Timewaster's Guide Archive

Please forgive me for ranting here.  I am two thirds of the way through The Way of Kings and I am only just starting to like it.  Is it just me?  I dare not read other threads until I finish it.  My main complaint in the first third was: Where are the girls???  Not that I don't enjoy the well-done testosterone-laden war epic, but Brandon has me spoiled for female leads and usually a better balance in the estrogen dep't.  It's starting to grow on me, but I hope the pacing improves for the rest of the story.

I retract my J.V. Jones recommendation.  The first book was great, but the next two were disappointing-to-awful.  The female protagonist's story line goes nowhere and, though the Elitist Boys say that book four is good, I don't think I'm going back for more. 

I just re-read Carol Berg's Bridge of D'Arnath series and was much more entertained.  Her pacing is not the best, especially in the middle two books, but her writing is so very, very good and her female characters are really strong and interesting. 

I don't know why I'm replying to this, but like I've said before, some Christians are the stupidest and most embarrassing people I know.  And I'm one of them.  Yes, I am sometimes stupid and embarrassing, but I think I have a more well-rounded understanding of the nature of God and man than the aforementioned protesting idiots.  What did they hope to achieve with this despicable demonstration?  That's what I do not get at all.

God loves homosexuals, thieves, murderers and all sinners;  i.e., all of us.  Period.  He wants to spend all eternity with every human He ever created.  And He made a way.  Want to know more?  PM me.

   I was so let-down by all the religious teasing in Battlestar.  What a huge disappointment.  I won't read Guy Gavriel Kay again, either, for similar reasons, namely such a poor ending to Tigana.  I have been watching Caprica, but bristle at the believers in the One True God being portrayed as terrorists and cultists.  And we all know where it will end, in confusion and one big ambiguous mess ultimately.  But I will watch for now.  Not sure why.  Keeps me on the stationary bike an extra 15 minutes.

Here's a statistic that may surprise you. Of the 3,500 people who have fanned Brandon's Facebook page, it's 67% male. That holds across most age ranges, and the biggest demographic—ages 25–34, is 72% male. (The smallest demographics, 45–54 and 55+ are evenly male/female to balance that out.)

This article says toward the end of 2007, Facebook was 2/3 female.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/21/facebook-is-almost-23-women-and-other-stats/
If that is still true, Brandon's readership may be even more skewed toward males than the Facebook fan page indicates.

This is a surprise to me. I expected the ratio to be much more even. Now, it has to be understood that the vast majority of Brandon's fans on Facebook are Wheel of Time fans—but that is another fandom that I expected to be more evenly split.

   That does not surprise me because Brandon's Mistborn magic system is so male-flavored.  Very mechanical/scientific/logical rather than simply emotional/psychological/ethereal which is the norm for a lot of fantasy, especially female-authored.  My 21-year-old son just devoured all of Mistborn, starting with my signed copy from the Half Moon Bay tour stop.  He liked the precision and sensibility of the rules that Brandon employed.  You know, he's the kind of kid who liked algebra and hated geometry.     

   Most girls tend to enjoy the spacial (geometric) rather than the linear (algebraic) type of make-believe, I think, but I am not one of them.  I like it all as long as it rings true and keeps me entertained and guessing and isn't disgusting.  I don't pay much attention to the mechanics of magic systems.  It's about characters and their interactions and growth.   In other words, Brandon has something for everyone, which is what makes him so universally appealing. 

   One more recommendation, since I am on a J.V. Jones jag.  A Cavern of Black Ice has a strong female lead, though she starts out a bit weak and is kind of waif-like for much of this book, so I didn't think of her right off.  She shows signs of great inner strength and future awesomeness, though, so I would call her potentially strong.  She does kick some male-bully butt at one point in a very satisfying fashion.  This book is gritty but never disgusting, IMHO.

   I think Hobb is full of sex, but since it is from a woman's perspective and not over-romanticized (and includes consequences), I guess it doesn't offend me as much as it probably should.

    My latest favorite author of fantasy, J.V. Jones, is more my cup of tea.  Very realistic without slipping into the explicit.  I wouldn't recommend Hobb to a teenager who is trying to live according to biblical standards.  Thanks, all, for the helpful list for this thread for "what to avoid."  From the viewership, as I'd hoped, this has been a resource for more than a few on the subject of reliable content.

   I've got to go on a bit about A Cavern of Black Ice by Jones.  That book was awesome.  So glad there are two more to enjoy.  Original world, beautiful use of language (she is British-born), great pacing, sensible magic system (so far) and complex characters that ring true and change/grow.  It is bleak and dark, but not without joy.  Don't let the awful cover art dissuade.  Tor. . . .

   I would not have discovered Jones were it not for http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/   Check them out if you have not already.  I start at the bottom of the review for "content" to be sure the review is worth my time.  Unless it's one of their famous flames, which are too much fun.

   I'm actually on Robin Hobb's Golden Fool right now.  Liveship Traders, her second trilogy, was very violent and sometimes bordered on the ridiculous, but I read it and mostly enjoyed it.  I love it that there is a character that ties the three trilogies together and that I figured it out before it was too, too obvious.  Never mind exactly when.  As good as Hobb is (was), I doubt I'll be back for a re-read.  Thankful that my library stocks all of her books that are worth reading.  Here's hoping she gets back on track, too.

   I also read Carol Berg's newest, since I love her, called Spirit Lens.  If you have to have an action scene or some kind of blood-letting every few chapters, skip this one.  I hung on through about 250 pages of nothing-much because I know she always delivers and, for me, the end was worth the effort.  Carol is a great writer, but this book is not her best.  Having said that, I am eager for the next installment.  The characters might have taken time to grow on me, but they are under my skin now and there they will stay.

   She and Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss are the only authors I plan to pre-order through Amazon this year and next.  And Jones, probably, if I get that far.

Quote from: douglas on December 18, 2009, 11:37:04 PM

At least part of the psychopath change was due to Fain's influence, remember.

Good call. I completely forgot that they ever even met. That and with what Eerongal said could explain it I suppose.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that, too.  But that's not surprising.  I rely heavily on EWOT to keep up with most things WOT.  I think Elaida's rapid descent into megalomania/hysteria was a bit over-written, but attributable to Fain (now that we've been reminded), ill-gotten power and other above-mentioned corrupting influences.  Won't it be interesting/satisfying to catch up with Elaida's POV for a bit?  I think there will be a chance for her redemption, though.  She was never downright evil and we'll see how much conscience she's retained and how capable she will be to recognize her errors. 

There will have to be a little tea party at the very, very end with Cad., Moiraine, Nynaeve, Elaida and the ghost of Verin all promising to stay the heck out of everyone's business from then on.  Just be glad I'm not writing this.

Oh, and where did I get that Cadsuane will teach Rand to "laugh and to cry"?  Did I make that up?  Min's viewing originally said that she'll teach him "something," but wasn't that eventually revised?