[Aptorian]

Go to a library and browse their displays, read the blurbs, flip through the books.

Pick a stack of short, light, easy reads. Short stories, Children's book, self improvement stuff, what ever. Read ten pages. If it doesn't grab you, pick up a different book.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Maark Abbott, on 15 August 2019 - 07:50 AM, said:

Still nothing. Haven't finished a full book that wasn't a manga or light novel in over a year now. The damage seems irreversible at this stage.

Try binging TV for a month. You'll be craving a good book after that. Alternatively, remove all distractions by moving into a cabin on the Scottish highlands. Bring a stack of books. Get so bored that even a bad book would be a pleasure.

[Aptorian]

And peyote, lots of peyote.

[Maark Abbott]

Tried TV, didn't make me want to read again.

Libraries... Maybe. I've set one up in my loft in the hope that the sight of so many tomes will rekindle the desire, but...

[QuickTidal]

Maark Abbott, on 15 August 2019 - 12:53 PM, said:

Tried TV, didn't make me want to read again.

Libraries... Maybe. I've set one up in my loft in the hope that the sight of so many tomes will rekindle the desire, but...

Best advice I can give you is to read non-fiction. I find it an immense palate cleanser for fiction.

[Puck]

QuickTidal, on 15 August 2019 - 01:54 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 15 August 2019 - 12:53 PM, said:

Tried TV, didn't make me want to read again.

Libraries... Maybe. I've set one up in my loft in the hope that the sight of so many tomes will rekindle the desire, but...

Best advice I can give you is to read non-fiction. I find it an immense palate cleanser for fiction.

This, this usually works for me. I just pick a non-fiction book about a topic I'm into and have a go at it. Usually gets me back into the act of reading without distracting me by whatever gripe I may have with fiction atm.

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 15 August 2019 - 07:50 AM, said:

Still nothing. Haven't finished a full book that wasn't a manga or light novel in over a year now. The damage seems irreversible at this stage.

Maark Abbott, on 15 August 2019 - 12:53 PM, said:

Tried TV, didn't make me want to read again.

Libraries... Maybe. I've set one up in my loft in the hope that the sight of so many tomes will rekindle the desire, but...

Do not worry.

Arrangements are being made.

Leave your doors and windows unlocked tonight. Try not to eat after 9:00pm and drink as little fluids as possible. No meds or drugs before bed. Alcohol is fine. Recommended, actually.

Please advise immediately if you are at all allergic to penicillin, medical-grade adhesive, copper, graphite-based lubricant, alpacas, and/or cocktail shrimp. Failure to so advise will be taken as a 'no'.

Please leave clean towels, sheets, pajamas and any favorite stuffed animals, action figures, and/or bobble-head toys by the bedside. No sex toys.

If you wish to preserve your soiled towels sheets, pajamas and toys for cleaning, please leave a large plastic bag by the bedside. Otherwise those items will be incinerated.

[Maark Abbott]

Or maybe I could just try to reread Bakker

[Tsundoku]

Maark Abbott, on 16 August 2019 - 07:03 AM, said:

Or maybe I could just try to reread Bakker

Feeling a bit of self-loathing and/or constipated, are we?

[acesn8s]

I started Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I've been a fan of the show, so it's time I started the series.

[Maark Abbott]

Tsundoku, on 16 August 2019 - 09:36 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 16 August 2019 - 07:03 AM, said:

Or maybe I could just try to reread Bakker

Feeling a bit of self-loathing and/or constipated, are we?

Nah, but if the root cause of my reading despondency was throwaway, farcical, faux-comical fare, my logic is I go to the opposite end and read something well written and not bad to cure the issue.

[Abyss]

acesn8s, on 16 August 2019 - 11:54 AM, said:

I started Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I've been a fan of the show, so it's time I started the series.

Opinions vary on this series but i really enjoyed it. The resemblance to the show is limited.

Maark Abbott, on 16 August 2019 - 12:57 PM, said:

Tsundoku, on 16 August 2019 - 09:36 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 16 August 2019 - 07:03 AM, said:

Or maybe I could just try to reread Bakker

Feeling a bit of self-loathing and/or constipated, are we?

Nah, but if the root cause of my reading despondency was throwaway, farcical, faux-comical fare, my logic is I go to the opposite end and read something well written and not bad to cure the issue.

Have you tried Celia Friedman's COLDFIRE trilo?
I ask because tho very different, it has Bakker'esque elements to the tone and some themes.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Kirstein's The Steerswoman's Road.

The scene-setting in the first 5 pages is so vivid. I'm hooked.

[Andorion]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 August 2019 - 09:09 PM, said:

Kirstein's The Steerswoman's Road.

The scene-setting in the first 5 pages is so vivid. I'm hooked.

I loved this series. Its very unconventional and virtually unknown

[Aptorian]

Just finished Peter Newman's The Vagrant. A good, original fantasy story with some flaws here and there.

I think the books biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness. It doesn't linger. This means that even the grimmest passages are manageable because the story moves quickly but on the other hand it robs the book of meaningful moments or great scenes. Every momentous event seems to breeze by.

I also think the world building lacks depth. There's not a lot of lore or history to any of the cities, the land or the people.

Still it's a strong story, great characters, great moments. A phenomenally written goat that steals every scene.

Gonna give series a bit if time to breathe before jumping in to the next one.

[Andorion]

Aptorian, on 17 August 2019 - 08:37 AM, said:

Just finished Peter Newman's The Vagrant. A good, original fantasy story with some flaws here and there.

I think the books biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness. It doesn't linger. This means that even the grimmest passages are manageable because the story moves quickly but on the other hand it robs the book of meaningful moments or great scenes. Every momentous event seems to breeze by.

I also think the world building lacks depth. There's not a lot of lore or history to any of the cities, the land or the people.

Still it's a strong story, great characters, great moments. A phenomenally written goat that steals every scene.

Gonna give series a bit if time to breathe before jumping in to the next one.

I need to pick up the sequels too. Also if I am reading the blurb of his latest release right, he is using prequels to flesh the world out

[Aptorian]

Are you referring to his short stories or the other books in the trilogy?

Anyway just wrapped up China Mieville's The last days of New Paris. This has got to be the most "China Mieville" book China Mieville has written. I love that man's creativity.

For those unfamiliar "New Paris" is a novella about a WW2 Nazi occupied Paris that has been transformed into an artists nightmare after a "Surrealism Bomb" went off, bringing every would be artists ideas to life, altering reality and infesting Paris with surreal creatures.

It's great.

[worry]

I actually agree with you on the first one. Excellent genre-melange that -- given its focus and pace -- short-changes some otherwise momentous events (at least to some degree, but it's not like anything falls completely flat, plus it tickles the imagination). The first short story (there's two, sandwiched between each break between main books) fills out some of that book 1 issue for the better. And books 2 & 3 actually give the world, the backstory, the lore, etc. a lot more room to breathe, finding a -- to me anyway -- near perfect balance of plot momentum vs worldbuilding.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Andorion, on 17 August 2019 - 01:53 AM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 August 2019 - 09:09 PM, said:

Kirstein's The Steerswoman's Road.

The scene-setting in the first 5 pages is so vivid. I'm hooked.

I loved this series. Its very unconventional and virtually unknown

Fuck, this was good! I plowed through first two books so quickly. I've just ordered the next two.

I wish I had know before starting that the series was unfinished...

EDIT: BUT Kirstein is working on book 5!

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 18 August 2019 - 12:01 AM

[QuickTidal]

AN ECHO OF THINGS TO COME (Licanius book 2) by James Islington. Great stuff so far, and Islington throws a recap in for book 1 refresher!