Brandon Sanderson - The Well of Ascension
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Brandon Sanderson - The Well of Ascension
I finished reading Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers a couple of months ago. I haven't started Return of the King, though. Finding it difficult to "want" to read it instead of doing it to just complete the series. There's too much fluff and nonsense in the first two books that I don't understand why the series would be so popular, even with the world-building (which I usually enjoy). They aren't bad, but they definitely don't live up to the hype to me.
I decided to listen to Dance with Dragons (book five of the Game of Thrones series). It's been more than 10 years since I read it and supposedly there's a new book coming by next year -- ha. Anyway, I'm struck by a couple of things. I remember thinking that the book was not as good as the first three books. Now, I'm even more convinced of that. It seems like a clear case of someone who got popular, developed a lot of power with the publisher, and stopped listening to his editor. I'm pretty sure you could cut about 200 pages without losing anything of the story at all.
I've tended to blame the showrunners for the poor ending of Game of Thrones, but maybe they really just didn't get any help from Martin. He's so lost in his characters that I don't think he really has a clear story to tell anymore.
Pity, because it started well. Of course, the other side is that I've given up hope of ever seeing book seven. The dude is 72. He's going to be a bit long in the tooth finishing a book that takes 10-12 years to write.
I dont disagree with any of that. But on the whole, I still enjoyed Dance.
The audiobook, on the other hand, is substantially less well performed than books 1-4. Dude manages to make Dany sound like a old man.
I finally got started on Mine Were of Trouble. Enjoying it so far.
I like it well enough, but still think it's the weakest of the five -- and it makes me worry about where it's going. I really dislike what he did to Dany in this book. I'll be interested to see how quickly she gets stronger again (or if he keeps her as this indecisive character).Originally Posted by Champ967
Agree completely about the reader. And I made it worse -- I was listening at 1.75 speed. Everybody sounded a bit like an old chipmunk.
I dont know if indecisive is the right word. By the end of Dance, I was reading her as cracked. She's coo-coo for cocopuffs. Years of PTSD and still a teenager.
(Arya, I think, has similarly lost her $hit)
If you have a 5th or 6th grader, I'd highly recommend When You Reach Me (read this at the daughter's insistence, and she was right, it's great).
SPQR pretty good so far.
Just finished The Exorcist. I always read horror this time of year, but this was one of my favorites.
You ever try The Hike?
Or the Southern Reach trilogy?
No, but I’m looking for what’s next!
After watching the first 5 seasons of The Expanse, I started into the books.
And -- as in all things -- the books are even better.
I just finished Annihilation (book one of Southern Reach), but I don't think I'll be continuing to the other two books. I really didn't like the first book that much and the reader reviews are pretty clear that the other two books follow similar dynamics. I actually listened to book one, so if I pursue the others at all, I'll do it in print form -- where I can skim when it gets too deep in the introspection. Still, it never really felt like it was going anywhere -- and that's what those who don't like it say continues.
The other two are little more traditional (the last one jumps around in time some) but they're all similar enough that if you hated the first one, yeah, don't bother with the rest.
I recently finished In a Lonely Place, which wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. It was ok.
Reading The Green Ember aloud to my boys.
The bedside book stack is getting out of hand (per usual).
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