Reading in May 2011

PeterWilliam said:
Mmmmm, this one keeps sliding further and further down my TBR pile.
Click to expand...
Way of Kings seems like a book that you just have to check for yourself and not rely much on critical opinion because it's going both ways. Fans of Sanderson for the most part are loving it from what I can tell, and on the other hand just because of circumstances it seems like it's also gets nit picked in ways that many other novels don't. I always go back to remembering how you enjoyed Servant of a Dark God when seemingly few here enjoyed it much and then The River King Road which didn't get much of a positive push initially, and now you seem to have really enjoyed it.

So for me, I've seen enough positive reaction of Way of Kings to warrant me checking it out and not let someone's opinions steer me away from it (though the high page count is the most concerning factor for me at the moment). Same deal with Wise Man's Fear with the mixed reactions (yet rated highly majorly on good prose).

The Unremembered is another one that I will just have to check for myself regardless of the reaction I'm seeing, seems quite varied and a lot of the criticism just seems like a bit of nit picking on hype and complaints about it being derivative of another work, which honestly doesn't bother me at all.

And lastly, seeing as you're quoting algernoninc, consider that he gave it 4 stars in Goodreads.
 
I definitely liked Brown and Merciel very much. I've read Sanderson's Elantris and Mistborn series, too. They were better than average, but as with water, no real aftertaste. I have Warbreaker, Sanderson's two contributions to WoT and The Way of Kings on the shelves, but they've gone unread so far.

I'll keep reading Sanderson, but it's like I'm still waiting for him to get it (i.e. I suppose I mean his characterization).
 
in all honesty, it is not a bad book and Sanderson can write. Also, I think it is an improvement over Warbreaker and Mistborn, it's just that for me his writing is more like an intellectual exercise, somewhat contrived and light in substance.
My main problem is ultimately the size of the project - I wouldn't mind it so much is Sanderson was planning to finish the story in 3 books, but 10 or more in this vein? That's a lot of my reading time.
 
algernoninc said:
it's just that for me his writing is more like an intellectual exercise, somewhat contrived and light in substance.
Click to expand...

That's a good description. Sanderson comes up with interesting and thoroughly thought-out magical systems, interesting characters, and also interesting and original situations -- but, somehow or other, his books still fail to really satisfy me. I like that "intellectual exercise" observation. I did think his first contribution to the WoT franchise was very good (haven't read the second yet), but of course those weren't his own original ideas. He's a good writer, and I *like* his books, but there's just something about them....
 
It's both the size and cost that puts me off Way of Kings. If I'm honest, I've never finished one of his novels despite having Warbreaker, Elantris and the Mistborn Trilogy sat on my shelves. Mistborn confused me, and I just never picked the other two back up.
 
IMHO Sanderson have good writing stile, very good worldbuilding skill and good enough characterization. His main problem is he is too ambitious - too many protagonists, flashbacks or side-subplots branching create plot discontinuities which reduce or sometimes kill reader (that is me at least) interest. Managing multitude of protagonists and plot discontinuities require considerably better writing and plotting skill than Sanderson apply. Abercrombie can do it, Sanderson not quite. Just IMHO.
 
Cheerwell said:
It's both the size and cost that puts me off Way of Kings. If I'm honest, I've never finished one of his novels despite having Warbreaker, Elantris and the Mistborn Trilogy sat on my shelves. Mistborn confused me, and I just never picked the other two back up.
Click to expand...
I'm waiting for used prices to come down, and then I'll get it. I'm in no hurry since there's plenty of time before the 2nd book comes out.

Anyways, getting back on topic, here are some of my recent reads:

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride - Really enjoyed it though it faltered a bit towards the end, but promising first book. Quite fun, with some funny lines and lots of sarcastic dialogue which I enjoy. Fun characters all around, plot could have used a bit more work, decent world building.

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black - Alright read with good pace, but really didn't say much to me. Some good action.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott - Was a bit disappointed with this one, it was just an OK read for me. But the series has some potential, so I'll be continuing.

As Lie the Dead by Kelly Meding - 2nd in the Dreg City series, sequel to Three Days to Dead. I didn't like Three Days to Dead, but decided to give the 2nd book a chance. Much better book this time around, first half I thought was very good, but then it faltered quite a bit towards the end. She has a new series coming out at the end of the year, MetaWars, which seems a bit X-Men like and I'll be looking into it for sure.

Right now I'm reading Highborn by Yvonne Navarro, and although this seems like a heroine that I would really enjoy, I'm not liking the book much. Some nice action, but there's little narrative energy which is making for an overall dull read. I don't think the 3rd person narrative is helping either.
 
Last edited:
Like it says on the tin.

Now that I'm out of college for the summer...

I started Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson) the other night at 10:01 pm and couldn't put it down. Finished it at 3:11 am with a feeling of elated satisfaction. It's the first book in a while (Gaiman's Stardust was the last, 2 years ago) that has earned an "almost perfect" rating from me. Everything - character development, complex plot, dialogue, the lot - was so exactly my cup of tea that I was prepared to overlook the only weaknesses (a few over-complicated action scenes & the somewhat WTF demise of a certain villainous character).

Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age didn't seem so great - a lot of neologisms, coupled with a confusing view of the world, made tough reading and led me to abandon it halfway through. On a side note, I couldn't help finding the Victorians far more fun than Shanghai. Maybe I should branch into steampunk.

I intend to tackle G.G.Kay's Tigana soon, but ASOIAF is calling me. The only thing of Martin's I've read is Dreamsongs, which was tremendous. Game of Thrones, here I come.

Although first, I really MUST read Pratchett's Thief of Time. Should only take me a few hours...
 
Finished up N.K. Jemisin's 100,000 Kingdoms for the book club. Not sure if Feast for Crows or All Clear is up next. I'll decide later tonight....
 
I've just started The Keep by F. Paul Wilson for this months book club. It took a while to come in the mail - better late than never though.
The little I've read so far reminds me of Dan Simmons' The Terror. We'll see how long that stands up.
 
Finished River Kings' Road by Merciel and it was great. Really looking forward to Heaven's Needle. It started off really well, got a little slow for a bit, but then it was a blast for the rest of the book.

I'm about a quarter of the way into The Wastelands (Dark Tower 3) and it's awesome. I loved The Drawing of the Three and this is just getting more and more twisted and mysterious and I love it.

I'm debating picking up The World House by Guy Adams next or moving on to Shadow's Lure by Jon Sprunk. I think I'm in the mood to get back into assassins and magic rather than more weird.
 
I finished The Rogue by Trudi Canavan, I loved it but there just wasn't enough. There could have been more depth to each of the characters. It has set the next book up well though, I'll look forward to reading it.

I have also read a short story by Patricia Briggs, On the Prowl. It's the start of her Alpha and Omega series, not a bad read. I have been a bit backwards with series, I read the other novels without reading this first ( for some reason I didn't realise it existed) but now it all makes sense. I prefer her Mercedes series but I will more than likely pick up the third book in this series when it's released next year.

I have also started Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, I'm about 250 pages into it. There's a lot happening but again, it's just not sucking me in, I am having to force myself to read it.
 
Seak said:
Finished River Kings' Road by Merciel and it was great. Really looking forward to Heaven's Needle. It started off really well, got a little slow for a bit, but then it was a blast for the rest of the book.
Click to expand...
I've considered picking this up, and I might just have to now.

I got further in The Magic Kingdom of Landover: Volume 1 last night. I think I'm about halfway through the first book.
 
I re-read A Game of Thrones by some dude named Martin. I think this is my fourth time through it and loved it as much as I did before.

I also read Journey to the Centre of the Earth Jules Verne. The science side of it is a little outdated obviously, but it was good. Nowhere near as ridiculous as the movie that came out a few years ago.

Finally, I read Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. I've heard a lot of good things about this one and it didn't disappoint. The book is a bit of blending of genres including urban fantasy, crime noir, and science fiction, but Beukes brings it all together very well. Great book.

Next up is my re-read of A Clash of Kings.
 
Seak said:
You should, I really think Merciel hasn't received nearly what she deserves.
Click to expand...
I think the redhead on the cover of the second book grabbed my interest :p

Erf; In an odd way, you've made me want to read it now. Got my grubby mitts full with two omnibii at the moment, though,
 
Finished Bakker's The White Luck Warrior. To be sure, I did like it, but somewhere in the neighborhood of The Judging Eye. The story continues onward, but still no large insight to the more compelling plot points.

I've been picking up some of Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series in the hopes it will be something interesting I can then read to DominicWilliam (and/or LorenzoWilliam, hey, I lost the naming war for round two) later on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Sponsors


We try to keep the forum as free of ads as possible, please consider supporting SFFWorld on Patreon


Your ad here.

Latest posts

Back
Top