What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Sunbird she/her]

Hahaha. That was the perfect sarcastic response! Upvote for you.

[DSC01 he/him]

Man, I feel like Crossroads of Twilight took forever! I did have other stuff to do that kept me from reading, so it wasn't that volume's storied tediousness that kept me (though I will admit that reading it so slowly underscored just how little of note happens in the book, even if I didn't find it entirely boring).

Starting Knife of Dreams now.

[Eki]

On 06/28/2016 at 2:14 PM, StormingTexan said:

I've been reading some sci fi nothing all that great. Tried Ancilary Justice and just couldn't get in to it. 

How far did you read? I'm reading it right now, and I also had some trouble getting into it. It became much more interesting to me after a while, though.

[StormingTexan he/him]

8 minutes ago, Eki said:

How far did you read? I'm reading it right now, and I also had some trouble getting into it. It became much more interesting to me after a while, though.

Only about 4 chapters in. I've heard really good things about the series maybe just wasn't in the mood at the time. Let me know what you think if you finish it!

[DSC01 he/him]

I just read White Sand Vol. 1. I liked it, but I've already read the prose version twice, so I always new exactly what was going on. Some people have been complaining that it's hard to follow.

Back to WoT...

[Dunkum he/him]

3 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

Only about 4 chapters in. I've heard really good things about the series maybe just wasn't in the mood at the time. Let me know what you think if you finish it!

can't speak to that book in particular, but I have definitely had it happen with one or two other books where I couldn't get into it the first time and gave up, but got a little bit further the second time around and was sucked in.

[DSC01 he/him]

A Fire Upon the Deep was like that for me. When I was in high school (I think), I started it a couple of times but quickly gave up because I had no clue what was even happening, but when I finally stuck it out, I loved it. Of course, these days I probably would have no such difficulty, since I read so much fantasy and having no idea how anything about the world you're reading about works is a staple for the beginning of your average fantasy novel.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I liked Ancillary Justice. I haven't read the sequels, but I plan to. 

What's unfortunate is that a lot of praise for the book is for its stylistic choices and not the story.  In other words, if you don't like the style, I doubt you'll like the book. 

[Briar King]

I refuse to buy another SW bk after they reset the old EU. I spent so much $ and over 20 yrs to read them. I'm not giving them another cent cause they ll reset it again in future I guarentee.

[Sunbird she/her]

Ok, I'm looking for some opinions. I earned a $3 Kindle credit on Amazon recently, and I'm trying to decide between two books that currently cost $2.99 each on Kindle: Black Spark by Al K Line or Wrong Side of Hell by Sonya Bateman. Does anyone have anything to say for or against either book?

[Eki]

On 06/29/2016 at 5:20 PM, StormingTexan said:

Only about 4 chapters in. I've heard really good things about the series maybe just wasn't in the mood at the time. Let me know what you think if you finish it!

Finished it yesterday, and liked it. And yeah, I do think it's worth it to read further. I can't promise you'll like it, of course, but still.

[DSC01 he/him]

16 hours ago, Briar King said:

I refuse to buy another SW bk after they reset the old EU. I spent so much $ and over 20 yrs to read them. I'm not giving them another cent cause they ll reset it again in future I guarentee.

They probably won't, actually. The EU was always not considered canon. George Lucas always said that he didn't even know what was in the EU books, and he had no plans to maintain continuity with them in any way. Disney wanted to start making movies that take place after Return of the Jedi without being beholden to 20 years of story, but their announcement that the EU doesn't count was just a confirmation of the way that it had always been. Now, the books, comics, etc. are canon, and they won't be contradicting anything in the movies. That is the real concern, there. The new Star Wars books are canon until someone decides the films themselves aren't.

[Briar King]

Lucas was involved as things had to go through him. Ex: Anakin Solo. He said he had to go even though he was the greatest thing cause he was concerned people would confuse Solo with Skywalker. Like we are dumb right?

your words do make since for current bks but when they start writing bks ahead of the story line of movies those would be at risk no matter how canon they say the bks are now. 

[Who Sharded?]

I'm pretty sure Lucas also had to sign off on the death of 

Spoiler

Chewbacca in Vector Prime.

 

[Sunbird she/her]

Finished re-reading Alcatraz #1 today. I actually noticed several Cosmere-related Easter eggs this time around--ones that I missed in my first read back in 2011 because I had not, at that point, read any other Sanderson books. Plus I found a not-so-subtle jab at Harry Potter.

I've also made it about halfway through Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch, daughter of author Richard Paul Evans. Enjoying it so far, but I'm kind of annoyed at the MC, Lina, for crushing on Thomas just because he's handsome when Ren clearly is much better boyfriend material.

[DSC01 he/him]

And now on to The Gathering Storm. I know that a lot of Sanderfans think that's the definitive moment in reading the series--moving on to Brandon's books--but I think that  position more than a little disrespectful to the memory of Robert Jordan and his sizeable fanbase (not to mention to the expansive world that he created). Honestly, besides Brandon's tendency to switch between POVs in a single chapter and the lack of some signature Robert Jordan turn of phrases, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between the two writing styles, which is surely exactly what Brandon was aiming for.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

The Chemical Wedding by Christain Rosenkruetz. This is the new edition compiled by John Crowley that won't come out until November....but I was part of kickstarter, so while a paperback will be available to the world in NOvember, I get an e-copy of it now and a hardcover copy later! Woo! In all your faces!

[Sunbird she/her]

Beginning a re-read of Alcatraz #2 soon, because I have the new illustrated edition and must look at all the pictures. (Plus I like to laugh, and Alcatraz is storming hilarious.)

[Dunkum he/him]

17 hours ago, DSC01 said:

And now on to The Gathering Storm. I know that a lot of Sanderfans think that's the definitive moment in reading the series--moving on to Brandon's books--but I think that  position more than a little disrespectful to the memory of Robert Jordan and his sizeable fanbase (not to mention to the expansive world that he created). Honestly, besides Brandon's tendency to switch between POVs in a single chapter and the lack of some signature Robert Jordan turn of phrases, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between the two writing styles, which is surely exactly what Brandon was aiming for.

I'd actually posit that there are a couple of noticeable differences, neither of them particularly positive:

 

1. Brandon has a tendency to use some less archaic dialogue than Jordan did.  this is fine in his own works but is a bit of a probelm when tryign to work in someone else's world.  I can't come up with a concrete example off hand, but I seem to recall noticing it.

2. Brandon completely misunderstands/miswrites Mat.  again, its been a while so I cant get concrete, but this was definitely an issue to me when reading gathering storm.

other than those, however, I think the writing could almost be Jordan at his best (as opposed to the slower sections in the middle of the series)

[StormingTexan he/him]

Speaking WoT can someone promise me the payoff is worth it in the end 

Im about 75% through A Crown of Swords and it has it's good moments but man it is mostly just trying to get through the rest for the good bits. Especially most of the female POVs they make me want to headbut a rhino. 

The thing I'm most concerned with is everything I've seen suggest the next two books are even worst! 

Overall I like the story just seems like a beating to get to the meat of it. 

[Left he/him]

2 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

Speaking WoT can someone promise me the payoff is worth it in the end 

Im about 75% through A Crown of Swords and it has it's good moments but man it is mostly just trying to get through the rest for the good bits. Especially most of the female POVs they make me want to headbut a rhino. 

The thing I'm most concerned with is everything I've seen suggest the next two books are even worst! 

Overall I like the story just seems like a beating to get to the meat of it. 

It's worth it!! It is so VERY much worth it. 

 

So so I finished World Order by Henry Kissinger, it was really good, much more thought provoking for me than the other political geography books I've read. 

I'm reading Magi of Cyador by Modesitt, and Elements of style, a writing/editing handbook. 

[DSC01 he/him]

19 hours ago, Dunkum said:

2. Brandon completely misunderstands/miswrites Mat.  again, its been a while so I cant get concrete, but this was definitely an issue to me when reading gathering storm.

Brandon himself admitted that he later realized that he was writing TGS Mat like he was still the Mat of the first couple of books. It's definitely corrected in the next two books, and the worst that I can remember (haven't gotten to Mat's POVs yet for this read-through) is that he was a bit too quippy and averse to responsibility (which is a character trait of his, but he had matured a little, prior to TGS).

 

18 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

Speaking WoT can someone promise me the payoff is worth it in the end 

Im about 75% through A Crown of Swords and it has it's good moments but man it is mostly just trying to get through the rest for the good bits. Especially most of the female POVs they make me want to headbut a rhino. 

The thing I'm most concerned with is everything I've seen suggest the next two books are even worst! 

Overall I like the story just seems like a beating to get to the meat of it. 

You are at the point where it seems like the wheels are just spinning and the story isn't going anywhere, but trust me, it's definitely worth it (at least it was for me; some people disagree). In books 7-10, very little time passes, but there are a whole bunch of different POVs to cover, and mostly those POVs cover the characters' thoughts and opinions on things, not action. Yes, all of that builds to action, but when you have four or five different stories that are all slowly building, it can seem like there's just nothing going on.

That said, there are some pretty major events coming in The Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart. Those two books aren't nearly as uneventful as Crossroads of Twilight, in which plenty of stuff still happens, but there's nothing extremely portentous. Besides the slow build to plot points, I think another reason that books 7-10 seem tedious for some readers is that they are the volumes where it is most clear that The Wheel of Time is basically one long book and not a series of neatly divided parts. The story arc that you're expecting isn't in the one book that you're reading because it's spread across several volumes. The payoff starts in Knife of Dreams (and then even more so in the final three books). 

[Briar King]

Yep Mat was completely butchered in TGS and I'm not sure how Harriet and Com didn't stop to bring it up. After the outcry Mat went back to Mat thankfully for last 2 bks!

[DSC01 he/him]

Interestingly, an anecdote from Brandon is that he was alerted to the problem because he kept getting comments from people that they thought he was writing Mat better than Jordan. That caused him to revisit what he was doing with the character because it didn't seem to be the right response: he wanted his writing to match what Jordan was doing (not to the point of copying his style but at least to the extent that the story was wrapped up in accordance with the rest of the series). That's not to say that the average reader preferred the new Mat. It's just that most people probably weren't going to walk up to him at a convention and start criticizing a fairly well-known author to his face, while the probable minority who appreciated the change were going to approach him with compliments.

[Dunkum he/him]

Agree that his writing of Mat got better in the other two books.  but in Gathering Storm it was probably the single most significant thing I noticed to mark the change in author, so it sticks out a lot in my mind.  well that and because Mat is my favorite of the 6 main characters (honorable mention to Egwene and Perrin among the 6 mains, plus Thom and Verin among more secondary characters)