You know, this isn't the usual way we do this, but: Who would be up for reading Cloud Atlas as our February book of the month? I've also had it on the TRP for some time...like, years.
You know, this isn't the usual way we do this, but: Who would be up for reading Cloud Atlas as our February book of the month? I've also had it on the TRP for some time...like, years.
I'm in, I loved Thousand Autumns and I'm curious why this one is considered better.
How did you feel about the rest of Rai Kirah trilogy? I read Transformation and thought it showed great potential but had some clear first book problems. I thought the beginning was a little too episodic and the plot started to meander a bit after the prince got sick before coming together near the end. I'm interested to see if her writing came to match her ambition in later works.Originally Posted by Erfael
Here's what I had to say about the trilogy in the Reading In thread a while back:
I really liked the world and characters here, so it may have made me look over some other things that may pose a problem for others. There were slower bits in both the later books. They didn't bother me, as it was an interesting journey, but I could see some people finding them to be too much of a distraction from the "main" storyline. Aleksander is also largely absent from book 2, so if he's a selling point, then that may also be a miss.I finished up Carol Berg's Restoration tonight, which closes out her Rai-Kirah Trilogy. Given my reading habits, the fact that I started and finished this trilogy in less than three months says a lot about how much I liked these books.
It's structured the way I prefer my trilogies, three individual story arcs that come together into a larger picture. In this case, each book broadens out the overall cosmology while at the same time turning over assumptions and facts laid out in previous books as the characters come to know more of the history of their world.
At the same time, though, nothing that happens in previous books becomes trivialized by later information or events, to the point that even the opening moments of the first book become vitally important to the overall outcome of events between characters.
As much as the first book of this trilogy really hinged on the relationship between two characters, the latter two books really turn into a voyage (not necessarily physical) of discovery. The relationship between characters remains important, but it becomes an established fact rather than something that continues to grow (though how it could grow after events in the first book is a bit of a mystery).
All in all, this has been my favorite trilogy read of 2011 so far (though it doesn't have much competition on the trilogy front) if not my favorite series read to this point.
That said about Rai-Kirah, the only other works I've read so far are her newest trilogy, Collegia Magica, and in regards to writing matching ambition, I would say absolutely. They're some of the most engaging, interesting fantasy I've read in years. I haven't read her middle series to know how smooth the arc from her old works to her new works is, but hopefully I'll be able to remedy that within the next year.
This happened to me the first time I read her, too.Though she's now moved beyond that to my "hoarding" phase - I like her so much that I tend to let her newer books sit on the to-be-read shelf a long while so I don't get to a point where I don't have one waiting for me.
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Mine:
The Dragon's Path - Abraham: My first read from this author, and I'm much smitten. I'm not sure how I missed the Long Price Quartet, but this one shot him into my "must-buy" tier immediately.
StarCrossed - Elizabeth C. Bunce: 2011 was my year of getting past some prejudices regarding YA Fantasy, and this book in particular really stood out. It may be shorter and somewhat narrower in scope than "adult" fantasies nowadays, maybe, but I really loved the intimate manor-murder-mystery feel to the plot, and both the characters and world-building were detailed and engaging - far, far, FAR from the dumbed-down unicorns-and-rainbows-and-magic-oh-my sort of preconceptions I usually have towards books with covers like this one has.
The Cloud Roads - Martha Wells: Speaking of preconceptions - I have kind of a "thing" against stories about people with wings. It's just a button thing for me that I don't find winged-beings anywhere near as magical and fascinating as other fantasy fans. Anyway, I went into this with some trepidation, but I do adore Martha Wells, and she pulled it out here, too.
Paladin of Souls - Bujold: Loved it even more than Curse....
The Whitefire Crossing - Courtney Schafer: Great debut. I'm not sure whether it will be uber-memorable as a standalone, but if she has more stories for these characters, I'll be on board 100%.
I'll make note of my favorite non-2011 books, since I'm preparing the polling thread for the 2011 releases, will contribute to SFFWorld's year in review, and do my own personal year in review on my blog. The short of it is:
Feed by Mira Grant - IMHO, the best Zombie fiction that isn't The Walking Dead. Completely engaging protagonist, break neck narrative, and overall satisfying read.
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon - After having this on the stack for almost two years, I finally got around to reading it and boy did I love it. It jumped to my personal Omnibus Hall of FameŽ upon completion.
A Song of Ice and Fire - I reread the series in preparation for the show and A Dance with Dragons. Blew me away just as much this time as it did on my prior readings
The Name of the Wind - Another re-read that surpassed my expectations - I enjoyed it more this 2nd time around.
On Basilisk Station by David Weber - Loved it, I'm really enjoying just about everything I've read by him.
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly - We read this for the bookclub and I really enjoyed it. Shame it is out of print right now, Hambly does lots of interesting things in this one that defy typical conventions of the genre.
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson - Another book club selection. Superb atmosphere, gripping narrative.
About the only thing I did NOT like about that trilogy was the title. Stupid, stupid title ("Rai-Kirah"?? Really??).
Well....the middle of the second book could have stood for a lot of rewriting. I'll give you that. Really slumped there for awhile. But all in all, a very good series.
Definitely The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. Loved that book.
- The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson
- The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
- Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon
- The Eye of The World - Robert Jordan
- The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan
- Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson
I'd be up for it. I've only read it once, and the discussions here are always so enlightening. Even though I don't participate, I like to read what everyone has to say about the group reads.
It's more ambitious, more layered, more thought-provoking. Thousand Autumns is a fairly standard historical. It's good but there's nothing really special about it.
Ah. Thanks for the reply. I've been meaning to get around to her work eventually, but am not really sure if I'll take to it, so have not done so yet.Jacqueline.
This has been a great fantasy year. I read a lot, but I'd have to say my favorites were:
The first two books of the KKC, Patrick Rothfuss
Steelhands, Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
The Shadowbridge Series, Gregory Frost
The first two books of the Red Wolf Conspiracy, Robert S. Redick
Troubled Waters, Sharon Shinn
Cast in Ruin, Michelle Sagara
Oath of Fealty and Kings of the North, Elizabeth Moon
I'm sure I left a bunch out, but those stand out..
Mistborn trilogy
The Heroes
Dune
I did a lot of re-reading old favorites this year, since I was trying to get a handle on things I liked in order to (hopefully) improve my own writing. Books that were new (to me) this year that I really liked included:
Stormlord's Exile by Glenda Larke
Blackout and all Clear by Connie Willis (SF not Fantasy)
The curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
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