The Books/Reading Thread

S<issors said:
I didn't like how Erikson pulled his punches, though. Yeah, a main dude dies, but some birds resurrect his soul or some shit... and magical healing crops up later in the series to ill effect.



I read the prologue to Abercrombie's first book and did not dig it whatsoever. Admittedly, prologues often suck (see George R.R. Martin...), but Abercrombie's "ACTION!" scene thing was just very lame. I hear good things in general about the man, though.

Glen Cook is entertaining. He's the king of weird-ass pacing, but I find it kind of charming (at one point in his first Black Company novel, after the characters have been marching for pages, they take a city in a sentence). There's also an obnoxious antihero protagonist guy with a dumb name, but fortunately he is not the main character/narrator.
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That's why I suggested Ian Irvine a few pages back. There's no cliches, no swashbuckling dungeons and dragons (though I get in the mood for a book like this at times) He is a very detail-oriented writer, whose good characters have many flaws, some bordering on morally corrupt. His antagonists, or evil/bad characters, are many times misunderstood, and many times finding you sympathetic to them. The books don't usually have a happy ending. Or at least, have a realistic ending. His last trilogy was science fiction, with a touch of fantasy. In these books, when magic or necromancy is used, it's rare, and has a more realistic consequense for employing the arts. In most cases, the main characters aren't "on a quest", but rather running from some oppressive actions that they find appalling, and are just running for their lives, finding a solution "on the fly". There's just so much detail in his books, but fast paced action as well.
 
I used to absolutely love his books, but they became so hollow to me. It was like he was trying to throw his philosophy in your face time and time again, and it just seems insulting. That said, Richard does make really good speeches.
 
S<issors said:
Erikson is fun, but his world is full of so much flamboyant magical stuff and ridiculous names that it's difficult to ever take it seriously, at least for me. He also breaks out some pretty overwrought prose on occasion.
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These are my exact problems with Erikson. However, despite these flaws I think his story is still enjoyable. It's a very epic scope, and there's a lot going on. Lots of fun to get into.

S<issors said:
One of Martin's best traits is that he keeps all the intrigue rooted in a mostly realistic, albeit medieval, setting; his most stereotypical fantasy moments (the stuff with the invading ice dudes, particularly) are his weakest- although I do like the Dani storyline, dragons or no. He's not perfect, either, though- at least shit happens in Erikson's fiction, A Feast For Crows was the fictional equivalent of water-treading.
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Even though Martin falls victim to cliches, I think he does a good job of uprooting many of them. In my opinion he begins the series in a somewhat stereotypical fashion, but by A Storm of Swords he's overturning them all over. There's so much shock and surprise to the way he pulls his punches, it's so much fun to read.

But A Feast For Crows was definitely a let-down after A Storm of Swords.
 
Yeah ASoS was by far his best, and AFfC was by far his worst. Hopefully, since he neglected every single cool character except Arya in AFfC, Dance of Dragons will be extra packed with awesome.

ramses said:
That's why I suggested Ian Irvine a few pages back. There's no cliches, no swashbuckling dungeons and dragons (though I get in the mood for a book like this at times) He is a very detail-oriented writer, whose good characters have many flaws, some bordering on morally corrupt. His antagonists, or evil/bad characters, are many times misunderstood, and many times finding you sympathetic to them. The books don't usually have a happy ending. Or at least, have a realistic ending. His last trilogy was science fiction, with a touch of fantasy. In these books, when magic or necromancy is used, it's rare, and has a more realistic consequense for employing the arts. In most cases, the main characters aren't "on a quest", but rather running from some oppressive actions that they find appalling, and are just running for their lives, finding a solution "on the fly". There's just so much detail in his books, but fast paced action as well.
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Sounds cool! I'll check him out when I finish Proust.
 
S<issors said:
I almost bought this book, but some creepy bearded guy appeared behind me in the bookstore and whispered "Don't waste your money..." while I was debating whether or not I should. I opted to follow his advice on the grounds that he was a creepy bearded guy.
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:lol:
It was a gift, and my friend tells me they're fucking awesome, so I'll read it.
But being a creepy bearded guy, I recommend that you always follow our advice.

Einherjar86 said:
Even though Martin falls victim to cliches, I think he does a good job of uprooting many of them. In my opinion he begins the series in a somewhat stereotypical fashion, but by A Storm of Swords he's overturning them all over. There's so much shock and surprise to the way he pulls his punches, it's so much fun to read.

But A Feast For Crows was definitely a let-down after A Storm of Swords.
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That would have to do with it ignoring most of the characters I like (Dani, Tyrion, Jon, etc) and focusing on the more annoying ones (No power on earth will ever make me give a shit about Bran, he's a kid in an adult fantasy saga). If you've read the chapters from the upcoming Dance With Dragons, it seems to be pretty ftw. Looks like some stuff will happen there, but it sticks to the same time as AFfC, so I doubt there'll be too much going on we don't know about. However, clearly the book after that will be fucking madness and I happen to like that not many major events occurred in AFfC, it sorta let you see more of the political maneuverings and workings behind the scenes rather than throwing you into the action and not taking the time to show you the rationalizations behind every decision. It let you get to know some characters better.
 
Currently reading:

The Will to Power by Friedrich Nietzsche
Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
 
Been reading Bakker and Martin (The Erikson is still checked out by somebody). Bakker has an unusual sort of pacing, but his stuff kinda reminds me of Dune with its overall style. Of course, if you know me, Dune is my alltime favorite book, and so Bakker's doing very well for me. Martins a bit more standard, but he pulls his punches hard, and the twists never seem contrived or ridiculous, just logical.
 
Anatoliy Rybakov's Children of the Arbat--about the Soviet Union during Stalin's reign of tyranny. This reads like a much drier version of Vasiliy Akesenov's Moscow Saga. Pretty well written but quite boring.
 
Black Friday said:
Been reading Bakker and Martin (The Erikson is still checked out by somebody). Bakker has an unusual sort of pacing, but his stuff kinda reminds me of Dune with its overall style. Of course, if you know me, Dune is my alltime favorite book, and so Bakker's doing very well for me.
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Bakker has stated that his two influences for the book were Tolkien and Frank Herbert. Glad you're liking it. It's a really rewarding read.
 
I also read 120 Days of Sodom, and Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man, which is really good.

If you ever want to see a really cool performance, Geoffrey Rush plays de Sade superbly in the movie Quills.
 
Read McCain and Obama's biographies (the ones with "father" in the title).
They're both bad. McCain's is particularly bad. It goes like this: "honor navy honor grandfather honor plane navy honor father honor me honor navy."
 
I think I can re-enter the world of literature again. College tried very hard to kill my interest in reading, but I think I've recovered.

Just finished Night Passage by Robert B. Parker. A crime/mystery novel with an emphasis on character development. The alcoholism and divorce/break-up themes are realistically dealt with, but plot elements are a bit over the top, and pretty much filler for a complex character. They made a few TV movies out of these books. Going to get started in the next in the series. I have no doubt there are finer examples of genre, but am not so sure where to look.
 
I started Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War yesterday. I like how he cuts out all the cultural crap that Herodotus was prone to throw in.
 
Finished A Game Of Thrones. The twists near the end were really good. Was the guy who took Arya a previous character, or am I just imagining things?
 
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