Reading in June 2009

[Randy M.]

[...]
First up was Gail Z. Martin's The Summoner, [...]

Yes, that's right, they rode their horses full-speed through thick forest. Uh-huh. And when they had gotten up enough momentum on this charge -- miraculously staying in formation, not losing a single horse or rider to a low-hanging branch or tangled bit of brush, and helpfully heralding their presence with bloodcurdling shrieks -- they attacked at close range. Instead of shooting silently from ambush. Because aoewjhaenba;inr the stupidity omfg brain leaking out ears make it stooooppp.

Anyway after I was done adding my bloodcurdling shrieks to theirs, that one went right back on the DNF pile. Better luck next time!

I probably don't have to tell you this, but if you've never read Mark Twain's "The Literary Offenses of Fennimore Cooper," you really, really should. (You don't need to have read Cooper to read this, though it might help, but really I won't wish that on you.)

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Indians/offense.html

In fact, it's just possible that everybody should read this. Really. Repeatedly. Especially writers.

Randy M.

 

[PeterWilliam]

Over in sci-fi, I'm reading Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, but have decided to start reading Gemmell's Drenai series concurrently. I am not too far into Legend, but it's great to see the skills and ability that won me over to Gemmell in the first place (i.e. Jerusalem Man) here as well.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

I probably don't have to tell you this, but if you've never read Mark Twain's "The Literary Offenses of Fennimore Cooper," you really, really should. (You don't need to have read Cooper to read this, though it might help, but really I won't wish that on you.)

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Indians/offense.html

Ha. I have read that, and Cooper too. He's not that bad, although he's not exactly someone whose work I'd recommend for anything other than historical interest. But it does seem that Cooper's likely, and deservedly, going down in history as "that guy who was inexplicably popular in his day and thereby inspired a hilarious takedown from a much better writer." Sort of like Dan Brown and Dan Simmons.

Extruded Fantasy Product really deserves its own thorough, genre-specific eviscerating. Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland comes close, but in my view is too gentle by half. Of course, in my view, an acid-filled woodchipper might be too gentle for some of this stuff...

 

[Kazz Wylde]

Not sure where you live, but in the local (central New York) Borders, Joyce sometimes shows up in the mainstream fiction section. That's where I found Smoking Poppy, as I recall.

Randy M.

Thanks for that, Randy. Yeah, I was looking at a copy of Indigo on sale for like 3-4 dollars. I should've nabbed it! It was on the "sale cart" at this one cool bookstore I go to once or twice a month,(it's about 15-20 miles).

 

[Cranky Hamster]

...actually, you know, I take it back. I did not remember all those awesomely impressive wrong details in Cooper. I was thinking of the long-windedness of his writing rather than the factual inaccuracies, and as I read the Twain takedown, I'm left awed and flabbergasted.

Yea and verily, you were right, he is a kindred spirit to GZM.

(Edited for clarity: The most commonly passed around Internet version of Twain's remarks does not include the full takedown which can be found at the link above. It is hilarious and awesome. I'd read it once, years ago, but had seen the short version so many times that I forgot the full one existed until I clicked -- naturally, after posting, because I'm an idiot like that. It is well worth a reread.)

 

[Ashenburger]

Just finished mr. Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and it's safe to say he didn't disappoint!

A very interesting cast of characters with a good story and the best violence I've read really got this book going for me.

 

[Amaunette]

I've been reading scifi lately, but I did manage to finish Morgan's The Steel Remains. I read several glowing reviews from some of you on this one, and I was a little bit let down. I liked the book, don't get me wrong, but I certainly wouldn't put it anywhere near "best book of the year" category. The crudity and graphic nature of the book did not nearly make up for the thin plot and lack of worldbuilding. There were quite a few details missing that would have made this an above average fantasy novel. I'll at least say that the fight scenes were superb, and the book ended well, but other than that, The Steel Remains was merely adequate, in my opinion. I'll look into Morgan's scifi work at some point, since I've also heard good things, but I'm putting them down if they're not better than his first fantasy offering.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

Shadow's Edge, Book 2 of The Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks: Full of assassins, bad-ass swordmasters, mages, etc, Shadow's Edge is very much big fat epic fantasy.[...] lots of folks running around who are the baddest of the bad times a thousand at swordplay, or sorcery, or assassinating; battles and general badassery aplenty; and Weeks can't pass by a female character without commenting on her physical appearance.

Grugh. This fills me with foreboding and woe.

I've had The Way of Shadows sitting around on my TBR pile since forever ago (i.e., at the peak of its buzz when nobody was yet saying "wait a minute this is really pretty mediocre, wtf"), and while I'd settled my expectations comfortably down to "turn off brain, expect cartoony good fun," now I'm wondering if I ought to go a notch below that.

Meh. I'll still read it -- eventually -- but I'll settle my expectations somewhere firmly south of Michael Bay first.

 

[BrightStar]

I've just finished the second chapter of The Death of the Necromancer and so far --- must admit, not impressed. Kinda bored, to be honest, and not really looking forwards to reading the next page.

 

[jackal912]

Grugh. This fills me with foreboding and woe.

I've had The Way of Shadows sitting around on my TBR pile since forever ago (i.e., at the peak of its buzz when nobody was yet saying "wait a minute this is really pretty mediocre, wtf"), and while I'd settled my expectations comfortably down to "turn off brain, expect cartoony good fun," now I'm wondering if I ought to go a notch below that.

Meh. I'll still read it -- eventually -- but I'll settle my expectations somewhere firmly south of Michael Bay first.

Don't worry too much about it - While it certainly isn't a MASTERPIECE, I thoroughly, firmly, enjoyed The Way of Shadows and the rest of the series, and am in fact curious on how the author will develop, considering that a lot of the flaws are typical for first novels.

Sometimes things can be a bit larger-than-life, true, but it's not shallow. - It's more than junk food reading.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

Don't worry too much about it - While it certainly isn't a MASTERPIECE, I thoroughly, firmly, enjoyed The Way of Shadows and the rest of the series, and am in fact curious on how the author will develop, considering that a lot of the flaws are typical for first novels.

Sometimes things can be a bit larger-than-life, true, but it's not shallow. - It's more than junk food reading.

Yeah I dunno. If the rest of the book matches the fuzzily-remembered prologue, wherein Our Badass Mentor effortlessly dispatches several armed attackers in split seconds while drunk off his ass (I read this months ago, so it's possible that I'm misremembering and, frankly, I rather hope I am), I'd think "junk-food reading" would be exactly where this goes.

Which is fine -- there's a place for that, and god knows I'm a sucker for the occasional guilty pleasure read -- but it's a thin thin line between that and The Summoner. Still, I'm curious enough that I'll probably take a shot at it sooner rather than later, and either stay up all night to get to the finish or toss it prontissimo and come on here to scream and rant.

 

[Cranky Hamster]

I've just finished the second chapter of The Death of the Necromancer and so far --- must admit, not impressed. Kinda bored, to be honest, and not really looking forwards to reading the next page.

Can you give a little more detail on why? Martha Wells keeps floating up to my "maybe" list and dropping back down, and I'd like to know more about her work.

 

[Winter]

Grugh. This fills me with foreboding and woe.

I've had The Way of Shadows sitting around on my TBR pile since forever ago (i.e., at the peak of its buzz when nobody was yet saying "wait a minute this is really pretty mediocre, wtf"), and while I'd settled my expectations comfortably down to "turn off brain, expect cartoony good fun," now I'm wondering if I ought to go a notch below that.

Meh. I'll still read it -- eventually -- but I'll settle my expectations somewhere firmly south of Michael Bay first.

I won a copy of the first book, which is good because I'll admit that I would never have bought it. It took a while, but I finally picked it up because it was the only light reading I had on my shelves and my mind was in serious need for a rest. I wasn't expecting much, which is probably why I was surprised to find that it pretty enjoyable. Pretty fast read, too. I haven't read the other two and... I really don't want to buy them (I hate MMPB and dislike spending money on them), but I may just do that because my shelves are a bit bare of the light reading. The way I see it, the books are a break from the stuff I normally read and The Way of Shadows did very well in giving me that break.

After spending the past month reading Graham Joyce and a bit of Hunter S. Thompson, I wish I had the next one on hand.

 

[suciul]

Can you give a little more detail on why? Martha Wells keeps floating up to my "maybe" list and dropping back down, and I'd like to know more about her work.

Well you can check for yourself since Element of Fire is available free online here and in various formats at ManyBooks:

http://www.marthawells.com/eof1-8.htm

I read this and it was ok, a light fast read but not more, while Death which is similar though taking place some hundred(s) years later, kind of bored me too, so I stopped after a while though I may get to it at some point; anyway if EoF is really for you, Death of a Necromancer will be too

 

[BrightStar]

Can you give a little more detail on why? Martha Wells keeps floating up to my "maybe" list and dropping back down, and I'd like to know more about her work.

To be honest, I'm not too sure. Maybe it's my own fault, for not allowing myself enough of a break between the last book I just read (book three of the Outrememr series) and Death of the Necromancer. I tend to need at least a day between one book and another, to get my mind out of the one story and ready to enter a new one. So far, the writing seems solid, but I guess I've not really been gripped yet by the setting or the conflict. I'm just kinda bored with it, although at only two chapters in, I guess it's a bit early to judge too harshly just yet.

I'm going to keep on reading, and will certainly aim to post more when I have read further.

 

[PeterWilliam]

I haven't read the other two [Brent Weeks' trilogy] and... I really don't want to buy them (I hate MMPB and dislike spending money on them), but I may just do that because my shelves are a bit bare of the light reading.

At sfbc.com you can get a three-in-one hardcover........*wait for it*.................................OMNIBUS!!!!!

 

[jackal912]

Yeah I dunno. If the rest of the book matches the fuzzily-remembered prologue, wherein Our Badass Mentor effortlessly dispatches several armed attackers in split seconds while drunk off his ass (I read this months ago, so it's possible that I'm misremembering and, frankly, I rather hope I am), I'd think "junk-food reading" would be exactly where this goes.

Which is fine -- there's a place for that, and god knows I'm a sucker for the occasional guilty pleasure read -- but it's a thin thin line between that and The Summoner. Still, I'm curious enough that I'll probably take a shot at it sooner rather than later, and either stay up all night to get to the finish or toss it prontissimo and come on here to scream and rant.

Mmm.. IMHO The Summoner is far worse that the Way of Shadows. I couldn't even get more than halfway through that book! Talk about dull! One of the major things that I think keeps Way of Shadows has over it is, strong, is the interesting, multi-faceted main characters/villains (admittedly, the female love interest is a bit shallow, true...), even though the action is a bit junk-foody, the way the characters act, grow, and change, instead of being dull stereotypes, is what I liked.

 

[SallyC]

Mmm.. IMHO The Summoner is far worse that the Way of Shadows. I couldn't even get more than halfway through that book! Talk about dull! One of the major things that I think keeps Way of Shadows has over it is, strong, is the interesting, multi-faceted main characters/villains (admittedly, the female love interest is a bit shallow, true...), even though the action is a bit junk-foody, the way the characters act, grow, and change, instead of being dull stereotypes, is what I liked.

Any book that can provoke this much debate has to be more than a pot-boiler. I enjoyed it. However, the Summoner --- aargh, I can't begin to start on how bad I thought that was!

 

[Winter]

At sfbc.com you can get a three-in-one hardcover........*wait for it*.................................OMNIBUS!!!!!

Yeah, but then I'd have to join the sfbc. Not worth it.

 

[Hobbit]

Yeah, but then I'd have to join the sfbc. Not worth it.

I understand that copies are around through sites like abebooks so that you could get one without going through the sfbc.

Personally I seem to be in a minority here - I've found it hard to warm to this series, though many clearly love it.

Mark