Sounds like someone made a terrible scale mistake with the printing press. "Damn! I forgot to turn off the x10 magnification! Oh, well - I hope the boss doesn't notice!"
Michael Palin's "the truth". Really finding that it speaks volumes to me during this period of my life. The struggles continue. They seem to be part of a life that shows no signs of getting easier after 50. I sort of believed that it would get less complicated after middle age and after accepting the inevitabilities. At least that is what I thought when I was making my way. Well, that turned out to be a hook. Complications are the norm. So much has happened, and I don't believe that there is much peace ahead. What can one do except roll with the punches. And when there is no fight left, then maybe it's time to check out. I am tired, but will keep reading.
I had to write about it anyway and this was as nice as I could be. Back to the land of good books now, thank god. I finished Murder on the Orient Express last night, and started B!te Somebody Else by an author I love.
That was one of the oddest things I have read in quite some time. Your blog is quite entertaining. So why did you choose to read a book that you went into, knowing that you were unlikely to enjoy it?
I really hoped to enjoy it, actually, or at least not hate it. There are fantasy books I enjoy, and it was just unlucky that my friend chose one with all the tropes and cliches I hate. The original intention was to write a straightforward review, poking a bit of fun at fantasy and romance clichés as I went. As it turned out it was an incredibly difficult blog to write because I truly didn't want to be mean about the book but whatever angle I tried, I couldn't make it sound not-awful. And I couldn't come up with a convincing fake review, pretending I liked it. There was literally nothing I liked about it. So I compromised by taking out the book's name. I'm quite sure the author doesn't give a toss what some randomer thinks of a book she wrote 30 years ago, but you never know.
@Tenderiser Your post got me in stitches Love your blog! I only read the first page in the Amazon preview, so I won't comment on the book itself, but it's not likely that I'll read it.
Nicola Griffith's Slow River. Nebula Award winner from the early days of cyberpunk. Beautifully written, great characters, and REALLY interesting structure for a writer to geek out in (three timelines that consistently alternate in an ABA C ABA C format - with the "present" in first person present, the "near past" in third person past, and the "distant past" in third person present - all with the same character as POV.) This is one I'd recommend even to someone who reads zero SciFi.
Just started A Clockwork Orange. Not sure if I'll have enough patience for all the Nadsat vocabulary...
A bunch of teens get raging boners from torturing and/or killing people. ...That's what the book is about, right?
"Hello, police? Someone just wrote a one-sentence summary of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. Surely that's a violation of some stupid law in some stupid jurisdiction, right? RIGHT?"
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss I caved in to you guys and am trying some recent fantasy. Also, someone here mentioned that the hero was a Gary Stu and I wanted to find out what you guys meant by that. I just started it. Sheesh - I thought I had slow beginnings! Actually, I like slow beginnings, but even mine aren't as slow as this one. I'd better rein my horses in a bit to compete in this market. (Not that I plan to write this kind of fantasy, like, ever.)
Only reading The Slight Edge I haven't really read any fiction in a while. Maybe next I will go back to Dark Tower. I vow not to see the movie until I have read the book.
Discovered the other day that "James S.A. Corey" is not one person, but two people, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, and that George R.R. Martin had a big hand in these books.
It is. though I know that Martin was deeply entrenched in Science Fiction before his big moment with ASoFaI books, I must admit that he was not one of the Sci-Fi authors I read or worshipped as a youngster. My attempt to delve into ASoFaI left a bad taste in my mouth because I really, really, really, did not like the narrative voice in those books. It was like having sex with World of Warcraft if World of Warcraft were a dude and I asked "Just not in my mouth, okay?" but he didn't listen. Did I just type that out loud?
@Wreybies ...I'm reading that series too! Do you like it? I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm on Cibola Burn.
Yes. I'm enjoying it muchly. I think what surprised me about Martin's involvement in this series is how terse and to the point the writing is. It's as pragmatic and utilitarian as the Rocinante herself, if that makes sense. The authors are not "present" in the story, just the story and the characters, which is how I like it best.
