Return of the Book Thread

[Chimpy]

The smilie still gets most of the point across.
 

[Teleku]

Jesus Ironwood, you hate EVERYTHING.

I read the Black Company books based of recommendations here, and loved them all the way through.  I actually thought the first books were stronger (the later books felt a bit like he was really making shit up as he went) but they were still all good.  It was a fairly unique and different fantasy style from almost anything I've read.

From this and your dislike of Song of Ice and Fire, is there any Fantasy that you DO like?

[Ironwood]

I haven't read Song of Fire and Ice.  I thought the Game of Thrones Pilot was mince, but we'll see if it gets better.

There's tons of stuff I like, but bear in mind that I'm kinda trained in Modern Critical Theory and since then it's been hard to read what is essentially wankfests for fourteen year old boys.  I'm liking the second book better (yay, graverobbing, that's always a winner) as it seems to be constructed to flow better.

For the record - and this won't be news to anyone who's been paying attention - I like Abercrombie (the first 3) and Morgan (till the gay Elric fantasy) and Lynch (Locke Lamora was compelling stuff), all of which seem to owe some debt to Cook's stuff.  You just won't see me going back over anything I used to devour in my childhood and giving it any praise whatsoever.  Hell, I'd probably smack Hickman and Weiss if I met them these days - and don't even get me started on Salvatore....

I'm always fascinated on here about how people seem to care what someone else likes or dislikes though.  I'm not sure my pissing on the first book brings the experience down for you in any way.  Especially considering that the Reg is entirely right:  I could have been much more unkind than Seriously Flawed.

[Merusk]

Humans are social creatures and wanting others to like what you like is one of the flaws of being such.  The rest of that thought is a long, convoluted derail.

As for your criticism, I believe it's deliberate on Cook's part.  Finish up and then see if you feel the same way.

[Paelos]

I'm always fascinated on here about how people seem to care what someone else likes or dislikes though.  I'm not sure my pissing on the first book brings the experience down for you in any way.  Especially considering that the Reg is entirely right:  I could have been much more unkind than Seriously Flawed.

It's this.

[ghost]

From this and your dislike of Song of Ice and Fire, is there any Fantasy that you DO like?

I believe he's a fan of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. 

[Sand]

 

edit: Happy Easter!  Edited for niceness. But seriously....

You liked it. I heard from multiple sources, not just Ironwood, that it was bad.
Different strokes and all.
 

[Ingmar]

The difference is Ironwood you know, made up his mind for himself after actually reading one. You're making a point of pride over not doing something just to say you didn't do it. That's completely asinine.

[Morat20]

From this and your dislike of Song of Ice and Fire, is there any Fantasy that you DO like?

I believe he's a fan of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. 

Ooooooh. Then he'll probably like Song of Ice and Fire once it gets into "punch POV characters repeatedly in the crotch, kill their dogs, and then rape them and cut their throats, and then make the assholes that did it into the new POV characters and line them up for the crotch-punching" territory.

[Ironwood]

The latest Covenant stuff is fucking horrendous though.  Total Mortgage paying trash. (I have the latest one and I'm afraid to open it in case I lose more brain cells reading about Linden being the object of Donaldsons hatred this time around.)

Also, I haven't 'made up my mind' about Black Company yet.  I merely had issues with the first novel.

I'm not some comic book serial villian, you know...

[ghost]

I'm not some comic book serial villian, you know...

Are you sure?

[Morat20]

I'm not some comic book serial villian, you know...

That statement is warring with your avatar.

And the avatar is winning

[Paelos]

I'm not some comic book serial villian, you know...

 

[Sand]

The difference is Ironwood you know, made up his mind for himself after actually reading one. You're making a point of pride over not doing something just to say you didn't do it. That's completely asinine.

Based on how bad I heard it is, it seems smart to me. YMMV. 

[WayAbvPar]

 

[proudft]

I made it over the hump, currently on book 12 of Wheel of Time.   And yeah, book 10 was just, well, horrendous isn't the word....  Bland?  But I soldiered on (though it took like two weeks - not a good sign when it takes me longer to read a book than time passes in said book) and things happened in book 11, and things continue to happen in book 12.

And, for the record, I like the Black Company books.  At least the first three, which are the only ones I've read.  And of those, I really, really liked book 2, and put it up in the top 10 of favoritest-ever-read for me.

[Paelos]

I made it over the hump, currently on book 12 of Wheel of Time.   And yeah, book 10 was just, well, horrendous isn't the word....  Bland?  But I soldiered on (though it took like two weeks - not a good sign when it takes me longer to read a book than time passes in said book) and things happened in book 11, and things continue to happen in book 12.

And, for the record, I like the Black Company books.  At least the first three, which are the only ones I've read.  And of those, I really, really liked book 2, and put it up in the top 10 of favoritest-ever-read for me.

I'm on book 6 of the WoT. I said I wouldn't read them until I did all the other stuff. Then, I did all the other stuff, so here we are.

[WayAbvPar]

Gird your loins...7-10 is pretty brutal. 11 picked up the pace though. I am waiting for the end of the series to read the rest.

[Paelos]

Gird your loins...7-10 is pretty brutal. 11 picked up the pace though. I am waiting for the end of the series to read the rest.

I'm already sorta half-assing the stuff where Nynaeve or Elayne wander around in that dream place. Unless something jumps out at them. Oh look, let's talk from far away. Oh look, our clothes are changing. Oh look, here's some pissed off old desert people. Oh look, Egwene's pissy. Oh look, Nynaeve's pissy. Oh look, Elayne's pissy.

[Chimpy]

Gird your loins...7-10 is pretty brutal.

You never know, he might be into Little House on the Prairie meets Lesbian Spank Inferno!

[ghost]

I think I'm going to go back through the Sword/Citadel and the Shadow/Claw.    Gene Wolfe.

[Merusk]

Gird your loins...7-10 is pretty brutal.

You never know, he might be into Little House on the Prairie meets Lesbian Spank Inferno!

Ha.

Really, though, Paelos.  Finish 6 then just skim the next 3, or better yet find an online summary and read the chapters that look interesting.  The Perrin chapters get particularly dire and don't get better until 12. This coming from someone who used to spend inordinate amounts of time on RAS-FWJ debating minutiae of the series like we tear apart MMOs here.

[Engels]

Can the next lot of you who recommend any book please specify if you have read more than 1/4 of the first Wheel of Time book? That would help me out a lot and prevent unfortunate purchases like Black Company. Thanks!

[Rasix]

 

[Evildrider]

Can the next lot of you who recommend any book please specify if you have read more than 1/4 of the first Wheel of Time book? That would help me out a lot and prevent unfortunate purchases like Black Company. Thanks!

Haha, I also bought the Black Company books and they took some effort for me to get into.

[MahrinSkel]

Oddly enough, even though I read 6.5 of the WoT books and like Glen Cook's Garret P.I. series, I find it impossible to find anything interesting in the Black Company.  I've picked them off the shelf innumerable times, read a few paragraphs at random, and put them back.

Maybe if I pushed through one of them, I'd find the others more interesting.  And maybe if I see one at the library or a used book store, I will.  But they just haven't seemed to be worth the cost of a new paperback at a casual inspection.

--Dave

[Rasix]

I remember reading the first 60 pages of the first Black Company book and then putting it down for a month before trying again.  I generally have issues getting into Cook at first with any of his work. With A Cruel Wind and Tyranny of the Night, I didn't get halfway through before putting down for good.

Books are just going to be hit or miss with some people.  A lot of people here love Brust and Feist, I can't stand either.

Shit, I bet we have people that'd defend the bloody Dragonlance books.

[MahrinSkel]

I kind of liked the Dragonlance books.  The first 3, anyway, didn't read the others.

--Dave

[Sheepherder]

Jesus Ironwood, you hate EVERYTHING.

Scotland.  Says it all.

I haven't read Song of Fire and Ice.  I thought the Game of Thrones Pilot was mince, but we'll see if it gets better.

The fact that the series is popular is due to the fact that as the series truly gets underway GRRM gets plain fucking brutal with his main characters, and his ability to trick the reader into liking characters that are real shitheads.

And yeah, book 10 was just, well, horrendous isn't the word....  Bland?

It gets worse if you read it more than once, much worse.

The Perrin chapters get particularly dire and don't get better until 12.

Book 11, since he starts doing stuff then, and some of it is more that just moping around in the woods.

Jordan just completely fucking gave up on doing anything with him from 7-10 though.

[Abagadro]

I kind of liked the Dragonlance books.  The first 3, anyway, didn't read the others.

--Dave

The first 6 are decent YA fantasy.

[MahrinSkel]

I kind of liked the Dragonlance books.  The first 3, anyway, didn't read the others.

--Dave

The first 6 are decent YA fantasy.

I remember it mostly for being the first Epic Fantasy I read that wasn't obviously trying to be LoTR in drag.

--Dave

[Rendakor]

I liked Dragonlance a lot when I read them. In middle school.

[Quinton]

I liked Dragonlance a lot when I read them. In middle school.

Same.  Tried re-reading some of that a year ago and discovered that it had not aged well.  Still has some moments but the writing is awfully clunky.

[tgr]

Gird your loins...7-10 is pretty brutal. 11 picked up the pace though. I am waiting for the end of the series to read the rest.

Tug tug tug.

Edit: Just to clarify, one thing I really really wish Jordan had never done, was make nynaeve tug her damn braid all the damn time. It's been a long while since I last read WoT (I'm waiting for the series to end, now), but I think it was somewhere around those books she got properly manic about tugging her damn hair.

[Merusk]

The Perrin chapters get particularly dire and don't get better until 12.

Book 11, since he starts doing stuff then, and some of it is more that just moping around in the woods.

Jordan just completely fucking gave up on doing anything with him from 7-10 though.

Ah, you're right. I thought that didn't all get resolved until 12. 11 was the one where things started picking up and you could see him advancing the plot again.  Sanderson's done some good work, too, that happily reminds me of the earlier stuff.