Finished Nobody's Fool. Really good. I've read three books by Russo now and have loved all three. Looking forward to reading more in the future.
Now switching things up and going true crime route. I think Paul Scheer recommended this one on a HDTGM mini-ep and compared it to a Serial or Making a Murderer ...
I gather I should read Paladin of Souls then. I bought it at the same time as Curse of Chalion, but when I realised it was about the mad mother, I decided not to. Evidently a silly decision.
Yeah, I have seen a number of people reading the series for the first time read Falling Free first. I don't think it's something that ruins the experience, but it must be a jarring nonetheless. You read one story with featuring a set of characters - and then suddenly you jump forward hundreds of years to the beginnings of a family saga featuring completely unrelated people!
Finished The Goblin Emperor last night. Such a wonderful read. Very difficult to find just the right word. It's not "delightful" the way Valente's "The Girl Who..." series is. It's definitely an intimate novel, very focused on Maia. I like that Addison doesn't hold your hand as she builds her world; she assumes you're intelligent enough to understand what's going on and the language she's created for that world.
I had two small concerns along the way. I'll spoiler tag them just in case:
There's a bit of self-doubt/self-pity here, and while I completely understood why it was there, I felt it lingered just a touch longer than it should have. I was basically getting a little worn out and wanted Maia to start feeling confident maybe a chapter or two before he did.
The assassination attempt was illogical. I just didn't think Tethimar would be as stupid as that, would throw away his life like that. He struck me as a bit of blowhard/Trump-like character, out for his own ends. Even if he'd succeeded in the attempt, he'd have been immediately killed. While there were some conversations later that tried to explain it away, I felt it was a leap of faith that landed short.
I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, but I'd probably notch it at 4 1/2 if that was an option. Really really hoping we're going to see more of Maia in the near future.
Huge thanks to GAF for all the recommendations of this book. This is probably my favorite book this year (so two years in a row where a debut is my favorite, following Wecker's The Golem and the Djinni from last year).
Now, moving on to a re-read of Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, in anticipation of his return to Osten Ard in early 2017....
This is one of the first trilogies (other than LotR) that I read in this genre, and had a very huge influence on me switching writing from the spy/PI thriller genre to fantasy.
Now, moving on to a re-read of Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, in anticipation of his return to Osten Ard in early 2017....
This is one of the first trilogies (other than LotR) that I read in this genre, and had a very huge influence on me switching writing from the spy/PI thriller genre to fantasy.
Hey! I'm going to start my reread of TBC once I'm finished my current read. The trilogy had a *huge* impact on me as a teen, and I'm really looking forward to returning to Osten Ard next year.
Hey! I'm going to start my reread of TBC once I'm finished my current read. The trilogy had a *huge* impact on me as a teen, and I'm really looking forward to returning to Osten Ard next year.
I gather I should read Paladin of Souls then. I bought it at the same time as Curse of Chalion, but when I realised it was about the mad mother, I decided not to. Evidently a silly decision.
$0.99 on Kindle. Her complete works can be had for $3.
It is a mystery novel about a British solicitor who is retained (out of his field) in a criminal matter. It is very funny and very British. When people come to visit in the novel, the sherry is brought out. There is much drinking of claret. It reminds me of one of the early Hitchcock movies (from the 1940's).
Finished The Goblin Emperor last night. Such a wonderful read. Very difficult to find just the right word. It's not "delightful" the way Valente's "The Girl Who..." series is. It's definitely an intimate novel, very focused on Maia. I like that Addison doesn't hold your hand as she builds her world; she assumes you're intelligent enough to understand what's going on and the language she's created for that world.
I had two small concerns along the way. I'll spoiler tag them just in case:
There's a bit of self-doubt/self-pity here, and while I completely understood why it was there, I felt it lingered just a touch longer than it should have. I was basically getting a little worn out and wanted Maia to start feeling confident maybe a chapter or two before he did.
The assassination attempt was illogical. I just didn't think Tethimar would be as stupid as that, would throw away his life like that. He struck me as a bit of blowhard/Trump-like character, out for his own ends. Even if he'd succeeded in the attempt, he'd have been immediately killed. While there were some conversations later that tried to explain it away, I felt it was a leap of faith that landed short.
I think you have to remember that Maia had been living with Setheris for ten years, since he was eight years old, and abused both mentally and physically. As it was he came across as superhumanly well-adjusted; now you want confidence, too?
I gather I should read Paladin of Souls then. I bought it at the same time as Curse of Chalion, but when I realised it was about the mad mother, I decided not to. Evidently a silly decision.
I read it all the way through last night, it's pretty good but i disliked the very last twist deployed at the very end, i just don't like that trope. I also bought The curse of Chalion since you guys seem to like it.
Just started this after finishing the first one. Yeah, I thought all the threads coming together at the end was just kinda lackluster. I finally knew and understood what was going on but it just wasn't that captivating. Prologue for Deadhouse Gates is already way more interesting.
Chain of Title by David Dayen. This book hit home for me as I worked two years as a paralegal in the Creditor's Rights/Foreclosure legal field. Mass fraud by mortgage lenders and bank. A must read prior to the election.
I think you have to remember that Maia had been living with Setheris for ten years, since he was eight years old, and abused both mentally and physically. As it was he came across as superhumanly well-adjusted; now you want confidence, too?
maybe not confidence so much as just stop pounding on it already. I get it. Setheris mentally and physically abused him. Can we shift forward in time just a smidge quicker to the point where the "coming of age" turn happens and Maia overcomes that history? We know he's going to, but it just takes a smidge longer than I was comfortable with.
maybe not confidence so much as just stop pounding on it already. I get it. Setheris mentally and physically abused him. Can we shift forward in time just a smidge quicker to the point where the "coming of age" turn happens and Maia overcomes that history? We know he's going to, but it just takes a smidge longer than I was comfortable with.
The whole thing was pretty good but the presentation got annoying after a while, I want to read a book damnit! not break my neck while trying to read shit upside down and backwards, fuck off with that gimmicky bullshit. Overall, pretty interesting, loved the multiple narratives, really well made in terms of content, felt like a big academic book at times, mix with the paranoid narrator in between, but would have been better without the weird page layouts which would have cut about 200 pages or so, that shit is big for nothing.
Finished The Kingkiller Chronicles book 2 today. I think it was overall much better than the first book.
Fuck any and all authors who take more than 3/4 years to write a book. Kind of hope the movie and tv series are disasters just to punish him for his money grubbing delays.
Just started this after finishing the first one. Yeah, I thought all the threads coming together at the end was just kinda lackluster. I finally knew and understood what was going on but it just wasn't that captivating. Prologue for Deadhouse Gates is already way more interesting.
Fuck any and all authors who take more than 3/4 years to write a book. Kind of hope the movie and tv series are disasters just to punish him for his money grubbing delays.
I read this essay collection a little while ago, it's a fairly enjoyable look at a broad swathe of the exploitation genre and the social context it inhabits and reacts to.
The whole thing was pretty good but the presentation got annoying after a while, I want to read a book damnit! not break my neck while trying to read shit upside down and backwards, fuck off with that gimmicky bullshit. Overall, pretty interesting, loved the multiple narratives, really well made in terms of content, felt like a big academic book at times, mix with the paranoid narrator in between, but would have been better without the weird page layouts which would have cut about 200 pages or so, that shit is big for nothing.
I think there's also a version without quite as many presentation flourishes, but I'm not sure if that applies to all of the overlapping and rearranged text, or just the strikeouts and coloured phrases. Even though I loved the form of it, I can understand how the layouts could quickly get annoying; I wouldn't say they detracted from the overall appeal for me, but they did feel a little extraneous at times.
Tor is giving away The Just City by Jo Walton as an ebook for their little book club. I blasted through it. Fantastic stuff.
I'm going back to Vorkosigan - I left off partway through The Warrior's Apprentice. It's a great coincidence that this thread is talking about the books a bunch. I've been planning on it all week.
Wrapped up Erebos by Ursula Poznanski last night. Story and writing were pretty good, but some amazingly big plot holes and a main character who comes off as a whiny tool ruin it. I hope not all YA books are like this.
Not when it is intentionally being delayed to promote a coming TV series/movie and an overpriced novella.
There isn't even a whisper of a release date or any indication that it is even marginally close to be done. You can bank on it not being released until 2019 which, shockingly, is when the media deal is expected to hit.
Right, I think this is the sticking point. It's pretty clear by now that, like GRRM, Rothfuss falls multiple standard deviations below the mean in the genre as far as writing speed. Attributing that to some nebulous money-grubbing conspiracy is silly. He'd make way more money if he was pumping them out, TV show or not.
Right, I think this is the sticking point. It's pretty clear by now that, like GRRM, Rothfuss falls multiple standard deviations below the mean in the genre as far as writing speed. Attributing that to some nebulous money-grubbing conspiracy is silly. He'd make way more money if he was pumping them out, TV show or not.
The idea that a writer would make more money by producing fewer products has always baffled me. Most writers have to produce one or two books per year just to stay afloat. The only argument I can see is that healthy royalty cheques give writers like Rothfuss and Martin a cushion to fall back on that doesn't exist for mid-listers. It's certainly not financially beneficial to delay publishing new work.
As for timing the publication of the book for a film/television adaptation: the author/publisher is much better served by reprinting the first book in the series with a tie-in cover, drawing in new readers, than hanging onto the third (or sixth) book in the series. Entrenched readers already know about the series. New readers don't care about the nth volume.
Huge thanks to GAF for all the recommendations of this book. This is probably my favorite book this year (so two years in a row where a debut is my favorite, following Wecker's The Golem and the Djinni from last year).
I'm still reading through The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield, and expect to be done with it this month. Although I'll read through it again to write down notes etc.
Yesterday I also started the novel Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, a book I had owned before but never really got started on. I'm currently at chapter three, and it seems kind of interesting, and there's probably some big plot point that's gonna be revealed soon, but nothing big have happened. Have just been a set up for the environments and people but that's fine, I'll give it some time to expand.
The idea that a writer would make more money by producing fewer products has always baffled me. Most writers have to produce one or two books per year just to stay afloat. The only argument I can see is that healthy royalty cheques give writers like Rothfuss and Martin a cushion to fall back on that doesn't exist for mid-listers. It's certainly not financially beneficial to delay publishing new work.
As for timing the publication of the book for a film/television adaptation: the author/publisher is much better served by reprinting the first book in the series with a tie-in cover, drawing in new readers, than hanging onto the third (or sixth) book in the series. Entrenched readers already know about the series. New readers don't care about the nth volume.
Is Rothfuss big enough to be making huge bucks off his 2.5 books?
GRRM made more off his show than he could ever spend (not that he was poor before then), so not being concerned about finances makes sense in his case.
Brian Mcclellan has published a bunch of essays on the financial side to being a mid-level fantasy which are pretty interesting. You can find them on his website.
Finished The Kingkiller Chronicles book 2 today. I think it was overall much better than the first book.
Fuck any and all authors who take more than 3/4 years to write a book. Kind of hope the movie and tv series are disasters just to punish him for his money grubbing delays.
Huh. I had no idea that the Kingkiller Chronicles what that popular.
I guess it's hard to get a sense of what is actually big, vs what is big if you mainly read sci fi/fantasy. I know that Joe Abercrombie mentioned that he's sold 3-4M copies across his 10 published works back in April. I wouldn't have guessed that Rothfuss was several times bigger than him.
I think that there was a big purchasing spree for fantasy IP after Game of Thrones took off. I don't expect the large majority of it to ever make it to screens.
