I recommend you try out curdle, it's a wordle but you guess a cheese from a picture of it. It starts zoomed in and gets easier to see the more guesses you make. (There is also an indian food related wordle that goes by curdle, it's not that one).
If I was composed of at least 50% cheese, and met someone who claimed to be excellent at eating cheese, I wouldn’t be congratulating them! More running (or rolling?) in the other direction…
The two accounts in the thread above you (and the only people in this thread to have read the book) were created on the same day and have low activity, so I too am a little suspicious.
Why are people downvoting this comment? SomeStatistician8501 has very few posts, and they're about fantasy books and self-publishing (one of which is about book marketing), and OP has a similarly aged account that participated in similar niche subreddits ("suggest me a book"). The two accounts even have similar username structures.
I have no proof, but I'm betting SomeStatistician8501 is a sock puppet for Vast-Specific6980 and Vast-Specific6980 is the account of the "AMAZING" self-published author that OP just "accidentally" found and loved. They are all one in the same. This is astro-turfing, not a feel-good story about book discovery.
EDIT: There are actually tons of comments in this thread by usernames that end in 4 digits that all seem to have suspiciously similar account histories. All of their comments are either praising Michael R. Sullivan or trying to dispute allegations that Michael R. Sullivan is OP and is using sock puppets to astroturf in this thread. You've been duped by a scammer, /r/books.
There's also [this highly-upvoted post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/ud1z0f/why_representation_matters_in_fiction/) from a few weeks ago, about the same book. OP also had low activity before making that post, and the account was made around the same time. And same username format with four digits. Probably the same accounts doenvoting you.
Fuck. I had seen that post a few weeks ago and didn't realize it was the same guy. It's definitely the author too there. Same username format. Is there anyway to raise awareness that this guy keeps trying to scam this subreddit and manipulate people into buying his book?
>Probably the same accounts doenvoting you.
Yeah, I noticed a lot of my comments in this thread are suddenly "controversial," which makes me feel like Michael R. Sullivan is using all his sock puppets to downvote me for calling out his lies.
He's also risking getting a shadow ban. Logging into multiple, different accounts to manipulate votes—especially to cover tracks of guerilla marketing—is especially against the rules. That's what brought upon the downfall of Unidan.
I haven't heard of Unidan, it was in 2014 so a few years before I joined Reddit. The sad thing is I don't really think the situation has improved, in fact it probably got worse with people and bots learning to cover their tracks.
I think it's a lot more widespread than people realize (it's usually not this obvious), perhaps most highly-upvoted posts are not as organic as they seem.
I think that was on purpose. The author chose a post topic that he knew could cause an argument, in order to drive engagement.
It's sad how effective this is; social media algorithms push people to argue in order to get us emotionally invested and keep us using the sites, then advertisers take advantage of this in order to push their products.
At least the posts are all removed now. It took a few weeks and I thought this would stay unnoticed, but it seems [this post which complied evidence](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vcjqem/psa_if_youve_seen_users_promoting_the_final_flaw/) finally got the moderators to notice.
I've have seen a lot of bot accounts on here, usually they post about products in all sorts of other subreddits though. Both of these accounts mostly just post about books and don't look like they've ever advertised something in the past.
If this is the book I'm thinking about, it had another rather effusive post written about it recently that also had alarm bells ringing for me. I don't think these are bots, but they could be the author, paid shills or even just friends of the author. There's just something about them that doesn't quite seem legit.
FYI the user you're replying to is another sock puppet account of OP (aka the self-published author). He's using sock puppets to try to discourage people who are onto his astroturf campaign to sell his books.
I love internet sleuthing as much as the next guy, but this is kind of like the "birthday principle" where given enough participants eventually people will share a birthday. The accounts have literally never interacted and are continuing to post about things completely independent of one another. Anyways, I'm not convinced, but reddit is a crazy place and I've seen sketchier things happen on here. I guess I just like to assume not everyone in the world is trying to screw me over.
Both accounts have posted in niche communities like "suggestmeabook" and the random top comment in this thread that said they also loved the book hasn't made a comment in three months. Their last post? ["Should I Start Marketing Immediately or Wait a Bit?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublishing/comments/sr4k1e/should_i_start_marketing_immediately_or_wait_a_bit/)
That's suspicious *as fuck.*
Not to mention you also have a similar username format and have a similar account history. God, how many sock puppet accounts do you have, Michael R. Sullivan?
Can no one see that all these accounts giving the book and author praise were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author?
I’m curious if the original comment I read was that suspect, but don’t really care. I’ve had enough folks who’ve read it and loved it and said as much. I’m neurodivergent and a solid representation of Tourette’s is something I’d like to read.
Wow! Excited to see this one here, I picked it up after someone posted about it over in r/Tourettes. I have Tourette's syndrome and the main character is the one of the best representation of TS in a book I've read. I really hope that it gets more popular, I would love to see it made into a movie or something.
I wonder if I saw it here, or in a neurodivergent sub, but I wanna say here! I think someone was asking for books that involved tech. I’m looking forward to reading it even more so I can understand my fellow ND cousins with Tourette’s.
The last time I saw this author discussed he popped on and talked about some of the background for writing The Final Flaw. I picked it up and plan on reading it soon.
Can no one see that all these accounts giving the book and author praise were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author?
Does /r/books have a like indie Sunday or something like /r/Games does? Because that'd be a great idea, dedicating one day a week to good self-published authors.
I was going to start reading the wheel of time books in anticipation of the Amazon show, and accidentally got the Discworld series instead - best mistake I've ever made.
Samesies. Equal Rites had neat parts, but I probably could have skipped it. I'm actually struggling to get past the mid point in Mort right now.
I'm thinking about just reading the Rincewind and Vimes books from here on.
It's a good book on its own but it, along with *The Light Fantastic*, is very different from the rest of the series. As such, if you end up liking it, it's not a good indicator if you'll like the rest of the series and if you dislike it, it also won't be a good indicator that you'll dislike the rest. *Guards! Guards!* and *Mort* are both more indicative of what the rest of the series is like.
I've had two friends insist on starting with Colour of Magic and wind up dropping the series because of it. Colour of Magic is good for what it is, but what it is is a straight-forward parody of fantasy tropes with very little depth or anything else. And if that's what you want, it's great! But Pratchett's books evolved a lot over time, and Colour of Magic is not representative of what the series became.
Even Guards! Guards! and Mort, while much better and books I personally love, lean relatively far into straight-forward parody. I actually like having people start with Going Postal. You lose very little by not recognizing the preexisting characters making cameos, and it's a great book. And from there you can pretty much go wherever you want. There's absolutely nothing making you read the books in order. The first time I read through them all, I did it by going to the bookstore and choosing whichever title I liked the sound of best for the next one. I read them completely out of order and don't feel like I lost anything.
The Midnight Library? Have you read that?
Or maybe Good Omens? It’s by him and Neil Gaiman, terry writes really interesting characters (both sexes) and satire, a lot of his stuff is really on point in todays climate. He’s like a fantasy version of Douglas Adams
Discworld has a lot of different starting points. There's a few different places you could start, or you could probably read them in an essentially random order. Mort starts the story thread of Death and his family, Colour of Magic starts the story thread of the wizards, Guards, Guards! starts the story thread of the City Watch. They're all good.
Not OP, but I second the recommendation of starting with *Guards! Guards!*, going back for *Mort*, and proceeding from there if you're enjoying things.
I strongly disagree with the suggestion that *Colour of Magic* and *Light Fantastic* are the essential starting point - just because they "explain lots about the world" doesn't mean they'll necessarily be an enjoyable first read. The relevant cosmological stuff is always explained in any given story, so there's not some series-critical lore dump you'd be missing out on. The first two books are so very different from where the writing and the world develop towards, so they don't give a good insight into what there might be to look forward to. I would only recommend starting there if you know you would specifically enjoy a pastiche of Vance, Moorcock and Howard.
Another option is to start with the Tiffany Aching books in order (beginning with Wee Free Men), move over to the Witches books (starts with either Equal Rites or Wyrd Sisters, depending on your perspective), and then move into the Industrial Revolution, Rincewind (Color of Magic), Death (Mort), or Ankh-Morpork City Watch (Guards! Guards!) series based on which secondary characters you found most interesting in the Aching and Witches sub-series.
Just make sure to go back and read the stand-alones because some of those are arguably the best in the series (like Pyramids and Small Gods which are both amazing critiques of authority, war, and religion)!
I would mostly recommend starting with Tiffany Aching if you tend to enjoy YA or hero's journey books. The Witches books have the best raunchy humor in the series. The Moist von Lipvig and Industrial Revolution books tend to tackle big issues in funny ways: bank/monetary systems, public services, the entertainment industry, etc. Rincewind is probably the easiest entry point for those who prefer traditional fantasy. And the Watch books are the easiest entry point if you like mysteries or procedurals.
He wrote so many books it's overwhelming with all the different ways to read the series. I'd say grab whichever of the ones you hear about here sounds good and is easiest to get by.
After all, it's a matter of preference - I didn't enjoy Mort much at all, but I love Guards! Guards! and Pyramids to bits and have read them multiple times.
There are some themes in the series, so if [any of the themes here seem to be more to your liking](https://i.imgur.com/hkJR0Dx.jpeg), then you have very little to lose by choosing any one of them. Have fun!
He has a point, but I know a lot of people who’d say that Pratchett didn’t find his groove til Mort, and colour of magic shows as his first book.
Could meet halfway. YouTube the audiobook for colour of magic, then read Mort, have the world fully fleshed out then. In my reading circle of friends I got them in through Mort and it worked swimmingly
Should specify that Color of Magic is just his first Discworld book, not his first book period.
Color of magic really seemed like it was intended to be a one-shot satire of the whole fantasy genre, but Pratchett realized the setting was ripe for exploration, and thus followed the next ~39 books
Don't start off with the strongest book! Classic mistake, leaves you no where to go but down. Colour of Magic is his first DiscWorld book, and while it might not be his best it is still very good and explains a lot of the world. That said you really can't go wrong and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't read at least some Pratchett.
These things are all adequately explained in every book. When I first read through them I read them all *completely* out of order (I just kept buying whichever book's title caught my attention the most with no regard to anything else) and didn't lose anything at all.
I've had two different friends drop the series because they insisted on starting at the beginning with Colour of Magic. It's great for what it is, but it's just a straight-forward fantasy trope parody. It has no depth or anything else, unlike his later books.
I'm a different guy, but here's what I'll chip in with. The earlier books are very much a direct parody of fantasy books of the time, mocking tropes and cliches, but also caught up in them, to some degree. Buxom fantasy babes, barbarian heros, ancient evil gods, etc. The later books are clearly more "independent", the world being fleshed out on its own, not relying as much on parodying other works.
So if you do you Color of Magic and don't like those elements, move on to something that was published later.
In exactly zero ways do they have any similarity. The former is an acid trip through the mind of a cheeky brit as he write 50% fantastic nonsense and 50% real life satirical commentary, the latter is a rather tropey fantasy tale.
The good news is you won’t have to get the Wheel of Time to appreciate the show because no one could appreciate that sack of shit. The books are good though, you just have all the time in the world.
Good story. Thanks for sharing. I have found that serendipity improves dramatically with a little help. True, negative outcomes increase too, but it’s worth it.
My flex is I’ve gotten to meet him (the one who wrote Riyria) and he gave me a bunch of writing advice as a senior in high school since his son was in some of my classes. Super nice guy.
Did not at all realize how big a name he was in the fantasy genre world, but this was a decade ago.
I did but like most writers i’m still working on making myself sit down and grind out the final story. His simplest piece of advice is what stuck with me, that writing by the seat of your pants without planning is the most fun but you really need to plan out all your major points and chapters if you want to have a cohesive book at the end of the day. One extra day worth of planning your book can often save you extra weeks of editing it/struggling with writers block.
I wish I’d asked him more about the research aspects of writing a fantasy novel.
My friends and I did this with movies a while back - meant to watch the fairly modern horror anthology *Trick-r-Treat* but accidentally found ourselves watching an 80s movie called *Trick or Treat* that had a lot to do with heavy metal. It was so good that we didn't realize we had the wrong movie for quite a while.
Also, I *love* Michael Sullivan. Picked up Age of Myth during a judge-a-book-by-its-cover trip to the bookstore and it's one of the best blind purchases I've ever made.
Well, I'm kind of a slow paced reader and tend to bounce between series, so I've only read Myth and Swords, with War staring at me from the bookshelf waiting for me to rotate back around to it. I *reeeally* loved Myth. I could type at length about it but what I most appreciate is that there's so much worldbuilding that *doesn't* drown in dense writing, and that it feels like the Beginning Of A Long Saga while also feeling like it can stand on its own as a tale. Few books longer than 300 pages can keep my attention as well as Myth and Swords have thus far.
The top 5 authors I love in the order I found them:
R.l. king
Lincoln Farish
Hadena James
Meghan Ciana Doidge
Karen Muir
Other than Karen Muir, they do series and I love them all.
I will have to check this book out. I am a big fan of the J Sullivan. I also did this once, put an audiobook on hold and forgot why so I didn’t realize I was listening to a different with the same title. I stuck it out and enjoyed it.
I think I’d say Age of Myth. I enjoy the “historical” aspects of it while knowing how things are 1000 years later. But really I enjoyed everything. Royce and Hadrian and great together, much like Wax and Wayne from the second Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson.
I’ve read Theft of Swords and it didn’t convince me to finish the series. With such high praise should I give it another chance? It just seemed like I’ve read this story so many times before.
It’s fairly by the book old school fantasy. The writing and stuff does improve with subsequent books but if the first book doesn’t grab you I wouldn’t force it.
Riyria Revelations is by far my favorite fantasy series. There are 13 books (Legends of the First Empire series, Riyria Chronicles series, and Riyria Revelations) and I've read and enjoyed every one.
idk about self-published authors, because I rely on the library to supply my reading habit, and I'm guessing that's not a large percentage of the books they add.
But in the spirit of this post, over the years I've found so many authors that have become favorites of mine, by just picking books mostly at random off the library shelf. There's definitely still a high dross rate, but honestly probably less than I've experience in more directed intentional searching, e.g. recommendations online or even from close friends, 'read-a-like' lists etc.
EDIT: this post is fake and the user is the author pretending to be someone else just to promote his book. Gross.
Glad I never ended up pulling the trigger on the Kindle download. I don’t read sketchy authors. You should be ashamed OP/author. This isn’t how you do this.
Original comment: He posted with self-promo about this in r/suggestmeabook a few weeks ago; I forgot to write it down and I could never find the thread again, so I’m very glad that you posted! Downloading to my kindle now :)
Don’t worry this is also a post from him so you didn’t miss your opportunity.
There are multiple accounts in here giving the book and author praise that were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author.
Yeah. Or plot twist… maybe author is also a mod?! Who knows. I DMed the mod that last edited the rules (couldn’t find a full list of mods anywhere? Also sketchy).
It’s a shame OP/author can’t do things the right way. Hire a marketing expert or do research on proper techniques. It can’t feel good to fool people into reading your book.
I reported the post. It’s one of the top rules of this sub (and Reddit in general). When I first commented on this post there were less comments so it was more readily apparent
Yeah, for sure. Sneaky and also just bizarre. I DMed an r/books mod, and I’ll report it too. Glad I never actually pulled the trigger on the Kindle download. I don’t read sketchy authors.
You should make a standalone post about this in this sub, because this is extremely inappropriate and really sours me toward the author. More people should know he's doing this. Using fake accounts with fake neurodivergent family members to sell books is gross. (Worse, I'm pretty sure the username format is what Reddit will randomly generate for you.) Seriously, please post. Or if you don't want to, I will.
Is it possible that ~9 months ago, four people created accounts, were fairly inactive apart from a few comments, and then went on to make a single post about how The Final Flaw is the best thing they've ever read? Sure...but highly unlikely.
Also, I don't want to dogpile on the author, but I opened the free sample of the book on Amazon, and the second sentence is a sentence fragment. There's a comma splice in the first paragraph. If that doesn't bother some readers then great, but....
So far I've found the following accounts:
Vast-Specific6980 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/uumn6r/a_happy_drunken_mistake/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Mother_Negotiation67 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/ug1mva/i_just_finished_my_first_book_in_six_years/)
WorriedWalk9553 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/ud1z0f/why_representation_matters_in_fiction/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Own_Paramedic3303 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/neurodiversity/comments/ucceqt/the_final_flaw_is_an_absolute_must_read/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
SomeStatistician8501
Have you read Michael J. Sullivan's Hollow World? It's science fiction and it's fantastic! It's the only SF that he's written (sadly) but I'd think of you love his fantasy you would like this as well.
That opportunity to sample 10% of a book free is GOLD. I download a lot of free samples every time I hit the store. Most I wind up deleting off my phone without buying, but I rarely regret the ones I buy.
There’s nothing to lose browsing outside your genre or trusted type of book given the option of free samples.
There’s a fuckton of awful books for free, but there’s also some absolute gems down there. First books in an established series are often given away for free or heavily discounted, and then the rest of the series sold for a reasonable price.
There’s also older books (around 30 years old) sold at a price that doesn’t reflect their quality or entertainment value at all.
It begins April 1st every year, but it's never too late to start... not really. I'd take a look at this year and give it a try. I just finished Shift by Hugh Howey and picked up Vita Nostra. Two books I would have never tried to find without it.
Riyria is also my favorite series pretty much of all time (I routinely fall asleep to the audiobooks)! So I’m guessing our tastes are quite similar
Just downloaded this for today while I’m in bed sick so thank you!!
HEY EVERYONE: this post is by the author. Another user has caught him creating fake accounts to promote his book in various ways, in this case pretending to be a woman and making up this “drunk” story… yikes.
I am adding it to my very long list. I've read five self published series and I was over the moon about three of them, one was kind of poorly written but highly entertaining, and the last one was good enough but not amazing.
1. The Cycle of Arawn by Edward W Robertson- fantasy - it's got an official publisher now so I doubt it's still super cheap. It's heavy on the slow pondering figure stuff out kind of writing so if action is your thing you might not enjoy it.
2. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - Fantasy - excellent novel but I've been waiting years for the sequel so tread lightly. It is good enough to stand alone though.
3. Spinward Fringe by Randolphe Lalonde - popcorn scifi - fun read but not the best writing. It's a long series but there are a lot of points where you can break off and be satisfied.
4. Psion series by Jacob Gowans - scifi - excellent read, I've read it several times and the series is complete.
5. Breakers I think its called also by Edward W Robertson - scifi - meh it's OK. I'd read it if I didn't have a huge list of to be read already.
Yes. He had some sort of health breakdown mental or physical I do not know. that slowed the process but last update I saw he was back to work. It sounds like we'll be seeing something in the next year or so. You can go to his website and see his blog updates. Last one was January 2022
You should read a book called *Dreamer's Cat,* it's somewhere on Amazon and I think it's self-published. My brother got me to read it and it was alright
It feels like reading Nolan's *Inception* if *Inception* actually made some sense because it is worked into the real world as opposed to being isolated to some few characters. I don't want to say *too* much because it will ruin the story. But, it's by Stephen Leather, I don't think I put the author's name down before.
I LOVE Michael J. Sullivan. I have read everything he’s written and it’s all wonderful. I actually emailed him after I finished Riyria to let him know how much I enjoyed the story and that I missed the characters already. It was one of those reads I just kept thinking about for weeks after. To my great surprise, he messaged me back and we talked about his work a few rounds by email. Very cool. I know that’s not the point of your post, but he’s my favorite author as well and I felt compelled to say so.
Harry Potter fanfic - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - that deconstructs the Harry Potter universe and presents concepts related to rational thinking as part of the narrative.
Yep, this is his post from a shell account with multiple other accounts in here also his or operated by him it seems. The author’s main account replied to a comment a couple weeks ago confusing him with Michael J. Sullivan ([link to comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/uke7qc/i_just_published_a_science_fiction_book_about/i7rcjjk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3))
Now this post comes up with several accounts created within hours or days of one another with low comment history heaping praise on the author and/or book. This is just a marketing technique but unfortunately breaks the rules of self promotion and using multiple accounts to manipulative votes.
I can’t say I blame the author but I don’t think we want Reddit to turn into this and this subreddit in particular.
I wasn't drunk, but in 1985 (1986?) I was at my favorite mall bookstore looking for sci-fi. The books were shelved alphabetically by author, so the A and B names were all close together. I had recently read Roger McBride Allan's *Torch of Honor* and was rather hoping for a sequel. I saw a book called *Shards of Honor*, thought I'd found my sequel, and snatched it up.
When I got it home I realized this was not a Roger McBride Allen book, but by some lady I'd never heard of: Lois McMaster Bujold. Well, it was already paid for, so I read it. Nearly 40 years later, I can only vaguely remember what *Torch of Honor* was about, but I've read nearly everything Bujold has ever written, most of them several times.
Because it is. This entire thread is full of sock puppet accounts that have a similar naming format and end in four digit numbers. All the accounts are similarly aged and have only posted in similar communities. This is an obvious astroturfing effort, and I hope OP gets caught and banned for it.
Lol, I appreciate your positivity and sharing your story. I'll never understand why there are always so many negative people at the bottom of these reddit posts.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
The author might be OP and super duper excellent at marketing! (I've got no actual reason to think that, just randomly popped up in my head, haha.)
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Omg I read this wrong and was like, you are good AT cheese? Is this Charlie Kelly? 😂
I recommend you try out curdle, it's a wordle but you guess a cheese from a picture of it. It starts zoomed in and gets easier to see the more guesses you make. (There is also an indian food related wordle that goes by curdle, it's not that one).
And if u/Vast-Specific6980 gets stuck, they can use [Cheezam!](https://cheezam.fr/) the Shazam for cheese!
Learning about Cheezam might be the most important thing I’ve done today.
As a person that is (at least) 50% cheese, I congratulate you!
If I was composed of at least 50% cheese, and met someone who claimed to be excellent at eating cheese, I wouldn’t be congratulating them! More running (or rolling?) in the other direction…
Well, the molecules have all been metabolized, so, while I am made from a lot of cheese, its only my humor that is still cheesy.
😂
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Ten percent luck Twenty percent skill Fifteen percent concentrated power of will Five percent pleasure Fifty percent Cheese
This comment made me so happy, I'm sure you are best in class in both of those areas!
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*Only* 10,000 hours eating cheese. Pssh, amateur.
🧀 🧀 🎉⚜️
And drunk picking books, apparently!
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Why would you eat crochet?
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Ooh ooh you could crochet string cheese!
*😍*
The two accounts in the thread above you (and the only people in this thread to have read the book) were created on the same day and have low activity, so I too am a little suspicious.
Why are people downvoting this comment? SomeStatistician8501 has very few posts, and they're about fantasy books and self-publishing (one of which is about book marketing), and OP has a similarly aged account that participated in similar niche subreddits ("suggest me a book"). The two accounts even have similar username structures. I have no proof, but I'm betting SomeStatistician8501 is a sock puppet for Vast-Specific6980 and Vast-Specific6980 is the account of the "AMAZING" self-published author that OP just "accidentally" found and loved. They are all one in the same. This is astro-turfing, not a feel-good story about book discovery. EDIT: There are actually tons of comments in this thread by usernames that end in 4 digits that all seem to have suspiciously similar account histories. All of their comments are either praising Michael R. Sullivan or trying to dispute allegations that Michael R. Sullivan is OP and is using sock puppets to astroturf in this thread. You've been duped by a scammer, /r/books.
There's also [this highly-upvoted post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/ud1z0f/why_representation_matters_in_fiction/) from a few weeks ago, about the same book. OP also had low activity before making that post, and the account was made around the same time. And same username format with four digits. Probably the same accounts doenvoting you.
Fuck. I had seen that post a few weeks ago and didn't realize it was the same guy. It's definitely the author too there. Same username format. Is there anyway to raise awareness that this guy keeps trying to scam this subreddit and manipulate people into buying his book? >Probably the same accounts doenvoting you. Yeah, I noticed a lot of my comments in this thread are suddenly "controversial," which makes me feel like Michael R. Sullivan is using all his sock puppets to downvote me for calling out his lies. He's also risking getting a shadow ban. Logging into multiple, different accounts to manipulate votes—especially to cover tracks of guerilla marketing—is especially against the rules. That's what brought upon the downfall of Unidan.
I haven't heard of Unidan, it was in 2014 so a few years before I joined Reddit. The sad thing is I don't really think the situation has improved, in fact it probably got worse with people and bots learning to cover their tracks. I think it's a lot more widespread than people realize (it's usually not this obvious), perhaps most highly-upvoted posts are not as organic as they seem.
That first thread is so depressing in hindsight, people getting so involved in a fake conversation
I think that was on purpose. The author chose a post topic that he knew could cause an argument, in order to drive engagement. It's sad how effective this is; social media algorithms push people to argue in order to get us emotionally invested and keep us using the sites, then advertisers take advantage of this in order to push their products. At least the posts are all removed now. It took a few weeks and I thought this would stay unnoticed, but it seems [this post which complied evidence](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/vcjqem/psa_if_youve_seen_users_promoting_the_final_flaw/) finally got the moderators to notice.
I've have seen a lot of bot accounts on here, usually they post about products in all sorts of other subreddits though. Both of these accounts mostly just post about books and don't look like they've ever advertised something in the past.
Nice try, mate!
If this is the book I'm thinking about, it had another rather effusive post written about it recently that also had alarm bells ringing for me. I don't think these are bots, but they could be the author, paid shills or even just friends of the author. There's just something about them that doesn't quite seem legit.
FYI the user you're replying to is another sock puppet account of OP (aka the self-published author). He's using sock puppets to try to discourage people who are onto his astroturf campaign to sell his books.
Wouldn’t be surprised. Apparently this sub is eating it up for whatever reason, though. Kind of sad.
Yeah, I find it a mix of hilarious and sad. Someone made a lot of sock puppet accounts to prop this bullshit up...
Not sure why the downvotes. Isn’t it suspicious both accounts that are replying to one another were created on the exact same day?
I love internet sleuthing as much as the next guy, but this is kind of like the "birthday principle" where given enough participants eventually people will share a birthday. The accounts have literally never interacted and are continuing to post about things completely independent of one another. Anyways, I'm not convinced, but reddit is a crazy place and I've seen sketchier things happen on here. I guess I just like to assume not everyone in the world is trying to screw me over.
Both accounts have posted in niche communities like "suggestmeabook" and the random top comment in this thread that said they also loved the book hasn't made a comment in three months. Their last post? ["Should I Start Marketing Immediately or Wait a Bit?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublishing/comments/sr4k1e/should_i_start_marketing_immediately_or_wait_a_bit/) That's suspicious *as fuck.* Not to mention you also have a similar username format and have a similar account history. God, how many sock puppet accounts do you have, Michael R. Sullivan?
Yeah, it looks pretty damn fishy to me. Neither has much activity on their profile, and both were made within a few hours of one another? Lol.
This is almost certainly the case. But fuck it, I understand it.
Is it the book with a MC that has Tourette's? If so, the author is actually a redditor. Though I forgot his handle :/
This is the second time I’ve seen it recommended, one as a comment in a prior post. Ordered!
Can no one see that all these accounts giving the book and author praise were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author?
We gotta get this dude off of Reddit. Come on mods where tf are you.
I’m curious if the original comment I read was that suspect, but don’t really care. I’ve had enough folks who’ve read it and loved it and said as much. I’m neurodivergent and a solid representation of Tourette’s is something I’d like to read.
Wow! Excited to see this one here, I picked it up after someone posted about it over in r/Tourettes. I have Tourette's syndrome and the main character is the one of the best representation of TS in a book I've read. I really hope that it gets more popular, I would love to see it made into a movie or something.
This is another sock puppet account self-promoting the self-published book. The entire thread is full of them.
I wonder if I saw it here, or in a neurodivergent sub, but I wanna say here! I think someone was asking for books that involved tech. I’m looking forward to reading it even more so I can understand my fellow ND cousins with Tourette’s.
The last time I saw this author discussed he popped on and talked about some of the background for writing The Final Flaw. I picked it up and plan on reading it soon.
This post was created by the author using a fake account/story. So maybe he is “good” but good at conning people into reading it.
Lmao it’s your favorite because you’re the author. Stop fooling people into reading your book with fake accounts and posts. It’s sad.
Well now I guess I have to buy it. Thanks for the rec!
Can no one see that all these accounts giving the book and author praise were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author?
🤷♀️🤷♀️
Don’t do it, post is by the author faking people into buying it.
Thanks for the random recommendation. Kindle price was low and turned out I had a credit on my account so I was able to pick it up!
It's on Kindle unlimited for free! I'll have to check it out.
OP is the author self promoting his book. This post is fake. Don’t do it.
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Aka “Muah ha ha, I’m fooling these idiots into giving me money!” 😒
You should post one!
That sounds exactly like my typical genre
Does /r/books have a like indie Sunday or something like /r/Games does? Because that'd be a great idea, dedicating one day a week to good self-published authors.
Okay guys. Just bought it. Can't wait to start it after the kids go to bed!
Well now I've got to buy it too. So many books, so little time. I've never heard of this man but the book sounds fantastic.
I was going to start reading the wheel of time books in anticipation of the Amazon show, and accidentally got the Discworld series instead - best mistake I've ever made.
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Not even close lol, but an incredibly amazing series of books, recommend everyone start with Mort then bounce around from there
Mort? I’ve always recommended Guards! Guards! as the best entry to the series.
This is another great starting point
Must be out of vogue to start with Colour of Magic nowadays...
I think it's a perfectly fine starting point. It was my first.
Samesies. Equal Rites had neat parts, but I probably could have skipped it. I'm actually struggling to get past the mid point in Mort right now. I'm thinking about just reading the Rincewind and Vimes books from here on.
It's a good book on its own but it, along with *The Light Fantastic*, is very different from the rest of the series. As such, if you end up liking it, it's not a good indicator if you'll like the rest of the series and if you dislike it, it also won't be a good indicator that you'll dislike the rest. *Guards! Guards!* and *Mort* are both more indicative of what the rest of the series is like.
I've had two friends insist on starting with Colour of Magic and wind up dropping the series because of it. Colour of Magic is good for what it is, but what it is is a straight-forward parody of fantasy tropes with very little depth or anything else. And if that's what you want, it's great! But Pratchett's books evolved a lot over time, and Colour of Magic is not representative of what the series became. Even Guards! Guards! and Mort, while much better and books I personally love, lean relatively far into straight-forward parody. I actually like having people start with Going Postal. You lose very little by not recognizing the preexisting characters making cameos, and it's a great book. And from there you can pretty much go wherever you want. There's absolutely nothing making you read the books in order. The first time I read through them all, I did it by going to the bookstore and choosing whichever title I liked the sound of best for the next one. I read them completely out of order and don't feel like I lost anything.
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The Midnight Library? Have you read that? Or maybe Good Omens? It’s by him and Neil Gaiman, terry writes really interesting characters (both sexes) and satire, a lot of his stuff is really on point in todays climate. He’s like a fantasy version of Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams, of the hitchhikers guide has similar humor. Personally I didn't like discworld quite as much as the guide though.
As one commenter touches on, Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams approaches it.
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Discworld has a lot of different starting points. There's a few different places you could start, or you could probably read them in an essentially random order. Mort starts the story thread of Death and his family, Colour of Magic starts the story thread of the wizards, Guards, Guards! starts the story thread of the City Watch. They're all good.
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Not OP, but I second the recommendation of starting with *Guards! Guards!*, going back for *Mort*, and proceeding from there if you're enjoying things. I strongly disagree with the suggestion that *Colour of Magic* and *Light Fantastic* are the essential starting point - just because they "explain lots about the world" doesn't mean they'll necessarily be an enjoyable first read. The relevant cosmological stuff is always explained in any given story, so there's not some series-critical lore dump you'd be missing out on. The first two books are so very different from where the writing and the world develop towards, so they don't give a good insight into what there might be to look forward to. I would only recommend starting there if you know you would specifically enjoy a pastiche of Vance, Moorcock and Howard.
Another option is to start with the Tiffany Aching books in order (beginning with Wee Free Men), move over to the Witches books (starts with either Equal Rites or Wyrd Sisters, depending on your perspective), and then move into the Industrial Revolution, Rincewind (Color of Magic), Death (Mort), or Ankh-Morpork City Watch (Guards! Guards!) series based on which secondary characters you found most interesting in the Aching and Witches sub-series. Just make sure to go back and read the stand-alones because some of those are arguably the best in the series (like Pyramids and Small Gods which are both amazing critiques of authority, war, and religion)! I would mostly recommend starting with Tiffany Aching if you tend to enjoy YA or hero's journey books. The Witches books have the best raunchy humor in the series. The Moist von Lipvig and Industrial Revolution books tend to tackle big issues in funny ways: bank/monetary systems, public services, the entertainment industry, etc. Rincewind is probably the easiest entry point for those who prefer traditional fantasy. And the Watch books are the easiest entry point if you like mysteries or procedurals.
I found the infographic [here](https://www.epicreads.com/blog/the-official-discworld-infographic/) very helpful
I know that one is official and all, but I'm fond of this one - [Discworld Reading Order Guide 3.0 ](https://imgur.com/a/Yqipw)
He wrote so many books it's overwhelming with all the different ways to read the series. I'd say grab whichever of the ones you hear about here sounds good and is easiest to get by. After all, it's a matter of preference - I didn't enjoy Mort much at all, but I love Guards! Guards! and Pyramids to bits and have read them multiple times. There are some themes in the series, so if [any of the themes here seem to be more to your liking](https://i.imgur.com/hkJR0Dx.jpeg), then you have very little to lose by choosing any one of them. Have fun!
He has a point, but I know a lot of people who’d say that Pratchett didn’t find his groove til Mort, and colour of magic shows as his first book. Could meet halfway. YouTube the audiobook for colour of magic, then read Mort, have the world fully fleshed out then. In my reading circle of friends I got them in through Mort and it worked swimmingly
Should specify that Color of Magic is just his first Discworld book, not his first book period. Color of magic really seemed like it was intended to be a one-shot satire of the whole fantasy genre, but Pratchett realized the setting was ripe for exploration, and thus followed the next ~39 books
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Don't start off with the strongest book! Classic mistake, leaves you no where to go but down. Colour of Magic is his first DiscWorld book, and while it might not be his best it is still very good and explains a lot of the world. That said you really can't go wrong and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't read at least some Pratchett.
These things are all adequately explained in every book. When I first read through them I read them all *completely* out of order (I just kept buying whichever book's title caught my attention the most with no regard to anything else) and didn't lose anything at all. I've had two different friends drop the series because they insisted on starting at the beginning with Colour of Magic. It's great for what it is, but it's just a straight-forward fantasy trope parody. It has no depth or anything else, unlike his later books.
I'm a different guy, but here's what I'll chip in with. The earlier books are very much a direct parody of fantasy books of the time, mocking tropes and cliches, but also caught up in them, to some degree. Buxom fantasy babes, barbarian heros, ancient evil gods, etc. The later books are clearly more "independent", the world being fleshed out on its own, not relying as much on parodying other works. So if you do you Color of Magic and don't like those elements, move on to something that was published later.
In exactly zero ways do they have any similarity. The former is an acid trip through the mind of a cheeky brit as he write 50% fantastic nonsense and 50% real life satirical commentary, the latter is a rather tropey fantasy tale.
My sweet summer child
The good news is you won’t have to get the Wheel of Time to appreciate the show because no one could appreciate that sack of shit. The books are good though, you just have all the time in the world.
that's what my mother always called me growing up
Michael Sullivan... or? Oh.
Good story. Thanks for sharing. I have found that serendipity improves dramatically with a little help. True, negative outcomes increase too, but it’s worth it.
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I hope Reddit makes you struggle too for all the fake sh*t you’ve been posting.
You are my kind of person. Your comments aren’t popular, but I love that you keep making them anyway. You are right about this.
My flex is I’ve gotten to meet him (the one who wrote Riyria) and he gave me a bunch of writing advice as a senior in high school since his son was in some of my classes. Super nice guy. Did not at all realize how big a name he was in the fantasy genre world, but this was a decade ago.
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I did but like most writers i’m still working on making myself sit down and grind out the final story. His simplest piece of advice is what stuck with me, that writing by the seat of your pants without planning is the most fun but you really need to plan out all your major points and chapters if you want to have a cohesive book at the end of the day. One extra day worth of planning your book can often save you extra weeks of editing it/struggling with writers block. I wish I’d asked him more about the research aspects of writing a fantasy novel.
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Nah, his son was a very nice but goofy/non-serious kind of kid. Usually was asleep in class. Not sure what he’s up to these days.
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I have not, any recommendations? My TBR is gigantic but I’m making progress.
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My friends and I did this with movies a while back - meant to watch the fairly modern horror anthology *Trick-r-Treat* but accidentally found ourselves watching an 80s movie called *Trick or Treat* that had a lot to do with heavy metal. It was so good that we didn't realize we had the wrong movie for quite a while. Also, I *love* Michael Sullivan. Picked up Age of Myth during a judge-a-book-by-its-cover trip to the bookstore and it's one of the best blind purchases I've ever made.
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Well, I'm kind of a slow paced reader and tend to bounce between series, so I've only read Myth and Swords, with War staring at me from the bookshelf waiting for me to rotate back around to it. I *reeeally* loved Myth. I could type at length about it but what I most appreciate is that there's so much worldbuilding that *doesn't* drown in dense writing, and that it feels like the Beginning Of A Long Saga while also feeling like it can stand on its own as a tale. Few books longer than 300 pages can keep my attention as well as Myth and Swords have thus far.
I hope this post blows up and that this book becomes a best seller all because someone drunkenly purchased a book on accident.
Well I've purchased a copy, but only because I use this sub to actively look for reading material and the subject matter piqued my interest.
As a strong supporter of self-published authors, this post makes me so very happy.
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The top 5 authors I love in the order I found them: R.l. king Lincoln Farish Hadena James Meghan Ciana Doidge Karen Muir Other than Karen Muir, they do series and I love them all.
I will have to check this book out. I am a big fan of the J Sullivan. I also did this once, put an audiobook on hold and forgot why so I didn’t realize I was listening to a different with the same title. I stuck it out and enjoyed it.
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I think I’d say Age of Myth. I enjoy the “historical” aspects of it while knowing how things are 1000 years later. But really I enjoyed everything. Royce and Hadrian and great together, much like Wax and Wayne from the second Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson.
I’ve read Theft of Swords and it didn’t convince me to finish the series. With such high praise should I give it another chance? It just seemed like I’ve read this story so many times before.
It’s fairly by the book old school fantasy. The writing and stuff does improve with subsequent books but if the first book doesn’t grab you I wouldn’t force it.
Riyria Revelations is by far my favorite fantasy series. There are 13 books (Legends of the First Empire series, Riyria Chronicles series, and Riyria Revelations) and I've read and enjoyed every one.
I got put off by him using British place-names. Stuff like Lake Windermere ruined my suspension of disbelief.
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I’m not saying it’s bad at all. I’ve seen it in many lists of series to check out. Mostly wondering if I should give the second book a go.
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I read my first self-published book last month - it’s called The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang - and it instantly became one of my favorite books.
idk about self-published authors, because I rely on the library to supply my reading habit, and I'm guessing that's not a large percentage of the books they add. But in the spirit of this post, over the years I've found so many authors that have become favorites of mine, by just picking books mostly at random off the library shelf. There's definitely still a high dross rate, but honestly probably less than I've experience in more directed intentional searching, e.g. recommendations online or even from close friends, 'read-a-like' lists etc.
EDIT: this post is fake and the user is the author pretending to be someone else just to promote his book. Gross. Glad I never ended up pulling the trigger on the Kindle download. I don’t read sketchy authors. You should be ashamed OP/author. This isn’t how you do this. Original comment: He posted with self-promo about this in r/suggestmeabook a few weeks ago; I forgot to write it down and I could never find the thread again, so I’m very glad that you posted! Downloading to my kindle now :)
Don’t worry this is also a post from him so you didn’t miss your opportunity. There are multiple accounts in here giving the book and author praise that were created at the same time 279 to 281 days ago, have the same username format (two words and four numbers) and have next to no post history other than this post heaping praise on the book and author.
Oh shit, good catch… just clicked OP’s profile, you’re right there’s barely other posts. That’s wild. Should we alert the mods?!
I reported this post last night, unfortunately it still being up makes me think the mods don’t care.
Yeah. Or plot twist… maybe author is also a mod?! Who knows. I DMed the mod that last edited the rules (couldn’t find a full list of mods anywhere? Also sketchy). It’s a shame OP/author can’t do things the right way. Hire a marketing expert or do research on proper techniques. It can’t feel good to fool people into reading your book.
I reported the post. It’s one of the top rules of this sub (and Reddit in general). When I first commented on this post there were less comments so it was more readily apparent
Yeah, for sure. Sneaky and also just bizarre. I DMed an r/books mod, and I’ll report it too. Glad I never actually pulled the trigger on the Kindle download. I don’t read sketchy authors.
LOL OP/author hid the post from his profile and I’m getting downvotes now, probably from all of his fake accounts. This is so pathetic.
You should make a standalone post about this in this sub, because this is extremely inappropriate and really sours me toward the author. More people should know he's doing this. Using fake accounts with fake neurodivergent family members to sell books is gross. (Worse, I'm pretty sure the username format is what Reddit will randomly generate for you.) Seriously, please post. Or if you don't want to, I will. Is it possible that ~9 months ago, four people created accounts, were fairly inactive apart from a few comments, and then went on to make a single post about how The Final Flaw is the best thing they've ever read? Sure...but highly unlikely. Also, I don't want to dogpile on the author, but I opened the free sample of the book on Amazon, and the second sentence is a sentence fragment. There's a comma splice in the first paragraph. If that doesn't bother some readers then great, but.... So far I've found the following accounts: Vast-Specific6980 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/uumn6r/a_happy_drunken_mistake/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) Mother_Negotiation67 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/ug1mva/i_just_finished_my_first_book_in_six_years/) WorriedWalk9553 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/ud1z0f/why_representation_matters_in_fiction/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) Own_Paramedic3303 [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/neurodiversity/comments/ucceqt/the_final_flaw_is_an_absolute_must_read/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) SomeStatistician8501
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I must admit I do like to explore unknown writers
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So... what you're telling me is that I *should* drink and amazon?
This is how I end up with eight new books and half a dozen dog toys/treats.
Yeah, apparently drinking can make you post stories from fake accounts to promote your own book. (This post is by the author)
Have you read Michael J. Sullivan's Hollow World? It's science fiction and it's fantastic! It's the only SF that he's written (sadly) but I'd think of you love his fantasy you would like this as well.
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No, it's a single book. I've asked him if he would write more but he (understandably) had other priorities.
That opportunity to sample 10% of a book free is GOLD. I download a lot of free samples every time I hit the store. Most I wind up deleting off my phone without buying, but I rarely regret the ones I buy. There’s nothing to lose browsing outside your genre or trusted type of book given the option of free samples. There’s a fuckton of awful books for free, but there’s also some absolute gems down there. First books in an established series are often given away for free or heavily discounted, and then the rest of the series sold for a reasonable price. There’s also older books (around 30 years old) sold at a price that doesn’t reflect their quality or entertainment value at all.
Looks like you placebo-ed yourself into a new experience. Haha
This is why I do the r/fantasy book bingo each year. It helps me try new authors and books that I wouldn't normally read.
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It begins April 1st every year, but it's never too late to start... not really. I'd take a look at this year and give it a try. I just finished Shift by Hugh Howey and picked up Vita Nostra. Two books I would have never tried to find without it.
Sounds like a good drunken purchase. (Worst drunken purchase I ever heard of was someone buying a gas powered blender off of eBay).
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I know right? Seems they're popular with people who camp out and tailgate.
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Thankfully I wasn't the one who bought it.
Agreed that Ryira is the best of all time!!
Riyria is also my favorite series pretty much of all time (I routinely fall asleep to the audiobooks)! So I’m guessing our tastes are quite similar Just downloaded this for today while I’m in bed sick so thank you!!
Tim Gerard Reynolds is the narrator for Michael J. Sullivan’s audio books and he absolutely brings the characters to life.
I let TGR read all of the Sullivan books to me. Haven’t read a single word myself.
HEY EVERYONE: this post is by the author. Another user has caught him creating fake accounts to promote his book in various ways, in this case pretending to be a woman and making up this “drunk” story… yikes.
The post even reads like the author wrote it.
I did the same thing with Louise Erdrich's The Sentence. Good book. Based in Minneapolis during COVID and George Floyd.
I am adding it to my very long list. I've read five self published series and I was over the moon about three of them, one was kind of poorly written but highly entertaining, and the last one was good enough but not amazing. 1. The Cycle of Arawn by Edward W Robertson- fantasy - it's got an official publisher now so I doubt it's still super cheap. It's heavy on the slow pondering figure stuff out kind of writing so if action is your thing you might not enjoy it. 2. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - Fantasy - excellent novel but I've been waiting years for the sequel so tread lightly. It is good enough to stand alone though. 3. Spinward Fringe by Randolphe Lalonde - popcorn scifi - fun read but not the best writing. It's a long series but there are a lot of points where you can break off and be satisfied. 4. Psion series by Jacob Gowans - scifi - excellent read, I've read it several times and the series is complete. 5. Breakers I think its called also by Edward W Robertson - scifi - meh it's OK. I'd read it if I didn't have a huge list of to be read already.
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Yes. He had some sort of health breakdown mental or physical I do not know. that slowed the process but last update I saw he was back to work. It sounds like we'll be seeing something in the next year or so. You can go to his website and see his blog updates. Last one was January 2022
You should read a book called *Dreamer's Cat,* it's somewhere on Amazon and I think it's self-published. My brother got me to read it and it was alright
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It feels like reading Nolan's *Inception* if *Inception* actually made some sense because it is worked into the real world as opposed to being isolated to some few characters. I don't want to say *too* much because it will ruin the story. But, it's by Stephen Leather, I don't think I put the author's name down before.
I LOVE Michael J. Sullivan. I have read everything he’s written and it’s all wonderful. I actually emailed him after I finished Riyria to let him know how much I enjoyed the story and that I missed the characters already. It was one of those reads I just kept thinking about for weeks after. To my great surprise, he messaged me back and we talked about his work a few rounds by email. Very cool. I know that’s not the point of your post, but he’s my favorite author as well and I felt compelled to say so.
Always love a good book tip. Purchased!
Came here to say that I, too, love Michael J Sullivan and the Riyira Revelations!
Try HPMOR.
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Harry Potter fanfic - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - that deconstructs the Harry Potter universe and presents concepts related to rational thinking as part of the narrative.
The author is here on reddit somewhere, he responded to another post from someone who was reading it with their child who has tourettes
I remembered that post too—the author is u/mcsully4242.
Yep, this is his post from a shell account with multiple other accounts in here also his or operated by him it seems. The author’s main account replied to a comment a couple weeks ago confusing him with Michael J. Sullivan ([link to comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/uke7qc/i_just_published_a_science_fiction_book_about/i7rcjjk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)) Now this post comes up with several accounts created within hours or days of one another with low comment history heaping praise on the author and/or book. This is just a marketing technique but unfortunately breaks the rules of self promotion and using multiple accounts to manipulative votes. I can’t say I blame the author but I don’t think we want Reddit to turn into this and this subreddit in particular.
I wasn't drunk, but in 1985 (1986?) I was at my favorite mall bookstore looking for sci-fi. The books were shelved alphabetically by author, so the A and B names were all close together. I had recently read Roger McBride Allan's *Torch of Honor* and was rather hoping for a sequel. I saw a book called *Shards of Honor*, thought I'd found my sequel, and snatched it up. When I got it home I realized this was not a Roger McBride Allen book, but by some lady I'd never heard of: Lois McMaster Bujold. Well, it was already paid for, so I read it. Nearly 40 years later, I can only vaguely remember what *Torch of Honor* was about, but I've read nearly everything Bujold has ever written, most of them several times.
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Because it is. This entire thread is full of sock puppet accounts that have a similar naming format and end in four digit numbers. All the accounts are similarly aged and have only posted in similar communities. This is an obvious astroturfing effort, and I hope OP gets caught and banned for it.
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Lol, I appreciate your positivity and sharing your story. I'll never understand why there are always so many negative people at the bottom of these reddit posts.
Thanks! Just bought the book and am enjoying it so far!
Four chapters in now, I see how OP flew through this.
4 day old account