[End of Disc One]

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

[Abyss]

End of Disc One, on 20 October 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

Am halfway thru book three and I think the series is far better than Kingkiller. Faster moving, more interesting characters, tighter story overall, has some fun novel ideas that don't jus retread old fantasy tropes.
...also, no dragon-cows.

[Chance]

Trying to get through Miles Cameron's The Dread Wyrm in book form and it's going to take a while even thought I really like the series. After getting used to have audiobooks running most of the time at work it really does seem to take half of forever to get through something in actual book form in the few spare hours between work and other stuff.

[Macros]

No dragon cows you say?
Interesting

[Tattersail_]

Salt-Man Z, on 20 October 2015 - 07:58 PM, said:

Tattersail_, on 20 October 2015 - 02:11 PM, said:

Is that the one with the chalk drawings?

Correct.

Yes, I enjoyed that one.

[Tattersail_]

Abyss, on 21 October 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

End of Disc One, on 20 October 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

Am halfway thru book three and I think the series is far better than Kingkiller. Faster moving, more interesting characters, tighter story overall, has some fun novel ideas that don't jus retread old fantasy tropes.
...also, no dragon-cows.

Arent they different authors though?

[Macros]

I tried searching for this bloodsong trilogy, who's the author.
I liked king killer in places, just not the grown men weeping at a man playing the lute, dragon cow and elf sex lessons

[Macros]

Nevermind, think I have it, first book is ravens shadow?

Kahn does not approve

This post has been edited by Macros: 21 October 2015 - 07:05 AM

[worry]

Macros, on 21 October 2015 - 06:56 AM, said:

the grown men weeping at a man playing the lute, dragon cow and elf sex lessons

Hmm, maybe I'll start reading these finally.

[Tattersail_]

worry, on 21 October 2015 - 07:19 AM, said:

Macros, on 21 October 2015 - 06:56 AM, said:

the grown men weeping at a man playing the lute, dragon cow and elf sex lessons

Hmm, maybe I'll start reading these finally.

Haha, although you're right, those scenes have stuck with you.

[Maark Abbott]

Partway through TFE and sat here cursing myself for the overt similarity in my own plotline. I'll need to make some changes, I think.

[Baco Xtath]

Abyss, on 21 October 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

End of Disc One, on 20 October 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

Am halfway thru book three and I think the series is far better than Kingkiller. Faster moving, more interesting characters, tighter story overall, has some fun novel ideas that don't jus retread old fantasy tropes.
...also, no dragon-cows.

I haven't read book 3 and I didn't plan to due to the almost universal negative reviews. Should I rethink this and give it a shot?

Finished Kate Griffin's Glass Gods; she's definitely one of my favorite authors. I don't like following Sharon as much as Swift but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.
Halfway through Futuristic Weapons and Fancy Suits. While a lot of fun, it doesn't even compare to his previous two books.

[Abyss]

Tattersail_, on 21 October 2015 - 06:47 AM, said:

Abyss, on 21 October 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

End of Disc One, on 20 October 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

Am halfway thru book three and I think the series is far better than Kingkiller. Faster moving, more interesting characters, tighter story overall, has some fun novel ideas that don't jus retread old fantasy tropes.
...also, no dragon-cows.

Arent they different authors though?

Ravens Shadiw is Anthony Ryan.
Kingkiller is Patrick Rothfuss.

Macros, on 21 October 2015 - 06:56 AM, said:

I tried searching for this bloodsong trilogy, who's the author.
I liked king killer in places, just not the grown men weeping at a man playing the lute, dragon cow and elf sex lessons

Macros, on 21 October 2015 - 06:58 AM, said:

Nevermind, think I have it, first book is ravens shadow?

Kahn does not approve

See above. Opinions vary. Khanh is. A Punctuation fanatic who, thinks, that Harry Potter; is the dogs bollocks.

Baco Xtath, on 21 October 2015 - 10:59 AM, said:

Abyss, on 21 October 2015 - 02:07 AM, said:

End of Disc One, on 20 October 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

Getting close to finishing Blood Song. Despite my slow progress, I do think it's quite good. I certainly enjoy it more than Kingkiller, which it often gets compared to. It's weird; when I'm not reading I don't really feel compelled to pick it up. But when I am reading, I don't want to stop. Despite the technical flaws in the prose, it somehow flows very well.

Am halfway thru book three and I think the series is far better than Kingkiller. Faster moving, more interesting characters, tighter story overall, has some fun novel ideas that don't jus retread old fantasy tropes.
...also, no dragon-cows.

I haven't read book 3 and I didn't plan to due to the almost universal negative reviews. Should I rethink this and give it a shot.

The main critique seems to be that 2 and 3 aren't as good as 1 and the end is rushed. I thought 2 was far better than 1. Am halfway through 3 and enjoying it very much. So ymmv.

[QuickTidal]

Kahn seems to be one of the most vitriolic reviewers I've run across on GoodReads. If I see her name, I immediately ignore what she has to say. Seriously, a millennial in every sense of the word.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 21 October 2015 - 01:06 PM

[Macros]

Tattersail_, on 21 October 2015 - 07:32 AM, said:

worry, on 21 October 2015 - 07:19 AM, said:

Macros, on 21 October 2015 - 06:56 AM, said:

the grown men weeping at a man playing the lute, dragon cow and elf sex lessons

Hmm, maybe I'll start reading these finally.

Haha, although you're right, those scenes have stuck with you.

I got my.finger chopped off once, I recall it vividly

[Chance]

Baco Xtath, on 21 October 2015 - 10:59 AM, said:

I haven't read book 3 and I didn't plan to due to the almost universal negative reviews. Should I rethink this and give it a shot?

Depends if you liked book 2 if you did it's good. Where one of those who instead wanted more of book 1 when you read Tower Lord your not going to like it.

[End of Disc One]

Khan describes Blood Song as an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, which is funny because I've been thinking the exact opposite. Kingkiller is an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, while Blood Song is not. In Blood Song it works mainly because Vaelin is a cold hearted badass who is fun to read about. He doesn't have that faux humility that Kvothe has. Also, his friends are all more talented than him in different areas, as opposed to Kvothe's friends who are a bunch of bumbling assholes.

As a side note, Red Rising is another book I've recently read where the Gary Stu-ism was done right, for the same reasons as Blood Song.

[Abyss]

Chance, on 21 October 2015 - 02:30 PM, said:

Baco Xtath, on 21 October 2015 - 10:59 AM, said:

I haven't read book 3 and I didn't plan to due to the almost universal negative reviews. Should I rethink this and give it a shot?

Depends if you liked book 2 if you did it's good. Where one of those who instead wanted more of book 1 when you read Tower Lord your not going to like it.

It's funny. 1 is good, but it's not inherently original - 'chosen one' type grows/levels up, kicks ass, suffers losses. Vaelin is a great example of an archetype, but he's very much an archetype, with some decent story notes to move him along.

There was so much more and different going on in 2, and i wont spoil, but the author cleverly spins various pov characters out of Vaelin's story and takes them to some far more interesting and original places.

QuickTidal, on 21 October 2015 - 01:03 PM, said:

Kahn seems to be one of the most vitriolic reviewers I've run across on GoodReads. If I see her name, I immediately ignore what she has to say. Seriously, a millennial in every sense of the word.

End of Disc One, on 21 October 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

Khan describes Blood Song as an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, which is funny because I've been thinking the exact opposite. Kingkiller is an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, while Blood Song is not. In Blood Song it works mainly because Vaelin is a cold hearted badass who is fun to read about. He doesn't have that faux humility that Kvothe has. Also, his friends are all more talented than him in different areas, as opposed to Kvothe's friends who are a bunch of bumbling assholes.

As a side note, Red Rising is another book I've recently read where the Gary Stu-ism was done right, for the same reasons as Blood Song.

I'm pretty sure she's mis-using the Gary Stu trope, all the moreso when she uses Harry Potter and Jorge as her examples. FFS.

SPOILERS RE BLOOD SONG

Spoiler

The entire point of Vaelin - my subjective take, but one that many readers seem to miss - is that for all his skill and magic and being the chosen one, he repeatedly loses everyone and everything he cares about. Yes, he's awesome, yes, he kicks ass, but the interesting thing about the book and the character is that DESPITE his kickassedness, he loses his family, finds a new family, loses them too, loses his sworn brothers over time, loses the beautiful princess, loses the woman he loves TWICE, loses the Order he's sworn to, loses faith in his King, loses his adopted little brother, hell even his fucking horse dies. And in the end, utterly cut loose by everything and everyone and left to die, in fact, expected to die, he still kicks ass and refuses to be the cold hearted badass killer he has every right to be by then.

So Gary Stu... i think not.

[amphibian]

Baco Xtath, on 21 October 2015 - 10:59 AM, said:

I haven't read book 3 [of Blood Song trilogy] and I didn't plan to due to the almost universal negative reviews. Should I rethink this and give it a shot?

Yes.

The people giving the series bad reviews want more of the "chosen one grows up and kicks all kinds of ass". Ryan did not give them this and Book 3 takes the series to some very interesting places and spends quite a bit of time on characters who aren't Vaelin (the main character of the first book). I don't proclaim the series one of the very best of all time, but Ryan makes it worthwhile to read it all and takes the story/characters to unexpected and interesting places.

End of Disc One, on 21 October 2015 - 02:44 PM, said:

Khan describes Blood Song as an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, which is funny because I've been thinking the exact opposite. Kingkiller is an example of Gary Stu-ism done wrong, while Blood Song is not. In Blood Song it works mainly because Vaelin is a cold hearted badass who is fun to read about. He doesn't have that faux humility that Kvothe has. Also, his friends are all more talented than him in different areas, as opposed to Kvothe's friends who are a bunch of bumbling assholes.

As a side note, Red Rising is another book I've recently read where the Gary Stu-ism was done right, for the same reasons as Blood Song.

There is no real Gary Stu-isms going on in the Blood Song books. Kahn was not paying attention carefully if that's what her take on even the first book is. The second and third books veer dramatically away from even a plausible Gary Stu.

So yeah, I'd not pay attention much to Kahn's reviews if that's the typical quality of thought.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Serenity, on 19 October 2015 - 10:35 AM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 16 October 2015 - 09:14 PM, said:

David Starkey's Six Wives - I'm on a bit of a history binge.

It's the first Starkey I've read and he's nearly put me off the book with his manner. Ignoring that it's a brilliant, informative read if you're interested in the court of Henry VIII. He's marring it by constantly patting himself on the back for everything he's approached in a slightly different way to previous efforts, or each time he departs from accepted thinking. Seemingly it' has escaped him that it's pretty much the fate of all historians to have someone come along fifty, one hundred, several hundred years later and go "Huh, that's pretty dumb" and come up with a new theory.

Yes, you're great. But please stop telling me every few pages!

He's always struck me as being like that. I've considered reading this book several times but been put off when seeing him interviewed. Good to know that it's enjoyable in spite of that. Have you read Alison Weir's book on the same subject?

I'd still suggest giving it a read - his Catherine of Aragon stuff in particular has been a real treat thus far (I've just got to Anne Boleyn's first progress as Queen - about two thirds of the book down at this point.)

I haven't, but it's on the to read list! I did recently read her Lancaster and York: The War of the Roses and thought it was brilliant though - I recommend if you haven't read it!

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 21 October 2015 - 06:24 PM