[QuickTidal]

I don't listen to many audiobooks at all, but the ones I can consistently get into and enjoy are the Aubrey/Maturin ones, so on that note I just finished the audiobook for THE LETTER OF MARQUE (Book 12) by Patrick O'Brian (read by Richard Jerrom; who I prefer to the "wad of constant spit in his mouth" Patrick Tull) and I really liked it. I admit there was less of Jack and crew Privateering than I'd assumed there would be (that part of the adventure is only about half the book) and the rest of politicking to set things err..right. That said, the whole last chapter is dedicated to:

Spoiler

FINALLY explaining Diana's seemingly proclivities from the previous books, all apparently wild misunderstandings on both their parts, the largest of which is that she WASN'T sleeping with Jagiello while being married to Stephen...and that she really was just staying around him to protect her public image while Stephen is at sea. I was not expecting that. It also allows them to get closer by finally clearing up things that have been lingering since I think Book 3?

Anyways as usual with O'Brian, a solid solid read and I can't wait to get to book 13, THE THIRTEEN GUN SALUTE! I'm going to be irreparably sad when I finally get to the end of this series, it's kept me company for years now.

[worry]

Finally finished The Way of Kings. Kinda felt like amateur hour for a lot of it tbh. I dunno if that's too harsh, but it's my honest reaction. I don't care that it's a doorstopper or that it's a slow burn, and I don't really relate to describing anything in storytelling as "filler" (and wouldn't here anyway). But if you're demanding Robin Hobb levels of patience in a reader, you better come with at least a degree of Robin Hobb's skills, and this falls way short of that in just about every dimension I can think of -- particularly character. I also don't normally care about hype, like it doesn't help or hinder my reaction to a book, but I am admittedly mystified how this is in anybody's top tier list. [Not a Brando Sando hater either -- I liked Mistborn, thought he did a great job wrapping up WoT, and Tress of the Emerald Sea was a real charmer].

Anyway, I don't think it's the worst of the worst or anything, just "mid" as the kids say, but 1000 pages of mid is itself kinda sub-mid, if that math adds up. I did think the reveals in the final section were interesting, somewhat surprising, and I suppose intriguing setup for what comes next. I'm gonna take at least month off before hitting the next book though.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 10 April 2026 - 03:22 PM, said:

Finally finished The Way of Kings. Kinda felt like amateur hour for a lot of it tbh. I dunno if that's too harsh, but it's my honest reaction. I don't care that it's a doorstopper or that it's a slow burn, and I don't really relate to describing anything in storytelling as "filler" (and wouldn't here anyway). But if you're demanding Robin Hobb levels of patience in a reader, you better come with at least a degree of Robin Hobb's skills, and this falls way short of that in just about every dimension I can think of -- particularly character. I also don't normally care about hype, like it doesn't help or hinder my reaction to a book, but I am admittedly mystified how this is in anybody's top tier list. [Not a Brando Sando hater either -- I liked Mistborn, thought he did a great job wrapping up WoT, and Tress of the Emerald Sea was a real charmer].

Anyway, I don't think it's the worst of the worst or anything, just "mid" as the kids say, but 1000 pages of mid is itself kinda sub-mid, if that math adds up. I did think the reveals in the final section were interesting, somewhat surprising, and I suppose intriguing setup for what comes next. I'm gonna take at least month off before hitting the next book though.

I'll say this, for me it was

Spoiler

the slow inexorable build to Kal using his powers to Hail Mary leap over the chasm towards the enemy in the last act and run out of stormlight halfway across so he sucked it in from the stone fetishes on the enemy to get all the way over. That sold me the whole book.

That said, nothing quite like this happens again so the rest of the series started to deliver diminishing returns for me. I think his other work is better.