Winterfella Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Just finished The Amber Spyglass myself. I also didn't like it, but had kind of the reverse experience of you, MountainGoat. I really liked the first book, and thought the second book more or less lived up to the first, so I was anticipating a good read for the third book. While I was halfway through, reading about the Mulefa and hair bombs and a dozen other things I didn't give a shit about, I just thought to myself "WTF is this?" I mean seriously. The Amber Spyglass. WTF was that? It was a hell of a slog to get through that mess. I don't know, maybe it's me. Right now I'm finding The Warrior Prophet a bit of a slog in the middle. Too much internal monologue. It's okay up to a point, but let's get back to the action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Aardvark Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Finishing up On Basilisk Station then hitting Catch-22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theMountainGoat Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 The Amber Spyglass was the contraption the female scientist created to view dust - yes really. Given that the Altheimeter from the first book (Northern Lights) is used by Lyra (a girl) and the Subtle Knife from the second book of the same name is used by a boy. If two thirds of the dark materials are used by women how did the series come to be called "His Dark Materials"? More confusing is the title of the WoT book I was reading. Knife of Dreams, it does not get mentioned anywhere in the book. So WTF is that about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Just finished The Amber Spyglass myself. I also didn't like it, but had kind of the reverse experience of you, MountainGoat. I really liked the first book, and thought the second book more or less lived up to the first, so I was anticipating a good read for the third book. While I was halfway through, reading about the Mulefa and hair bombs and a dozen other things I didn't give a shit about, I just thought to myself "WTF is this?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jak O Shadows Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Recently read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hassan, beautifully descriptive and well written story of betrayal, racism and redemption. Well worth a read. Just finished the first three books of the Sword of truth, now I see why people complain about them. They could have been a bit better if he had left his daft philosophy out of it. There are some interesting ideas and characters but they are repetitive, predictable and not very believable. In particular I found the idea of nations changing 3000 years of tradition just because that self righteous prat Richard says to is totally farcical. I have just listened to the wizard of earthsea and the tombs of Atauan on MP3. I read these years ago and had almost completely forgotten them. LeGuin writes some beautiful prose, listening to them is like listening to poetry and they are only a few hours long. I would recommend a listen. It is refreshing to read a simple story in which the people are generally good natured. Just started Belgarath the sorcerer because it is one of the only Eddings books I haven’t read and I have a copy of it. I’m not expecting much but I always did like his humour. Time for a visit to the Bookshop me thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mind Elemental Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 I thought the Amber Spyglass was the weakest of the three due to pacing/structural problems, but I really liked the series overall, and Northern Lights in particular knocked my socks off. You're right, though; I wouldn't recommend it to kids. I guess that puts me in the same camp as Winterfella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. X Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Finished "The Carpet Makers" by Andreas Eschbach (awesome) and "The Atrocity Archives" by Charles Stross (ok). Now reading "Boiling A Frog" by Christopher Brookmyre. Pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mind Elemental Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Atrocity Archives was worth it all for the Gotterdammerung sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Atrocity Archives was worth it all for the Gotterdammerung sentence. I don't remember that, but it was a great book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luzifer's right hand Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Book I finished recently. When Heaven Fell by William Barton a cool post-invasion book with a human slave-solider who returns to earth and faces a hard decision. It was a decent read but thought it would have worked better without the ending. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, a funny read. Reading right now A reread of the Vlad Taltos series. Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore Next on the to read pile: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson and Learning the World by Ken MacLeod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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