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Varysblackfyre321

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That reminds me: I was bored senseless by Consider Phlebas.

Somewhere I think I was told that it's the weakest of Banks' Culture books, so I have a long term plan of revisiting. Hasn't happened yet, though.

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1 hour ago, Rorshach said:

That reminds me: I was bored senseless by Consider Phlebas.

Somewhere I think I was told that it's the weakest of Banks' Culture books, so I have a long term plan of revisiting. Hasn't happened yet, though.

I was in the same boat after reading Consider Phlebas. Then I read Player of Games and loved it. And Use of Weapons was even better. Would urge you to read on. (I can’t read even loosely tied together series in anything but publication order.)

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Just now, unJon said:

I was in the same boat after reading Consider Phlebas. Then I read Player of Games and loved it. And Use of Weapons was even better. Would urge you to read on. (I can’t read even loosely tied together series in anything but publication order.)

That's a problem I share.

Amongst other things, it slowed my reading of Pratchett with several years.

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I always have to at least try starting with the first book in barely-connected-series, but if that doesn't work I'll skip ahead to a more popular book.  We'll how K.J. Parker goes.  I read somewhere that all of his books are in the same universe, and that the Fencer trilogy can be a tough read.  But that is where I'm starting.

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The Long Price Quartet - tried twice. The first time, read the first book, didn't like it at all. The 2nd time, I read it again, didn't change my opinion of it, but pushed on to the next book, because of people here saying it gets better. Well, it got better, a bit, not enough to keep me going.

Malazan Book of the Fallen - I read the first 3 books, gave up. I had a hard time following some of the plot lines; the learning curve for this one is way too steep.

The Stormlight Archive - This is not so much not being able to get into it, because I did, just me realizing that Sanderson's writing style is too mediocre for me to devote so much of my time slogging through these giant tomes. I read the first two, but stopped early in Oathbringer.

I'm still trying to get back into the Realm of the Elderlings. I liked the Farseer Trilogy, but couldn't get into Liveship Traders.

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13 hours ago, Rorshach said:

That reminds me: I was bored senseless by Consider Phlebas.

Somewhere I think I was told that it's the weakest of Banks' Culture books, so I have a long term plan of revisiting. Hasn't happened yet, though.

I'm not sure I'd necessarily say it's the weakest (I probably liked it better than Matter or The Hydrogen Sonata), but I think The Player of Games and Use of Weapons are much better.

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6 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Tangential to the current reading thread, I've tried to get into discworld 3 or 4 times and I just..don't get it.

Which ones did you try?

I am not such huge fan of Pratchett as others, having read about 16 of the DW books, I think they are quite uneven (sometimes within one book, e.g. Reaper man has a good (not great) main but a ridiculous secondary plot) and as usual in fandom many fans go over the top with their praise. But so far I finished every one I started and didn't find any a complete waste of time. ((I guess I like the very early ones better than many other readers because of nostalgia. Despite often poor (because the puns are untranslatable) German translations, in the early 1990s when I read som at about 20, they were something totally new and special for us with only Douglas Adams being somewhat close. Whereas the mature ones can be occasionally preachy.)

Have you read "Nation" or "Good Omens"?

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7 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Tangential to the current reading thread, I've tried to get into discworld 3 or 4 times and I just..don't get it.

 

18 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

*bangs on desk* publication order always!

THere is probably a connection between these two statements 

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Malazan book of the fallen. Read the first book after many tries. Kind of enjoyed it but not that much. Was told the second was much better. Started reading, stopped after the battle Of Gelor Ridge or something like that. Just couldn't care about any characters. The problem is I start getting engaged in the characters then there is an abrupt change and you are reading about somebody else, somewhere else doing something else. I need a few pages to remember who that was and what they were doing, then start getting interested and "bang" another abrupt change and you find yourself reading about another group of characters whom you don’t remember. Rinse and repeat. It’s annoying as hell.

and it’s like he turned everything to 11. Number of characters, number of plots, superpowers and magic, badasses. And show don’t tell. He doesn’t tell you anything. It’s just show show show. And it’s quite confusing. Things are never explained. I juste gave up.

 

Gave up on China Mieville after reading Perdido Street Station, Terry Pratchett after 5 or 6 books. Read the Long price quartet, but didn’t enjoy the last book. I stopped reading the first gentleman bastard halfway through. It wasn’t bad, but I just lost interest.

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1 hour ago, Green Gogol said:

Gave up on China Mieville after reading Perdido Street Station, Terry Pratchett after 5 or 6 books. Read the Long price quartet, but didn’t enjoy the last book. I stopped reading the first gentleman bastard halfway through. It wasn’t bad, but I just lost interest.

You are an awful person, you probably have bad personal hygiene and rats are nesting in your hair. 

Such is the truth.

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I had heard rave reviews about both The Name of the Wind and The Blade Itself - but both bored me senseless, and I felt nothing for any of the characters.  I thought a major twist was coming at the end of The Blade Itself, but I think it comes at the end of the trilogy - no thanks!  Couldn't finish The Name of the Wind.

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9 minutes ago, Mosi Mynn said:

I had heard rave reviews about both The Name of the Wind and The Blade Itself - but both bored me senseless, and I felt nothing for any of the characters.  I thought a major twist was coming at the end of The Blade Itself, but I think it comes at the end of the trilogy - no thanks!  Couldn't finish The Name of the Wind.

The Blade Itself does suffer from being the author’s debut. If you can persevere the trilogy and following stand alones are well worth it. 

I wouldn’t bother going back to rothfuss though

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That the characters are cynical, brutal or stupid is part of the appeal. ;);) While it is fairly longwinded I never had any problems getting into "The blade itself". And while more tightly written, I am not so sure that the stand-alones are overall superior. (The best of them, "Heroes", is also the most longwinded.) Overall, the "Shattered Sea" books are faster paced (and considerably shorter and pretty good, maybe a better starting point.

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26 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

yes, I need to give Discworld another shot, I know. Where do you guys recommend I start.

I love the witches, so Wyrd Sisters would be my rec, as it's the first one with the three original witches - and go from there on the wonderful journey from Granny, Nanny and Magrat to Agnes through to Tiffany Aching.  I also love Death - and Mort is a good introduction.  Others will suggest Guards Guards!Interesting Times is a good one for Rincewind and wizards.

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1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

yes, I need to give Discworld another shot, I know. Where do you guys recommend I start.

For me, I would say Guards! Guards! was the first book that I really liked. 

The first three were more or less forgettable (and I have indeed forgotten most of them), and the following books had moments, but were uneven.

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And of course the bookstore has none of the ones mentioned. Not that I need more books.

1 hour ago, Rorshach said:

For me, I would say Guards! Guards! was the first book that I really liked. 

The first three were more or less forgettable (and I have indeed forgotten most of them), and the following books had moments, but were uneven.

Yeah I read the first three and just didn't get it. Not terrible by any means but they just didn't click.

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