simonliard.bsky.social
Writer who seeks to become a published author. I write mostly fantasy. If you DM me, please make your intent clear.
WEBSITE: https://www.simonliard.com/
497 posts
401 followers
341 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
Glad to hear that, thanks!
comment in response to
post
Thank you kindly!
comment in response to
post
Silver-lit as the Ocean is, the great expanse looks more ominous than calm, and the smell that wafts from it is something that no poet would ever write about. But I’m no poet: it’s stale brine, mixed with the waste that’s continually dumped into the water, with just a touch of smoke.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
Huzzah! Now I can go back to putting even more em-dashes into my manuscript. I was thinking of getting rid of commas as a whole...
comment in response to
post
I appreciate it, but it wasn't for Guilty As A Lamb — (gasp, an em-dash! AI! AI!!!) though that one uses a bunch of them too.
I'm trying to not let it bother me but it sort of does. I didn't spend hours planning and writing to be accused of AI use because of a fucking punctuation mark!
comment in response to
post
Not in a spoiler-free review. I try to make it so anyone can read these without stumbling on a spoiler by accident. I can send you what I mean through DM if you want.
comment in response to
post
Quite disappointing, but it is the way it is. I just can't look past the plot device the book used, especially because it's used so prominently.
(Next on the list is A Song of Legends Lost, by M.H. Ayinde.)
comment in response to
post
Then the book used a plot device I absolutely LOATHE with all of my mind, body, and soul, and it lost all the good will it had accumulated. I will not be continuing this series partly because of this, and partly because the main "threat" is extremely, comically lame. With a lame name to match.
comment in response to
post
I was willing to like this book at first. Sure, it's a little bit dated, and the narration took some getting used to, but it was charming in a "published in the sixties" way. And it's an important work of fantasy, so I was willing, primed, to accept some things I normally wouldn't.
comment in response to
post
I'll definitely write about it once I'm done. Unless I DNF it, but that seems unlikely right now; I LOVED both the First Law and the Age of Madness trilogies.
comment in response to
post
(Next on the list is The Devils, by Joe Abercrombie. Back to fantasy.)
comment in response to
post
That's it, those are the thoughts.
OK, here's another: read this fucking book if you haven't yet. And one more: if someone had more thrillers to recommend, I'm all ears.
That's all I have to say.
comment in response to
post
Wow.
comment in response to
post
I try to do stuff like that when I can. It's more fun to read AND write.
comment in response to
post
Never before had the stanzas of the national anthem seemed so long, never before had the chorus seemed to stretch on and on. Yamsa considered elbowing her way through the crowd to get a better look at what was going on, but just as the thought hit her, people began excitedly pointing.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
She looked down at herself and checked once, twice. But there wasn’t a button out of place, not a stitch that had suddenly come undone. She even adjusted her gloves, but they were perfect too. No excuse to remain here. Only then did she turn around.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
She tried to smile back, but felt it was just a little lopsided.
Pull yourself together, Yamsa, she thought. What would your children say if they saw you like this?
“Come on,” she said, her voice hoarser than she would’ve liked. “The Holy Duty won’t wait for us.”
#WIPSnips
New WIP.
comment in response to
post
Thanks a bunch!
comment in response to
post
Because I, Takura, am responsible for this. Because I made a deal with her, and she twisted my words, transformed innocents to suit her needs. And for each moment I waste, another person dies because of my actions.
#WIPSnips
Vibes.
comment in response to
post
I should keep going.
Instead, I run toward them.
It’s just two lives. But it’s two lives I have a chance to save. I have to try, even if it’s meaningless in the grand scheme of the Gods.
I will make things right for the world, but that starts with the here and the now.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
Synonym "man" because that's about the best I can do in thiw hyper-serious fantasy WIP
comment in response to
post
Eventually someone comes into the room, even as people are still scrambling to get into the tunnel. The soldier’s a man with a nose so sharp it might as well be a dagger, and the typical short-cropped black hair of military men. However, he’s not wearing leather; he’s wearing bronze.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
It's going on the TBR list then, thanks!
comment in response to
post
It was my pleasure, I quite enjoyed it. If I may say, I'm definitely super curious about the backstory of the DFZ. The moment you teased it at the beginning of this book, I was wondering what the heck was going on there.
comment in response to
post
Next on my list is Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn — provided the library decides to stock the book! Otherwise I might get started on Wolf of Withervale, by Joaquin Baldwin.
comment in response to
post
In summary, I had a lot of fun reading the DFZ Changeling trilogy, and would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a fast-paced adventure involving abusive father figures, faeries, and monsters who aren't so monstrous after all.
#booksky #tothebloodyend #dfz #dfzchangeling #fantasy
comment in response to
post
As usual, Rachel Aaron managed to catch me off-guard once or twice. Without spoilers I can't say much aside from "silver thread" and leave it at that.
If I had to name the weakest part of the book, I'd say it was Simon's subplot. The metaphor didn't really work for me. Good on him though.
comment in response to
post
The plot and character threads were resolved (shout out to the last line of the book, which puts a neat little bow on everything), and we got to see a conflict on an epic scale where "punching really hard" isn't actually enough to properly win.
comment in response to
post
It's sometimes difficult for books to stick the landing. We've all had the experience of committing to a trilogy only to be disappointed by the ending.
Well, I'm happy to report that To The Bloody End is NOT one of those books. With it, Rachel Aaron managed to stick the landing perfectly.
comment in response to
post
A lot of the very early parts of this book are basically "I don't have time to explain myself to you, the world is literally on fire!"
comment in response to
post
Same WIP, at least. This is a scene from Chapter One, so it might be that it's a continuation of what you mentioned.
comment in response to
post
“Now hold on,” she says with a deep frown. “We’re not idiots. We don’t know who you are, we don’t know what you did in there, we don’t know what you want with us… and you want us to follow you? Why?”
“Because it’s the end of the world,” I answer.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
I snort, surprising Insuni. “You’ve seen what you’ve seen today, and you still think the Gods are watching?”
She sputters and makes warding signs like I’ve just sprouted horns and started massacring the innocent. Sinataki seems thoroughly unimpressed by her sister, so I address her.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
The one-floor house we reach is nothing special, one amongst thousands, and yet everything is wrong. The doors have been reduced to splinters, and I can see two dead soldiers in what once may have been a living room but is now just an amalgamation of debris and blood.
#WIPSnips
Synonym "debris".
comment in response to
post
Next on my listening list is Dragonflight, first book of the Dragonriders of Pern series, written by Anne McCaffrey and narrated by Sophie Aldred.
comment in response to
post
The narrator did an excellent job and has great range, but that's about where my compliments for this book end. It doesn't surprise me that I found this recommendation on Reddit, because this a Redditor-coded book — and I 100% mean that as an insult.
comment in response to
post
This book was disappointing. To put it as spoiler-free as possible: I don't think the protagonist, an immortal druid, was represented in a way that makes sense to me. Very... contemporary. With dated references oozing out of him. He uses "pwned" unironically.
comment in response to
post
“Forget the Gods-damned people.” I put my hands on the girl’s shoulders, forcing her to look at me. “Listen to me. You can’t save everyone. If there were an army of you, you couldn’t. So focus! Focus on what you can do to save the most, not the few."
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
Not a bad idea, although I don't have a lot of socials. I'll look into it though. Thanks!
comment in response to
post
“Who are you?!” the black-haired girl sputters. “Stay back, I’m warning you — ”
“Stay here.” I strap my club back onto my waist. For what awaits me, I’m going to need something else. “I’ll handle this.”
“Wait — ” the blonde girl starts, but I have no time to waste.
#WIPSnips
comment in response to
post
Me talking about every single one of my characters
comment in response to
post
Thank you kindly!
comment in response to
post
I would say it becomes very relevant later in the book, yes.
comment in response to
post
My heart beats faster. The long-forgotten rage of my youth wants me to turn around, to fight, to do something — anything at all.
I can’t risk it. I leave as fast as possible, until I’m immersed in the silence of the grieving city once again.
#WIPSnips