Author Topic: What are you reading, part 3  (Read 311482 times)

Shivertongue

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1155 on: March 02, 2010, 01:05:19 PM »
I finished Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind a few days ago, and it has stuck with me since.  That book is magic; seriously, I don't think a story has captivated me more in a long, long time.  It's easily in my top five, and may very well be my number one, although I should probably sit and ponder a bit before I make that decision.

Yeah, I felt the same way the first time through it.

My copy of I Am Not A Serial Killer arrived yesterday, which means all other books will be put off until I finish this. Which should be soon, as it's deeply engrossing.
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Patriotic Kaz

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1156 on: March 02, 2010, 07:57:46 PM »
Finished both The Fire in His Hand and With Mercy Towards None by Glen Cook, very interesting read. One Character is a religious fanatic whom is trying to establish a fallen empire.
Currently reading The Blade Itself.
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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1157 on: March 02, 2010, 08:19:36 PM »
The Blade Itself rocked.
this is the way the world ends,
not with a bang, but a whimper
~T.S. Eliot

Texcap

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1158 on: March 02, 2010, 10:56:08 PM »
Reading way too many things at once, but I'm enjoying them all a great deal:

History: Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life by Boyd Peterson

Fantasy: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (audio), The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov (audio)

Sci-Fi: Diving into the Wreck and The Spires of Denon (novella) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Graphic Novels: Agents of Atlas Vol. 1 by Jeff Parker, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, Missile Mouse: Star Crusher by Jake Parker, Usagi Yojimbo Vol. 11 by Stan Sakai
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Comfortable Madness

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1159 on: March 02, 2010, 11:53:52 PM »
I finally started reading Memories of Ice. It helped me figure out just what Deadhouse Gates was missing: Anomander Rake.
“I will never serve you, Father of Lies. In a thousand lives, I never have. I know that. I’m sure of it. Come. It is time to die.” Rand al'Thor

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Bookstore Guy

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1160 on: March 03, 2010, 12:18:28 AM »
Yeah, him and the whole other slew of characters.  DHG and MoI are really just one hugenormous novel.
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mtlhddoc2

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1161 on: March 03, 2010, 06:43:01 PM »
Just finished Dust of Dreams - and frankly, I was not very impressed, it was even more difficult to read than the previous novels. the skirting from charachter to character without warning and the lack of revealing which character he was actually writing about really bothered me. i will get the next one just to get the story finished. But i am done with Erikson after that.

I am now reading 1632 - an enthralling alt-history style tale. I am about 200 pages in and cant wait to read more.

Patriotic Kaz

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1162 on: March 03, 2010, 07:14:16 PM »
The only part that was even slightly difficult to follow was Icarium.
"Words are double edged blades. Only the great and the foolish play with knives." - Kaz the Buddah

"Take off your sandals, for you are posting on holy ground." -  Yahweh Kaz

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mtlhddoc2

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1163 on: March 03, 2010, 07:20:49 PM »
I found the opposite Kaz. I thought taht part was a no brainer, pegged it for Icarium right away.

There was, to me, quite a bit of dues ex machina in the book as well. Yeah, he kind of explains that using the convergence storyline, but that is growing pretty weak. Characters being incredibly smart and wary suddenly doing incredibly stupid things, really grinds my gears. and I am unhappy about that. I really loved the middle 4 books (3,4,5,6) - plot and character development worked very very well in those. 7 and 8 were good for moving the stories along and finally getting some explanations about the magic systems and gods and such. But 9 really fell flat.

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1164 on: March 03, 2010, 07:25:20 PM »
I love the 1632 series, though some of the later books are more about a huge cast of interacting characters than about an overarching plot.
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mtlhddoc2

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1165 on: March 03, 2010, 07:38:14 PM »
it was this thread that gave me the idea to read it, Peter. I love alt-history. Love Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic, but they were very much "Young Adult". May start on "Great War" at some point soon.

Shivertongue

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1166 on: March 03, 2010, 07:59:34 PM »
it was this thread that gave me the idea to read it, Peter. I love alt-history. Love Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic, but they were very much "Young Adult". May start on "Great War" at some point soon.

Great War, as in the one with World War 1 being fought between the North and the Confederacy (victorious in the Civil War)? You might want to read How Few Remain first, if that's the one you're talking about. It's not absolutely necessary, but it does set up a fair amount of what happens in Great War: American Front and subsequent novels. It's fantastic, though.

I love Turtledove's work. Never was able to get into the Crosstime Traffic novels, although the idea behind The Disunited States of America caught my interest.
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mtlhddoc2

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1167 on: March 03, 2010, 08:30:05 PM »
i read the C/T traffic books, but really quickly. they were all from a teenagers point of view. Good but not great. But re-whetted my interest in teh genre again.

Bookstore Guy

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1168 on: March 03, 2010, 08:43:55 PM »
I found the opposite Kaz. I thought taht part was a no brainer, pegged it for Icarium right away.

There was, to me, quite a bit of dues ex machina in the book as well. Yeah, he kind of explains that using the convergence storyline, but that is growing pretty weak. Characters being incredibly smart and wary suddenly doing incredibly stupid things, really grinds my gears. and I am unhappy about that. I really loved the middle 4 books (3,4,5,6) - plot and character development worked very very well in those. 7 and 8 were good for moving the stories along and finally getting some explanations about the magic systems and gods and such. But 9 really fell flat.

Dust of Dreams suffers from being the first half of a bigger novel (DoD and The Crippled God are 1 novel).  I don't like that Erikson did this (I don't like when ANY author does this), but what can we do.  This is part of the reason I have yet to review DoD.  It's like only reviewing the first 400 pages of Memories of Ice (or only the first half of any novel), and I feel kinda stupid doing it.  This is part of the reason I hated the most recent Hobb novel.  This sets a bad industry standard.
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mtlhddoc2

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1169 on: March 03, 2010, 09:10:07 PM »
BSG: I tried to remember that, I really did. He explained it at teh beginning. But it does not explain away, or help the fact that he was all over the place. He shattered the timeline, confused up the map, had entire chapters where you barely knew whose point of view it even was, plus adding new characters and confusing up THEIR point of view by bouncing back and forth from character to character from one paragraph to the next and back again. If it had been like reading half of a book, that would beone thing. But it read, to me, like 8 different books with a novella which tried to tie them all together (and failed, mind you).