Guinevere Seaworth Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I was not a fan of the amnesia plot in Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik. Now reading The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Finished off The Metamorphosis. Hooray for short books. Next up is The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kindly Old Man Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I read The Blood Mirror, the fourth book in Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. It was bad. Basically nothing happened. The main character has turned into a total Gary Stu, and Weeks just needs to stop writing sex scenes, period. This could end up even worse than his Night Angel trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 3 hours ago, Kindly Old Man said: I read The Blood Mirror, the fourth book in Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. It was bad. Basically nothing happened. The main character has turned into a total Gary Stu, and Weeks just needs to stop writing sex scenes, period. This could end up even worse than his Night Angel trilogy. I gave up after book #2. The real question is,is it worse than Brett's Demon Cycle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 1 hour ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: I gave up after book #2. The real question is,is it worse than Brett's Demon Cycle? I've had book one sitting on the pile for ages now. Not sure if I want to take the plunge now, from everything I've read seems the series takes a dive off a cliff after the first book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I'm currently in the middle of Perdido Street Station and really enjoying it. Its brand of wild-and-crazy has been very entertaining. Any of you who have already read it will understand why I cracked up at the scene where the Weaver places a personals ad in the local paper -- and it's written in clear, concise, rational language-of-the-realm. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I read the second "Riddle master", "Heir of Sea and Fire" on two longer train rides. So I did not get bogged down as in the first volume and it might be better overall. And while I still admire the originality, it didn't really grab me either. (For the gender watch: It also has a strong female protagonist, actually most of the cast in that 2nd volume is female.) The last volume seems to be the longest and there is a lot to resolve as the first two are basically only hinting at lots of mysteries behind the actual situation, so I am going to start with it right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I read the second "Riddle master", "Heir of Sea and Fire" on two longer train rides. So I did not get bogged down as in the first volume and it might be better overall. And while I still admire the originality, it didn't really grab me either. (For the gender watch: It also has a strong female protagonist, actually most of the cast in that 2nd volume is female.) The last volume seems to be the longest and there is a lot to resolve as the first two are basically only hinting at lots of mysteries behind the actual situation, so I am going to start with it right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 It's been years since I've read the Riddle-master books. I recall the prose being very dream-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 yes, at least in a few passages this seems to be the main point. Unfortunately, for me it does not quite suffice to carry the narrative. They seem more like novellas without much happening, a few very unexpected turns and scenes striving for some dreamlike atmosphere. For me, they seem sometimes almost like sketches of novels, in the opposite way some of the Dragonlance (etc.) books seem sketches of promising plots in sophomoric language with woefully underdeveloped characters. McKilip seems to rely a little too much on atmosphere and mystery to bother with a plausible plot development. She also uses the in principle ingenious strategy to have rather important stuff happening off stage or between the first two books. E.g. what apparently sets the whole plot in motion Morgon of Hed winning a crown by beating ghost in a riddle game takes place before the first book and is only reported very briefly in dry words. So I do not quite share the criticism made by others above but am not really enthusiastic either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 The last volume of Riddle-Master resolves things beautifully for my money, it's one of the very few multivolume fantasy series where the conclusion is entirely satisfactory and nothing feels like a retcon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I finished Becky Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit, which I enjoyed a lot. It feels a very optimistic novel, which is a nice change of mood to everything happening in the world at the moment. Admittedly, it's a bit odd to describe a book as a feel-good story when one of the two plotlines focuses on a teenage girl trying desperately to survive in a vast industrial wasteland after escaping a life of horrific slavery. The other plotline has a much gentler story about an A.I. trying to adjust to life after being downloaded into an (illegal) body kit that appears human. That part of the story doesn't really much in the way of action in it and it may not be as immediately compelling as the other storyline, but I liked the characterisation and the unusual viewpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 28 minutes ago, williamjm said: I finished Becky Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit, which I enjoyed a lot. It feels a very optimistic novel, which is a nice change of mood to everything happening in the world at the moment. Admittedly, it's a bit odd to describe a book as a feel-good story when one of the two plotlines focuses on a teenage girl trying desperately to survive in a vast industrial wasteland after escaping a life of horrific slavery. The other plotline has a much gentler story about an A.I. trying to adjust to life after being downloaded into an (illegal) body kit that appears human. That part of the story doesn't really much in the way of action in it and it may not be as immediately compelling as the other storyline, but I liked the characterisation and the unusual viewpoint. I hate you. Us colonists don't get that one til feb or march. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andorion Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Reading Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. I like the story being told, but the way it is being told is strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 18 hours ago, williamjm said: I finished Becky Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit, which I enjoyed a lot. It feels a very optimistic novel, which is a nice change of mood to everything happening in the world at the moment. Admittedly, it's a bit odd to describe a book as a feel-good story when one of the two plotlines focuses on a teenage girl trying desperately to survive in a vast industrial wasteland after escaping a life of horrific slavery. The other plotline has a much gentler story about an A.I. trying to adjust to life after being downloaded into an (illegal) body kit that appears human. That part of the story doesn't really much in the way of action in it and it may not be as immediately compelling as the other storyline, but I liked the characterisation and the unusual viewpoint. I really liked the first one, glad to hear this stands up. I don't mind the gentleness, Small Angry Planet, despite moments of excitement, was all about the quiet character parts really, so I'm looking forward to those bits already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I finished Jemisin's The Fifth Season and will probably get to the next book in the series, but I've just grabbed Murakami's Kafka on the Shore to try next. Have not read this author but feel like I've seen it suggested that he's in the same wheelhouse as David Mitchell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garett Hornwood Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 Finished Thief of Time yesterday, I really enjoyed it but it was a tad bittersweet as I knew it's the last of a particular subseries. I'm currently re-read Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill, the third in this Hinges of History series related to formative moments in Western Civilization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unJon Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Read A Crown for Cold Silver. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but I ended up really liking it. Very much Grimdark (in the good sense). Dig the writing and lots of strong and well developed characters. Not my favorite in the genre but more than hold its own. Immediately jumped into the sequel and hope it keeps up the quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 20 hours ago, Triskan said: I finished Jemisin's The Fifth Season and will probably get to the next book in the series, but I've just grabbed Murakami's Kafka on the Shore to try next. Have not read this author but feel like I've seen it suggested that he's in the same wheelhouse as David Mitchell. I'd like to hear your impression. I read Murakami's 1Q84 as something supposedly similar to David Mitchell but was a bit disappointed by the all-pervasive ennui. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 20 hours ago, Triskan said: I finished Jemisin's The Fifth Season and will probably get to the next book in the series, but I've just grabbed Murakami's Kafka on the Shore to try next. Have not read this author but feel like I've seen it suggested that he's in the same wheelhouse as David Mitchell. I loved Kafka on the Shore. Very odd book, so be prepared. But it's the only Murakami I've read so far, so maybe they're all like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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