Reading in December 2008

[Cranky Hamster]

Recently finished Dan Simmons' The Terror.

I had mixed feelings about this one. There were some genuinely terrifying and suspenseful moments in the novel, most of the characters were convincingly drawn, and the book had a couple of really horrific scenes (the Masque of the Red Death on the ice, the final days of Cornelius Hickey).

There were also long stretches of incredible tedium (srsly how many times do I need to read about the same arctic landscape or the awfulness of their cheapie canned food?), most of the characters were thoroughly disagreeable despite being well-drawn (I think there were maybe two of them that I was sad to see go, and the rest were just "yeah yeah die already"), and the ending was a combination of total WTF* and unexpectedly clumsy info-dumping.

Overall it was okay but I'll never reread it, I'd only recommend it with heavy caveats, and it would have been greatly improved by trimming about 250 pages of needless repetition.

(* Specifically:

Spoiler

that whole bit with Lady Silence suddenly turning into the Native Woman Who Selflessly Loves White Man cliche

)

 

[Justin2209]

I just finished Greywalker by Kat Richardson. It was pretty good. I'm a big fan of The Dresden Files books so I thought I would give this a go. I'm on to Poltergeist (book 2) at the moment. To be honest, I'm just killing time till I get Empire In Black and Gold and The Warded Man from the Book Depository. Why does the Atlantic Ocean have to be so big?!

 

[PeterWilliam]

...I'm half way through the 4th book of The Chronicles of Amber.

Same here. I've really been enjoying the chronicles, with perhaps the only exception being the kaleidoscopic, endless, random, litany of description when Corwin engages upon a 'hellride.' It was novel and interesting once, but with each successive excursion, I find myself skipping over all of the paragraphs with multiple sets of "..."s in them.

 

[Gilgamesh]

with perhaps the only exception being the kaleidoscopic, endless, random, litany of description when Corwin engages upon a 'hellride.'

It's funny because it's my turn to say "same here" . I kinda try to open up to the descriptions and try to imagine the scenery... but I agree that it tends to go on a little bit too long.

I finished the 4th book a few hours ago. I think I'm going to start to 5th one (The Courts Of Chaos) today, which is going to be the last book of 2008 for me.

 

[BrightStar]

Black Ships is a nicely written, rather romantic novel, BrightStar; there are others to follow soon, but it reads well as a standalone, I think.

Thanks for the info, Hobbit. I think I'll definitely be looking out for more books by this author, as my opinion of Black Ships has done nothing but improve the more of it that I read. I'm happy to be engrossed in a book where I actually care about the characters, the plot, and how things are going to work out for them.

Oh right, and I forgot to add in my last post:

Well, then, I think you will enjoy the books (or should at least try reading the first one). Yes, they contain a lot of politics/intrigue... but it's nearly 100% character driven! The politics are driven by the ambitions of the different characters (and their families) and all the noble or ambitious decisions they make. Also, the characters are very engaging and realistic, and are all highly flawed (it's very difficult to totally like or dislike anyone, because many of them have both good and bad qualities). Highly recommended, if you enjoy character-driven plots. Don't be afraid of the politics!

Sounds like I could like this one. I'm still a bit unsure, but I do kinda feel like I'm missing out having not read it yet. I guess I'll give it a go, though since I have so many books on my to read list, it'll probably be a while yet before I do.

 

[Amaunette]

Recently finished Dan Simmons' The Terror.

I had mixed feelings about this one. There were some genuinely terrifying and suspenseful moments in the novel, most of the characters were convincingly drawn, and the book had a couple of really horrific scenes (the Masque of the Red Death on the ice, the final days of Cornelius Hickey).

There were also long stretches of incredible tedium (srsly how many times do I need to read about the same arctic landscape or the awfulness of their cheapie canned food?), most of the characters were thoroughly disagreeable despite being well-drawn (I think there were maybe two of them that I was sad to see go, and the rest were just "yeah yeah die already"), and the ending was a combination of total WTF* and unexpectedly clumsy info-dumping...

I'm only about 1/4 through The Terror, so I can't vouch for the ending, but I can definitely agree about the tedium. Some of the scary parts were very well done, and yes, I thought the characters were convincing, but I am getting tired of hearing the same old things about noisy ice, icy forests, and frostbite. I'm listening to it on tape, though, since it's the holiday season and therefore means lots of driving for me, so if it gets boring I can just tune out. I'm kind of glad it's long that way I can look forward to the next time I get to take a car ride. I think I like the author's writing style, so I might look into more of his books in the future.

I also just finished S. L. Farrell's Magic of Twilight. It got me through Christmas, and it was entertaining enough to encourage sneaking off to a dark corner of the house to read for a few minutes of peace, but it wasn't really all that well written. Some of the characterization was a little unconvincing, as well as some of the events, and the type of magic wasn't the sort I normally like. I normally prefer magic that makes sense, something grounded in reality, rather than the sort of black box type magic where someone waves their hands and says some words and, poof, something cool happens. But the plot was good enough to leave me wanting more, only I'm sure I'll forget most of the circumstances by the time the next book comes out. I think it's the politics and exploring a new world that had me so interested in this book. I'm sure what most people complain about in this book is having to learn new words and names, which are of course long, vowel-twisting jaw breakers with plenty of apostrophes thrown in for good measure. I learned all the names and word conventions quickly, and strange names and words rarely bother me in a fantasy novel, but I'm sure I'll forget them in time for the next book's release.

 

[Astra_]

Finished Count of Monte Cristo. Unfortunately it was not as good as I expected it to be. I believe, that knowing what is going to happen, spoiled it a lot. There are still powerful emotions but....probably the last time I re-read the book.
Started a re-read of Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.

 

[suciul]

Forgot to update in a while though I read several books.

I plan to read the 7 book Long+Short Sun series by G. Wolfe, end to end in the next several months, interspersed with other books of course, since I've read from it across the years, but never end to end. I finished Book 1 of the Long Sun and I am half in book 2.

I read a superb novel about revolution and decadence in Tsarist Russia and romance and torture in Stalin's USSR - Sashenka by S. Montefiore - though with some of the cheesiest writing here and there since Brent Weeks 2 and with a predictable ending in the contemporary part 3 that reconstitutes the fates of the main characters in the 1990's Moscow, this book truly moved me a lot.

I also read the first book in Jennifer Fallon Tides series based on tarot characters. Immortal Prince was so enjoyable, witty, funny and "serious" too and it hooked me on the characters that I had to order books 2-4 from Australia at considerable cost (about 26$ per book) including sh since here in the US book 2 will appear only in July 09, with books 3 and 4, 10/11 most likely.

Tonight I browsed through Accidental Sorcerer by K Mills (aka K. Miller) at my local BN and it was so funny and compelling that I bought it on the spot and read half. Funny, kind of like a fantasy version of Space Captain Smith though with Australian overtones rather than UK ones, I expect to finish it fast. Books 2 and 3 are due soon after, but I have to see if the series has depth for 1500+ pages, since so far it's mostly gags, very funny, but 1500+ pages are a lot for such...

 

[Cranky Hamster]

Read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. It was fine but nothing special; I think my expectations were set too high by the Gaiman legend (which is weird because I've never been all that impressed by what little of his work I've read, but I still can't seem to shake the expectation that the next book will be a life-altering event, and then it never ever is, and I am always disappointed. Insidious buzz, I shake my fist at you!). Anyway, it was a perfectly decent little trifle, it just wasn't moving or substantial in the slightest. That is my fault for expecting the wrong things, not the book's.

Then I started Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest. This, for me, is turning out to be one of those books that's perfectly pleasant to read for as long as it keeps going, but if I have to put it down to do something else for a while, I feel no impetus whatsoever to pick it up again. We'll see if that changes once the story gets moving (assuming I make it far enough to see whether the story ever gets moving -- my track record with books of this sort is not as good as I'd like it to be).

 

[BrightStar]

Then I started Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest. This, for me, is turning out to be one of those books that's perfectly pleasant to read for as long as it keeps going, but if I have to put it down to do something else for a while, I feel no impetus whatsoever to pick it up again. We'll see if that changes once the story gets moving (assuming I make it far enough to see whether the story ever gets moving -- my track record with books of this sort is not as good as I'd like it to be).

I loved Daughter of the Forest, though it's the sort of book that gets better and better the more you read. I found the start to be a bit slow and difficult (kinda had the same problem that you mentioned) but later, I just couldn't put it down. I definitely recommend that you stick with it, especially if you're not very far through it yet.

Have read some of Marillier's books, but didn't like them nearly as much as the first (what I read was still fairly okay, though).

I'm still reading Black Ships at the moment. Still enjoying it.

 

[Randy M.]

Read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. It was fine but nothing special; I think my expectations were set too high by the Gaiman legend (which is weird because I've never been all that impressed by what little of his work I've read, but I still can't seem to shake the expectation that the next book will be a life-altering event,

That exactly describes my relationship to Ray Bradbury's work about 25 years ago. I kept reading him because of his rep, but nothing of his ever clicked, with the exceptions of a couple of short stories. Then I read The Martian Chronicles and I finally got it. I'd be lying if I said I could describe what I got, but with that one work the rest of work began to appeal to me more than it had previously.

and then it never ever is, and I am always disappointed. Insidious buzz, I shake my fist at you!). Anyway, it was a perfectly decent little trifle, it just wasn't moving or substantial in the slightest. That is my fault for expecting the wrong things, not the book's.

I disagree with your assessment, by the way. Gaiman's writing isn't flashy, he doesn't go for the BIG story, at least not in what I've read, but he gets the characters pretty well, he hits grace notes of small details with uncanny ease, and generally walks the tightrope of believability over the portentious and the just plain silly with a great deal of skill. It's a YA novel, as far as I can see, and it's the sort of work I enjoyed as a kid, the kind that kept me interested in reading.

Randy M.

 

[Miriamele]

I just finished Sean Russell's Under the Vaulted Hills, which was quite good, and very interesting after having read the Moon Rise and Magic Tide books that come after. Notably, it was wonderful to see Lady Chilton and Averil Kent at a young age, as well as to meet Erasmus Flattery and the mage Eldritch, characters who have passed into legend by the time of the other books.

The scenes in the caves were well written, and suspenseful, and had me feeling claustrophobic myself!

There is no finality at all at the end of that book. Good thing my library also had The Compass of the Soul, which I started yesterday. So far, so good. I am really liking the mage, Eldritch. Even though the other characters think he is a monster, I find him to be the most fascinating and complex character.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

Hah, I've had that problem with Bradbury too. Except rather than being indifferent, I was actively turned off by his prose (he gets lots of props for being a good writer, but for some reason it's nails on a chalkboard to me), so I gave up on his work years ago.

Re: The Graveyard Book -- I'm not sure that is a disagreement, really, although that's my fault for not expressing myself as clearly as I should have.

The book is good for what it is. I was expecting something else -- something grander, more emotionally resonant, something deeper. Bigger. It wasn't there. The little grace notes were certainly there -- you're completely right about that, and about Gaiman's ability to weave the mythological into the "real" -- but it's fundamentally a small book (one character, one graveyard), despite its hints of greater things that occur across millennia and worlds.

I think what I was expecting was something more like Catherynne Valente's intensity of symbolism wedded to, you know, an actual plot, and that is not what that book's about at all. Oh well.

Edited to add: I was also a little underwhelmed by the art (I had the Dave McKean version). I was expecting it to be a lot more vivid and a lot more weird, and it really wasn't. Again, it's a reader expectations issue. (Insidious buzz, fie upon thee!)

 

[Apathy]

Just finished Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Bones of the Dragon. . .

A seven-figure advance for the series, and a 200,000$ national campaign to promote this book???

A MAJOR disappointment, to say the least. Could well be the most disappointing fantasy title of 2009.

Patrick

What do you mean a seven figure advance for the book? I do not know what that means.

 

[mjolnir]

Apathy: I think what Pat means is that, when Tor bought Weis and Hickman's new series which begins with Bones of the Dragon, they paid a seven figure sum in advance for the right to publish the cycle. Even considering that said advance covers all six novels in the Dragonships of the Vindras which Tor has purchased, [I think that's true, at least], that's a tidy sum in publisherland. Shame about the book, btw, though upon reflection I'm not sure I'm entirely surprised. I would be the last person to denegrate the radiant glory with which Dragonlance and the Deathgate Cycle shown when I was fifteen, but I think Weis and Hickman have been trading on that nastalgia for a while now. Perhaps I'll check the book out from the library just to see if their's anything at all in it for me.
________
LovelyWendie99

 

[mjolnir]

Been doing quite a bit of reading myself, so I figure I should drop a final note in the December thread. Dunno what's wrong with me: whenever I sit down to scribble out my rough impressions of a book I suddenly come over all weary and unmotivated. Appreciate the reviewers, folks. They do a difficult job.

Anyhow: I finished Elizabeth Bear's Ink and Steel, the first half of her historical William Shakespeare meets the faerie court fantasy The Stratford Man. I think reader expectations did me a slight disservice here, though I did still quite enjoy the book. I was hoping for rather more speculation about Shakespeare's works and a greater focus on his work in the theatre than is actually present, [though what morsels of these elements are present are pretty good stuff.] Judging by the one or two Shakespearean / Renaissance studies in-jokes that I found slipped gracefully into the text I'd guess that there are rather more that I missed in my ignorance. Which brings us to accessibility: I think that my minimal knowledge of Shakespeare did help me appreciate the novel more; Bear does explain the connections between the various historical personages encountered and other such period details, but usually only once.

The plot is very engaging, though a number of dramatic developments take place off-stage. The story is based primarily around deadly cloak-and-dagger games between two factions of movers and shakers in English politics, with the faeries interveneing now and again to fantastical and thrilling effect. Various mythical figures are woven through the story, -- Morgan La-Fey, for instance, figures prominently, -- and while I don't always like this kind of mythic stewpot device Bear weaves new interpretation into classic material in very engaging ways. Bear also does a fine job moving things along despite the several years the book covers. Characters are absorbing and intriguingly flawed, though Will Shakespeare does do an abrupt about-face that I'm going to need to read again in order to grasp the foreshadowing leading up to it. Character interactions and developments do turn on erotic encounters perhaps slightly more often than I would have liked: Bear is very adept at making sex and sexual politics an integral part of her story and characters rather than gratuitous tripe, but there really is a lot of sex in Ink and Steel.

The book manages to reach a satisfactory end point even though it is only the first half of the massive novel The Stratford Man. I look forward to reading the second half, Hell and Earth, in the near future.
________
Vapir no2 vaporizer

 

[Randy M.]

Hah, I've had that problem with Bradbury too. Except rather than being indifferent, I was actively turned off by his prose (he gets lots of props for being a good writer, but for some reason it's nails on a chalkboard to me), so I gave up on his work years ago.

I think the blandness of most s.f. style gave Bradbury an edge for me. Even so, I'd probably have given up on him if it hadn't been for "The Fog Horn" and "Homecoming," two of my favorite fantasy/horror stories; the latter, I believe, is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, short fantasy works from the 20th century.

Re: The Graveyard Book -- I'm not sure that is a disagreement, really, although that's my fault for not expressing myself as clearly as I should have.

The book is good for what it is. I was expecting something else -- something grander, more emotionally resonant, something deeper. Bigger. It wasn't there. The little grace notes were certainly there -- you're completely right about that, and about Gaiman's ability to weave the mythological into the "real" -- but it's fundamentally a small book (one character, one graveyard), despite its hints of greater things that occur across millennia and worlds.

I think what I was expecting was something more like Catherynne Valente's intensity of symbolism wedded to, you know, an actual plot, and that is not what that book's about at all. Oh well.

Edited to add: I was also a little underwhelmed by the art (I had the Dave McKean version). I was expecting it to be a lot more vivid and a lot more weird, and it really wasn't. Again, it's a reader expectations issue. (Insidious buzz, fie upon thee!)

I liked the McKean illustrations well enough, though they didn't exactly set my imagination on fire. I can also see how the buzz could have led to great expectations, and the novel isn't that kind of book -- I think Gaiman has had, in the works I've read, essentially modest aims for all the fantasy trappings. He seems intent on getting character just so, developing the world enough for the reader to fill in the blanks, and not particularly interested in depicting an enormous plot-line involving the fate of the world so much as just pointing in that direction and illustrating how the smaller stories within the conflict determine the ending.

Randy M.