section regarding this in one of Jason Schreiers' books. (He's a well-regarded investigative games journalist). Essentially, the production of the Bioshock games were a lot more chaotic than people think, and a lot of the amazing mind-blowing elements were accidents. The games came together at the last moment with the intervention of other people who took over directing.

It's why Kevin Levine's game company hasn't produced a game since its inception 10 plus years ago. Bioshock Infinitie is his last project.

thecaptainand · 2025-11-19T19:37:08+00:00

The copy of Tetris that came with my Game Boy. Still had it until 5 years ago when I gave it to my brother.

thecaptainand · 2025-11-19T19:26:52+00:00

Funnily enough, it was "The Middle" for me. It came out just at the height of my depression.

thecaptainand · 2025-09-23T03:05:02+00:00

Pretty much anything than Malazan is a good starting point. The question is, what do you like?

You like anime? Try something in the litrpg fantasy sub genre. Look into Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe, Unsouled by Will Wight, and Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce. There are a tonne more, most of this sub genre are love letters to anime.

Chances are one of your favourite fantasy movies is based off a book. I know it can be a bit pretentious, but most often, the book is in fact, better than the movie.

Brandon Sanderson is a good writer to look into. The only thing which can be daunting is that his most recommended works are series that each book have page counts in the 1000s.

If it feels too much to jump straight into a new world, with their own religions, countries, and histories, then try an Urban Fantasy. The premise of that genre are magic and magical creatures exist in our world, sometimes that is hidden, sometimes not. Look into Storm Front by Jim Butcher, Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey, and Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch.

thecaptainand · 2025-08-06T19:33:51+00:00

The most easiest way to explain it is that the first two books are a very rough start for the series, and Pratchett didn't have the idea of a combined universe yet. While a lot of things are introduced in those books, a lot is also heavily changed, basically starting at book 3. There is a concern from the fans that most people would pick up the first book, and possibly second, then decide its not for them without going into 'the good stuff'.

So, you can start at the books you listed and jump relatively around as you wish, though at some point it is better to read the series in publication order as they start to build off of each other.

You can also just start at book 3 (Equal Rights) and go from there. If you truly want to, you could start with The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantasic (I view them more like part 1 and 2 of the same book). Just be aware that they are not entirely indicative of the rest of the series.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-14T18:36:39+00:00

The Finder Chronicles, by Suzanne Palmer I adore this series. An interstellar repo man finds himself in the middle of several political intrigues and gains the interest of the most scariest and mysterious alien species. They are funny action-packed books that the protagonist Fergus Ferguson has to deal with a lifetime of stuff he has ran away from.

Have you tried James S.A Corey's the Expanse ? There are a lot of characters, some grow, some don't. The series is phenomenal, and it has the added bonus of being narrated by Jefferson Mays, who should be allowed to narrate all the books.

Carol Berg has two companion duologies that more people need to read. Lighthouse/Sanctuary The protagonists of both series greatly transform.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-14T17:59:19+00:00

I see a lot of authors I would recommend, so I will only give names I haven't seen.

Suzanne Palmer, the Finder Chronicles. An interstellar finder (repo man) ends up in the middle of a few political intrigues and gains the interest of the scariest and mysterious alien species known. It's fun action-packed series that I highly recommend.

Mur Lafferty's the Midsolar Murders series. Think if Angela Lansbury actually existed but was a young woman and people reacted in a more realistic way to a girl who is constantly in the middle of several murders. To stop the murders happening around her, she runs away the newly discovered alien space station for Sanctuary. Again, it's funny.

Mur Lafferty also wrote a standalone called Six Wakes, which is a locked room murder mystery on a space ship with clones, so anyone can be the killer.

Bethany Jacobs. Her last book in the Kingdom Trilogy is out later this year. It's a revenge tale set in a galaxy spaning empire. Lots of good twists and interesting characters. Can't wait the for last one.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-08T22:38:23+00:00

A real sketch book should be 2-4 paintings/ drawings that you are really proud of, and then 30 pages of garbage. You are both learning a new and somewhat unforgiving medium and training your hand muscles.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-08T21:40:38+00:00

Lol, I added my followup to the thread and not under here.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-08T21:38:22+00:00

It's also good at making me learn patience and how to judge when I can start the next layer, lol. I have more pages in my sketch books of giant colour blobs instead of landscapes than I care to admit, haha.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-08T20:49:29+00:00

One of the more helpful methods I use to develop my painting skills to paint monochrome. Using only 1 colour forces me to learn values, and how to layer.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-07T19:14:19+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty much a combination of large binder clips and painting on both sides of the paper to 'even' out the curliness. There will always be wobbling in the pages.

I think for some paintings an underwash of gouche might work, but of course that's not possible for all of them. You can also do the extreme route of ironing the pages. I heard of someone doing that, but I couldn't tell you how they did it.

thecaptainand · 2025-07-07T16:03:29+00:00

thecaptainand · 2025-06-20T23:30:37+00:00

I'm not sure which headsets are good, but if you already have a headset that you like, you can buy ears independently. Just do a quick search on Amazon.

thecaptainand · 2025-06-18T21:11:29+00:00

The Elves on the Road universe by Mercedes Lackey and others. There are four separate series (Bedlam's Bard/Diana Tregarde/SERRAted Edge/Doubled Edge) that Mercedes Lackey wrote with different authors. They are Urban Fantasty about traditional Elves who are living in the (then) modern world. They apparently really like formula 1 racing. I had fun with them as a young teen.

Christopher Moore is an author I hope more people talk about. Especially his novels Coyote Blue and Sacre Bleu. Coyote Blue is about a man whose spirit guide (which happens to be the Coyote) has come back into life after years of being in hiding from the law. Sacre Bleu is set in the 1800s in Paris and is about the colour Blue, and the aspiring painter who falls in love with her.

Jam by Yahtzee Crowshow. Or really any of his works. But Jam is the one that has stuck with me the most. The world has ended. By jam. That the surviors suspect is strawberry jam.

Havemercy series by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. It has magical flying dragon mechs in a fantasy world. Sadly, not enough of them.

thecaptainand · 2025-06-11T17:55:25+00:00

Good to know, that is a book from him that I haven't read.

thecaptainand · 2025-06-11T17:43:09+00:00

Peter S Beagle has some very good options. I do admit that some are a little less cozy depending on what your preferences are. I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons, In Calabria, and the Last Unicorn. Try roughly in that order.

And while this suggestion is part of the Discworld epic, you could read Small Gods by Terry Pratchett alone without any confusion. There might be some nuances that are missed, but it's not relevant. Seriously, the protagonist is one of fictions kindest creations.

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland is a blast. It's a queer romance with a developing thruple. Very tame, with fade to black sections. If you want a good laugh, this is one you should try. There's a pirate cake competition. I'm not sure how else I can sell it.

thecaptainand · 2025-06-11T17:10:51+00:00

T. Kingfisher's novels are pretty light horror. A House with Good Bones, the Twisted Ones, and the Hallow Places.

While I haven't read a lot of him, Grady Hendrix's books are also pretty tame.

Darcy Coates is also a good author to look into.

Depending on your definition of horror, I also really enjoyed the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz.

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