Calibandar Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Wert About board rules? No, you will not. You told a new board member that giving a list of book titles was unacceptable and he needed to elaborate on it. I did not say it was unacceptable. I indicated that we want the reading threads to be a place where people discuss books rather than just list them. This to further the purpose of the thread and because it clearly increases the quality of it. You should support this rather than try to weed it out. Also there is no need for you to be this touchy on the subject of moderation. You are irritated because you think I am acting as a moderator when I am instead suggesting to a new poster what has been a practice here for many years. Yes Wert, we know you are a moderator and that this gives you special permissions to edit, delete threads and create rules. But there is such a thing as unspoken rules as well and this is one of them. In short, so this will not drag on forever, I agree to disagree 200% with what you have to say on this subject. Your minimalist approach here only serves to undermine the thread's purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire The good news for Gregory Maguire is that lots of people will buy Mirror Mirror given the huge success of Wicked.. The bad news for Gregory Maguire is that those people will end up comparing the two books and Mirror Mirror will be foundly sorely lacking. Wicked is subtitled 'The Untold Story of The Wicked Witch of the West.' MM should be subtitled 'The Many Times Told Stroy of Snow White.' There is nothing new here. GM takes the Snow White fairy tale and stretches it beyond breaking point while throwing in some pointless Borgias and a sprinkling of ludicrously illogical 'plot developments.' I would start on the characters who are led by their noses through the plot and show no spark of life but then I would be wasting more of my time and to be honest this book has stolen quite enough of that. Tired plot, 1-dimensional characters and horribly illogical background detail. Avoid. No one here will care, but I guess I should mention that I also got this from Amazon and am reading it. Me and my cousins have been messing around with some of these techniques in my uncle's backyard ring. Real page-turner! I just bought that too. Unfortunately I only have my wife to practice with and she is giving away 160lbs. Lend me a cousin please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGalley Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Just finished Fevre Dream which is the only other GRRM book I've read. I unintentionally timed it with the Halloween season which made it more enjoyable. I really liked it. George writes in a way where I feel like I'm watching a movie more than reading a book. The characters Marsh, Sour Billy, Julian and Joshua were very well done. The Mississippi/steamboat setting was phenomenal. The descriptions of the food were also great (typical George). I agree with people who said Marsh reminded them of George. I pictured Marsh the same way but uglier (warts and all) and with a bit of Robert Baratheon. Recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Finished The Keep by F. Paul Wilson. Overall I was quite disappointed with this one. The beginning was fantastic, then the middle felt like running into a brick wall, followed by a 20 page info dump, the final showdown, and a cliched ending. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading so many positive reviews over the years on this board, but I was not impressed. The prose was also simplistic to the point that it felt like a YA book. 4/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Finished The Keep by F. Paul Wilson. Overall I was quite disappointed with this one. The beginning was fantastic, then the middle felt like running into a brick wall, followed by a 20 page info dump, the final showdown, and a cliched ending. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading so many positive reviews over the years on this board, but I was not impressed. The prose was also simplistic to the point that it felt like a YA book. 4/10 Finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I really liked the first 5 books but this one was worse. SPOILER: HP6Especially some of Dambledore's comments about his extraordinary mind...mind you, I really like him! I just didn't like that rowling was putting these lines, that IMHO are out of character for him. Also I started to get VERY tired of mentioning bucket size things when there is a talk about Hagrid. Every single time...silly. Anyway, 1/3 through Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyrehead Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Janny Wurtz' Stormed Fortress is being dispatched to me as we type. It better be good after waiting 14 years for the series to complete. I've been able to resist picking up and reading my copy so far. I need to make sure that I not only have the time to sit down and apply myself but also not have something I feel I would rather read instead. And yet I also want something rather stellar to cleanse my palatte after having Arithorn worship shoved down my throat for six hundred pages or so. And forgive me for perhaps misunderstanding your post. But it seems to me that you are implying the series is finished with this book? I thought this just ended this particular "arc" ¹ and that there are still a few books to go? Three or four at best. Which at the rate Wurts writes I'm thinking another fourteen years to go. At least! I just recieved my copy of Elemental Magic which has works by Sharon Shinn and Carol Berg and will likely start on that immediately as it looks to be a quick read. ¹ a term employed by Wurts to try and imply some sort of resolution within what would otherwise be seen as a neverending series that has run out of control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Odd, I've only ever used these threads to list what I'm currently on and then list what's coming up. If people choose to comment on what I've got in the hopper, that's their business... In any case, I'm going through a re-read of The First Man in Rome to kill some time. It was weird, I woke up the other day and decided I needed to re-read it. Since I was trying to fill the gap between this past Saturday and my impending vacation in 2 weeks, I thought it was a fine idea to re-read it (and maybe the second book, time permitting). I've got Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norell primed for the vacation. Along with Empire of Ivory. After those two, I'm looking forward to Devices and Desires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbor Gold Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Tired plot, 1-dimensional characters and horribly illogical background detail. Avoid. I feel this way about every book by Maguire, other than Wicked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossfan2000 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Just finished Furies of Calderon which was fairly enjoyable despite some issues i had with parts of the story. Definitely good enough to recommend contuining to book 2. Now reading Dzur by Steven Brust. I havent read any Vlad novels in 10+ years..so i am missing out on 4 or 5 books, but thought i would pick this one up and read it anyway. So far, just as entertaining as I remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Just finished Robin Hobb's "Renegade's Magic". Much better than the previous two. I'll either go on to Un Lun Dun by China Mieville or Before I die by Jenny Downham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max the Mostly Mediocre Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Almost finished with Asher's Gridlinked. Pretty kewl so far, though it sorta feels like a defanged Richard K. Morgan novel. That's probably unfair of me, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrim Fox Cauthon Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 If I get the time to read anything for leisure, this thread will be the first to know. Until then, back to the course books! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talyn Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Just finished Furies of Calderon which was fairly enjoyable despite some issues i had with parts of the story. Definitely good enough to recommend contuining to book 2. Book 2 is a lot better than the first one. It suffers from having to set everything up and introduce all the characters. I have just started reading The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and its looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Just finished K. J. Parker's Devices and Desires. The premise is interesting enough: An engineer is sentenced to death for a petty transgression of Guild law. After murdering some of his captors to save his life, leaving his wife and daughter behind he is forced into exile. Devices and Desires is an intelligent read filled with intrigue. Throughout the novel it is evident that the story shows a lot of potential. However, the author doesn't always deliver. Still, I'm curious to read Evil for Evil and The Escapement. Though it suffers from a number of shortcomings, Devices and Desires was compelling enough to intrigue me in a way that makes me want to discover what happens next. . . Check out the blog for the full review. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analu Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I finished Before They Are Hanged! I know how many people here were quivering in anticipation to hear my review of it, so I made sure I read it ASAP so I could give out this amazingly detailed review of it: I liked it. Read it now So that ups my grand total to FOUR books read this year! On the bright side, I've decided to read more and am going to start rereading ASOIAF starting with A Game of Thrones tonight. So prepare to be dazzled by my scintillating wit in the General and Feast for Crows forums in the near future. (kidding of course. About my dazzling wit, not about rereading ASOIAF. I'm all over that like white on rice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossfan2000 Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Book 2 is a lot better than the first one. It suffers from having to set everything up and introduce all the characters. Cool..thanks for that info. I might have to move it up on my reading list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Despite it wasn't recommended I'm 100 pages into Jordan's "The Great Hunt" and liking it quite a lot. Can I admit it without feeling ashamed? I'm liking the book far more than the first. It's much less Tolkien-derived and the beginning of the book is already moving things in interesting ways (I like how Liandrin is eviler than the real bad guy, and I love every time in the books there's a "meeting" between various characters). It's well plotted, well presented and quite charming. At the end I can understand why Jordan reached the large public. It lacks originality or very strong ideas, but his writing flows very well, he is accessible and he knows how to use stereotypes to tell a good story. This second book is pleasantly familiar and at the same time I'm curious about what will happen next. I know that with Jordan the worst comes after book six, but I expected to like it much less, especially after coming straight from Glen Cook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deornoth Posted November 6, 2007 Author Share Posted November 6, 2007 Just finished reading George R.R. Martin's 'The Ice Dragon' last night. It's a really quick read (107 pages) but one that will stay with you after you've finished. Martin may be aiming this one at kids but still doesn't pull any punches when it suits him! I'd recommend it to anyone Full review is Here. I'm still working my way through 'True Colours' (Karen Traviss) and have no idea what I'll read after that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttering Bill Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Despite it wasn't recommended I'm 100 pages into Jordan's "The Great Hunt" and liking it quite a lot. Can I admit it without feeling ashamed? The Great Hunt is my favorite of the WoT books. Yeah, he was retreading old ground, but it was well-paced, and he threw in a few interesting twists along the way. Anyway, I've been out of this thread for a while for an aSoIaF re-read. I made it about 200 pages into aSoS before calling it quits. Not that I wasn't enjoying them, it was just too much of the same books. I need a break. My plan was to do the re-read, then finish some of the other books that I've abandoned (The Blade Itself, Deadhouse Gates re-read, Crossroads of Twilight re-read and Wizard's First Rule - yeah, I know). That was the plan. But War and Peace was calling to me from the book shelf, and I just couldn't resist it. Of course, that's a long book, and I've found myself with significantly less reading time lately, so it'll be a while. So, just checking in. Oh, and I agree that just listing out what books you're reading is detrimental to the purpose of the thread (as I understand it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I feel this way about every book by Maguire, other than Wicked. I am thinking about setting up a 'Gregory Maguire Only Wrote One Book' Support Group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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