[Mithfânion]

Start of the new month and since Hobbit is undoubtedly still sleeping I'll start it off ;)

I finished Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. Final rating, 7 stars out of 10.
Not a particularly strong work but I will be reading the sequels. The main flaw of this book was not so much that there is so little plot advancement ( I thought Williams wasn't too bad in that department, perhaps coming from the need to have lots of things happening when Shadowmarch was still being released issue for issue), but rather the dearth of any likeable of impressive characters. It's blandness all around really. Williams spins a decent tale but throughout the 640 pages I counted very little highs and the characterization remains bland. Main characters Briony (the feisty feminist princess) and Barrick ( the crippled, moody, goth-type loser haunted by dreams of the Qar) did nothing for me. Secondary characters such as Shaso and Vansen were ok but really no stand outs in fantastic literature. I was primarily disappointed in the depication of the Qar, after I had seen what he did with the Sithi, and after I had heard people rave about this new race. I found them rather unremarkable, or perhaps they simply didn't live up to my expectations. Williams doesn't flesh the Qar out in the least. Apparantly there are various tribes but there is not even a description of the look of these various tribes, let alone that Williams cares to tell us what the different tribes can do, and how they relate to each other. Major opportunities there, perhaps Williams will explore this in the future volumes. That said, I still found the sections with the Qar (and particularly those involving the Qar King Ynnir, Lord of Winds and Thought) to be the best parts of the story, along with the intriguing character of Flint (who obviously has a major part to play in books to come and has a connection with the Qar king himself).

Overall it seems that Williams has written something like Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, except not as compelling, which is why I would recommend that series first. I haven't read War of the Flowers but the fact that the consensus seemed to be that that was actually weaker than Shadowmarch, I'm not overly enthused.

[Hobbit]

Thank you, Mith - good post to start! (And yes, I was..... :) )

Oh and just for those who haven't realised yet - this is where you tell us what you're reading - and whether you'd recommend it to others, or whether it was a waste of your precious time.

Anyway, was interested in your Shadowmarch comments. (I still haven't got round to reading this yet, though it's in the pile - too much potentially good stuff!)
There's been a few comments like it I've seen - it's good, but not that good.....

Did you read the original Internet version?

There's also been comments around that Tad may have hamstrung himself by regimenting himself into using what he put there in the first place. Can't say I necessarily agree with it, (partly because I haven't read it yet, and partly because a good writer works round such details) but there y'go. I can usually find something good in Tad's work.

I actually enjoyed War of the Flowers, though it is different and not as multilayered as MS&T. It reminded me a lot of the old magic stories of the 1950's - sort of like L. Sprague de Camp's Enchanter stories. It comes across as humourous and romantic, with nasty bits. :)

Hobbit

[kingma15]

I am reading the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. I just finished Daughter of the Empire (the first book) and am going to start on the Servant of the Empire (the second book) tonight.

Would I reccomend this series to you?? A resounding YES!!!!!!

This series is unreal.. I think of it as the oriental equivelant to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. However, having said that, the Empire trilogy was written first. But I had read Martin's book first, and thats why I draw the comparrison. It has all the political intrigue and the like..

I have not been able to put it down!

[AuntiePam]

An amateur reviewer at Amazon complained about the Empire trilogy, saying that Mara always makes the correct decisions and judgments. I prefer characters who have reverses and bad times, with messes to clean up.

Is this true of these books? Is Mara always right?

[magze]

Its a few years since I read The Empire Trilogy, Mara has a lot of heartache throughout the series, not all her decisions are the correct ones, she does make mistakes but she learns from her mistakes. Now I could be just being nostalgic and remembering it through rose coloured glasses,but I would recommend it to anyone.
Still reading Hobb's Golden Fool.

[AuntiePam]

Thanks, magze. I have a gift certificate to spend, and I think I'll use it for the Feist/Wurtz. :)

[BlueDevil99]

Just polished off Tad Williams' "Dragonbone Chair" at 1am last night. This was my third attempt at the book, and the first time I made it through the first 100 pages, and man am I glad I did. I can't believe I have been reading fantasy for this long and missed out on a series as good as this!

Also finished Wolfe's "The Knight" a week or so ago. The book is a really interesting, but I ended up liking the idea of the book more than the book itself, if that makes any sense. The book asks the reader to fill in a lot of gaps--this is by design, and it's very cleverly done, but it ended up being a little too much work at some points.

Somewhere in there I also polished off Sean Stewart's "Perfect Circle". I read the book cover-to-cover in a single day and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now on to Neal Stephenson's "Quicksilver" and Card's "Red Prophet". Though of course I ordered "Stone of Farewell" from Amazon this morning and I have to admit when it shows up I'll be hard pressed not to put down whatever I'm reading and start it...

[FicusFan]

I am still working on Newton's Cannon . Though I started it, I have pretty much put it down to finish my SF read, and that I keep putting down too. I am not in a slump so much as a slow down.

The book seems good, but not as riveting or as odd as The Coyote Kings .....

[kingma15]

An amateur reviewer at Amazon complained about the Empire trilogy, saying that Mara always makes the correct decisions and judgments. I prefer characters who have reverses and bad times, with messes to clean up.

Is this true of these books? Is Mara always right?

Throughout the first book, it did appear as if all of Mara's decisions did turn out to be correct, but I am assuming that this cannot continue throughout the 1600+ pages I still have to read in the trilogy.

However, having saif that, the book is still a great read, and Mara still suffers through some hardship in the first book, even though her decisions turn out for the better. And also, remembering that in the first book, a period of about 2 years is covered, and Mara was new to the lordship, and as such was severely underestimated by her rivals, thus making it easier for her decisions to work out.

[AuntiePam]

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like something I'll like, especially since Hobb and Martin fans are praising it.

I used my gift certificate to buy it, along with Deadhouse Gates. I was disappointed that Daughter wasn't available in hardcover. I found some secondhand book club editions, but they were a bit pricey.