What Are You Reading, Part 2

[dhalagirl]

I finished Redshirts. It's brilliant! My favorite part are the three Codas at the end (Oh my gosh! The Codas!) Seriously, if you're not a Star Trek fan, read it just for the Codas.

Now I'm reading David Brin's The Postman. I love Brin's prose in this book. It's so beautifully written.

[Lady_Yasha]

Okay, as I've said, it's more about what Aethling said was in American Gods than his opinions. I've seen enough opinions in its favor to not be easily swayed by one against it; it's the facts that sway me. Now, if Aethling's facts (again, not opinions) are wrong, I will readily change my mind. You have said some of them are incorrect, so that does make me somewhat more inclined to read it. Several people have mentioned books that are more graphic than American Gods, but, having not read any of those, I can't use them as reference (they might be good arguments in its favor had I read those books, but I can't apply them personally).

Well...

Conclusion: The insoluble Peter Ahlstrom is a kandra.

I won't be dissuaded by controversy - every book will have that, and I believe it is no indication of quality.

Fair enough. I'm not trying to force you to read the book because of my personal appraisal for it, I'm only attempting to bring clarity to some of the misleading accusations put forth in here.

[Shivertongue]

Fair enough. I'm not trying to force you to read the book because of my personal appraisal for it, I'm only attempting to bring clarity to some of the misleading accusations put forth in here.

Which is what I was trying to do as. Boiling an entire book down to a few bits of content which do not represent the story is doing a great disservice to the book. It'd be like if when someone told you about Well of Ascension, all they talked about was Vin killing a dog.

[Jack the Halls]

I tried listening to the audio book of American Gods. Perhaps it was the narrator I found boring? It's happened before. After reading this post, and the opinions of posters whose opinions I trust, I'll give it another try with my own eyeballs.

Also, I probably should have clarified sooner, but I didn't mean to imply that Gaiman fans aren't avid readers or that avid readers don't like Gaiman. Both of those types of people already know where American Gods is in the store and don't have to ask me (plus, they probably already own it).

There are certain books that are read by non-readers, and they only read those books. American Gods is one of them. Hunger Games right now is another. Harry Potter. These customers for some reason feel the need to point out that they don't read other books. I think it's because people still consider reading "uncool" or something.

It's actually a testament to the book that it can draw such a wide audience especially so many years after it was released.

[Joe ST]

American Gods is getting good

[Trizee]

I finished Foundation's Edge, and though it was good, I'm not so sure about the ending, it seemed like it took too much of a turn away from the direction the series was going.

[guess]

Blackout by Mira Grant. Note this is not the Alternative History book that one the Hugo last year. It is the 3rd in a zombie series. The Elite Book Reviews gave the first 2 very good reviews. I generally liked them. I was dissappointed in the 3rd one. In all 3 books the main villains tell the details of their evil plans to the heroes at the end of the book. I can accept this once, maybe twice,but all 3 times? It is the same plot mechanism that the Scoobie Doo cartoons used. The book is told in first person. The first book is told from the sisters perspective, the second from the brothers and the 3rd from both. I liked this and I like the contrasted viewpoints discussing the same scenes. I also like the complex personalities of the antagonists (I think Becks is hysterical).

I did not like the ending. It seemed too easy. I think the excuse that the President had for getting away with what happened was a cop out. I don't want to go into too many details because it gives away too much. Lets just say, I think the president would end up impeached and in prison if he did what this one did. It doesn't matter what the personal consequences would have been.

SPOILER ALERT: do not read this or you will get a major spoiler:

Shaun should have died. It was basically foreshadowed throughout all 3 books. Georgia expected to bury him. It would have been a more appropriate ending.

SPOILER ALERT 2 (dont read this if you have not read the book).

The whole brother/sister dynamic changes in the book. They hint at it earlier. I don't think they needed to go there. I am hardly a prude, but I think this would be a more complex story if the two were what I thought they were, basically damaged and co-dependent, so they have trouble opening up to others. The direction she went was much easier to write.

The Zombie series was pretty good. I am not a huge zombie fan, so I can't tell you how unique the series is compared to other zombie books (only other Zombie book I read was World War Z). I don't find the world she created all that believable, mainly because I think it would be much poorer. Everyone is trapped inside, so how do you farm, mine? How does food get transported? If you can't eat meat anymore that really limits food sources. This makes acquiring food much harder and more expensive. That being said, it was a fun world. I will keep an eye out for other books by this author.

[Yados]

Blackout by Mira Grant.

You know there's actually spoiler tags that hide the information you don't want people to read.

Edit:

Because you fixed it in your original post and then *I* was the one spoiling all the things.

Edited July 9, 2012 by Yados

[Trizee]

I just read The Wyrmling Horde by David Farland, and it was pretty good! The Runelords series started off really well (books 1-3), but book four wasn't great, and the fifth was plain terrible. But after that, when I was begining to lose faith in the series, comes the amzing book 6 followed by a strong seventh book (wyrmling horde), and hopefully the eigth book will be just as good.

I'm now reading Magician's Gambit by David Eddings, and it's starting off rather well, with the emphasis on a character that wasn't too important up till now(Ce'Nedra). I think this is the first book that has a non Garion POV.

Edited July 9, 2012 by Trizee

[Joe ST]

Finished American Gods, it wasn't all that great, though it got a lot better the further in you got

Started Greg Bear's Eon, its pretty good, enjoying it more than American Gods

[Emeralis00]

A madoka fanfic. Its long, I have been reading it for the past ten hours and still not done. Its great, really really great.

[Aethling]

I broke down and bought a kindle and Goodkind's new ebook only. His last two books had highly disappointed me, but this one is like his redemption. If he keeps writing like the newest, he is back on track to me. It is far, far better than Law of Nines and The Omen Machine.

[Joe ST]

Starting on the sequel to Eon. Eon was pretty awesome

[FeatherWriter]

I'm about halfway through Eon. (I'm too cheap to buy it, so every now and then I go into B&N and pick it up again.) I've liked it okay so far, but it never really grabbed me. Does it get better?

[Strawberry Eggs]

Not only started but finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I took out a massive single-book collection titled The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, so I've already moved onto The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I can see why this series is so popular. It's very witty and wonderfully absurd. I rarely laugh out loud while reading (I just chuckle from time to time), but I did with this one.

[Joe ST]

I'm about halfway through Eon. (I'm too cheap to buy it, so every now and then I go into B&N and pick it up again.) I've liked it okay so far, but it never really grabbed me. Does it get better?

If you've not been grabbed by it yet, you probably wont be.

[Trizee]

I broke down and bought a kindle and Goodkind's new ebook only. His last two books had highly disappointed me, but this one is like his redemption. If he keeps writing like the newest, he is back on track to me. It is far, far better than Law of Nines and The Omen Machine.

I also just finished Goodkind's The First Confessor, and it was probably my favorite of his books, so if you're hesitant because of some of his less successful books- don't be! (It also has 84 reviews on amazon and 81 of them are five starred- 2 are 4 starred, out of which one didn't actually read the book and one says he only gives five starred reviews to people like Tolstoy- go figure. Oh, and another gave it one star for some reason). Unlike Aethling, I rather enjoyed The Omen Machine and would like to see a sequel- Hannis Arc was an intriguing antagonist.

Before that I read David Eddings' Magician's Gambit, and that was pretty good as well- probably my favorite of the first three Belgariad books.

[Aethling]

I just didn't feel that Omen Machine was up to his level that he established in the Sword of Truth series. He tried to make it more of a thriller type, and that clashed too much for me. Still, it was nowhere near as bad as I think Pillars of Creation was. TFC is definately one of his best. I still wouldn't rate it as high as Faith of the Fallen, but it is pretty close.

Almost finished with The Great Hunt in my Wheel of Time reread. It is amazing the stuff you will catch on a reread. There is even a prophecy mentioned in this one that explains the AMOL cover, at least part of it anyway.

The first two Artemis Fowl books are decent reads. I wouldn't say they are as good as any of the Percy Jackson books, but they are nice reads. Of course, I might be biased as Percy is an American while Artemis is Irish.

BTW, Ce'Nedra becomes a major player later in the Belgariad and throughout the entirety of the Mallorean. One of the funniest scenes in either series involves her in the Belgariad.

Edited for Ce'Nedra reference.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Aethling

[Trizee]

I just finished Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Its probably the first Asimov book I read that I enjoyed more for the characters than for the plot (not that the plot was anything but awesome. One of the great things about Asimov is the way he ties things together across millenia, and shows how events 20,000 years ago can effect the present.)

I'm now starting Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings, which will be followed by Enchanters' End Game.

[dhalagirl]

Finished the Postman and now I'm reading The Hollow City. So far, it's really good.

[FeatherWriter]

If you've not been grabbed by it yet, you probably wont be.

Well, that's good to know I guess. I'll probably keep sporadically reading it. The author's writing style reminds me of my own a bit, and figuring out what I like and don't like about it is helping me figure out how I can improve my own stuff.

Sorry, is comparing myself to a published author weird? I feel like it's weird...

[CrazyRioter]

I don't think that's weird at all.

Also, I am now reading Death Masks by Jim Butcher!

[Musicspren]

I have finished The Pawn of Prophecy (book one of the Belgariad) and...was unimpressed. I realize that this was written was before a lot of other books, so some of the times when it seems suspiciously similar, it's didn't copy them; if anything, the copying was the other way around. So I'll try to refrain from judging it on plot points except to say he seems to have modeled it on middle earth (Kal Torak = combination of Sauron, Gollum, and Melkor; Orb = Ring; etc.). I think my biggest problem might be the characters; they're mostly bland. The only two I care about are Silk and Wolf, and them not that much. I'll try not to compare them to Sanderson's characters, because that's rather unfair given how high Sanderson's standard is. But I will say I care more about several characters (just comparing the characters, not the setting, mind you) in MBI than anyone in Pawn of Prophecy. And those were all created by non-professional writers.

Onward to Queen of Sorcery, in which I hope Eddings redeems himself.

[Brendan]

Try 'The Redemtion of Althalus', It's a book of his I still very much enjoy and it's a stand alone. His other stuff I loved as a young teenager in '97 or so but I don't feel the same draw to them today.

[Trizee]

I have finished The Pawn of Prophecy (book one of the Belgariad) and...was unimpressed. I realize that this was written was before a lot of other books, so some of the times when it seems suspiciously similar, it's didn't copy them; if anything, the copying was the other way around. So I'll try to refrain from judging it on plot points except to say he seems to have modeled it on middle earth (Kal Torak = combination of Sauron, Gollum, and Melkor; Orb = Ring; etc.). I think my biggest problem might be the characters; they're mostly bland. The only two I care about are Silk and Wolf, and them not that much. I'll try not to compare them to Sanderson's characters, because that's rather unfair given how high Sanderson's standard is. But I will say I care more about several characters (just comparing the characters, not the setting, mind you) in MBI than anyone in Pawn of Prophecy. And those were all created by non-professional writers.

Onward to Queen of Sorcery, in which I hope Eddings redeems himself.

I had the same reaction to Pawn of Prophecy, and was hesitant about continuing with the rest of the series. But people urged me to read on, and it really does get better (tough Garion never really becomes interesting). I'm now reading Enchanters' End Game, and am truly enjoying it.

EDIT: I've finished Enchanters' End Game, and though I enjoyed it I am a little bit confused about some things- what is the Belgariad, and who is the Enchanter? Neither of the terms are mentioned in the series as far as I know. Oh, and I was also wondering how come UL is spelled with a capital L.

I'm now reading Chaosbound by David Farland, and am finding it rather annoying that the book goes back to the beginng of Worldbinder to tell us what happened to Borenson- couldn't Farland do that in the previous books- just add another POV- why jump back in time?

Edited July 25, 2012 by Trizee