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A huge number of copies (at one point I was sending a hundred copies a day to recycle) of "the first half of the first book of the Wheel of Time" were printed as free promotional books (the publishers learned of the series's reputation as an intimidating doorstopper, so they decided to give away something more in line with a normal-sized paperback to draw in new readers.) Once they'd done that, it only makes sense that they would keep the divided books in sale print.
I'm listening to Wheel of Time #5. And rerererereading Small Favor. I bought the Divergent trilogy but I haven't started it yet.
I remember those at my local bookstore...about 1994, yes?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnoman
A huge number of copies (at one point I was sending a hundred copies a day to recycle) of "the first half of the first book of the Wheel of Time" were printed as free promotional books....
I eagerly took one home, read the first chapter, brought it back the next day. Thus ended my dalliance with that series.
That's a lot of people that do that, give up on WoT. I can't blame you. I was almost one of them, but since I hate A Song Of Ice And Fire I figured I'd get my nerd card revoked if I didn't finish some High Fantasy series.
I found it best to skip the first (prologue) chapter. The biggest problem with WoT in the earliest books is Jordan's near-complete refusal to OOC infodump, leaving the reader ignorant as to what things actually mean. This isn't so bad after the prologue, as the main viewpoint characters are backwoods hicks who don't really have much of a clue anyway, so they have to be told most things and have their incorrect beliefs corrected anyway. The prologue, however, consists of the leaders of the two sides in the most destructive war in history, who also happen to be the most powerful wizards in history, speaking of things without explanation that the reader has no possible way to understand at this point (even consulting the glossary will be of very little help, as the terms there are absent most of their context.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Palanan
On this note...4 more days to Words of Radiance. I am beyond excited, and starting up my Way of Kings reread tomorrow in preparation. TOR's been cranking their promotions up to 11 on this book, and they have me hook line and sinker.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mauve Shirt
Ugh! Why am I in the middle of the third Codex Alera book? It's gonna be a decent amount of time before I can reread Way of Kings. Grrrrrrr.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
If you're willing to break out of Codex Alera for a new book but not the reread, there's always The 10 Minute Refresher on Way of Kings (Warning: Major spoilers for anyone who has not read the book. Should be obvious from the name, but want to be safe), which should be a good enough jumping point to go into the new stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem
Even without paying much attention to the publicity, I'm excited too. :smallbiggrin: I started rereading TWoK yesterday in preparation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
Oh hey, I didn't even know this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
Probably time to start reading Way of Kings, isn't it. I hate reading the first book of a series, when the rest of the series doesn't exist yet.
I've been powering through Deadhouse Gates like there's no tomorrow. (I always read a lot when I'm supposed to be studying :smallbiggrin:) The first book was... difficult to get through, but this one is just awesome. So much attention to detail. Great writing.
Yay! :smallbiggrin: Of course it will still took a while until it arrive in my local bookstore. :smallfrown: (hopefully it will be there, can't be sure) Well, it's not like I could buy another novel soon anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
I'm back to mostly reading Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh, as I never actually finished it. Plus, I've been lending my classics to a friend of mine, and would prefer to get this read and loanable before he finished Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
"Green millennium" was ok. So far I've not been terribly impressed by Leiber's non-Lankhmar stuff.
On to Poul Anderson's "Three hearts & three lions". I'm pretty sure I've read it before but can remember nothing about it.
Whoo hoo! Yes, indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
On this note...4 more days to Words of Radiance. I am beyond excited, and starting up my Way of Kings reread tomorrow in preparation. TOR's been cranking their promotions up to 11 on this book, and they have me hook line and sinker.
My library has three copies on order, and about a dozen holds already placed for them. I'm in the queue somewhere, but sadly not too close to the front.
:smallfrown:
Oddly enough, that's my situation too. I think I read it shortly after college, but there's been a lot of reading since then, and I can only remember echoes of snippets now. I think I learned the words "pergola" and "amanuensis" from that book.Quote:
Originally Posted by BWR
On to Poul Anderson's "Three hearts & three lions". I'm pretty sure I've read it before but can remember nothing about it.
I also think a lot of its deeper meaning went right by me, so I should read that again.
I dunno....I also want to reread the book in full, not just a recap...I AM TORN.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seerow
(Because I know I have friends who will be reading it.)
So, in other news:
Just today finished Thomas Madden's Venice: A New History, which is an excellent survey of the city from its founding by Roman refugees to current concerns about rising sea levels and flooding by foreign tourists. It's an emotionally involving journey, since Madden has lived and worked in the city for many years and clearly loves it deeply, and he expresses very well the sense of melancholy resignation at its centuries-long slide from Mediterranean empire to Disneyfied tourist trap.
As a medieval historian, he spends much of the book on the city's first thousand years, rushing through the Enlightenment and much of the 19th and 20th centuries, skimming briefly through major wars and economic transformations. However, given that the book came out in late 2012, he brings it right up to current events, including a mention of the Costa Concordia and recent controversies about corporate advertising. The histories of other cities should be written this well--not by journalists who drop in for a week or two, but by historians who make their subject a cornerstone of their lives.
Tinished "Three Hearts and Three Lions", which was fairly ok, if a bit bland. I can see why I forgot most of it last time I read it. I picked up a full set of the Millennium Fantasy Masterworks series and while there are some truly brilliant works there, some of them are less impressiveones as well, and 3H&3L was the latter. It's not bad, by any means, and it works well as the sort of story it was meant to be, a rather more lighthearted and romantic idea similar to Moorcock's Eternal Champion, it wasn't particularly memorable.
On to Dennis Wheatley's "The Devil rides out". I've only read "To the Devil a daughter" (and seen the Hammer film of it) of his stuff before. I suspect this will be much the same.
Finished The Futurological Conference last night. It's like Stanislaw Lem neatly did the entirety of cyberpunk and the Matrix in one book. That's 140 pages long no less. And came out nearly fifteen years before Neuromancer. Man could write is what I'm saying.
I picked up the Book of Atrus from a second hand book store. Not going to lie, probably not the best book ever. Katherine could have been fleshed out more, for example. Still, dammit, I love that universe. The whole concept of Writing and Linking Books and Descriptive books just strikes this chord within me.
Wow, I'm glad I checked this thread, I hadn't realized Words of Radiance is finally out soon.
With a recommendation like that, it's on my list. :smalltongue:Quote:
Originally Posted by warty goblin
Finished The Futurological Conference last night. It's like Stanislaw Lem neatly did the entirety of cyberpunk and the Matrix in one book. That's 140 pages long no less. And came out nearly fifteen years before Neuromancer. Man could write is what I'm saying.
From Myst? Hmm.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravens_cry
I picked up the Book of Atrus from a second hand book store. Not going to lie, probably not the best book ever.
Tomorrow, in fact. :smalltongue:Quote:
Originally Posted by Reverent-One
Wow, I'm glad I checked this thread, I hadn't realized Words of Radiance is finally out soon.
In other news, yesterday I finished Timothy Shannon's Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier, which slogged a bit, but was intriguing and informative, as well as grimly depressing by the end.
Now I'm reading The Moundbuilders, which is interesting and fairly up-to-date, despite having all the design sensibility of a 1950s textbook. But I've seen some of the surviving Ohio mounds, at Chillicothe and especially Serpent Mound, so really interesting for me.
.
Yep. Like I said, I love that universe. One nice thing in the book is there is some sketches that are obviously meant to be by Atrus much like the ones you find in his journals from the first game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Palanan
I'm reading Fool Moon, book 2 of The Dresden Files because until recently, I had not read The Dresden Files. I felt like I was missing out.
Technically, you could say I'm also reading Zack Jackson & The Hives of Valtra, because I'm doing revisions to the manuscript. Reading, re-writing, etc. It counts!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravens_cry
Not going to lie, probably not the best book ever.
I actually missed the "not" when I first read your post, which as you can imagine led to a certain degree of puzzlement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravens_cry
Yep. Like I said, I love that universe. One nice thing in the book is there is some sketches that are obviously meant to be by Atrus much like the ones you find in his journals from the first game.
:smalltongue:
I'm about halfway through WoK reread now. WoR is tomorrow whenever Amazon gets it delivered to me. It's both so far away and too close at the same time! Gotta get back to reading now.
Someone needs to do a video recap of Way of Kings, with relevant illustrations and artwork, in the style of the What the Frak? overview for BSG.
:smalltongue:
.
Yes, I suppose it would. :smallbiggrin:One might even say you myst the important word, and so your understanding was riven.:smalltongue:Quote:
Originally Posted by Palanan
*SMITE*
*SMITE*
*SMITE*
*SMITE*
*SMITE*
:smallsmile:
In other news, Words of Radiance is now officially available! Whoo hoo!!
Only on Book 2?Quote:
Originally Posted by JediSoth
heh heh
heh heh heh heh
heh heh heh heh hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
:smallbiggrin:
Enjoy the ride.
Okay, I lied. Echoes of Honor turned out to be awesome. But, I'm now 77% through #10 War of Honor, and literally nothing has happened. Nearly every single Chapter is people sitting around a table and talking to each other about the other people sitting in another room talking to each other about the people sitting around a table talking to each other.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheesegear