What Books Are You Reading Right Now?

[IthilanorStPete]

Are enough people reading and reacting that Words of Radiance is due its own thread?

Sure.

[Werekat]

Delaney and Cherryh do sound exactly like my cup of tea! Thank you. :)

[Cheesegear]

I'm currently reading Executable, book '5.5' of The Demon Accords. It's...Interesting. The author has stated that around Book 3 he wrote himself into a corner as the main character is now too powerful. This 'spin-off' book is rather neat, as it portrays the main character from the minor characters' perspectives, which, I guess is one way of continuing the story. Especially since the minor characters are actually pretty interesting because their view of the world of human meatsacks is the polar opposite of the functionally immortal main character.

At least The Iron Druid worked for his immortality.

[Killer Angel]

I don't know if it can count as "book", but... "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes".

[Palanan]

You mean the three-volume boxed set that weighs 14 pounds? Yeah, that qualifies.

Besides which, it's Calvin & Hobbes. Auto-pass to the VIP section.

[Telonius]

Currently reading Don Quixote (Amazon Prime, so yay, sort-of free).

[happyturtle]

I just read Promise of Blood which is "French revolution but with magic". It was pretty good, but it has the typical fantasy problem of crazy power level disparity between different sets of characters. If the ordinary NPC is power level 0, the protagonists are mostly levels 5-10. I like that.

But then you have a subset of characters at level 30+, running around and making you wonder why the protagonists are even there. Also gods. I hate it when stories have gods running amok.

The presence of gods drops it to 3 stars, when it could have been 4 or 5 stars, had it stuck to the revolutionary theme. But I imagine I'll keep reading the series. It's supposed to be a trilogy, with one books (plus a novella and two short stories) out already and the second available in May. Basically I like the characters enough to carry on.

(Also major props for the excellent cover art!)

[Zrak]

I now want to write an essay entitled "Blades Fall, Everyone Dies: Robespierre's Reign of Terror and/as GM Fiat"

GM will stand for "Guillotine Master."

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Whee! I'm 100 pages into The Way of Kings and rediscovering how much I loved this book.

What I'm starting to seriously appreciate is the specific little touches of color in this book, like cultural clothing fashions and weird creatures like the skyeels. It's just such a wonderful, diverse world, and I'm loving every second of it.

[Palanan]

I think I read that Sanderson has been dreaming his way around that world for a couple of decades now. It really is a rich, strange place.

I actually picked up a live copy of Words of Radiance at a bookstore a couple of days ago (and nearly strained my back, it's that big) and tried reading the first few pages.

That convinced me that yes, I really do need to re-read Way of Kings before I start in on the second one. It's only been a couple of years, but they've been very intense, stressful years, and there's been a lot of other reading since then.

Which means, in practical terms, that Words of Radiance is a long, long way off.





*looks sadly at spoiler-laden Words of Radiance thread*

[warty goblin]

I'm not particularly rapidly making my way through Vanity Fair, which is a truly delightful read. It's a long book - my copy is in excess of 700 pages - but at least so far it doesn't feel bloated so much as luxuriously relaxed. It's full of extraneous stuff, Thackeray commenting on exactly what one of his critics will say about a certain passage for instance, but it's all in such genial spirits and sincere good humor that I'm left with a sense of overwhelming pleasantness. Possibly because although the author may do things like outline how events could unfold if this were a different sort of novel, he seems to do so without a trace of that most tedious of devices: irony.

Also, for the hell of it, rereading Carrie. I think next weekend I'll do a Carrie/Carrie double feature, and see how the assorted films stack up to the book again.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I think I read that Sanderson has been dreaming his way around that world for a couple of decades now. It really is a rich, strange place.

No kidding! I think it also helps that he's had a lot of time to let his writing mature and develop. I think that's why I like this world much better than the one in the Mistborn trilogy. That one was neat, but had nowhere near the splendidness of the Way of Kings world. (Also, every single world detail seemed to be plot-relevant, which was less interesting to me.)

*looks sadly at spoiler-laden Words of Radiance thread*

I know that feel.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem
No kidding! I think it also helps that he's had a lot of time to let his writing mature and develop. I think that's why I like this world much better than the one in the Mistborn trilogy.

I loved the Mistborn novels, but in some ways they're on a lesser plane of craftsmanship, and not at all written as smoothly as the Stormlight series. I was so caught up in the story I didn't mind, but it places it felt like he was rather hastily filling in a rough draft.

It's almost as if the Mistborn trilogy was a practice run for the Stormlight books. Tad Williams did something similar, or so it seemed, with Tailchaser's Song as sort of a pocket epic that helped him prepare for the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.

[dehro]

so.. what you're saying is that when I'm done with the mistborn, I should take on the others?

also, is the fourth volume of the mistborn series worth reading?

[BWR]

Finally finished "The Devil rides out" after spending way too long on it. It's short and easy to read so it really shouldn't have taken me more than 2 or 3 days. Guess only reading when you're dead tired and want to sleep is a bad idea. Whodathunkit?
It was rather silly, but amusing enough.

On to Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White", which I don't believe has much in common with Randy Marsh's musical 'Splooge-drenched blowjob queen' 'The Woman in White'

[happyturtle]

I like "The Woman in White". One of the characters clearly has ME/CFS, though it was described as "a nervous condition". He's an unpleasant character, but all of his symptoms match up with mine, so I guess I feel a little sympathy for him in spite of how hateful he is to everyone.

[BWR]

Wasn't just about everything that wasn't obviously a foreign disease called 'a nervous condition' back then?
Reminds me of a friend of my mother's who went to see a doctor about some problems she'd been having and was told it was 'just nerves'. When it was later reveled to be MS, she had to admit that the doctor was technically right.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

so.. what you're saying is that when I'm done with the mistborn, I should take on the others?

I would wholeheartedly recommend The Way of Kings to you, yes.

also, is the fourth volume of the mistborn series worth reading?

Yes! It's a light, delightful read. It's standalone, ties back to the main Mistborn books, and reads fast. Very fast.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by dehro
so.. what you're saying is that when I'm done with the mistborn, I should take on the others?

Once you finish the Mistborn novels, I'd recommend Elantris and Warbreaker, which are stand-alone novels with no relation to the Mistborn world, or to each other. Each has a unique, interesting system of magic, and they're both great fun, although Warbreaker is a faster and smoother read. Elantris is extremely involving, and the ending just rocks, but like the Mistborn novels it's very clearly the work of a talented but less experienced author.

Originally Posted by dehro
also, is the fourth volume of the mistborn series worth reading?

Absolutely yes. Like CarpeGuitarrem says, it's a fast read, but also very poignant in the first chapters.

Sanderson mentions in the author's notes that Alloy of Law is essentially "a funny thing happened on the way to the next Mistborn trilogy," in that he'd intended to advance the world and its technology, but a stand-alone story occurred to him and he went ahead and wrote it out.

Really, read everything by Sanderson. You won't go wrong.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Also, there's a really awesome Wild West-y action sequence towards the end.

[Feytalist]

Well. I'm on record as not being a huge fan of Warbreaker. It was obviously an experiment in novel writing and kudos to Sanderson for completing it, but the pacing just... sucks. The climax takes forever to build, and when it finally arrives, it crams roughly a third of the plot into the last 100 pages or less.

Alloy of Law on the other hand is great. I love the slightly steampunky setting, the plot and the characters. Well, most of the characters.


I don't quite subscribe to the Sanderson worship I see elsewhere. He has a habit of writing certain character stereotypes that irritate me to no end. Thank the Norns he didn't indulge in that too much for the Wheel of Time books. But he did alright with the end of WOT, so he's okay by me.

[warty goblin]

Sanderson is like everything I hate about modern fantasy condensed into one easily avoidable yet inexplicably popular author. I like to think it works out well for both of us that way.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Sanderson is like everything I hate about modern fantasy condensed into one easily avoidable yet inexplicably popular author.

Interesting. Sanderson is the reason I started caring about American fantasy again. The entire field had left me cold for years.

His writing itself, especially in the Mistborn novels, can be a little rote and mechanical in places, with a lot of filler in the dialogue that's added purely for pacing effect. And some of the secondary characters can indeed be pretty flimsy--again, more clearly in the earlier novels. Elantris was his first published work, and there are definitely some tropes he's working his way through. The climax was slam-bang fun, but it did have some cheesy and predictable moments.

And yet, overall I find his main characters engaging and the stories somewhere between compelling and addictive. The man has a knack for developing systems of magic which are well-thought-out and just plain cool to see in action--as well as an almost cinematic vision for action sequences.

Worship, no. But enjoy? Absolutely. His novels are intelligent fun, and they keep me up way too late at night. Sometimes you just can't ask for more.

[Knaight]

I don't quite subscribe to the Sanderson worship I see elsewhere. He has a habit of writing certain character stereotypes that irritate me to no end. Thank the Norns he didn't indulge in that too much for the Wheel of Time books. But he did alright with the end of WOT, so he's okay by me.

I would agree with this, although as far as Wheel of Time goes I couldn't care less - I've read some Robert Jordan, and I am not even remotely impressed.

[warty goblin]

Interesting. Sanderson is the reason I started caring about American fantasy again. The entire field had left me cold for years.

His writing itself, especially in the Mistborn novels, can be a little rote and mechanical in places, with a lot of filler in the dialogue that's added purely for pacing effect. And some of the secondary characters can indeed be pretty flimsy--again, more clearly in the earlier novels. Elantris was his first published work, and there are definitely some tropes he's working his way through. The climax was slam-bang fun, but it did have some cheesy and predictable moments.

Mistborn was the only Sanderson I've read. To be fair, I might have gotten an exceptionally poor impression of it because I set it down for about six months halfway through, only finishing it when I'd exhausted every other printed word in my dorm room. On the other hand, I happily set it down for six months, and only picked it up again after finishing the horrible second wave feminist book on rape, so it's not like it was setting my world on fire. Raising my world to lukewarm would really be an overstatement.

And yet, overall I find his main characters engaging and the stories somewhere between compelling and addictive. The man has a knack for developing systems of magic which are well-thought-out and just plain cool to see in action--as well as an almost cinematic vision for action sequences.

I found his action scenes tolerable, but nothing particularly interesting. They were passable descriptions of what was happening, but I never felt particularly involved. Ditto the rest of his prose, technically competent, but incredibly lifeless. Not even evocative of lifelessness mind, just a flat, uninterrupted continuum of beige.

As for the magic system, I thought it was like reading hard sci-fi, except without the intellectual guts to require genuine understanding of anything, or being an interesting extrapolation from things that actually existed. Basically it was just a set of rules so that the genetically chosen protagonists could get their superhero on, but without any sense of wonder or mental backbone to it. Fantasy stripped of the fantastic meets science fiction stripped of all the science. A classic study in mistaking the forest for the trees, and seeing the trees as only interesting because they can be set on fire.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I probably don't have the same perspective you do, but I think The Way of Kings infused its magic system with a lot more wonder and texture, for what it's worth. It certainly doesn't have a massive, involved system like Mistborn's lotsa metals.

I would even say that I think it's a better book than the Mistborn trilogy in full, except that it's Book 1 of 10, so I can't speak to how well it handles the grand overarching plot. As its own story, though, I think it's solidly better in all regards.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by warty goblin
To be fair, I might have gotten an exceptionally poor impression of it because I set it down for about six months halfway through....

Well, returning to a book partway through, after half a year's hiatus, is naturally not going to give a good impression.

That said, there are clearly very different tastes in play here. I loved the metal-magic, and found wonder aplenty in the story and the world. I didn't analyze it to nearly the same extent, just enjoyed the ride. We hoi polloi are easy to please that way.

[Feytalist]

I would agree with this, although as far as Wheel of Time goes I couldn't care less - I've read some Robert Jordan, and I am not even remotely impressed.

It's partly a nostalgic thing, I think. There are some undeniable issues with Jordan's writing, but he did write a wonderfully immersive world. And rereading years later, I'm continually surprised at his plotcrafting. (Okay, so if fell apart around book 10 or 11, but still...)


Also, I finished Deadhouse Gates. I think it's safe to say I'm well and truly hooked on Malazan now. The level of detail Erikson crams into these books is staggering. It can be difficult to slog through, but oh-so rewarding.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Ditto the rest of [Sanderson's] prose, technically competent, but incredibly lifeless. Not even evocative of lifelessness mind, just a flat, uninterrupted continuum of beige.

Well, look on the bright side. He doesn't use irony.

[Knaight]

I found his action scenes tolerable, but nothing particularly interesting. They were passable descriptions of what was happening, but I never felt particularly involved. Ditto the rest of his prose, technically competent, but incredibly lifeless. Not even evocative of lifelessness mind, just a flat, uninterrupted continuum of beige.

As for the magic system, I thought it was like reading hard sci-fi, except without the intellectual guts to require genuine understanding of anything, or being an interesting extrapolation from things that actually existed. Basically it was just a set of rules so that the genetically chosen protagonists could get their superhero on, but without any sense of wonder or mental backbone to it. Fantasy stripped of the fantastic meets science fiction stripped of all the science. A classic study in mistaking the forest for the trees, and seeing the trees as only interesting because they can be set on fire.

I'd consider the Mistborn trilogy easily the weakest of his work. I'd still consider it reasonably solid, mostly on account of a handful of the characters. The magic system was honestly more of an irritation than anything - I'm not a fan of techno babble, and while this techno babble didn't involve scientific terminology and thus didn't mangle it (I swear, if I see the word "evolution" applied to a single organism one more time...), it was still there. It wasn't the best thing ever, but it was still worth reading, and Sanderson's other works have consistently been stronger.

It's partly a nostalgic thing, I think. There are some undeniable issues with Jordan's writing, but he did write a wonderfully immersive world. And rereading years later, I'm continually surprised at his plotcrafting. (Okay, so if fell apart around book 10 or 11, but still...)

I can't say I found the world immersive. The characters were tedious. The plot was tedious. The prose was tedious. The books in general managed to get past my tediousness threshold, and that's before they got extremely repetitive on top of that. I have a high threshold too - I quite liked Romance of the Three Kingdoms, including the spot wherein Zhuge Liang fights a group of south east Asian warriors (it's a bit vague on details), wins, captures them, lets them go on the promise they won't attack again, then gets attacked, repeating this entire process a good seven times until he finally decides to just kill them all, as the first seven times they didn't honor the terms of their surrender showed how much it was worth.