Reading in March 2011

[DurzoBlint]

I finally finished The Wise Man's Fear and it was one of the most frustrating books I've read in a long time - some of the best stuff and some of the most boring one in a package that I still do not know how to evaluate; one thing though I am very curious about is how Mr. Rothfuss will finish the story in one more book even of 1000 pages considering that he advanced Kvothe a little more than a year here and only very few of his advertised exploits in TNoW have been covered; the next book will have to be really fast moving or the series will go more books; cutting all the university stuff and maybe another 1/3 of the rest and expanding Kvothe's adventures would have made this pure awesomeness, this way it is a combination between self-indulgence of the worst sort - editors where are you when needed? - and awesomeness....

I am nearing the 75% point of the novel and you hit it right on the head. Lots of great stuff in between a lot of filler. I am still enjoying the ride but the unnecessary and long winded portions kill it.

 

[Evil Agent]

I am nearing the 75% point of the novel and you hit it right on the head. Lots of great stuff in between a lot of filler. I am still enjoying the ride but the unnecessary and long winded portions kill it.

Comments like this are what's kept me from reading any Rothfuss yet. I read slowly these days, and just don't have time for filler.

 

[DurzoBlint]

I don't think the first book has any filler if I recall. This book seems to be a lot of filler and rehashing of things we have already experienced. My opinion of course but it feels like the movie Groundhogs Day at times.

 

[Erfael]

I'm with you guys on Wise Man's Fear. It started off feeling a little bloated, which was tolerable. Now I'm at the 4/5ths point and I feel like the last 150 pages are completely divorced from the 1400 that came before them in this series. I'd read some other comments about the side quests being long. I hadn't realized they were both long and unconnected in any way to what has come before. I don't think there's even been a reference to Kvothe's previous life in the last 150 pages. Nothing to do with anything he's learned or experienced to this point. I suppose he's picking up "skills", but what happened to any relationship he'd developed at all previously or any mysteries we'd established to this point? I hope it ends well over the final 200 pages or this could be one of my more disappointing reads in a while.

 

[Loerwyn]

Are me and EA the only people who aren't reading Rothfuss, or who haven't read him?

 

[Gary XI]

Are me and EA the only people who aren't reading Rothfuss, or who haven't read him?

I will at some point, not got it planned in for a while yet though. Still getting through Bakker at the mo

 

[Astra_]

Are me and EA the only people who aren't reading Rothfuss, or who haven't read him?

I will when he finishes the series.

 

[Zappster]

Are me and EA the only people who aren't reading Rothfuss, or who haven't read him?

I haven't, and I usually make it a point to avoid mentioning what I'm not reading in a thread about what I am reading. Except for just now obviously.

edit: Also usually when you're asking the question "Am I the only person not <insert popular activity here> ?", it's safe to imagine that you are not alone in that.

 

[Loerwyn]

I haven't, and I usually make it a point to avoid mentioning what I'm not reading in a thread about what I am reading. Except for just now obviously.

edit: Also usually when you're asking the question "Am I the only person not <insert popular activity here> ?", it's safe to imagine that you are not alone in that.

Now, now, there's no need to act like that. We're quite relaxed here, and it's still somewhat on topic.

 

[Zappster]

I'm quite relaxed as well and I'm also well aware of what things are like around here. I tend to lurk more than I post is all. Anyway, It was a tongue-in-cheek post. Hence the smiley I edited in later just to make things clearer.

And just to talk about what I am reading right now. Just starting on The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson.

 

[suciul]

I don't think the first book has any filler if I recall. This book seems to be a lot of filler and rehashing of things we have already experienced. My opinion of course but it feels like the movie Groundhogs Day at times.

The first book starts slowly and until Kvothe starts his tale it is barely passable, but then it truly rolls and I loved it and wanted more despite the 6-700 pages there; here though, it slogs and slogs and then boom, some pages of utter brilliance and then back to the slog, again pages of utter brilliance almost to the end though the last 100-150 or so pages are of the "I really want more of that, why the book is not like that end to end?" variety.

Anyway, the next book *has* to move faster considering how much it has to tell, again assuming the original plan of a trilogy is still valid.

Back on topic, I started River of Shadows by R. Redick and like with Naamah's Blessing earlier it is a book I do not want to put down once I open it, so i guess I will read it next despite wanting to save it for next week for time reasons.

I may read the Hulick book Among Thieves or finish Ian Whates City of Hope and Despair - this last became pretty good after a very disconnected beginning and I was reading it when the 4 recent ultra-major books (Naamah, TWMF, Embassytown and River Shadows came and took over, with 3 of the 4 read so far) if I do not manage to free large enough chunks of time the Redick book deserves

 

[Bastard]

I may read the Hulick book Among Thieves or finish Ian Whates City of Hope and Despair - this last became pretty good after a very disconnected beginning

Very interested on Among Thieves and City of Hope and Despair. On Whates' one, is the beginning the same as what was excerpted at the end of the previous book? I was finding that interesting, though I don't know where he was going with it.

As for whomever was reading Captain Alatriste, good to see you enjoyed. I was really hoping to get the book, but this last couple of months quite a few books have arrived and have more coming, so I find myself a bit overwhelmed at the moment so I'm going to wait a bit.

Just in case, the Alatriste movie with Viggo Mortesen (a Spanish movie) apparently is crap, so you might not want to bother with it.

 

[thrinidir]

Under Heaven by G.G.Kay. What a teriffic book.

 

[suciul]

Very interested on Among Thieves and City of Hope and Despair. On Whates' one, is the beginning the same as what was excerpted at the end of the previous book? I was finding that interesting, though I don't know where he was going with it.

Among Thieves i got from Robert and he read it and liked it and wrote the review for March 26 I think, but I will add to it if i get to read it by then; it starts well and reminds me a bit of Brent Weeks (of which i am a huge fan).

For City Despair and Hope - I am not sure the copy I have of City Dreams Nightmare, had an excerpt from the next book - at any rate I remember the last things were with the

Spoiler

two sisters preparing to fight it out in the arena - and that is part of how the new one starts but only after a while - and a little more

but here the first few pages are very disconnected from book 1 though after a while it gets back to the characters from book 1 and it promises a lot; it did not (so far) scream 'do not put me down' the way River of Shadows each time i open it, so we'll see since i have a sf book (Up Against It/MJ Locke, debut due next week) too that urges me to read it each time i finish another great sf like Embassytown last...

 

[Bastard]

Yeah, the excerpt (2 sample chapters I think) contained the portion you have in your spoiler tag and a chapter that takes place in a bar outside The City of a Hundred Rows, which I forgot the name of at the moment. Although I think the book actually ends with what you mention, but the sample chapters take us into that scene to flesh it out.

And yeah, have seen Among Thieves mentioned alongside Brent Weeks a couple of times.

 

[Loerwyn]

I'm quite relaxed as well and I'm also well aware of what things are like around here. I tend to lurk more than I post is all. Anyway, It was a tongue-in-cheek post. Hence the smiley I edited in later just to make things clearer.

Ah, my apologies then.

 

[Gilgamesh]

Ah! I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one having the impression to read a lot of "filler"s in The Wise Man's Fear. It's a pity but I think I'm going to park it aside for a few weeks, enough time to appreciate a fresh start later on.

 

[Erfael]

I'm not going to put it aside, as I only have about 200 pages left, but it a really bad sign for me when I start flipping ahead to see how much more time a given episode is going to last, and I've done that with the last two "side quests". And I'm reading it fairly quickly, 150ish pages a day. I can't imagine how much it would be bothering me if I was setting a slower pace.

 

[AlvinFlummox]

Finished The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson last night. I found it an enjoyable read, and off the top of my head I can't think of any POVs that I couldn't wait to get past, which is good thing! Definitely not my favourite in the series - that goes to Midnight Tides - but a worthy addition in my opinion!
Could be a while until I get to Reaper's Gale, assuming I stick to my reading list I made a couple of weeks ago, as I have a few more long books lined up.

Onto some sci-fi now...

 

[suciul]

Yeah, the excerpt (2 sample chapters I think) contained the portion you have in your spoiler tag and a chapter that takes place in a bar outside The City of a Hundred Rows, which I forgot the name of at the moment. Although I think the book actually ends with what you mention, but the sample chapters take us into that scene to flesh it out.

And yeah, have seen Among Thieves mentioned alongside Brent Weeks a couple of times.

Yes, so does City Hope Despair starts; as an aside a copy of Shadow's Lure by Jon Sprunk has just appeared today in my inbox from Pyr (due in June) and it is very tempting too since I liked Shadow's Son quite a lot...