<–The State of the Reader: 12/28/16 The State of the Reader: 1/11/17–>
A weekly post updated every Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and where I am with them in addition to what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list. Title links go to Goodreads to make it easier for interested parties to add any books that might strike their fancy. I attempt to use the covers for the edition I’m reading, and I’ll mention if this is not the case. If you have a Goodreads account feel free to friend me! I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.
Books Currently Reading: 4
Title: The Mabinogion Tetralogy
Author: Evangeline Walton
Date Added: August 24, 2014
Date Started: July 31, 2016
Medium: Paperback
Progress: 48%
I’m pretty sure I read a bit of this this week, but not enough to move the percentage needle. I’m currently at a part where the greatest concern seems to be a false king and a secret paternity. The prince of the new tribes believes his father to be one man, but he’s actually someone else, and this particular individual (along with the prince) is one of seven survivors of the Welsh’s war with the Irish. Intriguing much.
Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Series Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: June 15, 2016
Date Started: November 20, 2016
Media: Paperback
Progress: 61%
You know it’s bad when the first sex scene between the characters does nothing for you, and their parting doesn’t move your heart one bit. I don’t feel too bad giving this away, since it’s a general staple of romance narratives. They fuck and they part, though not necessarily in that order in every narrative. My biggest issue with this story is how abruptly Feyre and Tamlin fell in love. It went from her having no interest in him to being head over heels for the High Lord. There was little to no progression in the feeling, nor was any attraction painting prior to Chapter 18. The one good thing I can say about this (and it’s kind of selfish but…) is I’m going to be extra diligent about such a paradigm when I reedit my own paranormal romance. My biggest fear with stories like that is the romance doesn’t seem authentic, and that’s the problem I’m running into here, because there wasn’t adequate build up in the beginning. I’m more than halfway through and still curious about what’s causing the blight. The dialogue is at least well written and fairly witty, so there’s that to its credit.
Title: The Raven Boys
Series Title: The Raven Cycle
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Date Added: April 21, 2015
Date Started: January 1, 2016
Media: Kindle
Progress: 10%
I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas from my in-laws, and I absolutely adore it. I was looking into purchasing one myself, since they’re only around $50, which is more than fair for a tablet. I don’t see the need to drop $300-$500 on an iPad, when I’m really just paying for the name. The Fire has 16G of space, and I’ve been using it to read and watch Let’s Plays on YouTube. I downloaded a few apps as well, and may get one of those games you can play with your cat, because I’m that kind of person.
I prefaced with this because the KF is how I’m reading the above book, and I absolutely love it. The main character Blue is a non-psychic in a family of female clairvoyants, but she’s always brought to a churchyard every year with her mother as the soon-to-be-dead march past. She’s apparently an amplifier, even though she can’t see them herself. Well that changes (of course) this year when Maura (Blue’s mom) is replaced by Neeve, Blue’s aunt. Blue sees a dying boy named Gansey who goes to the rich kid’s school in their town of Henrietta. She usually stays away from them, but of course now the young woman is drawn into their world.
I’ve always been a fan of Ms. Steifvater’s writing ever since I read the first few chapters of Shiver. It was a gift for a friend so I was never able to finish it (it, too, is on my extensive list). The instant I read the sample for this, I knew I’d have to download it, and since I’ve taken to reading a chapter (or more) on my lunch break, I’m certain I’ll finish soon.
Title: The Illustrated A Brief History of Time/The Universe in a Nutshell
Author: Stephen Hawking
Date Added: June 25, 2016
Date Started: January 2, 2016
Media: Paperback
Progress: 8%
Lately to escape how terrible things are (and going to be) down here on Earth, I’ve been watching/listening to YouTube videos about quantum physics, astrophysics, dark matter, dark energy, the origin of the universe, neutron stars, the end of everything, and the like. It makes my brain waves flutter especially when I consider eternity and the fact that nothing really matters (but ironically within that everything does). While I erroneously think I’m smart enough to study such things, I at least know I need a remedial crash course, and Mr. Hawking’s Universe in a Nutshell is a fine beginning. I actually started reading this book years ago, but like many things, put it to the side, and didn’t pick it back up until now. It’s written in very rudimentary language for the average person to understand. It’s a good starting point if you’re curious about life, the universe, and everything. I’d also recommend reading Douglas Adams’s Live, the Universe, and Everything, as well.
Fanfictions Finished: 0
Fanfictions Currently Reading: 1
Title: I’m the Darkness, You’re the Starlight
Author: runicmagitek
Fandom: FFVI
Pairing: Celes Chere/Setzer Gabbiani
I’m seriously worried about my friend runicmagitek, and I sincerely hope that she’s just been so busy with the holidays that she hasn’t had time to check her tumblr. It’s the only way I have of contacting her (especially since AO3 doesn’t have a messaging system). This is what is a bit sucky and often terrible about online friendships. If something happens to someone you only have the barest of information about, you’ll never really know. Not that I’m a stalker or a creeper, but I am a worrier. Here’s to hoping I hear something soon ;_;
Fanfictions Added to TBR List: 0
Books Added to Goodreads TBR List This Week: 6
Title: Dissonance
Series Title: Dissonance
Author: Erica O’Rourke
Date Added: December 30, 2016
This was a lucky find as I was scrolling through my Goodreads. I’m fascinated by alternate universes and sort of subscribe to the multiverse theory. I believe it’s a possibility, and there’s been some scientific evidence to support. Until such a day when we have concrete proof, I shall take these inventive little tales about a heroine who can navigate between these realities, keeping the dimensions in harmony.
Title: Gilded Cage
Series Title: Dark Gifts
Author: Vic James
Date Added: December 30, 2016
The commons serving the elite is nothing new in story or reality. The only difference in this tale is the elite’s power is magical as well as monetary. All commoners must serve them for ten years, and the protagonist, Abi, is in servitude to England’s most powerful family. In true Stockholm Syndrome fashion, she falls for one of the noble-born sons (ah hypergamy). I’m not averse to stories with well used tropes. I feel that messages can become more powerful in repeat.
Kim of By Hook or By Book brought up a decent critique about diversity in her review here (which is why I added this in the first place), but I’m hoping that won’t detract too much from the overall message of the story.
Title: The Blackwell Family Secret: The Guardians of Sin
Author: Jonathan L. Ferrara
Date Added: January 1, 2017
After finishing The Ghost of Buxton Manor, I went to Mr. Ferrara’s Goodreads’ page, following him as an author and added his other book. I also tweeted him my love of his story, followed his (and Aaron’s) YouTube page (I already follow their WordPress), and discovered there’s going to be a sequel to Ghost. In the interim, I believe I’ll read up on the true history of Rupert Buxton and Michael Davies, while I work on my Ghost review.
The Guardians of Sin appears to be another paranormal adventure involving spirits and secrets, also guardian angels, serpents, and the unleashing of the Seven Deadly Sins, so I’m now even more interested.
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Author: Alexander Dumas
Date Added: January 4, 2017
The most memorable reference I have for this book is from the movie V for Vendetta, where the titular character, played by Hugo Weaving, shows it to his “captive” Evey, played by Natalie Portman. I know it has a happy ending (or at least the movie does), and I know from the blurb it’s about a man falsely imprisoned. The reason I added it now is because of a comment on Deviant Art about The Broken Rose. One of my readers was wondering if the story was going to take a Monte Cristo angle to which I (internet) laughed and responded that I’d never read it, but I’d have to add it to my TBR list (huh…the abbreviation for “to be read” and The Broken Rose are exactly the same. That’s hilarious). She replied that the novel was a bid stodgy, and I might want to entertain myself with the movie. I figure I’ll give the book a try though. I could always use more classics for my list.
Title: The Lie Tree
Author: Frances Hardinge
Date Added: January 4, 2017
A tale of a tree that will give you truth for every lie, and the bigger the lie, the greater the truth. I’m also interested in the incongruence of a main character named Faith who thirsts for science and secrets, and the secret of the tree is too great for her to resist. Drawn into the search by her disgraced father’s journals, Faith enters a world of lies, danger, and the truth that can unbind it all.
Title: The Bear and the Nightingale
Author: Katherine Arden
Date Added: January 4, 2017
The book channeled both a Cinderella vibe with the dead mother replaced with a cruel stepmother and ASOIAF with it’s fairy tales about Frost, a blue-eyed winter demon. It seems to spin itself like a meta-fairy tale. There’s an even deeper ASOIAF connection as Vasilisa and her siblings’ nursemaid warned them to keep the old rituals and honor the spirits of house, yard, and forest in order to protect their home from evil and keep dark things at bay (e.g. Craster in Song), but the stepmother forbids it. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa seems to know that more hinges on the rituals than mere rote. I’m a sucker for a good fairy tale, and I love stories that mix paradigms with others I already love. I have a feeling the stepmother may be an agent of Frost or something like that or Frost may not be as terrible as he seems.
Total Books on Goodreads TBR List: +6
Change from Last Week: 540
Books Added to Goodreads To Be Reread List This Week: 0
Books Purchased This Week: 10
I received all of the books I ordered from Amazon in between last week’s post and this week’s. I believe I usually do the full breakdown, but owing to the fact I have ten books to add, I’m just going to cite the title, author, brief comment, and a link to the SOTR where I included it, if available; I’ll just link to Goodreads if not.
- The Sword of Maiden’s Tears by Rosemary Edghill – I remember exactly why I wanted this one. Check this description in the blurb: “He was tall, with long, silvery hair, catlike eyes…” DONE. That’s all I needed. Added and bought as soon as I could find it.
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab – I recall downloading a sample of this and loving both the language and the story. Even though I didn’t finish that excerpt, with books I’m sure of, I don’t always have to. There are three realities, and the protagonist can traverse them all (this sounds similar to the Dissonance added above. Again, I love stories of the multiverse).
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill – There are just way too many amazing things about this book to adequately put into words, and I haven’t even read it yet. It twists the story of the wicked witch, the stolen child, and the admirable hero on its head, throwing in magic by moonlight, and the “girl” in question looks brown on the cover. Yassss.
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – Thanks to social media, I already know what the allegory for this is about, and I’m hoping that’s not going to spoil it too much. I won’t reveal what I know just in case it is, since knowledge given can never be taken back. Ah, I just read the blurb about the main character’s mother receiving her “treatments,” so it may not be as big of a spoiler as I thought. The last line of it still twists cold through my heart. “This monster is something different, something ancient, something wild. And it wants the truth.” *shivers*
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente – I have a hit or miss relationship with Ms. Valente. Okay, so really on one miss (Palimpsest), and one I’m going to give another chance (In the Cities of Coin and Spice [The Orphan’s Tales #2]). The title itself intrigues me, and while I was a bit lukewarm on the sample, I still have high hopes.
- Prospero Lost by L. Jagi Lamplight – It wasn’t just the silver haired lady on the front cover (though I have to admit that was a draw), but also my love of stories set in modern times with historical, magical undertones. Because let’s face it, those immortal beings are still going to be around, and how would they fit into our current age? Also, the title is a clear homage to Milton’s Paradise Lost so there’s that.
- Dying of the Light by George R R Martin – Of course my favorite author is going to have a place on this purchased list. My goal is to read all of his stories (not necessarily this year, but in my lifetime). Like many of Martin’s stories, this one contains a jilted lover set on a world similar to ours just slightly off kilter. The oddity in Dying is the perpetual twilight, a trope I’ve seen used in Final Fantasy IX with the city of Treno, and in WOFF as well. I’m actually in the Eclipsed Region right now. If there was every a land for me, that would be it.
- When the Moon Was Ours by Anna Marie McLemore – Another moon based fairy tale steeped in roses, silver, and magical realism. There aren’t nearly enough books of that latter ilk. It’s difficult to do. To ride that line between fantasy and reality. Make people believe the wonders are just out of sight. What a lovelier world this would be if that were only so.
- Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter – Something about the title of this sparked my interest. If you couldn’t tell from the moon based stories I have on this list, I’m a bit of a night creature. If you dig enough to peel off the first layer, it’s easy to see how my two favorite series (Final Fantasy and ASOIAF) are quite a bit moon obsessed, too. It’s not so much the moon per se as the night it often lights. I also have this fascination with “night in the city” motifs. What am I talking about? I don’t really know how to explain, but as much as I love bucolic settings in fantasy, I do enjoy urban ones if done to my specifications. I’m not really a fan of urban fantasy, rather I like when urban settings are made fantastic, if you get what I mean. Magical cities a la mythopoetic New York as seen in Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. Vassa seems to hum to that same melody invoking Russian folklore and what appears to be a manifestation of Baba Yaga.
- Locke & Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez – I need to up my comic book reading game, and there’s no time like the present. I was actually in a comic book store on New Year’s Day and saw this along with Saga. I considered picking up Saga, but it was $50 for the first volume! I guess the Saga will not continue. I’m not sure how I’m going to fit comics/graphic novels into my reading cycle. If I’m going to read them alongside my regular four or use them as my fantasy/general fiction. The latter is sounding more feasible unless the elder gods compel me otherwise…
What are you currently reading and/or what’s on your radar to read next? What would you recommend based on my current and recently added? As always I look forward to your comments and suggestions!
<–The State of the Reader: 12/28/16 The State of the Reader: 1/11/17–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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Oh God! I’m looking at your list of books and jumping up and down screaming “Yes!” Ones that I really, REALLY can’t wait to hear your thoughts on are: The Count of Monte Cristo, Gilded Cage, The Blackwell Family Secrets, The Lie Tree, When the Moon Was Ours, and A Darker Shade of Magic.😊😊😊😊😊
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I currently have When the Moon Was Ours, and A Darker Shade of Magic sitting on my couch 🙂 I received a nice amount of money in Amazon gift cards. Enough to purchase ten books and more things!
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Lucky!🤗
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Oooh, both The Bear and the Nightingale AND The Lie Tree sound really interesting. 🙂 I’ll be adding both of those to my TBR list.
I’m pumped for you to get to read Locke and Key. 🙂 Here’s a link to a much cheaper TPB edition of Saga vol. 1 if you are interested:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/saga-volume-1-brian-k-vaughan/1113793156?ean=9781607066019
I really do think you would enjoy it. The characters are fantastic and the art is gorgeous.
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I was just talking about you taking about this! AND just talking about finding it on B&N because I have a $50 GC 😀
I just found those two books when I went to Goodreads! They were in my newsfeed, and I always try to check that whenever I go to the site.
I have the pile of books I purchased just sitting on my couch. I think those are going to be the ones I tackle first in the new year. I’m still reading some things from last year, but I’m hoping to exceed my 20 even though I only put 15 for my reading challenge.
Omg it’s only $9.99! Psh $50. I don’t need hardback.
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lol Right?? The hardcover has some cool extras and I think it said it collected the first 18 issues/”chapters”, but still. $50 is A LOT. Especially for a first venture into a series. $9.99 is muuuuch better! lol
Yeah, I’ve got books from last year I still need to finish as well. Quite a few actually. Here’s hoping we can knock our 2016 books out and start a clean slate soon! 😛
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My fingers and toes are crossed hoping that your friend is okay! I’m sure it’s just the holiday thing.
I broke the screen on my cheap RCA tablet (I seriously just leaned on it and it cracked… sigh), and this Kindle Fire thing sounds really cool. I’ll have to look into getting one of those fancy devices.
That Stephen Hawking book is now on my TBR list. Thinking about the universe always blows my mind. How can something go on forever? We are just a speck of dust compared to that infinite expanse. *head starts hurting* TBR is also on my TBR list 🙂
That price is crazy for the first volume of Saga! I got the digital version for $5 CDN from a Google Play sale.
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Me too 😦 I know she was having health problems, so I’m concerned. Here’s hoping it’s just holiday madness. I may shoot her another message in a few days.
I would highly recommend it! I just don’t see why I’d spend more than $50 on a tablet when I have a smartphone and computer/laptop. It’s just nice to have something in the middle. I can watch Netflix or YouTube, and it’s so much easier to read a chapter of something on my lunch break. I, too, have a cracked screen on my iPhone. I did that not even a month after I got it while filming my cat playing in the snow. Ah me…I’m so used to it now that when I see people with clear screens, its quite alarming lol.
It’s surprisingly easy to read! You can tell that he’s a professor because he not only understands these things, but can explain them well to the laymen. Though I’m recalling Einstein saying something about how if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well. I…sort of agree with that. Some things are pretty darn complicated, and I can’t say that Hawking is explaining this simply. I mean, the book IS over 200 pages :p
If I think about the universe for two long, my eyes will go crossed. Because honestly if it’s expanding, what is it expanding into? What’s beyond the edges of the universe? Then I think about how before everything existed, time went back infinitely forever, though in the beginning part of the book, it does state that time as we know it didn’t start until the universe did, but still eternity existed before anything happened, and it just makes my head hurt. Then I think about the distance between stars and I have to lay down.
I think it’s because it was hardback! I was talking to my other friend Ignited Moth about it and she thought it was outlandish, too. I can probably find it for much less as a paperback. In fact I’m going to go to the Barnes & Noble sight later tonight to see if I can find that and the Hyrule Historia. I’m itching to read about that, as well!
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Yikes! 😦 That would be enough to make me worry. I really hope you hear from her soon!
The cat in the snow video must have been totally worth the cracked screen though. I’ve cracked several screens at work, but the vendors always send me a new one, haha. I’m very careful with my personal phone though. I have one of those rugged cases for it.
Exactly! How can the universe expand if it goes on infinitely? What was it before it was the universe? My head hurts again…
I’m waiting for an Amazon sale to snag Hyrule Hystoria. As a huge Zelda fan, I need to have it!
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It was totally worth the cracked screen. I let him out today to cavort, too. It amazes me that their feet don’t get cold and the come bolting back in. I’ve stepped in snow, and it’s like insta-frostbite! His feel were a little cool, but nowhere near as chilly as you’d expect. I know they have some extra insulation in their little jellybean toes.
I have an otter box and a screen protector now, but that’s just to mitigate the damage. I’m shocked the phone is still functional. The top part is missing some seemingly important pieces, and the front camera is none too good, but everything is still functional. I bought a screen protector for my new Kindle and a cover. I’m not taking any chances with my nice new screen!
I was sitting on my couch working today thinking about how everything HAS to go on forever. Like even if the universe is sitting in a snow globe on someone’s shelf. That shelf has to be in another universe that goes on and on. I mean, how could anything have any conceivable boundaries?? Then even if you go inward it’s the same. You can just get smaller and smaller into tinier universes. It makes my head hurt D:.
I got to work from home because of the weather. Feel free to make fun. It was like two inches lol. Tbh I usually will just go in, but I’d made a doctor’s appointment that I cancelled, and I figured since I’d already received permission and it was Friday why the heck not. One to two inches really isn’t anything around here, and the roads were pre-treated. I think the point of this was I was sitting on my couch thinking about quantum physics, and how I’m not remotely smart enough to understand quantum physics. I read a bit of The Universe in a Nutshell during lunch and felt a little more enlightened 🙂
I found it on Barnes and Noble’s site for around $30! I bought that and the first book in Saga, this comic/graphic novel that quite a few people have been raving about. I need to fit comics into my TBR list now. It’s too much!
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When I was a kid, I had a double pawed indoor/outdoor cat. He walked on top of the snow banks like he had snowshoes. So cute! 🙂
Just 2 inches and you get to work from home!? *starts laughing hysterically* I’m actually more jealous than anything though… We’re getting walloped by a storm here tonight. I’m not looking forward to digging my car out tomorrow. Quantum physics is way over my head, but it seems to me that things can get infinitely smaller and bigger. I keep thinking a tiny atom might contain an infinite number of smaller universes. I’m going to stop trying to figure this out now so my head stops hurting. Ow…
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Omg I want one of those cats so badly. The ones with seven toes? I think they’re called Hemingway cats.
LOL yes, I accept your laughter. Tbh we can work from home any time it’s approved. I was supposed to go to a doctor’s appointment around 10:30 and I was going to come into the office, but my supervisor/coworker suggesting I just work from home since we were supposed to get some snow. 1-2 isn’t too much of a deal around her for most people. My other coworker does adamantly refuse to drive in it though, but we don’t give her a hard time. Some people (or their cars) just aren’t equipped for dealing with snow! I remember one year I was driving to work in much worse conditions than this and there was this poor man stuck on the side of the road in a Civic or one of those small cars. Everyone was driving past him so I stopped and helped him turn his car around. He didn’t realize you can put even an automatic car in a lower gear, which will give you more power/control. That was my good deed of the day :p
You’re probably having the type of storm that would make us cry hehe. I’m seeing all these “I hate snow!” memes on Farcebook, and I’m giggling, but trying not to be too mean. I prefer winter to summer any day, but then I’ve kind of romanticized winter. It has NOTHING to do with the northern lights though and/or wintry looking angels *whistles innocently(
I was JUST Thinking about how there’s an infinite chance that there are civilizations that have lived and died before humans or even the earth/solar system ever evolved, and we’ll never even know about the. Also when you’re looking at the stars, there’s a good chance many of them have long burned out, because looking up there is looking backwards through time, and I’m just like o.O
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That was nice of you! Not a lot of people would have stopped to help out. You’re a true INFJ 🙂 Yep! Those 2 lower gears are very important on slick roads. I use them a lot here…
We got 16 inches of snow last night, with it blowing around from the wind. Oh I believe you. I’m sure you liking winter so much has nothing to do with that at all… *starts laughing at you again*
I’m sure a lot of stars up there are gone now since it takes so long for the light to get here. By the way, the Assassin’s Creed series has a good story about a precursor civilization on Earth that I love (almost as much as Ezio, hehe).
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My SUV does this magical shift thing where it will change gears depending on the conditions. I can’t keep up with today’s wizardry, but I still shift into 1 or 2 when conditions are bad. I had to stop! Poor guy…
Wow. Ugh, the blowing makes is to much worse. Currently all the roads are cleared except for some back roads, but as long as you don’t do anything stupid, it really isn’t a problem.
Not a thing! *whistles innocently some more*
Did I ever show you the Ezio baby cosplay? So cute! I also totally want this Assassin’s Creed hoodie I found even though I’ve never played the game. Assassin is my dream, fantasy job though 😀
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The howling winds and fluffy snow work as one cranky winter entity here. I’m happy they cleared the sidewalks for today. I don’t want to dig out my snowshoes yet…
No I don’t think you have shown me that. This sounds adorable and badass! I loved the hoods so I’ve been meaning to get an AC hoodie someday. I think it would make a fantastic fantasy career. 🙂
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We haven’t had any more snow, but it’s been so damn cold! I think I drove home and it was 19F. I mean I know it’s winter, but come on!
Let me see if I can fine him…
You have to scroll a bit, but he’s here 🙂 http://imgur.com/a/wztKu
I’m trying to remember where I found the hoods. They weren’t even that expensive, and I was shocked, but like most things on the internet, they’ve disappeared D:
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That’s chilly, but I’m still laughing at you a tiny bit. It was 3F here.
Aw! What a cute cosplay family. 🙂 Missing things usually show up on eBay.
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You can definitely laugh. It’s currently around 60F! Seriously…winter around here is so fickle. AND it’s supposed to snow again this Saturday. Nothing special. Just another 2 inches I think.
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Like you, I began A Brief History of Time years ago and have it on my TBR list. I own both the original and the Nutshell versions, so I plan to read the Nutshell version. As for The Count of Monte Cristo being a “bit stodgy” — not if you love a good story! I read it when I was in my 20’s and then I read it out loud to my son when he was maybe 10. He loved it as much as I did. In fact, I read The Three Musketeers and Man in the Iron Mask out loud as well, and we loved them all. Do you remember the TV series Revenge? That was a modern retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo.
As for Life, the Universe, and Everything — anything by Douglas Adams is worth reading.
Right now, I’m a little more than halfway through Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Eric Roth, I’ve finished the first two chapters of A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston, and I’m just beginning Decameron, a medieval work that both Chaucer and Shakespeare drew inspiration from.
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Oh I didn’t know there was a non-nutshell version!
The person who recommended it to me gave that warning hehe. I have a bit of a different viewpoint on what is stodgy and what isn’t though. I don’t have a problem with overly descriptive writing and grew up reading books that I doubt many would give the time of day to now. It’s funny how fantasy has changed. I started reading the first novel in the Shannara series, and I could immediately tell that it was written in the 70s/80s just by the way it opened. Publishing today wants everything to start off with a hook and be fast paced. There’s very little time for a slow building story, which makes me sad since many of the greatest narratives are so. I don’t recall that series alas! I haven’t read Three Musketeers or Iron Mask. The best I can say is I’ve seen the movie of the latter. Methinks I’ll have to add these to my list as well.
Agreed about Adams. I have The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul on my TBR list and something else I can’t quite recall right now.
I try to stay with just reading four books at once, but I just downloaded another for my Kindle I’ve been dying to read. It’s one of George R R Martin’s old sci-fi novels. Really there’s just one story, The Plague Star, that keeps popping up in my ken, but I couldn’t just buy that one short.
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Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Adam’s originality is beyond question, and his use of adverbs is elegant and inspired (e.g., “she was heart-thumpingly beautiful”) — Stephen King be damned!
Maybe I should take a look at Martin’s scifi. I read Game of Thrones and was frustrated so much of the time by characters with one defining characteristic (except for Daenerys — who I’m guessing is Martin’s ideal woman — and Tyrion — who I’m guessing is Martin’s alter ego), gratuitous violence, gratuitous mean / angry / animalistic sex, coincidences that solve problems, children overhearing vital information, predictability, and the pace of a fat man walking, that I concluded Martin is a hack. I read the entire 500+ pages, but I refuse to read the rest of the series. We do watch the HBO program, which I hoped would be more fleshed out by actors. Better, but not as much as I’d hoped.
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Now those are some harsh words for that thrones of thorns and roses book O_O
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I know…and I’m not normally this mean, but I was really annoyed by that one scene where he blamed her for his kind of violent, lustful actions grrr. I’m thinking this book is probably going to earn a 3 out of 5 stars from me. It’s interesting enough to keep me reading, and I’m still on the fence with whether or not I’m going to read the next, but I’m just not that invested in their relationship, and that’s not good for a paranormal romance.
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