Starting Abercrombie's The Blade Itself again. This time with proper expectations. The Heroes was a fantastic novel so it's high time I read his trilogy.
Starting Abercrombie's The Blade Itself again. This time with proper expectations. The Heroes was a fantastic novel so it's high time I read his trilogy.
Just finished my re-read of A Dance With Dragons. Took me six weeks (that seems to be my usual reading speed these days, sigh...).
I thoroughly enjoyed it, probably more than the first time. I can see why it got mixed reviews (lack of plot progression, lack of resolution at the end), but the writing was still so good that I'm not bothered. The scope is so huge, and it's such an immersive experience. Not the best in the series, but still a very good book. But now I'm really impatient for The Winds of Winter, which has the potential to be one of the best in the series.
While I was reading, I found myself impatient to just get to the end. But now that it's done... I have that somewhat empty, forlorn feeling of ASOIAF withdrawal. I have other books to read, but none of them seem as compelling.
Re-reading ADWD, I appreciated it so much more. I think the first time I found myself expecting too much to happen, which didn't allow me to just enjoy what was on offer. And what's on offer is great. Pretty much all the chapters set in the north of Westeros were amazing, I loved the fact that Tyrion was on a quest of sorts through the more exotic locations of the world (and once Jorah got involved it really sung), and like you said, the writing was really good. I actually liked the twist with the new Targayen too, even if it came out of nowhere. All in all, I'm not disappointed in ADWD anymore. What's essentially happening now is that the chess pieces are all realigning after the epicness of ASOS, and some people may take issue with that, I on the other hand thought it was a very enjoyable realignment.
I am quite far behind in mentioning what I've been reading. Other than a brief write-up of a couple of stories in an anthology, I haven't really posted in over a month. And I've been quite quite busy reading, actually.
I read several of the short stories from Hex Appeal, edited by P.N. Elrod.
- Bigfoot on Campus, starring Harry Dresden, by Jim Butcher, was fun. I didn't quite like it as much as the previous short story in the Bigfoot trilogy, but it was entertaining enough and helps just a bit with the long wait until Cold Days.
- Retribution Clause, starring a cousin of a regular character in the Kate Daniels world, was written by Ilona Andrews. They actually didn't have much time to work on this story, but I still found it solid. A good deal of action with just a touch of romance.
- Holly's Balm by Rachel Caine was the first work that I'd read by the author. It seemed to me to feature a well rounded character inhabiting a reasonably well-developed world. It was a suspense/mystery story with a little more romance than I'm used to, but nothing that I'd consider over the top.
- Snow Job, a short story in the world of Delilah Street, by Carole Nelson Douglas was definitely over the top imho though. I found the story to be, to my tastes, a bit on the juvenile side. And it wasn't helped in that it seemed like it had more info dumps than some of the others. Others might well like this sort of story, but it just wasn't for me.
- Outside the Box, by P.N. Elrod, had a fair bit of world-building also, but I thought that the author did a better job of pulling it off. I was interested enough in the story while I read it, but it didn't stick with me too much after the fact.
As far as full-length novels go,
The Order of the Scales, Book 3 of the Memory of Flames series by Stephen Deas was disappointing for me. The basic plot of these novels is decent imo, but I've been less and less interested in the characters as it's progressed. My hope had been that the writer would improve and expand on his characterization as he went along, but that turned out not to be the case. Some people may enjoy his storytelling style, but I don't find anything inherently interesting about it. I don't think that I'll continue on to Book 4.
Poison Study, Book 1 of the Study series by Maria V Snyder, featured an intriguing premise imo. The ruler needs a food taster at all times, and the law states that whichever dungeon denizen is next in line to face the executioner shall be offered the job. In an unusual turn of events, that turns out to be a woman. In a certain way the book reminded me a bit of what I've read of Carol Berg. Though in a much more stripped down way, with a good deal less world-building and fewer characters. Overall I enjoyed it, I think that it moved at decent pace and had a good mix of action and exposition. I was surprised a bit by a romance subplot that appeared suddenly (at least for my sensibilities), and I think that it did reduce my enjoyment of the book a little (the unexpectedness of it), but in the end I'm still glad to have read it.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemesin was a disappointment for me. I tried to give it extra credit for being the author's first work, but although I thought the premise interesting enough, I became less and less satisfied by the execution as it progressed. The climax and conclusion both struck me as something I've read before, likely in some Marvel superhero comics.
The Stormlord Trilogy by Glenda Larke, consisting of The Last Stormlord, Stormlord Rising and Stormlord's Exile was an interesting read. It definitely contained some unique and original (ime) world-building, set as it was in a land in which water is a very scarce commodity and the rare few who are able to influence it magically compromise the land's elite. The society contained several cultures and the conflicts between them, as well as several that were more personal, led to what I thought to be some decent stories.
The Temeraire books, by Naomi Novik, are ones that I had not yet read. So I tried the first five, His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles. I thought the first one charming, if a bit what I would classify as YA-ish. There was definitely some action in the story, but I have to admit that I was taken in by the earnestness of the tale. That feeling was less present for me in the second, third and fourth installments. The tales that they told, while sensible plot wise, did not take the story to places where it could maximize what I thought to be it's strengths. Certainly not to the extent of the first. I thought that the fifth book did a better job of that, but unfortunately it continued a trend in which we saw the protagonists suffer. More and more Novik definitely reminded me of Robin Hobb, in which she seemed to often (perhaps almost always) want her characters to be condemned for performing what they believed to be the right or necessary action. Based on the reviews that I've read of Hobb, some readers don't seem to mind such unrelenting misery, but I very much don't care for it. I'm still glad that I've read the books, and there are, again, aspects that I quite liked about them, but all-in-all I can't help but wishing that the plot had gone in some very different directions.
Spellwright, by Blake Charlton, was the first time that I'd encountered the author. Apparently he struggled with severe dyslexia when he was younger, a fact that was very very very apparent in this book. At times it seemed to me a wish-fulfillment daydream by a young teenager, with some very heavy-handedness in the plot and main character, though at others it rose above that, and seemed a serviceable fantasy story. I was interested to see that the author handled a blind character with a much lighter touch than he did the main character, perhaps owing to the fact that he may not have had a vested agenda when it comes to the subject of blindness? As with the Temeraire books, I thought that this bordered on what I would call YA, but there were times that I found it readable enough. I'm unsure if I'll continue on with the series.
In addition, I read the The Dragon Prince Trilogy by Melanie Rawn, the installments of that series being Dragon Prince, Star Scroll and Sunrunner's Fire. I'd never read this 80's series, but was heartened to see that the spelling, grammar and level of writing were not too bad, and actually better than some of the books being published today. I can see why Third Person Omniscient point of view has fallen out of favor, but I was ready for a change of pace and this generally black-and-white style tale provided that. There was a plot point involving rape that left me wondering quite a bit, but overall I found this an enjoyable story and a fast read.
I also read The Psalms of Isaak by Ken Scholes, consisting of Lamentation, Canticle and Antiphon. It took several chapters for me to adjust to the tone of the story-telling, which turned out to be a bit different from that which I had expected, but once I did I came to appreciate this story more and more. I thought that the author struck an interesting balance in his characterization, keeping the story flowing briskly while also giving us a fair number of pov characters. I thought there to be a nice balance of action, politics and intrigues as a world is shocked by a devastating event, which starts a number of other changes as the repercussions of that continue to reverberate.
Black Charlton does have severe dyslexia, yes. Spellwright has also been exclusively marketed as a YA fantasy, with Charlton himself branded a YA author.Originally Posted by AmethystOrator
He's a great guy, too. Very friendly.
Right.
Alright.Spellwright has also been exclusively marketed as a YA fantasy, with Charlton himself branded a YA author.
Okay.He's a great guy, too. Very friendly.
That's news to me. Nothing in the material I received for Spellwright suggested it was being marketed to the YA market, let alone exclusively.
Nothing wrong with YA, mind.
Oh. In the UK it was, I'm pretty sure of it.
EDIT: Aha, from Blake's blog:
There’s another (self serving) reason I’m interested in this phenomenon. Presently, Spellwright will be published by eight different publishing houses in seven different languages: six are shelving it as “adult fantasy” (no, not that kind of adult fantasy), and two of them are publishing it as YA crossover fantasy. I’m very cool with all of this, especially since I envisioned the series as a YA crossunder (though, on occasion, I do fret about publishing not making books more attractive to young men). It’ll be interesting to how the different shelving does or doesn’t change anything.
Has anyone read Michael j Sullivans' books yet? The first being Theft of Swords. Would love some feedback.
It's great, fast-paced, not-bogged-down-in-description traditional-ish fantasy. Definitely recommended.Has anyone read Michael j Sullivans' books yet? The first being Theft of Swords. Would love some feedback.
RE: Blake Charlton, Loerwyn, fair point. The younger protagonist does lend itself to a younger audience, I suppose. It was an interesting novel with a nice magical system.
Lots of people liked, it, including me.Has anyone read Michael j Sullivans' books yet? The first being Theft of Swords. Would love some feedback.
Mr. Sullivan has his own sub-forum here at SFFWorld.
You'll find some good discussions about the books in there as well as this thread:
Riyria Revelations to be published by Orbit
I finished my re-read of The Dragon Reborn and really enjoyed it. Jordan did a great job in the first few books of writing endings that left you wanting more. So I'm just going to get right into The Shadow Rising.
And Shayna, I definitely recommend Sullivan's Riyria Revelations if you're looking for a more traditional, light fantasy read. The stories move at a good pace and I really enjoyed the characters.
I'm reading the first Redwall novel by Brian Jacques. Somehow, I wasn't even aware of the existence of these books until very recently.
I'm about halfway through, and... I'm kind of loving it. It's just so utterly charming, and the characters are so likable.
I think I just assumed (wrongly) that it was marketed as YA universally because of its themes and its protagonist.
I grew up with Redwall, but I can't read them now. Jacques' style just didn't work for me and I had to give up.I'm reading the first Redwall novel by Brian Jacques. Somehow, I wasn't even aware of the existence of these books until very recently.
I'm about halfway through, and... I'm kind of loving it. It's just so utterly charming, and the characters are so likable.
Yeah, I wish I had discovered them when I was a kid. Being old now, I'm not sure how many of his novels I'll be able to get through... but I'm really enjoying the first one so far, and I plan to read the first 3 at least.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks