What are we reading?

[MetalDog]

Feist's books were taken from his own homegrown D&D campaign with friends.  Knowing that, you can kind of see how the campaign must have unfolded by reading between the lines.  Really good ideas and storytelling.

[JasonPratt]

i actually like Martins slog

YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THE MIDDLE PART OF THIS SERIES!!  :D

However, there is significantly less (obvious) cursing and pink towering sex members etc. So your mileage may vary.

[JasonPratt]

Obviously, JP and Martok are being paid by Jordan's estate to say nice things. :P I will read through just about anything in an effort to say, "I did it."  I made it through Book 8 and said, "Enough."  If it could be said in three words, Jordan took a chapter.  There were characters galore and tedious descriptions of minutiae that even an obsessive/compulsive would think were too much.  And the defenders that tell you that they will grudgingly admit it gets a little slow are doing you a disservice.  Trust me, the time you save reading that could be better spent  doing a 9,000 piece puzzle that looks like the rest of this post

Heh, that's a pretty good image at the end!

Worth noting, I quit originally after Book 9, so I didn't actually get much farther than you did before calling "enough". I've even started a fanedit project to trim down the middle six books (from 6 to 12) to two books, which I occasionally pick at.

The tedious descriptions of minutiae, mainly scenery and clothing, aren't much different than Tolkien's ridiculously thorough photographic descriptions of scenery -- though there's vastly much more of the former to skip through for people who aren't in the mood or don't have the taste for it. I'm not fond of the clothing descriptions either, and I tended to plow past the scenery in my reads and rereads; but for my 'ultimate' reread I found I had much more tolerance for the scenery (and even a little more for the clothing), possibly because I wasn't rushing to re-catch-up on the series before the newest release nor eagerly hoping the next new book would move the plot along more significantly in various ways to answer fan-theory questions or get back to things I liked before.

But that's just me. I have NEVER blamed anyone for gagging on the increasingly pokey prose, even if they gave up in Book 2 (or Book 1 for that matter).


U'Geek, like Martok I recommend borrowing (or buying a cheap used copy) of Book 1 and then if you like that enough at least take a stab at Book 2 since the presentation shifts quite a bit. Book 3 frankly is weaker than the first two (though one of the most annoying characters suddenly shifts to being the most entertaining for the rest of the series, and that helps a lot.) If you make it up to Book 3 at all, I recommend at least getting that done if you can and trying Book 4 -- which is not only still the longest one (I think) by wordcount but also universally regarded as among the top three or four books of the series, and often among the top two or one.

If you just can't seem to get into Book 3 after liking the first two enough to get that far, God knows I won't blame you (though it's a pretty quick read relative to most of the series), but you might just use the aforementioned summary/commentary Butler threads at Tor.com to crutch through it and try Book 4.

If you liked the series enough to keep giving it chances up to Book 4, but aren't fully on board by then, you aren't going to miss anything significantly better and can safely quit. But obviously there's no reason to continue if you don't like the first one or two books enough to even try to continue.


Personally, I wish I was being paid by TOR to give out tepidly cautious recommendations like that.  ::)

Though I wish more I was being paid by TOR for my own series. WHICH GROGGIES CAN READ HALF THE FIRST BOOK OF COMPLETELY FOR FREE HERE ON THE FORUM IN CASE ANYONE HASN'T NOTICED THE SHAMELESS PLUGGING IN MY SIGGY YET!!!

[JasonPratt]

Feist's books were taken from his own homegrown D&D campaign with friends.  Knowing that, you can kind of see how the campaign must have unfolded by reading between the lines.  Really good ideas and storytelling.

Feist's series (and the Amber series by, God I feel so embarrassed as to forget who wrote that), are on my list of things to finally shamefully get around to someday after I either catch up on the Horus Heresy or feel like I need a break from that for a while.

Also Saberhagen's Berserker series though I'm not much for sci-fi reading by taste. Which is weird because I love science-fiction in movies. Apparently some neurons in my head are in an unbalanced marriage with each other...

[airboy]

Feist's books were taken from his own homegrown D&D campaign with friends.  Knowing that, you can kind of see how the campaign must have unfolded by reading between the lines.  Really good ideas and storytelling.

Feist's series (and the Amber series by, God I feel so embarrassed as to forget who wrote that), are on my list of things to finally shamefully get around to someday after I either catch up on the Horus Heresy or feel like I need a break from that for a while.

Also Saberhagen's Berserker series though I'm not much for sci-fi reading by taste. Which is weird because I love science-fiction in movies. Apparently some neurons in my head are in an unbalanced marriage with each other...

Read the Amber series.  It is amazing.
Zelazny read most of the audio books before dying of cancer.  He did a great job.  Those are also awesome.

[MetalDog]

I read all 10 Amber books.  The first five books are about Corwin, a Prince of the Royal Family of Amber.  The second five are about his son, Merlin.  Overall, I liked the first five much better than the second five.

And Feist is a cherished childhood (teenage) memory.  I just re-read them last year.  He's got what seems a myriad of books in the same setting, most of which I have not read, but, he did a trilogy with Janny Wurts, "______ of the Empire, " with the missing words being, in order, Daughter, Servant and Mistress, that I enjoyed quite well.

[Martok]

By the by, I suppose I should mention I'm now halfway through A Memory of Light, the final book in the Wheel of Time.  I'm on the last leg, gents; so close... 

[JasonPratt]

Did Towers of Midnight meet sufficient expectations, aside from it having practically nothing to do with the Towers of Midnight either literally or figuratively (in-story)?

Because offhand, and aside from some overly convenient character sabotage in a couple of cases (Gawyn you selfish nit), I had no complaints other than that. :)

And I feel reasonably safe assuming the grand finale is being sufficiently sufficient so far.

[Martok]

Did Towers of Midnight meet sufficient expectations, aside from it having practically nothing to do with the Towers of Midnight either literally or figuratively (in-story)?

Oh yes, it was most excellent.  I think his return to Tear, and then Arad Doman, were probably my favorite scenes.  But then, there were many sections I enjoyed, so picking just one or two that especially stood out for me is difficult. 

And yes, I am puzzled by the title.  Could he have picked anything *less* relevant?  ???  But whatever; as you indicated, a very minor nitpick. 

And I feel reasonably safe assuming the grand finale is being sufficiently sufficient so far.

Heh.  Let's just say I've already experienced my fair share of "Holy/Oh S***!" moments reading it... 

[vyshka]

Finished Foundation and Empire and Warcraft: Dawn of the Aspects Pt 1 this week. I just started Second Foundation today, and I will probably pick up the rest of Feist's Riftwar Saga books this weekend at the store and start the next book.

[Greybriar]

Today I started reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by by S. C. Gwynne.

[Airborne Rifles]

Today I started reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by by S. C. Gwynne.

I just finished that a couple weeks ago. Really good read.

[BanzaiCat]

Neil deGrasse Tyson was a keynote speaker at our DevLearn conference in Vegas...fascinating guy and great speaker. I've not watched his version of Cosmos though I know it's on Netflix; I'll have to do that now as he's intrigued me.

Bought one of his books at the conference - Space Chronicles, about space exploration. He's a brilliant guy and the book is a great read so far.

[Gusington]

Just about to start The Aircraft of World War I, An Essential Aircraft Identification Guide by Jack Herris and Bob Pearson. Some great paintings and such in here. Not sure if this is a descendant of those pocket guides from the 1980s and 1990s but it feels like it may be. I still have my pocket guide of aircraft from WWI and WWII that I bought when I was about 13.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Finished Ebola K (book 1 of 3). Ends on a cliffhanger. The plot is good, the writing is pulp. My opinion went from good to ok when the weak description of the sleuthing to find the terrorists reads like a first class in MS Excel. Maybe the author should read some Agatha Christie.