Books, Books?, Books!, Books...What are YOU reading? aka the WoT, GoT, Orson Scott Card thread

[Acturus]

Was given a bunch of books for Christmas. Finished last book of the Inheritence series (Eragon books), on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland + Through the Looking Glass right now, and will start Gulliver's Travels after.

[BadKarma]

The Hunger Games trilogy (meh)

Star Wars The Old Republic: Revan <---amazing

LZR-1143 Series of zombie novels - short sweet and cheap books for your kindle.

[Caiyuo]

Had paused on the first Hunger Games book awhile back and ever since it seems like no one has had anything good to say about it, despite everything before then being nothing but praise. Not sure if want.

[Zeb]

Had paused on the first Hunger Games book awhile back and ever since it seems like no one has had anything good to say about it, despite everything before then being nothing but praise. Not sure if want.

Are you 14 and/or have a vagina?

[Caiyuo]

close enough/no

[Kerberoz]

Any decent horror lately? Not thriller/mystery/terror or pastiche.

[Souj]

aaand finished Potter #7.

Spoiler: show

Do wish I hadn't watched movie 6 before reading Deathly Hollows. The movie made it way to obvious that Snape really was working for Dumbledore the whole time.

[Hyan]

Was given a bunch of books for Christmas.

^Only read one though, The Last Good Man. While I'm about done with the Dan Brown copycats this one was fairly interesting since the setting was in Denmark which I feel is a bit off the radar at least for me. The forced "shocking revelations" about history and science and whatever make me facepalm though. The plot was also predictable throughout the book.

[Norellicus]

About 3/4 done with Sanderson's Elantris

I really like his style; he creates this slow, steady narrative that doesn't necessarily leave you on pins and needles, but still lays down a great number of questions to be answered...and then about 2/3 the way through, BAM goes into high gear and you're like OH GOD WHAT'S HAPPENING but you can't stop because it's too awesome.

Mistborn (Only read book 1 so far) was the same way, really loved it.

[Rulke]

^ Another great standalone book by Sanderson is "Warbreaker" . Granted, its the only book of his I have read thus far, but it was fantastic.

[Zetanio]

I was gifted the Hunger Games trilogy.

Ugh.

The positive reviews and press for this is another case of people who are terrible at reading comprehension.

In reality, the author beats you over the head with obvious bullshit until you see the patterns.

Terrible writing and a definite avoid unless, as was mentioned earlier, you are a teen girl.

[shukudai]

About 3/4 done with Sanderson's Elantris

I really like his style; he creates this slow, steady narrative that doesn't necessarily leave you on pins and needles, but still lays down a great number of questions to be answered...and then about 2/3 the way through, BAM goes into high gear and you're like OH GOD WHAT'S HAPPENING but you can't stop because it's too awesome.

Mistborn (Only read book 1 so far) was the same way, really loved it.

All of Sanderson's stuff is great, all of it. It's like he can't write poorly if he tried.

Also, BGTemp, Warbreaker may be standalone... but i'm pretty sure at the same time, it's not. Hoid is in it if I remember correctly, which means it's tied into Mistborn and Elantris series as well.

[Kellanved]

All of Sanderson's stuff is great, all of it. It's like he can't write poorly if he tried.

I beg to differ, his prose was ordinary at best, and his writing is generally patronizing. Too much spoon feeding, (i.e. Way of Kings) yet quite a few people seem to like his stuff, to each his own of course.

[shukudai]

I wouldn't say ordinary, so much as he uses a lot of modern terminology in a fantasy setting, it seems to be his style (it really gives me a loop whenever I read his Wheel of Time stuff).

That said, anyone who dislikes Way of Kings should be shot in the knees. Minus the early Shallan chapters. I'm also impressed with how he links his works, and how ambitious his project is. Said he has enough to put out 2 books a year for the rest of his life, I believe, though when he writes longer ones it's like 2 books every 1 1/2 years.

[Ardrial]

I've only read the wheel of time stuff he wrote but I really liked what he did with it. I found it much more enjoyable than the previous 5ish books that Robert Jordan did.

[Kellanved]

I wouldn't say ordinary, so much as he uses a lot of modern terminology in a fantasy setting, it seems to be his style (it really gives me a loop whenever I read his Wheel of Time stuff).

That said, anyone who dislikes Way of Kings should be shot in the knees. Minus the early Shallan chapters. I'm also impressed with how he links his works, and how ambitious his project is. Said he has enough to put out 2 books a year for the rest of his life, I believe, though when he writes longer ones it's like 2 books every 1 1/2 years.

About Way of Kings, when I say ordinary, I mean pedestrian. There is little sophistication in the prose. The point is not about the use of modern language. Delivery is just as important as content. While great content will sometimes be enough to carry subpar delivery, by the end of the first chapter I didn’t care enough to continue. The prologue was decent enough.

Showing rather than telling is a far more engaging method of storytelling. In fact, too much telling under the circumstances is irritating. Every single detail need not be spelled out in mundane words, it should all be right there for the reader to pick up according to the writer’s intent. But, obviously people like different things.

It takes more skill to show rather than tell, especially through the written word.
(See Erickson, Bakker, Martin, Abecrombie)

His Wheel of Time work was decent. The prose itself was average. The content was created by Mr. Jordan. I find nothing extraordinary about Sanderson’s work.

Compared to something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Crackd-Pot-Tra...6555530&sr=8-1

[shukudai]

About Way of Kings, when I say ordinary, I mean pedestrian. There is little sophistication in the prose. The point is not about the use of modern language. Delivery is just as important as content. While great content will sometimes be enough to carry subpar delivery, by the end of the first chapter I didn’t care enough to continue. The prologue was decent enough.

Showing rather than telling is a far more engaging method of storytelling. In fact, too much telling under the circumstances is irritating. Every single detail need not be spelled out in mundane words, it should all be right there for the reader to pick up according to the writer’s intent. But, obviously people like different things.

It takes more skill to show rather than tell, especially through the written word.
(See Erickson, Bakker, Martin, Abecrombie)

His Wheel of Time work was decent. The prose itself was average. The content was created by Mr. Jordan. I find nothing extraordinary about Sanderson’s work.

Compared to something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Crackd-Pot-Tra...6555530&sr=8-1

I was with you until you listed Abercrombie. His stuff felt very... average. He was talked up quiet a bit, but... His work seemed almost descriptive overall, if more frank. "He went here, and did this. Then they had to go there, to do that.", not that most fantasy books don't contain a fair amount of that, but it stood out as if everything was step by step without much to hold it together, and I sort of dragged myself through it, where as with Sanderson's works I'm more eager to turn the pages.

One thing I don't care for is over-extensive descriptions, which I find in Sanderson's own works, he uses as lightly as possibly.

As for what Adrial said, I did enjoy Sanderon's Wheel of Time books, but it was hard not to notice it wasn't being written the same as before. He moves things along at a quicker pace, and he made people like Egwene more I think. It's hard to agree with how or how he didn't do Rand, since there were some huge changes to the character in the last books. Mat was the most glaringly similar and absolute different at the same time. Mat came off a bit more childish than he was shown previously, a bit more glib and sarcastic and his vocabulary felt like it changed. I would say Mat was the most changed, not as a character overall, but "Sanderson's Mat" as opposed to "Jordan's Mat."

[Kellanved]

I was with you until you listed Abercrombie. His stuff felt very... average. He was talked up quiet a bit, but... His work seemed almost descriptive overall, if more frank. "He went here, and did this. Then they had to go there, to do that.", not that most fantasy books don't contain a fair amount of that, but it stood out as if everything was step by step without much to hold it together, and I sort of dragged myself through it, where as with Sanderson's works I'm more eager to turn the pages.

One thing I don't care for is over-extensive descriptions, which I find in Sanderson's own works, he uses as lightly as possibly.

As for what Adrial said, I did enjoy Sanderon's Wheel of Time books, but it was hard not to notice it wasn't being written the same as before. He moves things along at a quicker pace, and he made people like Egwene more I think. It's hard to agree with how or how he didn't do Rand, since there were some huge changes to the character in the last books. Mat was the most glaringly similar and absolute different at the same time. Mat came off a bit more childish than he was shown previously, a bit more glib and sarcastic and his vocabulary felt like it changed. I would say Mat was the most changed, not as a character overall, but "Sanderson's Mat" as opposed to "Jordan's Mat."

As I indicated earlier, this is just the thing. I find descriptions far more engrossing than explanations, especially for conveying actions and occurrences. Describe what it is, and let me formulate an explanation based on the information you’ve given. The thing should speak for itself, otherwise it just reads like some YA work and/or an episode of naruto, i.e. “A just used special technique X against B, now here is how it works!” etc

I agree with you about Abecrombie, his work is more...simple. And while I would not place him on the same level as those other names, subjectivity aside, I added his name because he’s another contemporary writer in the genre with decent prose and compelling content (unapologetic descriptions are good). He reminds me of Gemmell somewhat.

And about the WOT, I just appreciate that the plot is finally moving along without 500 pages of braid tugging and such.

[Brill Weave]

Currently reading Surrender Your Dreams a Mechwarrior series book. Fairly entertaining full of the requisite political intrigue as all Mechwarrior books are.

[Malekos]

I wasn't a fan of the Mistborn series, but it was the world and the characters mainly. I could never really get into it, though I read the entire series. Actually, it was very strange-interesting and boring at the same time. I've read Elantris though and enjoyed it, and his WoT books. Someone recommended Way of Kings to me but I think I'll wait til more books in the series come out.