What Books Are You Reading Right Now?

[warty goblin]

I suppose I like it because it reminds me of the Unknown Armies or World of Darkness sourcebooks a bit, what with all the secret histories, hidden gods, and so on.

That seems a completely sensible reason to enjoy a book. That's not a sort of mythology that I've ever found particularly appealing though, and I never really felt the book was saying interesting about gods, or the survival of cultural trends, or anything like that.

Were they rewritten? I remember my father had a Sherlock Holmes collection with a red cover at one point. I found it to be rather dense reading and nothing like Mark Twain.

I'm pretty sure mine is the unretouched version. If it isn't, I'll be highly annoyed.

An odd comparison. The Sherlock Holmes books are somewhere between Victorian England and Urban-Industrial Britain (no, I didn't make up that term on the spot, why do you ask?). Twain's books are (in large part) American Rural South--quite probably the most quintessentially American literature of anything before Gatsby. One would expect Doyle's work to differ significantly from Twain's. To place Holmes in his literary cultural context, try Dickens, Bronte (pick one), Hardy and Austen.

That is the style I mean, yes. I generally find it very readable, requiring enough concentration to keep my brain well engaged, but straightforwards enough I can still admire the construction of the language. Mind, I've never had great success with Austen, probably because my skills in reading socially dense books have seriously atrophied due to years of reading plot-driven drivel. Or plot driven non-drivel, for that matter.

[Math_Mage]

Doyle's works were never rewritten, but I think they're infinitely easier reads than Twain ever was.

Try Twain's short stories and sketches. Much easier reading, and they'll have you in stitches.

[Jess8]

I had just finished "The Pillars Of The Earth" by Ken Follett

[Palanan]

I've started reading The Pastel City, based on a compelling opening paragraph that was mentioned in the Opening Scenes thread. So far it's interesting, naturally reminiscent of the Dying Earth stories, but I'm starting to like this better. A little heavy-handed in spots, some phrasing my inner editor craves to polish, but I find myself leaning into the story, wanting to know more about the world.

On the audiobook front, I'm sorry to say that the short course on castles became extremely bland and basic, and I had to take a break and listen to The Mauritius Command, one of my favorite Patrick O'Brian novels. Fantastic narration by Patrick Tull, and the only disadvantage is I can't look at charts of the local reefs while I'm driving.

[BWR]

I've started reading The Pastel City, based on a compelling opening paragraph that was mentioned in the Opening Scenes thread. So far it's interesting, naturally reminiscent of the Dying Earth stories, but I'm starting to like this better. A little heavy-handed in spots, some phrasing my inner editor craves to polish, but I find myself leaning into the story, wanting to know more about the world.

"A storm of wings" is a second novel set in Viriconium, with some of the cast from "The Pastel City". I'm unsure which of the two I like better, but ASoW is a bit odder and less traditional a story. There are a few other shorter stories about Viriconium ("the Luck in the Head" got a pretty awesome and weird comic adaptation), but they are really best if you read and liked the novels first.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by BWR
"A storm of wings" is a second novel set in Viriconium, with some of the cast from "The Pastel City". I'm unsure which of the two I like better, but ASoW is a bit odder and less traditional a story.

I see the second book was published under the Timescape imprint, which I grew up reading as a kid. Ahh, memories.

Not sure how I feel yet about The Pastel City. I'm increasingly unimpressed with the language, which too often feels forced and awkwardly literary, and at other times is simply too bluntly descriptive.

But I do like the main character, not so much for himself as for the fact that he isn't a stone-killer archetype who shrugs his way through deadly combat. He's human enough to be unsettled, and to feel fear and even panic in a fight.

And I'm intrigued by the baan, an interesting sort of proto-lightsaber, although apparently they're not designed to interact directly. I haven't read much SF written around this time, apart from a few major authors, so I don't know if this concept was common and later overshadowed by the Jedi weapon, or if it's an outlier.

[warty goblin]

Am now about a third of the way through Clariel, which is as excellent as expected. Remarkably enough, it manages to be an entirely different sort of story about an eighteen year old woman coming of age in a world of handbell-fueled necromancy. After three books, I had worried that well would have run dry, but it's a very distinct take on the matter. Sabriel was basically about the title character assuming a mantle she knew and accepted would be hers, Liriel and Abhorsen were about finding one's place in a world may not be what one had been told, this seems to be the story about somebody who knows her place, but cannot obtain it.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? indeed.

Plus the Old Kingdom six hundred years before Sabriel is a delicious setting. It's not often one gets to spend a substantial amount of time in a fantasy kingdom before things go all evil shaped, but with the privilege of knowing everything's going to hell. Even though Clariel is set a good hunk of time before certain key events in Sabriel, it's nice to see the cracks starting to form. It's also nice to see that Nix's longstanding habit of not getting too tied down by strict boundaries on his world continues. Too many fantasy authors would have let the cast of Free Magic creatures deteriorate into a rote list of three or four we see over and bloody over again, and while a couple spells make repeat appearances between books, a lot of them don't. It's a rare fantasy series that still feels this fresh by the inevitable prequel novel for me, but he seems to be pulling it off.

[warty goblin]

Finished Clariel this morning. Holy cow, but that was excellent. I haven't been this excited by a new fantasy novel in ages. I haven't been this excited for how a new book in a series made me think about the rest of the series in bloody ever. If I hadn't just finished listening to Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorrsen on audiobook, I'd reread the lot starting today.

[Spacewolf]

I hadn't even realized there was a new Abhorsen book, lucky I decided to check out this thread I guess.

[Piggy Knowles]

Almost finished with Fall of Hyperion. Definitely enjoying it, although it started a bit slower than Hyperion and I found myself missing the Canterbury Tales-style framing device of the first book. I've already picked up Endymion to start reading next.

[warty goblin]

Almost finished with Fall of Hyperion. Definitely enjoying it, although it started a bit slower than Hyperion and I found myself missing the Canterbury Tales-style framing device of the first book. I've already picked up Endymion to start reading next.

Fall of Hyperion is a bit slower, right up until pretty much the very end, at which point I at least was fairly blow away. Like, damn are there a lot of things that go down in those last few pages, and they're interesting and thought-provoking things too. It's not just action packed, it's meaning-packed at the end.

I wanna reread those now...

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Piggy Knowles
Almost finished with Fall of Hyperion. Definitely enjoying it, although it started a bit slower than Hyperion and I found myself missing the Canterbury Tales-style framing device of the first book.

Indeed, it's a bit of a jarring transition between the style of the first book and the second. Endymion and Rise of Endymion are more in line with the second book, so it's smoother sailing from here on out, at least as far as style.

There are a few sections in Rise of Endymion, if I'm recalling them right, which are a little too forced and overdramatic; but once he gets past those and lets his story take off, wow it's quite a ride.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Fall of Hyperion is a bit slower, right up until pretty much the very end, at which point I at least was fairly blow[n] away. Like, damn are there a lot of things that go down in those last few pages, and they're interesting and thought-provoking things too. It's not just action packed, it's meaning-packed at the end.

Hoo hah, yes.

Really, I was blown away all the way through.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Finished Clariel this morning. Holy cow, but that was excellent. I haven't been this excited by a new fantasy novel in ages.

I've definitely got to read this series. I had Sabriel from my library a couple of months ago, but couldn't find the right mood to start it. Need to give that another try.

Is Sabriel the best book to start with? As opposed to Clariel, which is evidently a treat, and which I gather actually takes place well before the first trilogy. The eternal question: better to read them chronologically, or in order of publication?



In other news, I'm just finishing Men of Cajamarca, and it's been a surprisingly compelling read, given that it's an academic monograph. The language is mainly dry and direct, with zero literary pretensions, and he goes out of his way to avoid romanticizing the conquerors of Peru; and yet he knows the culture and sources so thoroughly that the rough, raw humanity of the men shines through. Even though he's as objective as anyone can be, there's a human sympathy for many of his subjects (though definitely not the Pizarros) and an awareness, especially in the individual biographies, that these were human lives, with their tragedies and defeats great and small, as well as small victories scattered throughout.

My only real frustration is that some of the most interesting insights, at least for me, come in snippets and stray comments he makes about the culture as he discusses this or that aspect of someone's career. The book is for specialists, so he's writing to an audience already familiar with the stages of early Spanish expansion. He only gives a skeletal framing of the actual sequence of events, and I wish he'd written more about the culture and attitudes of the time, something more comprehensive for those of us just peeking in. I feel like R2 out in the rain, barely able to see through the window into Yoda's hut.

And I'd also like to find a single coherent account of all the machinations, rebellions, divided loyalties and hard vengeance that unfolded after the conquest itself was done. Apart from the raw historical interest, there's more than enough material here for a high-quality, multi-season epic drama. The Pizarros were Extremadurans to the core; they'd show those pansy Lannisters a thing or two.

[warty goblin]

I've definitely got to read this series. I had Sabriel from my library a couple of months ago, but couldn't find the right mood to start it. Need to give that another try.

Is Sabriel the best book to start with? As opposed to Clariel, which is evidently a treat, and which I gather actually takes place well before the first trilogy. The eternal question: better to read them chronologically, or in order of publication?

I think one could start with Sabriel, or Lirael, or Clariel, and probably do OK. Abhorsen is really the second half of the story begun in Lirael, so you definitely should not start there, but otherwise the books are freestanding enough that you can start in any of the above, and have things make sense.

I would highly recommend starting with Sabriel though. The three stories in Sabriel, Lirael/Abhorsen and Clariel are all pretty clearly meant to contrast with each other, and I think the effectiveness of that contrast builds over the course of the series, and one sees how the characters and circumstances differ, and how that plays out in the story. Clariel deviates most sharply from how Sabriel develops, and I think it's probably more interesting to use Sabriel as the baseline than vice versa. And although a person could pick up the series at multiple points, the world building probably feels more natural and engaging following publication order. Part of what makes Clariel so fun for instance is the light it sheds on the certain concepts that come up in the chronologically later books.

Besides which, Sabriel is an excellent read. It takes a bit to get going, but once you hit Cloven Crest, it's pretty relentless. As a bonus, it's the most overtly horror-themed of the novels, so it's the perfect time of year. (I'm a complete wuss, and I was totally fine with it when I was like 12 or something, so it's not gonna keep anybody up nights. )

[Jobuu]

\The eternal question: better to read them chronologically, or in order of publication?

I always prefer to read books in publication order. That way, there is no chance of me being spoiled for future books, even unintentionally. Incidentally, this is particularly true with Asimov's Foundation series; if you read them in continuity order, you spoil most of the story.

[Math_Mage]

Sabriel would be a boring read after reading Lirael and Abhorsen. As the first novel, it just fits. Can't speak to Clariel since I haven't read it yet (on hold at the library, though!).

[warty goblin]

I always prefer to read books in publication order. That way, there is no chance of me being spoiled for future books, even unintentionally. Incidentally, this is particularly true with Asimov's Foundation series; if you read them in continuity order, you spoil most of the story.

If one assumes that all series eventually attain a state of monotonic quality decay as the number of books increases, it also means you tend to read the good stuff, and can easily bail before things go irredeemably pear-shaped. So far, I've seen very little reason to doubt my hypothesis of eventual endless deterioration towards unreadability. What's distressing is how fast a lot of series converge.

[happyturtle]

Why is it that book series decay? Is it because the authors run out of things to say? Because the rush to get out the next book keeps there from being enough quality control and editing on it? Because the authors get popular enough that they refuse to edit their work as well as they used to? All of these things?

[warty goblin]

Why is it that book series decay? Is it because the authors run out of things to say? Because the rush to get out the next book keeps there from being enough quality control and editing on it? Because the authors get popular enough that they refuse to edit their work as well as they used to? All of these things?

I think people - both authors and readers - tend to have a very poor understanding of what makes something good in the first place. We read something good, and we want more like that. So the author writes more like that, but takes the 'like that' to mean more of the same things that were good last time. So the same characters, the same ideas. Eventually the author runs out of ways to twist those same elements, and the series has flatlined.

The alternative of course is that the author writes something different for the next book. But then they run the alternative risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and accidentally get rid of what was good in the first place.

Series quality is Scylla and Charybdis. Either a few people get eaten, or everybody drowns. The optimal series therefore concludes as quickly as safely possible, so the minimal number of folks get munched, and it still gets where it was going. Unless of course the series isn't really going anywhere, but just keeps growing because the author feels like writing another book more or less connected to a previous work. Then it's more like a meander through the woods it can be pleasant for a long time but eventually will get trapped under a tree and eaten by wolves.

Also I must say you always have the most charming avatars.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Nearly Everyone
Read Sabriel first!!

Okay, Sabriel it is. Thanks for the unified recommendation there.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
If one assumes that all series eventually attain a state of monotonic quality decay as the number of books increases....

I don't assume this, at least not for everything--and I'd also make a distinction between any given series and an author's total output.

In practice sometimes it works out to be the same; I've sadly watched this process with both the Ender and the Alvin Maker series, although the latter hasn't become quite as awful as the former yet. Alan Dean Foster is an example of a long, slow decline in overall quality--looking back I'd say he probably peaked with Maori, and ever since then it's been mainly disappointing pablum. (Although the Midworld quasi-sequel was fun in its own way, mainly because I love Midworld so much.)

I can think of two series right off that don't follow this trend. The first is CJ's Foreigner series, which has remained decently readable throughout, even if there's not a lot of new conceptual ground being broken at this point. That said--the characters do continue to change and grow, sometimes in subtle and unexpected ways.

The second, and a striking counterexample, is Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, which is consistently excellent throughout. I've only read the series through once, but there was no dropoff and no want of interesting action and locales. There were some books which appealed to me a little less than others, but I can't think of a one offhand that stood out for not being up to par.

.

[Feytalist]

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss is out today.

I didn't even know about it until... 5 minutes ago.

[Eldan]

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss is out today.

I didn't even know about it until... 5 minutes ago.

What. No, really. What. Why wasn't I told this. I haven't even started re-reading the other two.

[dehro]

What. No, really. What. Why wasn't I told this. I haven't even started re-reading the other two.

It's not the third installment of the series. It's a novella.

[Feytalist]

What. No, really. What. Why wasn't I told this. I haven't even started re-reading the other two.

It's not the third installment of the series. It's a novella.

Ah yes, maybe I should have mentioned that. It's a side story about Auri, apparently.

[Eldan]

Oh. Well, that's sad. Probably still buying it.

[LibraryOgre]

Still trucking through "The Dark Defiles". Really enjoying it, and it's making me want to reread The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands.

[Feytalist]

Still trucking through "The Dark Defiles". Really enjoying it, and it's making me want to reread The Steel Remains and The Cold Commands.

That's what I'm doing

I do hope the book ties up some ends though. The plot thus far is rather... loose.

[LibraryOgre]

That's what I'm doing

I do hope the book ties up some ends though. The plot thus far is rather... loose.

It REALLY tightens up. There's a gap of a couple years between this and Cold Commands, and you can really get a handle on what's happening in the series, and who Gil, Archidi, and Egar are, and where they fit in.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Ah yes, maybe I should have mentioned that. It's a side story about Auri, apparently.

Indeed it is. Written, in fact, from the PoV of Auri, which so far (read day 1 of what I assume will be seven days, from the first line of the book) is essentially "the world as seen through the eyes of a cracked magician with severe OCD and a sunny disposition". If you love Auri, you'll probably love the book. But Rothfuss does warn in a foreword not to expect a traditional book structure from the novella.

Grey Wolf

[Math_Mage]

Indeed it is. Written, in fact, from the PoV of Auri, which so far (read day 1 of what I assume will be seven days, from the first line of the book) is essentially "the world as seen through the eyes of a cracked magician with severe OCD and a sunny disposition". If you love Auri, you'll probably love the book. But Rothfuss does warn in a foreword not to expect a traditional book structure from the novella.

Grey Wolf

Given that his attempts at traditional book structure so far have been rather more like a series of novellas, I suspect I will greatly enjoy this.

[LibraryOgre]

Fifty pages left and lunch ****ing ends. *grumblegrumble*