What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Briar King]

Bk 2 of Dresden is the lowest point in series. Bk 3 is going to ramp it in overdrive halfway in then bk 4 starts the awesome sauce from beginning to end for the rest of current bks.

[Zathoth]

I know I am in the minority, but I actually like Fool Moon. I think it is better than Storm Front.

 

I just finished Promise of Blood. I didnt love it but it was good. I shall still finish the series.

 

I decided to take a break from Perdido Street Station to read either The Wise Mans Fear or The Blinding Knife, but I cant make up my mind on which I want to read... Perdido Street Station is great by the way. I recommend it.

[StormingTexan he/him]

I finished Heir of Novron which concluded the Riyria Revelations. Really liked the series. Will probably read the prequels.

Started The Magicians the TV show made me want to re-read the series. Forgot how depressing this series is.

[Guest]

The Otherland series by Tad Williams? Goooooood series.

 

 I tried it several years ago, but it didn't do it for me. I drop it halfway through.

[Briar King]

The 1st bk is really really good then it starts dipping on 2.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Currently making my way through Foundation and enjoying it. Each novel convinces me that Asimov never really left short stories behind. I like the serialized nature of the novels, though.

That's because the original trilogy was serialized in magazines

[Dunkum he/him]

Think I've shared this story in this thread before, but it bears repeating because I like whining.

 

I started with Recluse because my best friend recommended them. Read most of them, maybe 70-80%, and I can't bring myself to finish them or try anything else by him. He has interesting ideas (though I found the magic system there no particularly interesting), but the writing felt atrocious. One of the very few authors I just can't read...

 

Edit: Look at what you've done, I came here to give an update of my reading progress, and instead I ranted about Modesitt Jr... again.

I don't remember Recluse being that bad, but it has been years since I read them, and the few things I've reread from that time have generally not aged well, so I won't actually try to refute that. 

 

that said, to ScottLeft's point, the fact that Recluse skips around mean the poor writing at the beginning generally matters less, not more.  you can skip to 3 or 4 books in and you aren't really missing anything simply because there isn't a single overarching narrative.  I always kind of liked that about them: some of the books take place centuries apart from each other, giving glimpses into the history of the world.

[The Invested Beard]

 I tried it several years ago, but it didn't do it for me. I drop it halfway through.

 

That's too bad, one of the best endings I've ever read in a fiction series.

[Sunbird she/her]

So I finished The Infinite Sea today, and I thought it was just kinda meh. Although I liked the portion of the story that centered on Ringer, I didn't like that her storyline eclipsed that of the other characters. Also, too much death.

 

Also read through the first few chapters of Flamecaster, and after I finished chapter 2 these were my thoughts toward Cinda Chima:

 

[Trizee]

I finished A Blade Itself and its sequel Before they Are Hanged. Both are good solid books, but nothing amazing. I made an attempt at Jack Vance's Lyonesse and discovered that it is totally lacking in plot and character and stopped.

 

Currently reading the third book in the First Law series, Last Argument of Kings.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I finished A Blade Itself and its sequel Before they Are Hanged. Both are good solid books, but nothing amazing. I made an attempt at Jack Vance's Lyonesse and discovered that it is totally lacking in plot and character and stopped.

Currently reading the third book in the First Law series, Last Argument of Kings.

How so? I'd say Lyonesse had too much plot and character!

[Left he/him]

I finally finished Blood of Tyrants. Shwoo, I maybe should have paced myself better. I took the last third of the book at a sprint, which really doesn't work well with Noviks writing, so it kinda wore my brain out. It was good, but I think I'll be glad when I've finished this series, it's gone on long enough.

I only have a very few chapters left in the manga series I'm reading, which is very sad. It's been very confusing though, which is also sad

I'm going to jump into Otherland tonight, and I'm going to read some Modesitt afterwards. I might read Good Omens at the same time as I read Otherland, because I think I'm going to need a smaller book to help pace. Otherland is about 800 pages, and I'll just end up quitting if it's the only thing I try to read.

[Argent he/him]

I finally started reading Brandon's White Sand manuscript. I've been putting this one off for practically as long as I've been reading him (not sure why, to be honest), but decided that I need to be able to feel smug about having read the prose when the graphic novels start coming out, and I am having a convenient gap in my reading schedule. I am maybe 15-20% and loving it so far. I can see the quality is not quite there, the character dialogue is... a little cringeworthy at times. The worldbuilding is obviously still there and good, but the way it's presented is a little confusing at times. All in all, I still think I would pay money for it, but I can definitely see why he felt it needed serious revision.

[Zathoth]

The Wise Mans Fear is so good. Im going to hate myself when I finish it... You just couldn't go with your original plan and wait until Day 3 had a release date, could you? You just had to read it.

[Sunbird she/her]

So I finished The Infinite Sea today, and I thought it was just kinda meh. Although I liked the portion of the story that centered on Ringer, I didn't like that her storyline eclipsed that of the other characters. Also, too much death.

 

Also read through the first few chapters of Flamecaster, and after I finished chapter 2 these were my thoughts toward Cinda Chima:

 

 

This post got a downvote? Did I say something offensive, or did somebody's finger slip on their mouse?

 

And now for the reason I originally came in here: I finished Flamecaster and thought it was pretty awesome. The end had a few twists that caught me by surprise. I'm now about 60% into Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, since it seems to be getting a lot of hype. I'm enjoying it (thought the sea foxes were super cool creatures), but it hasn't AMAZED me yet.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Sunbird

[Sunbird she/her]

Read a really awesome book today: "Got Luck" by Michael Darling. It kind of feels like a mix of the Dresden Files and the Iron Druid Chronicles, but cleaner than either of them. The main character, Goethe Luck, is really funny and uses "curse words" like "Son of a poodle" and "Nuggets!" Here's one of my favorite quotes from his inner monologue:

 

"The Robaccio Restaurant was one of those places that sounded like a nice Italian trattoria--and it was. The funny thing about the place was the name: a blend of two Italian words. The word "robaccia" meant "trash" in Italian and "bacio" was "kiss." Putting the two words together was like naming a British pub the Rubbish Smooch, which someone in London really needs to do."

[Briar King]

Reading Safehold 1 along with Hyperion a bit each day.

[IndigoAjah he/him]

Just finished Warbreaker

 

About to start Kafka on the Shore by Murakami

[Zathoth]

About to start Kafka on the Shore by Murakami

I liked that one. It is weird as hell, but I liked it.

[Kestrel she/her]

Book 7 of the Wheel of Time.

I've been working on it for... too long.

[Briar King]

I actually really liked that one.

[Argent he/him]

So, White Sand has been a fun experience. On one hand, yay for Cosmere and a flashy magic system. On the other, the characters can be downright abysmal at times. If there is one thing Brandon must've learned since he wrote this, it's how to write characters, character arcs, and dialogue. That, and foreshadowing - I saw some of the reveals coming from a mile away, and I am notoriously bad at spotting those things. Still, overall I enjoyed it. 

 

I am now reading Empire Ascendant and am a little concerned I'll be lost for more than half of the book. It hasn't been that long since I read the first book in the series, but it was not a book I remember very well, so after a couple of hours of reading, I am more than a little confused about who exactly everyone is, and what they have been doing all of the first book.

[Sunbird she/her]

So, White Sand has been a fun experience. On one hand, yay for Cosmere and a flashy magic system. On the other, the characters can be downright abysmal at times. If there is one thing Brandon must've learned since he wrote this, it's how to write characters, character arcs, and dialogue. That, and foreshadowing - I saw some of the reveals coming from a mile away, and I am notoriously bad at spotting those things. Still, overall I enjoyed it. 

 

I am now reading Empire Ascendant and am a little concerned I'll be lost for more than half of the book. It hasn't been that long since I read the first book in the series, but it was not a book I remember very well, so after a couple of hours of reading, I am more than a little confused about who exactly everyone is, and what they have been doing all of the first book.

 

I'd rather not spoil my image of Brandon as a writing god, so I'm happy to wait for the graphic novel release of White Sand.

 

Also, I hate that "Halp, I'm drowning in this story because I forgot the entire first book!" feeling, which is why I have been putting off reading the final book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. I need to go back and re-read the previous 8 books or I'll be like, "Wait, who is this again? Why are they doing that? Where did that [insert magical item here] come from?" the whole book.

 

In other news, I finally got around to starting Marie Lu's The Rose Society today (sequel to The Young Elites), which I've had on my Kindle for ages. I'm about 60% through and I have to say, I really like Sergio even though I haven't seen a lot of him yet.

 

Also started reading Rebel of the Sands today (print copy from my library--I like to be reading one book on my Kindle and one in print concurrently). It was obvious from the very first chapter that the heroine is a total badchull, which is especially remarkable because she lives in a completely misogynistic Middle Eastern-type society.

[Argent he/him]

 

I'd rather not spoil my image of Brandon as a writing god, so I'm happy to wait for the graphic novel release of White Sand.

 

I think this is a part of the reason I held off on reading it for 8 years...

[Dunkum he/him]

finally picked up Lord of Emperors last night.  still not liking the Sarantium books as much as Tigana or  Lions of Al Rassan, but its good.