February's Fantastic Folios and Fascinating Fables

[ratsy]

Fairly busy reading month...I havent updated for quite a while.

I finished Under the Dome by King
Shadow of a Dark Queen and Rise of a Merchant Prince by Feist
Also read With a Single Spell and The Cyborg and the Sorcerors Watt-Evans
Then I read The Dead Zone by King

I am currently reading Rage of a Demon King by Feist
Work book is The Shadow Rising by Jordan (both of these are re-reads from years ago)

and I have Just after Sunset by King to slowly read inbetween

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Finished Wylder's Hand by Le Fanu last night. It was a very effective mystery story, albeit one without a sleuth, but rather a story in which a central mystery is established, hints are dropped, consequences are shown and a sustained atmosphere of suspense maintained until all is revealed in a final cataclysm. Pacing is one of Le Fanu's great strengths, and he maintains interest and tension very well over the course of about 400 pages with a cast of vivid characters, including several nasty villains, two fascinating heroines, a possibly spectral and quite oracular uncle and many others. There are interesting subplots to hold interest, several moments of wonderfully Gothic atmosphere, beautiful descriptive passages, witty and philosophical asides and enough clues being dropped throughout the novel to keep the reader constantly engaged in trying to figure it all out. Favourite quote: on the morning after a nocturnal visit from the aforementioned uncle, the narrator declares: 'I was growing most uncomfortably like one of Mrs. Anne Radcliffe's heroes - a race of nervous demigods.'

 

[Fried Egg]

I've started "To Ride Hell's Chasm", my first book by Janny Wurts.

 

[GOLLUM]

I've started "To Ride Hell's Chasm", my first book by Janny Wurts.

Yeh! That's an excellent way to introduce yourself to Janny's more recent style as I view her earlier period of writing as having matured over time, as good as her earlier work was. It should also give you a good indication of what to expect if you decide to take on the more EPIC and ongoing Wars of Shadow and Light series.

Janny is one of the best prose stylists in the business. She actually reminds me a bit of Lois McMaster Bujold. For mine, both display an economy in their writing where no word is wasted and where a certain level of intuitive interpretation is required from the reader. Patricia McKillip is another like that except her prose is even more florid, indeed lyrical in nature and quite beautiful.

Cheers..

 

[Hypnos164]

(snip)
Janny is one of the best prose stylists in the business. She actually reminds me a bit of Lois McMaster Bujold. For mine, both display an economy in their writing where no word is wasted and where a certain level of intuitive interpretation is required from the reader. Patricia McKillip is another like that except her prose is even more florid, indeed lyrical in nature and quite beautiful.

Cheers..

I liked Janny's earlier stuff very much and really should give the Wars of Light and Shadow another try - read the first one ... 10 years ago? ... but it never inspired me to read on.

In other news:

Finished Priest by Ken Bruen in which Jack Taylor largely fails to deal with both the fact of being a "dry alcoholic" and the events at the end of the last book while fumbling through another couple of the investigations people keep dumping on him.

Intense and dark

Next up: Starfishers Volume 1: Shadowline by Glen Cook

 

[GOLLUM]

I liked Janny's earlier stuff very much and really should give the Wars of Light and Shadow another try - read the first one ... 10 years ago? ... but it never inspired me to read on.

Next up: Starfishers Volume 1: Shadowline by Glen Cook

Yes, I can understand why Book 1 didn't inspire. I needed to read the first 2-3 books before really getting into the series and understanding the magic system she had developed.

I'm intersted in reading your thoughts on Cook's Starfisher series. Copies of that new release (Book 1 of 3) won't reach OZ for another couple of weeks probably and it's not a series of his I've read before.

 

[Fried Egg]

Yes, I can understand why Book 1 didn't inspire. I needed to read the first 2-3 books before really getting into the series and understanding the magic system she had developed.

I never understand why people invest so much of their time into something in the hope that it will improve. It's bad enough if you have to wait until half way through a single book for things to pick up, let alone half way through a series.

I'm sorry, but there's so much out there waiting to be read, that doesn't require hundreds of boring pages to be read first before they can be enjoyed. Isn't life just too short for that kind of thing?

I gave up on Steve Erikson's "Gardens of the Moon" for the same reason. I was over half way through and still bored. I don't care that the series apparently picks up after the first book (or even if the that book picks up at the end), too many other great books to read.

Appologies for the little rant...I feel better now.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Not a series fan either. The only one I'm keeping my options open on, ironically, is the Erikson series you've mentioned!

 

[GOLLUM]

Well it's a shame F.E. because Erikson's series in particular literally begins to gain real momentum after the first book, making it the greatest EPIC fantasy series I've ever read...period.

I guess it's a matter of perseverance really. 10% pain followed by 90% pleasure seems a fair trade-off in my eyes anyway, albeit your point is understood because it's then a case of how many times does one go to the well? I'm actually with you. I don't like to waste time reading rubbish but sometimes an exception happily rears its head.

In essence, my MO is, if I really dislike a series after the first book then I won't continue. In the case of Erikson and a few other series however, my instincts told me there was enough there to persevere. Naturally, if by the second book (in most cases) one's opinion hasn't changed, then that's the time to pull out. Fortunately, I've been lucky in my choice of literature so far with very few exceptions, when I did choose to persist with something.

At the end of the day everyone has a choice and everyone's tastes and indeed philosophies on such things will differ.

Enjoy your evening...

 

[Connavar]

I think F.E needs to try Paul Kearney,Abercrombie,Sanderson type epic fantasy. 3,4 books series that is about a start and ending and not 10+ books that have 20 characters that you dont know if it will ever end.

To me its not about perseverance, its about taste,what you want to read. If Erikson and co had great characters and great prose i could read 20 books of their in a series.

 

[GOLLUM]

I think F.E needs to try Paul Kearney,Abercrombie,Sanderson type epic fantasy. 3,4 books series that is about a start and ending and not 10+ books that have 20 characters that you dont know if it will ever end.

To me its not about perseverance, its about taste,what you want to read. If Erikson and co had great characters and great prose i could read 20 books of their in a series.

Agreed.

Hence this comment from my previous post: "At the end of the day everyone has a choice and everyone's tastes and indeed philosophies on such things will differ."

I only ever persevere if I think the work has enough going for it, that it will improve even more, which I think you can inevitably link to one's own tastes. It is fortunately very rare that on the odd occasion when I actually do persist into the second book that my instincts have proven to be wrong. Perhaps I've just been lucky...

Cheers.

 

[Fried Egg]

Well it's a shame F.E. because Erikson's series in particular literally begins to gain real momentum after the first book, making it the greatest EPIC fantasy series I've ever read...period.

I guess it's a matter of perseverance really. 10% pain followed by 90% pleasure seems a fair trade-off in my eyes anyway...

If you read the first book in a series and you don't like it, that's 100% waste, not 10%. Just because there's another nine books to go, that doesn't excuse it. Each book should stand in it's own right. Especially when they're 700 odd pages each. That's the way I see it anyway.

In my opinion, a poor book is never justified even if it forms part of a series that is good overall.

I am very reluctant to engage with series these days because all to often they don't maintain the quality throughout that one would expect from a single volume novel.

 

[GOLLUM]

Well as I've already said it's all a matter of opinion and we all have our own methods or approaches to things.

Actually to clarify something. When I referred to perseverance I did go on to explain that comment in the context that the first book would need to have had a fair bit going for it. In other words, I won't persist with a series if I don't like the first book period. It's only if I enjoy the first book enough when it's not unequivocally great that I will continue; that's the point I was actually trying to make. Then it become let's say 30% wasted effort rather than 100% wasted effort. In the case of the latter, like you I wouldn't bother continuing.

I don't really known what else more I can say than that.

If you wish to continue the discussion perhaps you can PM me on it as I would prefer we don't take this thread too off-topic....

I have to sign off now, so 'till next time.

 

[Fried Egg]

Sorry to de-rail the thread. It's all a matter of taste at the end of the day. I'm just never cease to be amazed at how differently some people approach the books they read and by the qualities they look for.

 

[GOLLUM]

No matter.

As we've been saying its all a matter of taste.

If you actually look through our recent posts, you'll see that we're in fact actually that far from agreement with this point or indeed our attitude to reading in general. The only difference being that if I find Book 1 in a series to be, let's say 7-7.5 out of 10 but still in my eyes has enough going for it, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and try the next book in said series before bombing out if it to proves to be not great, whereas I presume you're saying it would really need to be more 8-9/10 before you would consider continuing. I hope I have that right.

At the end of the day both us appear to value our reading time and don't want it to be wasted with mediocre work.

In fact that's one of the reasons I began looking beyond the mainstream and more into the realms of World Literature for great works of fiction.

 

[Fried Egg]

Not sure about that. I didn't even finish "Gardens of the Moon" so the question as to whether I should carry on with the series didn't come up. I would have rated that about 2 out of 10!

Perhaps a better illustration for me is George R. R. Martin's "Game of Thrones". I did quite enjoy that but once I realised that it was only the first of an ongoing series I decided not to continue. I didn't like it enough to want to invest that much more of my time into the story/universe.

In addition, I shy away from embarking upon any series that is yet to be completed. I learned that the hard way after starting Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series.

Contrast that with Gene Wolf's "Book of the New Sun" quartet which I've been working my way through quite happilly. Not only because I know there's only going to be four parts and they've all been written and published already, but because the quality of the writing/story is high throughout (in my opinion). I didn't have to slug through the first volume in the hope that it would improve.

 

[GOLLUM]

Wow! GOTM 2 out of 10. I don't think I've ever seen anyone rate it quite that low before.....

You brought up a few points in your previous point, which we can continue with off-thread if necessary.

Anyway, What I really wanted to alert you to was about Gene's Sun series F.E. Please note that with Gene the Sun series does continue with several more books after that.... Fortunately Severian only features in the next book Urth of the New Sun. After that there's 2 more 4 book cycles in Book Of The Long Sun and Book Of The Short Sun.

Having said that, for Mr. Wolfe, in addition to the much shorter Solider series, basically all of his other works are pretty much stand-alones.

 

[Fried Egg]

Wow! GOTM 2 out of 10. I don't think I've ever seen anyone rate it quite that low before.....

Basically, any book I don't even finish is going to get rated that low!

Anyway, What I really wanted to alert you to was about Gene's Sun series F.E. Please note that with Gene the Sun series does continue with several more books after that.... Fortunately Severian only features in the next book Urth of the New Sun. After that there's 2 more 4 book cycles in Book Of The Long Sun and Book Of The Short Sun.

Really? Right, that does it, I'm throwing it down right now!

I had heard there was more but, as I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), they're seperate story arcs. I'm presuming I could read until the end of "Book of the new Sun" and stop there quite happilly if I wanted to.

 

[GOLLUM]

Really? Right, that does it, I'm throwing it down right now!

I had heard there was more but, as I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), they're seperate story arcs. I'm presuming I could read until the end of "Book of the new Sun" and stop there quite happily if I wanted to.

Yes you can although I would probably read the single book Urth Of The New Sun and finish there, as it continues Severian's story.

Book Of The Long Sun doesn't directly relate to the previous series, whilst there is a link to the original Sun series with the Book Of The Short Sun.

You are correct though, you could basically read the original New Sun series and be content with that. Plenty of folk here have done so.

On a positive note, at least you know the remaining books have been written....

Cheers and don't forget to post about Janny.

It's after 2am here, so I'm a bit tired.

Night.

 

[Fried Egg]

It's after 2am here, so I'm a bit tired.

Night.

You never go to sleep, do you? You just pretend you're going to...