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What are you reading? (September 2011)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
FrontalMonk
Banned
God damn, I remember that book. So good.Gila said:
I think I was like eight and I bawled like a little girl with a skinned knee, but picked it up a couple years ago and skipped to the end...yep, still tragic as fuck.
Edit: Oh yeah, what I'm reading. Re-reading Wheel of Time, on Book 4 now. Last time I tried I stopped half way through book 7, hoping to slog through the slower bits so I can get up to speed before Sanderson finishes A Memory of Light next year.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Finished Bujold's Cryoburn, the latest in her Vorkosigan series. I love her writing, and Miles never fails to disappoint. That being said, this was a little dropoff from A Civil Campaign and Diplomatic Immunity, but still solid.
I have a few chapters of local fledgling writers to read today for my writing group, then the latest Hockey News.
By tomorrow I expect to dive into the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I tried to read it many, many years ago and couldn't get into it. Thought I'd take another stab at it.
I have a few chapters of local fledgling writers to read today for my writing group, then the latest Hockey News.
By tomorrow I expect to dive into the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I tried to read it many, many years ago and couldn't get into it. Thought I'd take another stab at it.
Salvor.Hardin
Banned
So I'm 150 pages in, and maybe it's just me, but has anyone else noticed a marked improvement in story telling and narrative in ASOS compared to the first two books of the series?
LoveAndBeer
Member
My book backlog dwarfs even my gaming backlog, but started up a book this week as I was in the mood to not sit in front of the TV quite so much.
Started:
Liking it so far.
Started:
Liking it so far.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Maklershed said:
haha, yeah it does.
Emerson
May contain jokes =>
Just finished:
Caught wind of it due to that NPR Top 100 Fantasy/Sci-Fi list. I enjoyed it, but putting it at #10 was too much. The book had some weaknesses but I felt the overall storyline was very good, when it managed to focus on that. I enjoyed it overall though.
About to start:
Not the greatest literature but I enjoy this series and have been looking forward to this one.
Caught wind of it due to that NPR Top 100 Fantasy/Sci-Fi list. I enjoyed it, but putting it at #10 was too much. The book had some weaknesses but I felt the overall storyline was very good, when it managed to focus on that. I enjoyed it overall though.
About to start:
Not the greatest literature but I enjoy this series and have been looking forward to this one.
Yep. It's my favourite of the series. You'll notice a similar advancement of the prose once you get to Feast for Crows. Some great stuff in that and ADWD.Salvor.Hardin said:
So I'm 150 pages in, and maybe it's just me, but has anyone else noticed a marked improvement in story telling and narrative in ASOS compared to the first two books of the series?
Deified Data
Banned
Tried reading The Name of the Wind by Pat Rothfuss, as it's come highly recommended. Couldn't get into it. I can't stand infallible main characters.
elrechazado
Banned
also why I can't stand this series. Well, one reason.Deified Data said:
elrechazado
Banned
See the reviews by onestar and m. kanai for basically my thoughts on these books -Emerson said:
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kin...?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar
elrechazado
Banned
sorry, should have said by "reader", not onestar 
Deified Data
Banned
The fact that it's an unabashed Harry Potter-clone and goes nowhere being the other.elrechazao said:
I stopped reading when I read a spoiler about the second book, Wise Man's Fear, in which
Kvothe enters the realm of the Faye and becomes a Sex-God.
master lady-bonker
What's wrong with Patrick Rothfuss? Guy must have serious self-esteem issues.
Deified Data
Banned
Thinking of reading this. What're the issues?Dresden said:
AngmarsKing701
Member
Emerson said:
I liked the 1st book, but thought the 2nd was a severe dropoff in quality.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Deified Data said:
I liked Way of Kings but I agree that it's too long. And it's going to be 10 books. What is it with fantasy writers who have to produce mind-bogglingly long and obtuse stories? If you can't contain it in a reasonable trilogy, then you need a better editor. As much as I like ASOIAF I really wish GRRM had wrapped it up in 3 books.
I only got about a hundred pages in, so I won't comment on the plot.Deified Data said:
I'm not a fan of his prose, his world-building, his characters, and his videogame magic system. I'm not a picky reader, either, and I don't hate Sanderson or anything - I enjoyed his Wheel of Time efforts, for one. But I just can't get into the Way of Kings at all.
nakedsushi
Member
Deified Data said:
Same here, but I ended up finishing the book to see if it got better. It didn't.
Deified Data
Banned
From the same review, a more egregious issue raises it's head: Rothfuss's insistence, through Kvothe's narration, to highlight every bit of major drama before it actually happens. Something to the effect of "We were a very happy family. Little did I know, my family would be brutally murdered in the next chapter". Ugh...thanks for that.Emerson said:
Finished this last night. Pretty good. A bit reminiscent of the Codex Alera series. Interesting novel magic system and a protagonist that can't really use it. In this case the main character is basically dyslexic and messes up any slightly complicate spell.
edit: Up to 58 books in 2011
I don't think WoK is too long in itself (i prefer lenghty books, as long as there's enough stuff happening) but i do wonder how he's going to do 10 books. You run out of plots sooner than that, i think. Kaladin flashbacks were a bit slow though, probably my only issue with the book.AngmarsKing701 said:
As for the magic systems, Sanderson writes "hard magic" systems, ie ones that are well defined and have clear limits. I like that, i don't like magic that said to exist but it's not exactly never used or magic like Harry Potter's, where Rowling seemingly made new spells as the series needed them and the rules were a bit contradicting.
gar3 said:
Guess how old i was when i read Dune for first time...
I was probably around 10-12, can't really remember anymore. And guess how many times i've read it?
Probably 20 times.
I've been thinking about reading Sanderson ever since I started listening to his podcast, but I hear so many conflicting opinions about his writing that I never end up picking up a book. I guess my litmus test for fantasy these days is how well the female characters are written, so how does Sanderson measure up there?
Finished:
After I'm done with The Master and Margarita for the book club I'll probably try to finish Le Guin's Hainish Cycle.
Finished:
After I'm done with The Master and Margarita for the book club I'll probably try to finish Le Guin's Hainish Cycle.
Very well. IMO. I assume they're good, i'm no expert on femals, quite the opposite...Pau said:
But i think his female characters are varied, closest two are probably Vivenna from Warbreaker* and the female protagonist of Elantris whose name escapes me at the moment. But even they're quite different. IIRC. Been some time since i read Elantris.
*http://www.brandonsanderson.com/portal/Warbreaker
Warbreaker is available for free from Sanderson's home page.
Try reading that, then you know if you like his writing or not.
And remember, no writer is perfect. There's always someone who doesn't like a writer's text, claim it's bad, boring, weak etc.
EDIT is Dispossessed good? Of Le Guin's works, only ones i've read are two first books of Earthsea quartet but i didn't exactly like those. Interesting world and name-based magic but i didn't like her writing style.
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
I'm not as discerning a fantasy reader as many here, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Way of Kings. Granted, you have to be in the mood to read a giant book. The prospect of it being 10 volumes did not impact my appreciation of the first and to date only volume.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Emerson said:
Maybe not, but the last two were too long and didn't accomplish much. I find it difficult to believe GRRM will wrap it up in 2 more books.
LocoMrPollock
Banned
Jade Ryan said:
Have to agree. While it's not high art, it definitely kept me turning the pages and it's not without its moments of badassery and awesomeness.
Anyway, still reading Mistborn and would definitely second it as a good way to get your feet wet with Sanderson. It's my first book by him as well and I'm digging it.
I forgot to update here~
Since finishing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I've read The Social Contract, The Door to Lost Pages, Musashi, All the Shah's Men, and Habitation of the Blessed.
Of those, I really, really loved Musashi (need to read more of Vagabond now, too!) and Habitation of the Blessed. I can't wait for the next book in The Dirge for Prester John series (The Folded World) coming in November.
The Door to Lost Pages was... interesting. It had a series of interconnected short stories that all involved a supernatural bookstore and some shared characters, a fourth-wall-breaking-...thing that sort of described the author's writing process, a lot of sex (mostly of the homosexual / polyamorous variety), a couple of gods, etc.. For how weird it is, though, I thought it felt a bit... clinical or dry.
All the Shah's Men is about the CIA coup of former Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh. I knew the basics of the coup before the book, but much more interesting was the decades of history that was covered before, explaining religious differences in Iran, historical movements for democracy in Iran, the history of Russian and British (and later just British) colonialism in Iran, the extent the British went to ensure that Iran wouldn't be successful in trying to nationalize their oil industry, etc.
I'm going to try to read A Wizard of Earthsea tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
Since finishing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I've read The Social Contract, The Door to Lost Pages, Musashi, All the Shah's Men, and Habitation of the Blessed.
Of those, I really, really loved Musashi (need to read more of Vagabond now, too!) and Habitation of the Blessed. I can't wait for the next book in The Dirge for Prester John series (The Folded World) coming in November.
The Door to Lost Pages was... interesting. It had a series of interconnected short stories that all involved a supernatural bookstore and some shared characters, a fourth-wall-breaking-...thing that sort of described the author's writing process, a lot of sex (mostly of the homosexual / polyamorous variety), a couple of gods, etc.. For how weird it is, though, I thought it felt a bit... clinical or dry.
All the Shah's Men is about the CIA coup of former Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh. I knew the basics of the coup before the book, but much more interesting was the decades of history that was covered before, explaining religious differences in Iran, historical movements for democracy in Iran, the history of Russian and British (and later just British) colonialism in Iran, the extent the British went to ensure that Iran wouldn't be successful in trying to nationalize their oil industry, etc.
I'm going to try to read A Wizard of Earthsea tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
finished the second mistborn book.
I really like this series. I read the farseer trilogy before this and I like mistborn a decent bit better. I quite enjoyed farseer trilogy as well.
The magic system in mistborn is great and the inquisitors are just badass.
I really like this series. I read the farseer trilogy before this and I like mistborn a decent bit better. I quite enjoyed farseer trilogy as well.
The magic system in mistborn is great and the inquisitors are just badass.
Fjordson said:
I really enjoyed Mistborn, but Cyan is right that he's not a great prosaist. I happened to enjoy the just-serviceable writing after what I had been reading before, though.
A Wizard of Earthsea is great so far. The magic just seems so... magical and I really love the writing (though the real dearth of commas really threw me at first) and atmosphere. There's something about the writing that vaguely reminds me of The Dark is Rising Sequence and though I can't quite place it, I really do enjoy it.
Mumei said:
The entire series is incredible. The books get even more bleak and depressing as the series progresses. Tombs of Atuan with its whole claustrophobic minimalism, The Farthest Shore (which I rank equally with the first book as the best in the series) is creepy and frightening, Tehanu with its heartbreaking cruelty towards the characters, and the bittersweet finality of The Other Wind.. there's something beautiful about each of these books. Man, I need to reread them all again soon.
Maklershed
Member
Yeah probably not anymore. I own every Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes and a few Far Sides thanks to those. I can still remember seeing the magazines like Highlights and the books .. Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, Goosebumps, etc. Those were the days. Kinda reminds me of fall too because I always remember the book fairs and order forms being around in October.coldvein said:
For DC Metropolitan area GAFers:
Neal Stephenson will be at Politics and Prose on Saturday, Sept. 24 (at 8:30 PM), and then at the National Book Festival at the Library of Congress on Sunday, Sept. 25 for two appearances that afternoon (wouldn't be surprised if one of these is webcast).
For everyone:
Neal Stephenson To Keynote GDC Online's Game Narrative Summit in October.
Neal Stephenson will be at Politics and Prose on Saturday, Sept. 24 (at 8:30 PM), and then at the National Book Festival at the Library of Congress on Sunday, Sept. 25 for two appearances that afternoon (wouldn't be surprised if one of these is webcast).
For everyone:
Neal Stephenson To Keynote GDC Online's Game Narrative Summit in October.
Just finished reading Martin's ADwD finally, and I'm about to start on something fairly dry . . . The Logic of Chance: The Nature and Origin of Biological Evolution, by Eugene V. Koonin. I've read lots of Dawkins, so I thought I'd give another author a chance as well. Not sure if I'll make it through the whole thing, but it was a free download for my Kindle, so I thought "why not?"
nakedsushi
Member
You guys probably don't need any more reason to grow your to-read list, but in case you do, we finally launched our book recommendation feature. Let me know what you think and how accurate (or not?) it is!
http://bit.ly/p7rfSJ
http://bit.ly/p7rfSJ
Maklershed
Member
Just thought someone might want to know since I see the Brent Weeks name thrown around a lot in this thread that The Way of Shadows (book 1 of the Night Angel trilogy) is the Kindle deal of the day and is $1.99 right now.