[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 06 October 2014 - 10:28 AM, said:

Obdigore, on 06 October 2014 - 10:22 AM, said:

Coco with marshmallows, on 04 October 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Yeah, that series is where Tad really started to go down the route of using a hundred and fifty words where three would have sufficed.

The pinnacle of this was achieved by him in his Otherland series.

I think you mean The Otherland Trilogy.

Spoiler

the fourth book never happened. NEVER HAPPENED

My only problem with that scenario is that book 3 was not a good place to end it. I didn't utterly hate the end of book 4 but, yeah, pretty much the entirety of that book was useless and pointless. My theory is if you rewrote the ending a bit, took out the rest of book 4 and maybe a few chapters from books 2 & 3, you would have a really tight and well paced trilogy.

Not book three as end. Book three as in he excised masssive amounts of side plots, extraneous plots, unnecessary tangents, side stories running through all four books that went nowhere or at least nowhere interesting, redundant characters, repetitious events... I really enjoyed the end of the series in bk 4 for the most part. I just disliked huge globs of what i had to wade through to get there.

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 06 October 2014 - 01:54 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 06 October 2014 - 10:28 AM, said:

Obdigore, on 06 October 2014 - 10:22 AM, said:

Coco with marshmallows, on 04 October 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

Yeah, that series is where Tad really started to go down the route of using a hundred and fifty words where three would have sufficed.

The pinnacle of this was achieved by him in his Otherland series.

I think you mean The Otherland Trilogy.

Spoiler

the fourth book never happened. NEVER HAPPENED

My only problem with that scenario is that book 3 was not a good place to end it. I didn't utterly hate the end of book 4 but, yeah, pretty much the entirety of that book was useless and pointless. My theory is if you rewrote the ending a bit, took out the rest of book 4 and maybe a few chapters from books 2 & 3, you would have a really tight and well paced trilogy.

Not book three as end. Book three as in he excised masssive amounts of side plots, extraneous plots, unnecessary tangents, side stories running through all four books that went nowhere or at least nowhere interesting, redundant characters, repetitious events... I really enjoyed the end of the series in bk 4 for the most part. I just disliked huge globs of what i had to wade through to get there.

I think that's what I was trying to say but you did it better.

[acesn8s]

QuickTidal, on 05 October 2014 - 01:26 PM, said:

I'm only about 5 chapters into DRAGONBONE CHAIR, but I already really like it. Classic fantasy epic stuff. I'm okay with Williams meandering prose since he's kind of solid at scene setting.

Williams is about the journey. I'm still working my way through Shadowmarch. Usually I read to fill time. With Williams, I read when I want to get fully immersed.

[QuickTidal]

acesn8s, on 06 October 2014 - 02:40 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 October 2014 - 01:26 PM, said:

I'm only about 5 chapters into DRAGONBONE CHAIR, but I already really like it. Classic fantasy epic stuff. I'm okay with Williams meandering prose since he's kind of solid at scene setting.

Williams is about the journey. I'm still working my way through Shadowmarch. Usually I read to fill time. With Williams, I read when I want to get fully immersed.

This is TOTALLY how I'm taking it.

Like I'm almost 50 pages in and so far Simon has only really gone to the Doctor guy and had him recite history of Hayholt...but I am 100% immersed in the world, so it doesn't bother me at all.

[Salt-Man Z]

Morgoth, on 06 October 2014 - 06:20 AM, said:

The language part was my favourite aspect of Ancillary Justice. I'm actually a little dissapointed that the author went and made a sequel. I mean, I'm sure it was the intention all along, but I enjoyed the ambiguity of the AJ ending. I guess I prefer standalones these days.

Yeah, it's a trilogy according to the copy I have sitting on my nightstand (as yet unread; meaning to get to that.)

[polishgenius]

Yeah, I knew Ancillary Justice was a series going into it, so I didn't have any disappointment. Hopefully will read the second one soon, the first was excellent.



Having finished the very excellent American Elsewhere, I think I'll begin Magician's Land by Lev Grossman, the last in the trilogy.

[Mentalist]

End of Disc One, on 06 October 2014 - 01:25 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 04 October 2014 - 07:20 PM, said:

(Kellhus, Kaladin and Raoden are all defined primarily by their faith in humanity)

Awesome typo

lol, you're right. Considering I despise Kellhus.

What the hell was the name of the main char's Martyred mentor in Mistborn?

[worry]

Krusty

[amphibian]

Kodos

[Serenity]

I re-read Koontz's Lightning over the weekend. Probably a mistake as, although I still liked it on some levels, it has dropped considerably in my estimation as a result, mainly because of the pure-as-the-driven-snow characters who are so beautiful and perfect as to set my teeth on edge. The perils of revisiting a much-loved book from my younger days I suppose!

I've made a start on the first 'Destroyermen' book, Into the Storm, this morning. Enjoying it so far, although it's chucked so many character names at me in such a short space of time I'm having trouble remembering who they all are and what they all do

[Andorion]

Serenity, on 07 October 2014 - 08:15 AM, said:

I re-read Koontz's Lightning over the weekend. Probably a mistake as, although I still liked it on some levels, it has dropped considerably in my estimation as a result, mainly because of the pure-as-the-driven-snow characters who are so beautiful and perfect as to set my teeth on edge. The perils of revisiting a much-loved book from my younger days I suppose!

I've made a start on the first 'Destroyermen' book, Into the Storm, this morning. Enjoying it so far, although it's chucked so many character names at me in such a short space of time I'm having trouble remembering who they all are and what they all do

You might want to keep a list of characters until you get used to them.

[Serenity]

Andorion, on 07 October 2014 - 08:26 AM, said:

Serenity, on 07 October 2014 - 08:15 AM, said:

I re-read Koontz's Lightning over the weekend. Probably a mistake as, although I still liked it on some levels, it has dropped considerably in my estimation as a result, mainly because of the pure-as-the-driven-snow characters who are so beautiful and perfect as to set my teeth on edge. The perils of revisiting a much-loved book from my younger days I suppose!

I've made a start on the first 'Destroyermen' book, Into the Storm, this morning. Enjoying it so far, although it's chucked so many character names at me in such a short space of time I'm having trouble remembering who they all are and what they all do

You might want to keep a list of characters until you get used to them.

I'll get them all straight in my head eventually. Must admit I went scrambling back to the start to see if there was a dramatis personae before the maps, even though I knew I hadn't seen one when I started it

[Morgoth]

Salt-Man Z, on 06 October 2014 - 03:20 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 06 October 2014 - 06:20 AM, said:

The language part was my favourite aspect of Ancillary Justice. I'm actually a little dissapointed that the author went and made a sequel. I mean, I'm sure it was the intention all along, but I enjoyed the ambiguity of the AJ ending. I guess I prefer standalones these days.

Yeah, it's a trilogy according to the copy I have sitting on my nightstand (as yet unread; meaning to get to that.)

It's well worth reading, and works fine as a standalone in my opinion. A fantastic debut, though not the best sci fi I read this year.

[Baco Xtath]

4 hrs into the Dark Defiles; I'm going to savor this one and then marathon it on Friday as I've got a road trip over the weekend. Also 4 hrs into Dust by Elizabeth Bear and a couple hours into the Windup Bird Chronicles. All good. Also, 25% through Behemoth by Watts; nice being back in the ocean. Hopefully it will stay there as I love it as a setting.

[T77]

Finished The Tower of Fear by Glen Cook. Glen Cook is probably my favorite author, but this one just didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, in fact it was very good, for some reason it just didn't grab me and I don't know why. I should point out that I am in the minority on this as it's getting 4.6/5 on Amazon.

I've read a lot of Glen Cook lately so I am going to take a break and catch up on Malazan. I've finished all of the SE books, I just need to finish the ICE books, which have been hit and miss for me. Next up is Blood and Bone.

[polishgenius]

So I read Magician's Land, which was good, but my least favourite entry in the series, and then I read Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone, the second in his Craft sequence - very good, and I recommend this series to anyone who wants something with the joy and sense of fun of Dresden or Harry Potter (but with a very different and rather original setting/premise).

And now I'm reading The Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Gone Girl.

Wow... I'm a bit in shock, a bit in awe, a bit drained. I flipping loved it but the ending is raw, painful, abrupt and shocking. Really good book.

[Andorion]

Picked up The Steel Remains for a re-read of the first few chapters between my WoT read. Immediately realised it was a mistake, because to put it simply Richard Morgan is miles ahead of Robert Jordan as an author. There's a flow to his language, an elegance to his language choice, an easy vividness to his description, that makes it so simple to visualise everything. Jordan for all his long-winded descriptions simply can't match it. Really looking forward to reading Dark Defiles later.

[Tattersail_]

About to finish Caine. I have been going slower and slower because I don't want it to end. This last book is Weird.

Do you recommend Codex Alera next? I want action, and good story.

[acesn8s]

Alera has action and a cool magic system. The story is pretty good. It's got the Butcher breath taking pace once it gets going.