March's Mystical Musings Upon Mouth-Watering Manuscripts

[ratsy]

HB the Drawing of the Three I found a little depressing so I couldn't continue on with the series. It sure was bonkers though.

 

[Bick]

Since I've got quite a lot of time on my hands at the moment, something inspired me to go back to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. (I've only read The Gunslinger before, maybe a year ago.) So far I've raced through The Drawing of the Three and am now near the end of The Waste Lands. It's pretty bonkers but brutally compelling.

I think the first three may be the strongest, from what I've read about them. I enjoyed 2 and 3 a good deal. The fourth was an entertaining book, but it is mainly a 650 page diversion from the main plot, which is, to use your rather apt terminology 'pretty bonkers' as well. It was sufficiently bonkers that I've not yet moved on to books 5 onward. Maybe one day.

 

[HareBrain]

I think the first three may be the strongest, from what I've read about them. I enjoyed 2 and 3 a good deal. The fourth was an entertaining book, but it is mainly a 650 page diversion from the main plot, which is, to use your rather apt terminology 'pretty bonkers' as well. It was sufficiently bonkers that I've not yet moved on to books 5 onward. Maybe one day.

Got to the end of The Waste Lands today (though the characters have only just entered them, doh) and I think I'll leave it there for a bit. The world seems more a random mishmash than anything coherent (I can see this might be intentional, but even so) and while the whole thing is enjoyable, enjoyment will only take me through so many hundreds of pages; then I need meaning to kick in.

I'll just have a mini-rant about the edition I bought, though -- the recent Hodder reprinting.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF INCLUDING THE PROLOGUE OF THE NEXT BOOK AS A TEASER, WHEN THAT PROLOGUE IS AN EXACT COPY OF THE LAST FEW PAGES OF THE BOOK YOU'VE JUST READ??????

When the Independent on Sunday said "The Dark Tower is a sequence that can be endlessly revisited" I didn't realise some of that revisiting would be within the same volume!

Not sure what I'm going to read now. I was almost tempted to buy book two of the Wheel of Time, but seeing them all lined up on the shelf in Waterstone's just made me think of a life sentence.

 

[ratsy]

Hb, I did the WoT in just over a year with a few others included in the mix and for me it was worth it. But it is a big commitment and not for everyone.

 

[Grunkins]

Finished Scott Westerfeld's The Killing of Worlds, the second half of his Risen Empire two book series. Like the first book it was a fast paced, fun read. It opens with a 150 page space battle, and keeps the action pretty ramped up all the way through the end of the book. The big secret that drove much of the plot for the two books was a bit of a let down, but it was enough to justify a very cool (though a bit open ended - which is fine by me) ending. Highly recommend this series to anyone with a hankering for space opera.

 

[Erin99]

Hohohoho!!!! I hardly ever duck my head in here, and when I do, I see WoT talk!

Pleaaaaaase. Puh-lease! You have to give it a chance. My main thread talked about how you had to get through book one to discover what the series was really about and like, but no one did... and then Hoopy came along! I believe she's just about finished the series, now, and she's said so many amazing things about it on Skype, especially the last four books.


Anyway, if you don't like it after book two, you quit (and if you do like it, the books will fly past!). 'Nuf said.


Ahem. Assuming you can accept being badgered by me and Hoops on what you're missing out on.

I believe someone else who only read book one said they're thinking of trying book two, as well. I hope so! We could all chat about it!


And... isn't it interesting that all the people with negative opinions of the series are existing fans, not new readers? All the new readers, who get to read the series from start to finish with no looooooong pauses in between books, have no problem with it.

Except book 10. Even *I* will admit to falling asleep during 10. Thankfully, however, I got through it - and I'm glad I did. What a series!




Erm... so I'm on topic. I just read Peter V. Brett's The Painted Man. I'm not even gonna start on what was wrong with it (it makes me mad ). I had such high hopes, cos I loved it at first and thought I'd found a series I could really get into!!!

 

[HareBrain]

Wow, that wizard wasn't wrong about that "summon Leisha" spell!

Hmm, I've got a two-week holiday abroad coming up. I reckon I could possibly take The Great Hunt without going over my baggage allowance. Just.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Well this feels weird -- about to say bad things about the author I've been obsessed with for years, and good things about the one I've been complaining about for the last few months

Regarding the Dark Tower, you've passed my high point of the series now. But that's because the first half of Waste Lands is some of my favourite storying of all time. I just love the parallel madness of Roland and Jake. And of course, the ruddy great Bear.

And I'd say that you've stopped just as the meaning's started to kick in. Now that the ka-tet is altogether, now the story really begins. And as to an un-established world -- yeah, that's largely what the Dark Tower is about. The world is fraying and and the Beams are failing. Plus it's not just about that world, but many. Many levels of the Tower.

As said, the next book is a diversion but you might enjoy it more because it does get more into Roland's world and where he's come from.

Books 5, 6 and 7 suffer from what all later King book suffer from -- King's runaway manner with his writing.

However, you should continue because it's King and it's a great series and because I say so


And yes, I have now finished all three feet of WoT (in all seriousness, I did have to somehow clear as entire shelf for this series...and maybe it is close to three feet...). I'll move over to the Jordan section to properly write about it but I will say two things:

1. The last three books were awesome awesomeness.
2. Leisha's right -- about lots of things regarding WoT, which I'll mentioned elsewhere, but yes, book two needs to be read. In fact I'd say it's the end of book 3 where you really start to appreciate the sheer scope of the series.

 

[HareBrain]

As said, the next book is a diversion but you might enjoy it more because it does get more into Roland's world and where he's come from.

I'm sure I will read it before a huge amount of time has passed. I've read and enjoyed several of the graphic novels and I know they cover some of the same ground as book4. (And agree about Roland and Jake's madness -- it was extremely inventive, gripping and well done.)

However, you should continue because it's King and it's a great series and because I say so

A triple-whammy of flawless logic! How can I defend myself against that?

 

[AE35Unit]

Next its another Alan Dean Foster book, Bloodhype..Its touted as a 'Pip and Flinx' adventure but beware. Those two fun characters dont play a big part in the story! Its still a Commonwealth Story and features the Aann and the Tar Aiym but in a different setting. It also features a drug, the title of the book, and a massive energy feeding creature called The Vom.
Apparently it's still a good story. Just less Flinx and Pip and more serious from what Ive read about it on Goodreads.

 

[Grimward]

Have returned as I am sometimes wont to do to the world of Terry Brooks. With all the other things that keep one busy, I've found that I'm several books behind ("behind" being a relative term here, as Brooks peppers various spots on his time continuum with new offerings). Reading the first Bearers of the Black Staff book at the moment, and liking it.

 

[Erin99]

Wow, that wizard wasn't wrong about that "summon Leisha" spell!

Hmm, I've got a two-week holiday abroad coming up. I reckon I could possibly take The Great Hunt without going over my baggage allowance. Just.

*rushes in just to hug HB*


I LOVE THAT WIZARD!!!


And, Hoops, I didn't want to sound like a stuck record by saying people should at least get to the end of three to give the series a chance (I'd said that too much in the WoT section last year!), but you're right. The end of three is when you have a big gasp and realise nothing is how it has seemed and that things are going to get so much more epic... And then book four is just AMAZING. Pure awesomeness bookified.

 

[Ogma]

Finished Food of the Gods. I enjoyed it overall. It was more whimsical than I expected. I felt it kind of lost pace in the middle, and the tone was for me at least uneven. And the end is taking itself a bit too seriously. Why is being giant necessarily better?


Anyway, next on to Cyteen.

 

[Grunkins]

Anyway, next on to Cyteen.

Ooh, nice. It has been in my TBR stacks for a long time now. I'll get there eventually. Love Cherryh.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Have now finished Simon and the Wardrobe of Destiny

Review here

And am now starting The Noice Within by Ian Whates.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)

Heinlein's first Hugo-winning novel is not entirely typical of the author. There is, of course, his typical skill at creating a believable future, through the use of throwaway details and taking the future for granted. However, the narrator is unusually three-dimensional for an SF novel, and he's not at all Heinlein's typical competent human being. He's a bit of an unreliable narrator, too, particularly when it comes to examining his own character flaws. The plot is familiar to the point of pastiche; an actor is hired to impersonate an important politician he happens to resemble. The final lines of the novel are surprising, given Heinlein's tendency towards solipsism. (Not a spoiler, since they don't really have anything to do with the plot, but rather with the theme of the book.)

Perhaps their lives have no cosmic significance, but they have feelings. They can hurt.

 

[kythe]

I just finished "Second Foundation", the third book of the original Foundation trilogy by Asimov. I had a bit of trouble getting into the first book, but read on since I was interested in the concept of psychohistory. But as the series went on, it got better and better. Now I don't want to stop here. On to Foundation's Edge!

 

[JunkMonkey]

Rattled through The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle this afternoon on a bus trip. Many many years since I read it last. I had forgotten how long it takes to actually get to the meat of the story, the 'lost world' itself, but it's still a page-turning ripping yarn.

 

[GOLLUM]

The April reading thread will be up shortly...

 

[j d worthington]

Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)

Heinlein's first Hugo-winning novel is not entirely typical of the author. There is, of course, his typical skill at creating a believable future, through the use of throwaway details and taking the future for granted. However, the narrator is unusually three-dimensional for an SF novel, and he's not at all Heinlein's typical competent human being. He's a bit of an unreliable narrator, too, particularly when it comes to examining his own character flaws. The plot is familiar to the point of pastiche; an actor is hired to impersonate an important politician he happens to resemble. The final lines of the novel are surprising, given Heinlein's tendency towards solipsism. (Not a spoiler, since they don't really have anything to do with the plot, but rather with the theme of the book.)

Yes, the final lines of that book have always moved me deeply, trite though they may be seen to be by some. And yes, they reflect on the entire theme (or perhaps themes, plural, might be a better word) of the novel. What is surprising, given today's tendencies toward such lengthy works, is how complex this novel really is, given the extreme brevity. A lot of what is going on here is more suggested than explicitly stated... though even the explicit statements are more in the nature of opening up a topic for discussion rather than issuing ex cathedra statements.

A book that thoroughly ticked me off on first reading, but which has since become one of my very favorite works by Heinlein, a writer I view very highly indeed. I often disagree with him, but my admiration is another thing....

Gradually making my way through Lady Ferry and Other Uncanny People, by Sarah Orne Jewett. I only have a couple of the stories to go at this point, so should finish it tonight. Not (generally speaking) as impressed with these as supernatural tales, perhaps, but as examples of the short story by a superb hand at the art... oh, yes......