Harvester
The Promoter
Speed reader. No.
Fast reader. Yes.
I listen to music at work. I rarely play video games. My television watching has dwindled. I just like to read.
Now Reading...
- Thread starter Rakosh
- Start date
Speed reader. No.
Fast reader. Yes.
I listen to music at work. I rarely play video games. My television watching has dwindled. I just like to read.
I agree wholeheartedly...I despise having to put one down in mid-stream...feels like giving up, but sometimes, you just gotta walk away and move on.
DarkOne
Black Belt in Sarcasm
I use the 20% rule before I'll put down a book. Even if I hate it, I force myself to get through that much of it, to make sure I've given it a fair chance.
Steve in Philly
ICEDEARTHFAN
IN MEMORY.....
Yeah,I don't know what happened to him.That seems to be the way of several authors I liked growing up.
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
In fairness, Heinlein was probably at the nadir of his health when he wrote "Number of the Beast." Even with THAT handicap, my friends and I still based some of our Traveller characters in college on that book.
Now reading: Larry Niven, Protector. Yet another of his truly great SF novels (as opposed to his novels that are merely "very good"
).
OrbWeaver
BECAUSE FALCONER
Just finished: Meg - Hell's Aquarium by Steve Alten. Don't really get into any of his other stuff, but the Meg books continue to be a fun guilty-pleasure. Was in the mood for low-brain fun...and found it!
Just started: The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon. Hoping for some good fun mayhem!
Just started: The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon. Hoping for some good fun mayhem!
Cronopio
Glorious Imperator
To be honest, I have never done that. I guess the closest I've come to that is Stephen King's "Wizard And Glass", but I still have hopes that I'll get through that one of these days.
Now, I've dropped series midstream because I ended up getting sick of that. That has happened to me twice with Stephen R Donaldson, dropping the Thomas Covenant books after 4 (personally, I wonder how I made it that far) and only reading the first of the Gap series. I also was done with Sara Douglas after reading "The Wayfarer Redemption".
In fairness, Heinlein was probably at the nadir of his health when he wrote "Number of the Beast." Even with THAT handicap, my friends and I still based some of our Traveller characters in college on that book.
That was actuallthe late-era Heinlein's that I've read. My conclusion: any of the books that don't involve Lazarus Long (Friday, Job: A Comedy Of Justice) are worth reading. "Cat" feels like half a story. "Beast" feels more complete, but lacks a point. "To Sail Beyond The Sunset" is just gratuitous and somewhat squicky. (Really, condoning incest? Whatever man...)
Now reading: Larry Niven, Protector. Yet another of his truly great SF novels (as opposed to his novels that are merely "very good"
).[/quote]
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
Concur...although "The Notebooks Of Lazarus Long" is quite enjoyable. 'Course, it's not really a novel per se, either.
Yeah, "squicky" is a good word for it.
Justin G
Member
This week I've gone through The Infection (by Craig DiLouie), The Devil You Know (by Mike Carey) and am currently reading Frankenstein (the Mary Shelley original) and a fairly awful novella called Lethal Inheritance that I promised the author I'd review.
Harvester
The Promoter
My biggest problem with that novel is that the protagonist is not named Constantine. I couldn't get past that as I'd kill for a true Hellblazer novel.
DarkOne
Black Belt in Sarcasm
Same here with that series, but I made it through only 1.5 books before throwing in the towel. Worse for me, I did it twice because I rarely quit books, and I always want to see for myself why something is so damn popular. I quit, and then years later figured I'd try it again. Each time, after forcing my way through a couple of books, I realized that I was both bored and annoyed, and that the effort brought no reward. There's only so much whining I can take.
That's probably one of only a few books/series that I stopped, because I really am stubborn. Heck, I read ten of the Wheel of Time books (plus 'New Spring'), including one series reread of books 1-8 I didn't recall every plot detail. Finally, though, I pull the switch when I realized that I read an 800 page book within which nothing actually happened.
I'm stubborn, but there are so many books out there . . .
Steve
Justin G
Member
I can understand that. It was an enjoyable read though, and I have a soft spot for these "cynical ghostbusters in trenchcoats" series.
Actually, I stopped reading that when I realized I was going to run out of book (I was up to book 6 at the time) before the series ended. One thing I do hate about an ongoing story like that is that if there is any lengthy break, I tend to forget details. I had that problem with David Eddings, for example, when I actually was confused about which was the last book I read.
Nowadays, unless the books are relatively self contained, I wait until series is done before starting them.
Going back to Jordan, it still blows my mind that I was in college when he started the series and that I will be over 40 by the time it finally ends.
Justin G
Member
It probably didn't help that the guy was writing the same book over and over again for his entire career.
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
I actually finished both of the original Thomas Covenant trilogies and enjoyed them, but I'd definitely recommend bringing along a dictionary, a crying towel, and some cheese to go with all the whine.
True. It looks like the ending should measure up, though, as I've found Sanderson's entries in the series to be uniformly excellent. One more book to go, and Tarmon Gaidon HAS begun.
LOL, glad you Went There first. You know it's pretty bad when even the author wisecracks (via his characters) about how oddly familiar the quest has become, almost as if they'd been through it before. (This happened in the Malloreon series, which differs from the Belgariad series by, basically, one completely unrelated, unconnected, but devastating, plague...and that's it.)
True. It looks like the ending should measure up, though, as I've found Sanderson's entries in the series to be uniformly excellent. One more book to go, and Tarmon Gaidon HAS begun.
LOL, glad you Went There first. You know it's pretty bad when even the author wisecracks (via his characters) about how oddly familiar the quest has become, almost as if they'd been through it before. (This happened in the Malloreon series, which differs from the Belgariad series by, basically, one completely unrelated, unconnected, but devastating, plague...and that's it.)
I actually finished both of the original Thomas Covenant trilogies and enjoyed them, but I'd definitely recommend bringing along a dictionary, a crying towel, and some cheese to go with all the whine.
I just got sick of all the whining after a while. That and I just couldn't relate to Covenant.
Course, another thing that annoys me about Donaldson is his prediliction toward rape in his book. In all three series that I've read, the main character either rapes or gets raped. It is a rather distrubing trend in his writing.
True. It looks like the ending should measure up, though, as I've found Sanderson's entries in the series to be uniformly excellent. One more book to go, and Tarmon Gaidon HAS begun.
I have yet to read any of Sanderson's books (either WoT or otherwise), but he seems to have a good rep as a writer.
It was the Malloreon where I got confused. I did read the Belgariad when I was younger, tho I couldn't tell you one detail from it.
Not too long ago, I did pick up The Redemption Of Althalus, and while it was kinda fun, books where the hero has all the odds in his favor doesn't have all that much enjoyment for me.
Locust0311
Shopping Ape
I actually once reread an entire book in a series because I couldn't remember where I left off after taking a long break from it to wait for the rest of the books to come out (Kevin J. Anderson's "Saga of the Seven Suns"). It wasn't until I got close to the end that I realized I'd read it already. I'm not sure whether thats an indictment of my memory or the quality of the books (which I did enjoy).
Cronopio
Glorious Imperator
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