Return of the Book Thread

[HaemishM]

That's not a braid. 

[Sheepherder]

You heard it here first: Gary Ballard is writing a dozen+ book epic fantasy starring a viking lumberjack who loves wood perhaps a little too much.

[HaemishM]

It's called Saga of Træ Fnord.

[RhyssaFireheart]

You heard it here first: Gary Ballard is writing a dozen+ book epic fantasy starring a viking lumberjack who loves wood perhaps a little too much.

It's called Saga of Træ Fnord.

I shouldn't be laughing this much at work. Stop it!

[Merusk]

Here I was expecting it to be a children's book series.

"Little Haemish's first curse."
"Little Haemish and the flaming cuntwhistle"
Etc..

[shiznitz]

I just started Fuckness. It is not sci-fi or fantasy, but it is amusing and interestingly written.  It is a first person narrative about a kid who is just a mess, knows he is a mess, but still thinks he is better than most people. 

[ghost]

Crown of Swords is terrible.   

[Cyrrex]

I assume that is somewhere in the dreaded 7 through 10 portion of the series.  Those are all kind of a blur, even though I just reading them like a half a year ago.

[ghost]

It's number 7.  

This says it better than I ever could:

While Nynaeve tugged her braid, Elayne smoothed her skirts and Egwene folder her arms under her breasts, all of them wishing Rand, Mat, Perrin and/or Lan were there so they could give them the rough side of their tongues and then take off their clothes to admire their pretty buttocks and so on.
Meanwhile, Rand, ever mindful of the oily taint of saidin, wished he knew as much about women as Mat and Perrin did. Perrin, ever mindful of Faile's constant nagging, wished he knew as much about women as Rand and Mat did. And Mat, freshly bedded at knifepoint by Queen Tylin, wished lhe knew as much, etc.

Elsewhere, in Tear or somewhere, the cleavage was robust, the chamber pots were made of porcelain, the lace dresses with the little silver thingies in them were very pretty and the forked beards shone in the pale summer morning like flaxen straw or some crap. Earrings were bright and sparkly and horses wore intricate, ornate saddles and, and uh...did I mention the cleavage and how firm and robust it was? Darkfriends walked the streets and did...things. Whitecloaks arrested anybody who said the word "darkfriend" and looked at them funny. Several Aes Sedai were stilled and then just as quickly unstilled...then stilled again if they stepped out of line. Other Aes Sedai, meanwhile, searched high and low for various weather-altering kitchen utensils. And the Sean'chean invaded every so often, just to keep things mildly interesting...

...and stuff

 

[Cyrrex]

Uh oh, you're in for some rough times.  It is not going to get better for a few thousand pages yet.  Maybe 10 starts to improve...or maybe it's 11.  Or 12?

And this is coming from someone who hates it less than the average reader.

[ghost]

Yeah, it's 11 where they get better.  I'm going to slog through them so I can say that I've actually read them all.  I'm not going to like it though. 

[bhodi]

Yeah, I'm on book 6. Not looking forward to 7-9. I think it gets so bad because his wife was editor, right?

[Chimpy]

Yeah, I'm on book 6. Not looking forward to 7-9. I think it gets so bad because his wife was editor, right?

Mostly, yeah. That and he wrote for TOR and they don't seem to put much snuff in editors.

[Xuri]

While I agree with the general sentiments about books 7 to 10, I don't regret having read them. I didn't find them so bad that I consider the time spent reading them a complete waste. *shrug*

[Reg]

Book 10 wasn't so very bad was it? As I recall it was the last one that Jordan was alive to write.  I thought it was a huge improvement over the braid tugging extravaganzas he's inflicted on us before.

[Rasix]

10 was bad, but at the end showed signs of promise.  He wrote 11, which was a return to the series not sucking.  12-14 are the Sanderson ones.

[ghost]

Book 10 has the worst reviews on Amazon, followed by 7 and then I believe 8.  All of them are mid three stars or lower. Eleven is where it picks back up again. 

[Reg]

Ah ok. I knew that the last one Jordan wrote was good. I just thought that was book 10 and not 11.

[ghost]

They do all kind of run together after a bit.   

[Cyrrex]

Book 10 has the worst reviews on Amazon, followed by 7 and then I believe 8.  All of them are mid three stars or lower. Eleven is where it picks back up again. 

I do believe, as Rasix and Reg suggested, that 10 actually starts to turn it around towards the end.  I don't think the reviews reflected that.

[Rasix]

To be fair, you have to wade though 600-700 pages of awful to see the sunlight.  Takes a lot of patience.

[Merusk]

Skim, don't read.   I skipped 90% of Perrin's bullshit in those books because it just got so out of hand with the, "Oh noes my wife is missing, I am traumatized. /whine /whine /whine."

Tuon, Matt and Rand's perspectives were about the only worthwhile bits. Rand's just to understand the wtf moments later.

Hell, Cadsudane was so worthless she barely gets used in the last book, but she and Elayne's nonsene make up a ton of those terrible books.

[Sheepherder]

Book 10 is a horrible monstrosity, you should all be ashamed for liking anything about it.

Yes, even the ending.  It was weak by Jordan's usual standards.  Go read the last three chapters again, I dare you.

[Teleku]

I read the final book and thought it was a great ending to the series.  Better than what I think Jordan could have done in his later years.  I remember thinking well over a decade ago, when I first started reading the series, that the entire last book had better be nothing but the last battle.  And that's what we got!  Over 900 pages worth, and I can't complain.  It was nice to see Sanderson go all George RR Martin on the cast as well.     Was genuinely surprised at some of those.

[Johny Cee]

I read the final book and thought it was a great ending to the series.  Better than what I think Jordan could have done in his later years.  I remember thinking well over a decade ago, when I first started reading the series, that the entire last book had better be nothing but the last battle.  And that's what we got!  Over 900 pages worth, and I can't complain.  It was nice to see Sanderson go all George RR Martin on the cast as well.     Was genuinely surprised at some of those.

I haven't read the Sanderson WoT books, but...  Sanderson is the king of mediocre blandness.  I've stalled out reading three of his books, and just can't figure out how people find his generic bland fantasy interesting at all. 


Jordan had the same problem that Martin now has:  the scope and plot creep from the hundreds of secondary characters has shit up the main narrative, which was why we got so many books where nothing really happened while he moved everything into place for the finish.  This would have happened with Erickson too but he just said "fuck it", threw out the timeline and didn't care if he just abandoned characters who were important in early books.

[Merusk]

I read the final book and thought it was a great ending to the series.  Better than what I think Jordan could have done in his later years.  I remember thinking well over a decade ago, when I first started reading the series, that the entire last book had better be nothing but the last battle.  And that's what we got!  Over 900 pages worth, and I can't complain.  It was nice to see Sanderson go all George RR Martin on the cast as well.     Was genuinely surprised at some of those.

I haven't read the Sanderson WoT books, but...  Sanderson is the king of mediocre blandness.  I've stalled out reading three of his books, and just can't figure out how people find his generic bland fantasy interesting at all. 

Well, I see your dilemma now.  He's not writing his generic bland fantasy, he's using Jordan's setup, ending, notes and world.  Completely different from letting him have free-reign.  (Long, long ago Jordan said he had the ending in mind within the first book, he was just working things so they could get there.)

As for "going George RR Martin" not quite to the extent that should have happened.  There were a few too many "surprise, still alive!" moments.   I wonder how much of that is Sanderson and how much is Jordan, who couldn't ever kill a character he liked.

[Teleku]

Well, I see your dilemma now.  He's not writing his generic bland fantasy, he's using Jordan's setup, ending, notes and world.  Completely different from letting him have free-reign.  (Long, long ago Jordan said he had the ending in mind within the first book, he was just working things so they could get there.)

As for "going George RR Martin" not quite to the extent that should have happened.  There were a few too many "surprise, still alive!" moments.   I wonder how much of that is Sanderson and how much is Jordan, who couldn't ever kill a character he liked.

Yah, I've never read any of Sanderson stuff except for this.  His own shit might be bad, but he actually made the WoT readable again.

As to the spoiler.

[Samwise]

I finished The Way of Kings recently, having gotten it for Christmas.  About halfway through I thought "hey, this reminds me of those Mistborn books I've heard of" without realizing it was by the same author AND without ever having actually read any of the Mistborn books.  It also reminded me of Modesitt's stuff a bit, which isn't all bad, even if Modesitt does tend to just write the same book over and over.

I'd probably go on to the next Stormlight book if it had been written yet, but it hasn't (if there's a crueler thing to get someone for Christmas than the first book in a long series that's just started, I don't know what), so I finally cracked REAMDE and that's pretty fun so far.  Even if I do cringe a little whenever Stephenson tries to show off how hip and tech-savvy he is.

[Chimpy]

Sanderson's original stuff is refreshing because he creates worlds with "magic" systems that are strikingly different than the normal formulas. And he actually has editors.

[Samwise]

Sanderson's original stuff is refreshing because he creates worlds with "magic" systems that are strikingly different than the normal formulas. And he actually has editors.

I dunno, Way of Kings was pretty goddamn long and there were a few parts where I thought someone should have pruned it down.  But yeah, I really liked all the effort he put into his worldbuilding.  It's the same thing I appreciate about Modesitt's Recluce books; the world has a really interesting history, and the magic system is unique and cool.

[Chimpy]

Checked out The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter that I saw on the new shelf when I stopped by the library the other day.

Was pretty good. I was able to actually read it pretty much in one sitting which I have been unable to do with Pratchett before (even though I like his stuff a lot, for some reason I get sleepy after 30-40 pages without fail).

I recommend it.

[Khaldun]

Finished Brin's Existence. Some good ideas but also some pretty bad characters, seems unfocused in both plot and characterization. Not one of his best.

[Reg]

When Brin does one of his massive lecture-style books that tends to happen.  Earth was the same way.  His Uplift books are better as are The Practice Effect and Kiln People.  And The Postman too course.  The book was much better than the awful movie.

[Morat20]

When Brin does one of his massive lecture-style books that tends to happen.  Earth was the same way.  His Uplift books are better as are The Practice Effect and Kiln People.  And The Postman too course.  The book was much better than the awful movie.

Startide Rising was just one of a kind. Everything else he's done in there just hasn't quite measured up. Sundiver was so-so, The Uplift War was solid -- not quite as good as Startide, but solid -- and the Uplift trilogy (the one that starts with Brightness Reef) I've never really been able to finish.

[bhodi]

Finished Brin's Existence. Some good ideas but also some pretty bad characters, seems unfocused in both plot and characterization. Not one of his best.

Agree. I also hated the time jumps and a lot of time spent on characters and factions that went nowhere or were only casually mentioned a chapter later. It felt like a bunch of books / ideas all mashed together.

Skim, don't read.   I skipped 90% of Perrin's bullshit in those books because it just got so out of hand with the, "Oh noes my wife is missing, I am traumatized. /whine /whine /whine."

Tuon, Matt and Rand's perspectives were about the only worthwhile bits. Rand's just to understand the wtf moments later.

Hell, Cadsudane was so worthless she barely gets used in the last book, but she and Elayne's nonsene make up a ton of those terrible books.

Uugh. Book 8 was a slog of braid tugging, ears boxing and women acting implausibly, falling from one disaster to another, bitching all the way. There isn't a likable woman in the entire series. I got past it and now I'm on book 9 and begins with Rand declaring "I'm gonna do something cool!" and then the next 6 goddamned hours are the whole Perrin chasing Shaido with the prophet then flipping to his wife and back and then pages upon pages of Elaine planning retaking the throne and describing dresses and characterizations of people and houses that you never hear about again. I DON'T CARE. Thank god I'm doing other shit while it's on in the background. I think book 8, 9, and 10 should have been mashed together with all the horrible relationship hand-wringing shit removed to make a single decent book.