January Reads: Setting the Tone for 2016!

[Guest]

Should be getting my copy of Abraham's The Tyrant's Law soon.  Can't wait.

[Iskaral Pust]

Finished my reread of American Gods. I still enjoy it and winter is definitely the time to read it, but it was so familiar that I wanted to finish quickly to move onto something new.

I've started Cockroaches, the second Harry Hole novel by Nesbo. It's Scandinavian noir on world tour: the first was in Sydney, the second in Bangkok. But Harry is still a gloomy, alcoholic detective battling his personal demons as he solves a seedy murder. But it's better than the cliche it sounds like.

[Darth Richard II]

Just finished The Library at Mount Char. It was pleasingly fucked up, but

Hidden Content

Isn't there going to be a sequel?

[HexMachina]

Isn't there going to be a sequel?

Will there be a sequel to The Library at Mount Char?

Possibly. I'd like to, but there are a couple of non-trivial problems to overcome. I'll keep things vague to avoid spoilers, but there are reasons why it would be tricky to find a suitable antagonist and a satisfying character arc for this hypothetical sequel. I'm kicking some ideas around, but it's too early to say anything for sure.

However, there is a short story set in the Mount Char universe that may be of interest to people who liked the book. It's a web site freebie (thanks for stopping by!) available here.

From the author's website

[Darth Richard II]

Ah, maybe I am thinking of the short story.

[peterbound]

Heroes Die was a fine read. 

Hidden Content

Again, nothing in that post required spoiler tags.  When did this trend start?  Overworld, earth, caine being a badass?  How the fuck is that spoilerrific? 

[Astromech]

Again, nothing in that post required spoiler tags.  When did this trend start?  Overworld, earth, caine being a badass?  How the fuck is that spoilerrific? 

I've had boarders complain about information most would consider trivial, so I simply err on the side of caution.

[peterbound]

I've had boarders complain about information most would consider trivial, so I simply err on the side of caution.

don't.  That's their problem, not yours. 

[Darth Richard II]

Well, I've had people spoil major plot points of unreleased books, because they are idiots, but there is going ot much the other way too.

[Peadar]

Just finished The Library at Mount Char. It was pleasingly fucked up, but

Hidden Content

I read the sample and it definitely had something cool going for it. In spite of the last few pages, is it worth pursuing?

[peterbound]

I just finished Silver in the Road.  Good book, ending seemed a little too abrupt, but good non the less. 

[SkynJay]

I read the sample and it definitely had something cool going for it. In spite of the last few pages, is it worth pursuing?

I thought it was solid.  One of my favorites last year

[Peadar]

I thought it was solid.  One of my favorites last year

Ta.

For my own part, about halfway through City of Blades. Some cool stuff happening...

[HexMachina]

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea. Not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand I really loved LeGuin's style of writing, it's such a pleasure to read. On the other hand, I wasn't really gripped by the plot throughout, I found my interest waned during parts of the novel, though at times I really loved it. Conflicted, but I at least didn't hate it.

[Richard Writhen]

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea. Not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand I really loved LeGuin's style of writing, it's such a pleasure to read. On the other hand, I wasn't really gripped by the plot throughout, I found my interest waned during parts of the novel, though at times I really loved it. Conflicted, but I at least didn't hate it.

Loved that one. Tombs of Atuan, definitely not as much so. Working my way back to it.

[Spockydog]

Just finished Laird Barron's X's For Eyes. The only thing I've ever read of his that left me cold. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous, especially the overly-precocious child protagonists.

 

[Isildur's Mane]

So I finished reading 'The Red Queen' By Isobelle Carmody. It is the last book in the series 'The Obernewtyn Chronicles'. I started reading this series in 2001, but some of the books were out before then (the first book was published in 1987). And like ASoIaF Isobelle Carmody had been taking her time with the last books in the series and having to split the books in half because they were too long. 

I'll put the rest of my thoughts into spoilers, just incase. 

I was a little disappointed with this book though, particularly the ending. It was too rushed. I felt that the first half of the book could have been condensed and the second part expanded on. The characters felt a bit 2D and some felt a bit unrealistic (Dragon's change from feral child to the smart young lady (with only a little bit of bite) didn't feel believable and it all happened off page.).

That was another thing that bothered me. Things that happened off page which I wanted (and waited patiently) to see happened off page and things that could have happened off page but happened on page felt a bit dragging. E.g - Elspeth's (the protag) thought process seemed dragged out (more than usual) and repeated at some points. A lot of this could have been condensed or sometimes even hinted at. 

The very last section, from when they entered Redport could have been expanded on. When I say this, I mean that it felt so rushed. In previous books we had only seen this place through dreams and memories, but I knew that we would be visiting this place properly in a future book. In a book that is over 1000 pages long, just under 400 pages were used in Redport. This may seem a lot but when you think of what needed to happen in those 400 pages: describe the place, the final climax held there, tie up loose ends, reunite characters, mourn for characters who died, reveal Dragon as the Red Queen (which happened off page... twice), kill off antagonists, reveal other things which needed revealing, save the world etc etc. 400 pages (or not even that) is not enough. 

To people who haven't read this series it would be like waiting for Daenerys to arrive at Westeros and it happens off page and only a couple of sentences to describe what happened. It's a bit disappointing. 

 

I am glad that it is over, I am glad that I invested my time into these books. i would still recommend them to anyone who wants to read them. It is unfortunate that she felt so much pressure, from fans and publishers, that she felt like she needed to get this book out before it was fully finished and polished. I hope this doesn't happen to the last 2(?) ASoIaF books :/

 

 

[l2 0 5 5]

I'm being sarcastic, because the series goes to poop real fast. Also Magician was published as one book in hardcover/

I've seen that before. Should've realized that's what you meant. As for the series going to shit: That's a bummer. I've enjoyed it to this point. Characters are extremely safe which I don't like but I enjoy them all nonetheless. Sometimes a simple read is soothing.

[Paxter]

I finally finished Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I really enjoyed this novel - great action (especially the submarine/diving scenes or anything with Bobby), memorable characters and a wide range of interesting themes. My main criticism is that the narrative is so sprawling that it was always going to be tough to produce a satisfactory ending. I also think it suffered from a lack of clear antagonist(s).  

I also read Ellroy's The Black Dahlia for book club purposes. I actually didn't mind it in the end; the '50s LA setting was pretty cool and the pacing was good. Don't think I'd read the rest of the series though.

On to Hyperion next. Then probably Uprooted.

[Darth Richard II]

I've seen that before. Should've realized that's what you meant. As for the series going to shit: That's a bummer. I've enjoyed it to this point. Characters are extremely safe which I don't like but I enjoy them all nonetheless. Sometimes a simple read is soothing.

well the next few are decent then there's s series of I think four books that starts good then gets weird. But then you get to books based on video games based on his books, and those are as terrible as that sounds.