What did you just read?

Intrinsic_sl said:

How did you like Prince of Nothing? I remember starting it probably 3-4 years ago and eventually putting it down maybe 1/3 of the way in but can't remember why or anything about the story. For some reason or another it is still sitting on my nightstand so every night when I grab my Kindle I see the physical book. Been thinking about picking it up again after going through some Raymond Chandler. On a really big Detective Noir crave right now (probably because of no Dresden for so long).

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Sorry, lost track of this thread. I avoid Vvoid and Gasks's problems by not thinking of the Prince as the main character. I think of Aka(Mandate guy) as the main character since he's basically the one who's completely shit on. I had this mindset before even finishing the Trilogy and am finding myself enjoying Aspect-Emp even more because of it. If you keep in mind that you probably won't be surprised by anything the Prince does(Because he's untouchable) you might enjoy it and it's the only reason I did.

Vlett_sl said:

Sorry, lost track of this thread. I avoid Vvoid and Gasks's problems by not thinking of the Prince as the main character. I think of Aka(Mandate guy) as the main character since he's basically the one who's completely shit on. I had this mindset before even finishing the Trilogy and am finding myself enjoying Aspect-Emp even more because of it. If you keep in mind that you probably won't be surprised by anything the Prince does(Because he's untouchable) you might enjoy it and it's the only reason I did.

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It's been a while since I read it, but Achamian *is* the main character isn't he ? Kellhus only gets a few point of view chapters ?

Kellhus is also the villain of the series, although the author doesn't go out of his way to make that obvious at first.

velk_sl said:

Kellhus is also the villain of the series, although the author doesn't go out of his way to make that obvious at first.

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Kellhus is the villain because he's an insufferable character that dominates everyone and everything flawlessly. But he is also the hero because without him all of mankind would be devoured by those goblin things (forget what they are called) and their master.

I really liked Achamian before he was overshadowed/cuckolded by Khellus, his time in captivity when he was fighting for his life unaided was the best part of the series for me.

I love prince of nothing for the world building/history and the fantasy over sifi setting. I agree with aka being the main and all the other side characters are great. Kellus is overbearing but i think this is setup for aspect emperor. Mandate and consule are best parts.

Just finished The Strain:

The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1) by Guillermo del Toro - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Enjoyed it quite a bit. Could do without the father/son plot, but otherwise not a bad page-turner and a nice change from the scifi/fantasy stuff I usually read.

I hated Prince of Nothing, so it's not just you. I respect Bakker tons and realize what he was doing and it's an impressive series of books but I just didn't enjoy my time with it (Khellus gave me too many Goodkind Richard Rahl perfect character flashbacks), so I gave up about 2/3s through book 2. Again, I know what Bakker was doing but I ain't going to let him poke me in the eye over and over just because he's a master at poking people in the eye.

Right now I'm reading the 8th book in Shadows of the Apt. I wouldn't call the series great and the author gets way too passive with his storytelling at times but it does technological progression from book to book in a really great way that you usually don't see in fantasy, even steampunk. Plus the bug stuff is neat, if kind of filling in fantasy races (spiders = drow, mantis = wood elves, dragonfly = high elves, beetles = gnomes, ants = dwarfs, etc.) although different enough to be a new take.

Just finished the Empire of Thorns. Enjoyed it overall, though it took me the entirety of the first book before I cared at all for the main character. Also, the ending was a total cop-out. Figured out who the 'enemy' was halfway through the series, hammered it home, then took the easiest way out to close it all.

Considering where to go next, probably going to dip into some of the Stephen King books I have missed (Have not picked up anything of his since before 2001). May go for something science fiction instead.

I just read "Innocence" by Dean Koontz. It was interesting, but kind of preachy.

My last 2 weeks:

The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh: Was good simply as a perspective from northern Vietnam during the war, but is overrated for that same reason.

The Professor's House by Willa Cather: Actually very good. Challenges the conception that marriage, family, and career are all you should expect out of life.

A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee: Very sad, but I ended the novel thinking that each character was just a stereotype pulled out of the great big book of psychological disorders.

Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton: Was okay, I wouldn't recommend it at all unless you're interested in 1920's New York or Wharton in particular.

Runner - Patrick Lee: Ex-special forces soldier with no aim in life finds direction by helping an escaped government bioweapon test subject. I had high hopes for this one, as The Breach is one of my favorite books. This one was a good read, but not up to that standard - plotting was not as clever and there were quite a few mistakes that should have been caught by the editor. I still finished it in one day though.

Touch - Michelle Sagara : Book 2 of series about a teenage necromancer. Still not as good as either of other series. Still better than average though, if a lot of wishy washy emo going on. Price of YA target demographic I guess.

Bitter Seeds/Necessary Evil/Coldest War - Ian Tregillis: Nazi superheroes vs British demon summoners in WW2. This is not as fun as it sounds, it's played very very straight, and the series is very 'grubby' and full of horrible people. It's still a good read, but expect a downer rather than lighthearted fun.

All the Paths of Shadow - Frank Tuttle: Court magician to a (in her opinion) retard of a king is ordered to move the shadow of an ancient abandoned wizard tower so it won't fall on the podium where he is planning on giving a speech. Things do not go smoothly. This one was pretty light in tone and I enjoyed it a lot.

Sixty-One Nails - Mike Shevdon: london businessman discovers he is half fay after suffering a fatal heart attack. Complicating this, the half is from the fay equivalent of racial purity nutjobs. This makes him pretty unpopular with almost everyone. This one was decent, might read the others sometime.

Just finished the first two of Mike Shevdon's Feyre court. Starting the third.

I'd recommend this for dad types especially.

Read the first Acts of Cain book,Heroes Die. Really interesting setting and world(s). But man some of the writing is so lazy. The main character's cool catchphrase is apparently "Yeah, whatever".

Still, just the setting is worth dipping a toe in to and seeing if you like it.

I finished up the Strain trilogy:

The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo del Toro

I enjoyed it. Decent ending, good pacing and other than the main character being a bit of a bitch, a pretty solid cast.

I finished The Eye of the World. Book 1 of the Wheel of Time series.

This was a real grind for me. I did not enjoy the plot or the pacing or the writing. But hot damn is Jordan's setting amazing! By the end of the story I liked the characters well enough to maybe continue the series.

The best part of this book was the ending. Holy fuck.

Himeo_sl said:

I finished The Eye of the World. Book 1 of the Wheel of Time series.

This was a real grind for me. I did not enjoy the plot or the pacing or the writing. But hot damn is Jordan's setting amazing! By the end of the story I liked the characters well enough to maybe continue the series.

The best part of this book was the ending. Holy fuck.

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The first book is one the weaker ones, pretty tolkien derivative etc. The second is one of the better ones, and fourth is probably my favorite. Unfortunately there's a depressing decline in the middle ;p

Neuromancer.

Working on Count Zero now.

I finished the Lies of Locke Lamora the other day, the first book of the Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch. I found it easy to read and entertaining, but I must confess I was a little underwhelmed by it. That might be because I saw beforehand the enthusiasm of some of the posters here and also because the guy I borrowed it from compared it with a book that is much better: 'Gagner la guerre' (To Win The War - only available in french at the moment) by Jean-Philippe Jaworski.

Even if it found a use in the plot in the end, I did not enjoy particularly the 'strange old ruins on top of Venice' setting, I found the book introduced a number of characters that, when all is said and done, were barely used and I also deplore that the main antagonists went from 'frustratingly untouchable and omniscient' directly to 'dealt with in a single scene each in direct confrontation and without planning'.

Still enjoyed it though and might very well read the 2nd book.