[Thel Akai]

I haven't yet read Evolutionary Void in the series, but so far the only really weak Hamilton book I've read is 'Misspent Youth', one of the worst books I've ever read. It's unbelievably empty. There's nothing interesting there at all. I finally gave up on it after half through and a bit. Everything else I've read by PFH is entertaining, Fallen Dragon a bit less than the rest though. Misspent Youth I consider simply a total failure that should be ignored as if it hasn't been written.

[Astra]

amphibian, on 21 October 2010 - 06:18 AM, said:

Under Heaven wasn't very good. I'd rate it as "passable".

I think you are the first person who doesn't like it. Actually, the second, but the first one who says it besides me.

I loved Tigana and The Last Light of the Sun
Was not impressed by A Song for Arbonne
Disliked The Lions of Al-Rassan
Under Heaven as you rightfully observed is only passable.

[Tapper]

Astra, on 21 October 2010 - 11:44 AM, said:

amphibian, on 21 October 2010 - 06:18 AM, said:

Under Heaven wasn't very good. I'd rate it as "passable".

I think you are the first person who doesn't like it. Actually, the second, but the first one who says it besides me.

I loved Tigana and The Last Light of the Sun
Was not impressed by A Song for Arbonne
Disliked The Lions of Al-Rassan
Under Heaven as you rightfully observed is only passable.

Disliked the Lions of Al-Rassan? That was an awesome book.
Then again, I don't really like Tigana so far, so maybe we have diametrically opposed tastes

[Abyss]

Astra, on 21 October 2010 - 11:44 AM, said:

...
I loved Tigana and The Last Light of the Sun
Was not impressed by A Song for Arbonne
Disliked The Lions of Al-Rassan...

it's fascinating to me that the above is, in every respect, the complete inverse of my own reads...

I DESPISED Tigana and Last Light.
Totally enjoyed Arbonne.
And was blown away by Lions.

Can we agree on SARANTINE MOSAIC or do i have to assume you're my evil alternate universe counterpart with a goatee and that i have to hunt you down and kill you?

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 October 2010 - 10:58 PM, said:

...I also seem to recall being on the cusp of Dresden's DEAD BEAT one night and you got me to stop internetting and read it right then. LOL. Similar.

I remember that...
It's irrefutable proof that DEAD BEAT is better than most of what you might otherwise be doing with your time that doesn't involve naked people.

[MTS]

It always surprises me how divided the opinion on GGK is. If I were to rank GGK's works they would go:

Sarantine Mosaic
Lions of Al-Rassan
Under Heaven
A Song for Arbonne
Tigana
Last Light of the Sun
Fionavar Tapestry

The only one I actually didn't enjoy was the Fionavar Tapestry though. Tigana and Last Light are still pretty solid books in my mind, and seemingly unlike most people I loved Under Heaven.

[MTS]

Abyss, on 21 October 2010 - 02:35 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 October 2010 - 10:58 PM, said:

...I also seem to recall being on the cusp of Dresden's DEAD BEAT one night and you got me to stop internetting and read it right then. LOL. Similar.

I remember that...
It's irrefutable proof that DEAD BEAT is better than most of what you might otherwise be doing with your time that doesn't involve naked people.

QFT.

[Astra]

Abyss, on 21 October 2010 - 02:33 PM, said:

Can we agree on SARANTINE MOSAIC or do i have to assume you're my evil alternate universe counterpart with a goatee and that i have to hunt you down and kill you?

Mercy!
Shall we postpone judgement on my fate, till I read it?
It is on my TBR list

Evidence

[Gothos]

I started reading Bakker's The Darkness that comes before. Loving it so far, I must say. I don't have much to say yet, but it seems like it will be an awesome read.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 21 October 2010 - 02:35 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 October 2010 - 10:58 PM, said:

...I also seem to recall being on the cusp of Dresden's DEAD BEAT one night and you got me to stop internetting and read it right then. LOL. Similar.

I remember that...
It's irrefutable proof that DEAD BEAT is better than most of what you might otherwise be doing with your time that doesn't involve naked people.

This is very true, plus it produced one of the most famous bits of Dresdenverse awesomeness....

Spoiler

The harnessing and riding of Sue the dead T-Rex

[QuickTidal]

Finished LORD Of CHAOS....bit of a slog in the middle, but overall still good, with a super badass ending battle. Still....there is probably ten chapters where I wanted to smack the characters (mostly Rand or the Salidar Aes Sedai) in the effing head for being stupid and making boneheaded decisions.

Now, onto THE CROWN CONSPIRACY by Michael J. Sullivan.

[MTS]

Brent Week's The Black Prism, as well as some more delicious Dresden in White Night. Really liking both so far.

[Tsundoku]

QuickTidal, on 23 October 2010 - 04:04 AM, said:

Finished LORD Of CHAOS....bit of a slog in the middle, but overall still good, with a super badass ending battle. Still....there is probably ten chapters where I wanted to smack the characters (mostly Rand or the Salidar Aes Sedai) in the effing head for being stupid and making boneheaded decisions.

Sorry to have to tell you this but it's best you hear it now:

Books 7-10 are considered the worst. A total agonising drag-it-out endurance test. If you like details of sniffing, braid-tugging, porcelain cups, curtains and all that is worst about RJs female characterisation, then you are in for a treat. Otherwise, just skim it. I hear there are details in there for the dedicated RJ treasure hunters, but I myself read them with gritted teeth and a glazed expression to get to the Good Bits, of which there are few.

A Crown of Swords is dull. Just ... dull. I recall thinking at the time (btw I have read every one of them as they have come out, since TEotW in 1990) "WTF? Mate, where did all the spark go?", but I had faith and considered it a "building" novel.

The Path of Daggers should have been renamed The Bowel-Irritating Blathering of Yet Another Unimportant Generic Magic Chick. The daggers from the title are what causes your eyes to bleed, IMNSHO. It's only saving grace is that it's the shortest in the series (I think). This one made me want to stab people with the aforementioned daggers.

Winters Heart has some good bits and plot progression. Some. The end cheered me up a bit and gave me some hope.

Crossroads of Twilight ... just read the Cliff Notes. They'll be VERY short, unlike the novel. That hope I mentioned I had regained after WH? Yeah - this book pretty much took that Hope, raped, tortured and sodomised it to death.

Knife of Dreams is where it picks up again. Picks up a LOT. I only read this after some people on here and mates back home gave it a decent rating. I was prepared to hate, but was pleasantly surprised. Pace, characters, plot direction ... gave me hope once again.

The Gathering Storm. Brandon Sanderson should have changed the dedication to be to himself for saving the series. Best since The Fires of Heaven.

Of course you may have very different tastes to me and might love the she-devils in the detail of books 7-10. In which case please enjoy, and ignore my poor attempt at a cautionary tale.

[Stalker]

I absolutely agree with Sombra there. I've begun the first reread of the series in years (I think I stopped with Crossroads of Twilight) because I want to see what Sanderson has done with the story and how it ends. So I just finished book 2- The Great Hunt and am moving on. But I am not excited for when I reach book 7,8,9,10, cause it is going to suck.

Edit: not my first reread, I used to reread the series before each new release. Though I stopped that after the books began to suck.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 23 October 2010 - 10:11 PM

[End of Disc One]

I'd actually probably rate WoT book 7 over 11, but otherwise I agree. Even though 11 closed more plotlines, the first half of it was really slow. Whereas in book 7, it was more like the first third was slow.

[QuickTidal]

Sombra, on 23 October 2010 - 09:08 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 23 October 2010 - 04:04 AM, said:

Finished LORD Of CHAOS....bit of a slog in the middle, but overall still good, with a super badass ending battle. Still....there is probably ten chapters where I wanted to smack the characters (mostly Rand or the Salidar Aes Sedai) in the effing head for being stupid and making boneheaded decisions.

Sorry to have to tell you this but it's best you hear it now:

Books 7-10 are considered the worst. A total agonising drag-it-out endurance test. If you like details of sniffing, braid-tugging, porcelain cups, curtains and all that is worst about RJs female characterisation, then you are in for a treat. Otherwise, just skim it. I hear there are details in there for the dedicated RJ treasure hunters, but I myself read them with gritted teeth and a glazed expression to get to the Good Bits, of which there are few.

A Crown of Swords is dull. Just ... dull. I recall thinking at the time (btw I have read every one of them as they have come out, since TEotW in 1990) "WTF? Mate, where did all the spark go?", but I had faith and considered it a "building" novel.

The Path of Daggers should have been renamed The Bowel-Irritating Blathering of Yet Another Unimportant Generic Magic Chick. The daggers from the title are what causes your eyes to bleed, IMNSHO. It's only saving grace is that it's the shortest in the series (I think). This one made me want to stab people with the aforementioned daggers.

Winters Heart has some good bits and plot progression. Some. The end cheered me up a bit and gave me some hope.

Crossroads of Twilight ... just read the Cliff Notes. They'll be VERY short, unlike the novel. That hope I mentioned I had regained after WH? Yeah - this book pretty much took that Hope, raped, tortured and sodomised it to death.

Knife of Dreams is where it picks up again. Picks up a LOT. I only read this after some people on here and mates back home gave it a decent rating. I was prepared to hate, but was pleasantly surprised. Pace, characters, plot direction ... gave me hope once again.

The Gathering Storm. Brandon Sanderson should have changed the dedication to be to himself for saving the series. Best since The Fires of Heaven.

Of course you may have very different tastes to me and might love the she-devils in the detail of books 7-10. In which case please enjoy, and ignore my poor attempt at a cautionary tale.

Cheers. You are not the first to tell me this, and I am prepared to skim....not to mention Leigh Butler over at TOR does a good job of summarizing each chapter into readable paragraphs....so that makes it easier. I had a feeling Sanderson's volume would knock it up a notch....the guy is pretty deft at weaving plots. I wish I could just download the pertinent info between 7 and 11 directly into my cerebral cortex and not have to bother with the tedium....sigh.

[Lousy]

I considered skimming or just dumping the series altogether .. until I stumbled across an audiobook version. This would seem to be the only way I can finish the series, which I feel I must given how taken with it I once was, as an impressionable lad, lo these many years gone a-bye... and yes Sanderson does actually have some activity occurring, will he be able to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion in just 2 more volumes??? Only time will tell .. even more time, loly

[Use Of Weapons]

IMO, much of the vitriol directed at books 7-10 was because people were waiting for those books for a long time, and their perceived flaws became exaggerated as a result of people's frustration. Reports from readers who get through them in sequence without having to wait are generally much more positive, now that all the books up to and including 12 are available.

Think of books 7-10 as the middle book of a very long series -- it helps. There are some important developments in 7-10 that drive much of the good stuff in 11 and 12.

[QuickTidal]

AVEMPARTHA by Michael J. Sullivan....40 pages in and already it is just as good as its predecessor.

[Abyss]

Bruce Sterling - DISTRACTION. really enjoying so far.