Reading in March 2011

Rob B said:
Heh...I'm kind of the same both as both of you. The last Erikson I read was Reaper's Gale almost two years ago in September 2009. I've had Toll the Hounds since that time and with all the other books that have leaped in front of it, I've been a bit hesitant to jump in since there are always some gaps for me with Erikson considering the scope and the months to years I take between reading each volume. That said, with The Crippled God also in my possession (as well as Dust of Dreams), I may do a marathon and plow through all three though if I want to finish before Christmas I should start soon....
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Wow three Malazan books in one year?!?! You are a brave man Rob.

The biggest trouble I'm having with this book is that much of the characters and content haven't been visited since book three, so for me that is a gap of about 5 years or more for many of the characters.

I'm a bit over 800 pages into my tpb copy which is the size, shape and weight of a cinder block. 800 pages may seem like a lot, but I'm not even 2/3 of the way through yet. This book is a beast.
 
Corporal Blues said:
The biggest trouble I'm having with this book is that much of the characters and content haven't been visited since book three, so for me that is a gap of about 5 years or more for many of the characters.
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I agree, I think this is the longest gap in the series between visiting one continent. If Genabackis is continent "A", the first 8 books go:

A, B, A, B, C, B, C, A

I wonder why he chose to leave Genabackis for so long? I guess there was just so much going on with Seven Cities and Lether.
 
I've read four of the Mazalan books, have the 5th on the shelf, and have had no desire at all to read it. Listening to you folk talk about the things you like about it (with caveats) helps to reinforce my lack of desire to read it. It sounds like it has pretty much all the stuff I don't like in my fantasy and not much of the stuff I do (which was pretty much how I felt about the first 4 books).
 
Evil Agent said:
I agree, I think this is the longest gap in the series between visiting one continent. If Genabackis is continent "A", the first 8 books go:

A, B, A, B, C, B, C, A

I wonder why he chose to leave Genabackis for so long? I guess there was just so much going on with Seven Cities and Lether.
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The other bummer is that I'm about to move, so I have all my books packed up, so I can't reference them to help jog my memory.

Genabackis is a great setting, and I like many of the characters that come with the setting, such as Kruppe, and the other Phoenix Inn people, as well as the retired Malazan's kicking it in town, and also Barathol, Chaur, Scillaria, etc. but I really struggle through the scenes with any of the Tiste Andii. I find those characters quite boring and nearly impossible to relate to.

Sometimes I wonder why certain story threads are even included.
 
Erfael said:
I've read four of the Mazalan books, have the 5th on the shelf, and have had no desire at all to read it. Listening to you folk talk about the things you like about it (with caveats) helps to reinforce my lack of desire to read it. It sounds like it has pretty much all the stuff I don't like in my fantasy and not much of the stuff I do (which was pretty much how I felt about the first 4 books).
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Well said Erf.

Reading Toll The Hounds can sometimes be pure joy, and other times feel like drudgery.
 
Corporal Blues said:
Well said Erf.

Reading Toll The Hounds can sometimes be pure joy, and other times feel like drudgery.
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If anyone has read the first 3-5 books, then yeah, I'd say they're definitely in a good position to make a judgment about the series. But Book 1 alone really isn't enough.

The books haven't exactly been declining, but the second half of the series does seem to contain more filler storylines... which is unfortunate. I've heard that's especially the case with Book 8, which I've just begun, but it was also quite prevalent in Book 7 (and even Book 3, actually, despite many people saying it's their favourite one).

If I could make one change to Erikson's writing, I would wish that the books were about 600-700 pages, instead of 1,200 pages. I think the series would be a lot stronger.
 
I got started on Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts this evening. So far I've got no problems with it. It seems well written at this point, and it'd be interesting to see how it develops. I have a feeling I'm going to zoom through it, though.
 
Erfael said:
I've read four of the Mazalan books, have the 5th on the shelf, and have had no desire at all to read it. Listening to you folk talk about the things you like about it (with caveats) helps to reinforce my lack of desire to read it. It sounds like it has pretty much all the stuff I don't like in my fantasy and not much of the stuff I do (which was pretty much how I felt about the first 4 books).
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I was like that (Midnight Tides was the last I read), then I read Larry's review of the final book which planted a seed of doubt. I have a ban on buying books at the moment (saving for another operation), and most of my unread stuff is fiction, so if I get desperate I may crack open the next book, which has been unread on my shelf for 3 or 4 years now.

I'm pretty sure if I give up on Malazan the only two ongoing BFF series I'd be partway through and intending to continue with would be Wurts and Martin.
 
Trying to get through Claw of the Conciliator. I like it for the prose and his interesting use of language, but I find the subject matter somewhat boring. Specifically, I don't really feel a connection with Severian or any of the other characters (which is odd, considering it's written in 1st person...).

Started Perdido Street Station to read when I get tired of Wolfe. I haven't gotten far in, but I thought the prologue was really really well done, and some of the descriptions were, I thought, far better than what I've read from Wolfe.
 
I just finished Shadow by KJ Parker and really enjoyed it. I'm going to dive right into Pattern and hope that it is just as well written. It makes me regret not giving Parker a chance earlier.
 
Bastard said:
Read that when it came out last year and liked it:
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27030

Sequel comes out this summer, Honeyed Words.
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What I read of your review seems in-line with what I've read, but I felt you perhaps overlooked something.

For all Sarah is reluctant to talk about her girlfriend and be 'public' with her, she sure does talk about their intimate times a lot and without being vague about it. Struck me as a little odd, to be honest, as I'd have thought she'd be more restrained in discussing it with the reader
 
Just read Chapter 1 of Perdido Street Station and I can officially state that it was the weirdest thing I have ever read. I've read some weird stuff, but that... that takes the cake.
 
sdelu said:
Just read Chapter 1 of Perdido Street Station and I can officially state that it was the weirdest thing I have ever read. I've read some weird stuff, but that... that takes the cake.
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I had very similar feelings after the first chapter, though I found after about a third into the book it didn't seem particularly weird at all, and I think that, is more concerning ;)
 
sdelu said:
Just read Chapter 1 of Perdido Street Station and I can officially state that it was the weirdest thing I have ever read. I've read some weird stuff, but that... that takes the cake.
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That's (one of the reasons) why I love that book and it's in my top 10 of all time!
 
Cheerwell said:
What I read of your review seems in-line with what I've read, but I felt you perhaps overlooked something.

For all Sarah is reluctant to talk about her girlfriend and be 'public' with her, she sure does talk about their intimate times a lot and without being vague about it. Struck me as a little odd, to be honest, as I'd have thought she'd be more restrained in discussing it with the reader
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I think you're reading too much into it, and I think it's not worth pondering. It's similar to a character getting raped, not wanting to tell anyone, yet the story already depicted the character got raped and how.

Then you have to think, is the book a personal journal, a diary? The thoughts of the narrator that somehow got on paper? Was the book actually meant to be read? Does the character seem safe to air dirty laundry through the written word, similar to many shy people just come online and write all the crap they want? At what point of her life was this book written? Etc., etc.

I don't think it's worth exploring that aspect much, it'll just make your head hurt and ultimately make you nitpick on things that don't need nitpicking I think.
 
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Bastard said:
I think you're reading too much into it, and I think it's not worth pondering. It's similar to a character getting raped, not wanting to tell anyone, yet the story already depicted the character got raped and how.

Then you have to think, is the book a personal journal, a diary? The thoughts of the narrator that somehow got on paper? Was the book actually meant to be read? Does the character seem safe to air dirty laundry through the written word, similar to many shy people just come online and write all the crap they want? At what point of her life was this book written? Etc., etc.

I don't think it's worth exploring that aspect much, it'll just make your head hurt and ultimately make you nitpick on things that don't need nitpicking I think.
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It's a fair point, B, and I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying.

I'm getting worried at how much I identify with Sarah over things. Not good :(
 
Cheerwell said:
It's a fair point, B, and I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying.

I'm getting worried at how much I identify with Sarah over things. Not good :(
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Isn't that supposed to be a good thing? I mean, as far as good reading goes? But I guess if you see the character in a negative light, then I guess it could be worrying lol.
 
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