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What are you Reading Now?

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I have finally begun Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. I am just getting into it, and I like it, but so far it hasn't lived up to the hype. Often times I have to give a book more than the first third to love it, so I'm not worried.

The first book is Abercrombie's weakest work. You'll have to get halfway through or more to start digging it, as I recall.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I love all of the First Law series myself. However, I almost always have trouble getting into a series just because I have to adjust to different writing styles and such.

Right now I'm reading David Gemmell's first (?) book about Druss the Legend entitled, well, Legend. Since the last several books I've been reading have been outside the fantasy genre, I decided to jump back into this one. Granted, I don't count my Kindle books amongst ones I'm reading. It's weird how I do that. I guess my paper books are the ones that I read consistently while my Kindle books are all read sporadically or on different assigned days (yes, I've assigned days to organize my reading, that's how bad it's gotten).

As far as Legend goes, I've been surprised how dialogue heavy it is. Perhaps that's why I've been able to read it very quickly. I guess I expected a lot more descriptive language and narration, but there's very little of it, at least the parts I'm reading right now. That said, I can see why he's popular. I find his writing to be quite accessible and still very interesting.
 

Ghost

Inkling
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

It's a reread for me and part of my "homemade MFA program." I'm discovering that the author's voice has a bigger effect on me than I thought. It's probably because I'm in an overly critical phase as a reader. :(
 

SDWallwork

Dreamer
Just finished Robert Jordan's 'The eye of the world' and absolutely loved it! Cant wait to pick up the second book. For now though I am reading Brandon Sanderson's 'The way of kings'. Only just started it but so far its been action packed. Looking forward to really getting in to it.
 

Guy

Inkling
The Iliad. I've got an MA in Euro history focused on military history and I've never read it. I'm rather enjoying it much more than I thought I would. I just finished Monster Hunter International and loved it. Prior to that, The Goblin Corps, which was pretty good. It had an ending I absolutely did not see coming. Prior to that, The Blade Itself. I liked the characters but the story didn't do much for me. I never finished Legend because I just I couldn't get past the butterfly shaped axe. That so flies in the face of what I think a battle axe should be.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Hmmm...lessee...

past couple of weeks, reread Dan Crawford's 'Sure Death of a Mouse' and subsequent volume. I like these tales because they are among the very few to go full tilt into court intrigue with a large cast of characters and still keep things interesting. All too many authors these days just don't grasp the sheer number of flunkies and functionaries even a minor court has.

Read an SF tome by Alistair Reynolds, featuring limited authority 'police force' striving to keep order among a large number of space habitats, many with radically different forms of government, with a lot of lethal secrets in the background. This is something of a 'middle volume' for this set, showing these habitats at their height; the later books chronicle the decay and destruction of the lot. I like it that Reynolds is (was?) a professional astronomer who made a serious effort to keep science within the bounds of reality.

Just started reading Zimmer's 'The Lost Prince', book one of a series set on another world. It features a vaguely south Asian style nation on the brink of internal collapse even as it is threatened by major invasion from Lovecraftian style entities. I find it interesting that the human populace at least was brought to this planet from another world by the 'Hastur', who also evicted the demonic shadow princes who'd previously ruled it.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
I recently finished "The Philosophy of Tolkien" by Peter Kreeft which was amazingly insightful and gave me lots of food for thought about how I approach my own world and story.

But other than certain research and reference materials, I'm having a hard time with the books I've been trying. They just don't pull me in. I find myself being bored and distracted rather than interested in the story.

I've tried Soldier in the Mist by Gene Wolfe which I'm not going to give up on because it's one of my husband's favorites and he really wants me to read it but man am I struggling with caring at all about Latro and what happens to him. I mean, there was recently a scene where a person is raised from the dead by a necromancer with the help of Latro but the way Latro describes everything is just so blasé that I can't feel any interest in it.

More recently I've started The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and his writing is just really annoying me. First, it's one of those books that starts out with a prologue that is removed from the main story by thousands of years and is way more interesting that the chapter which follows it. I HATE that. Second, in the next chapter a guy goes to assassinate a king and along the way the author thinks it's a good idea to spend several pages describing him fighting insignificant hallway guard in minute detail. What the frell? Why are ALL authors like this nowadays? Why does anyone think it's a good idea to detail every single movement a person makes during every single fight? That's not storytelling, that's describing the movie in your head to me. Just, stop it. I'm only 2% into this book and already I'm hating it. But I'll persevere because it is a highly popular book with readers and likely will be one of the more influential books of recent years. I just wish it wasn't.

But since I've got a cold right now I'm also rereading Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. I always reread Discworld books when I'm feeling sick and don't have the brain power for anything new. It works for me.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
More recently I've started The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and his writing is just really annoying me. First, it's one of those books that starts out with a prologue that is removed from the main story by thousands of years and is way more interesting that the chapter which follows it. I HATE that. Second, in the next chapter a guy goes to assassinate a king and along the way the author thinks it's a good idea to spend several pages describing him fighting insignificant hallway guard in minute detail. What the frell? Why are ALL authors like this nowadays? Why does anyone think it's a good idea to detail every single movement a person makes during every single fight? That's not storytelling, that's describing the movie in your head to me. Just, stop it. I'm only 2% into this book and already I'm hating it. But I'll persevere because it is a highly popular book with readers and likely will be one of the more influential books of recent years. I just wish it wasn't.

Of the two main series Sanderson writes, this is his best. The Mistborn series is bland. The only reason why people shower accolades on the Mistborn series is due to the magic system he created, and the (surprisingly) nice twist or two.

Why do people write out moves? Probably to achieve authenticity. It's just as bad when authors write "...and he slew the orc horde without incurring significant wounds."

I agree choreographing is bad. It's a result of making every character a clone of Neo from The Matrix. Most authors don't understand how swift melee combat was. Or, if they do, they want to create a sense of tension by leaving the option open for a turn of events.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Why do people write out moves? Probably to achieve authenticity. It's just as bad when authors write "...and he slew the orc horde without incurring significant wounds."

Except, you know, no professional authors write that so this argument is basically a straw man.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
I have a lot of books on my "currently reading" list, but most of them are obscure self-published works. Every now and then I revisit Robert E. Howard's various short stories because his descriptive writing style ranks among my favorites and I'd like to emulate one of the sword & sorcery genre's great pioneers.
Why does anyone think it's a good idea to detail every single movement a person makes during every single fight? That's not storytelling, that's describing the movie in your head to me. Just, stop it.
Then you wouldn't like my action scenes since I tend towards the choreographed route. Maybe this would be better suited for the Fantasy Writing section, but what kind of action writing do you prefer?

Incidentally, I do tend to see my stories play out like movies in my head. I am a visual thinker by nature after all.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Incidentally, I do tend to see my stories play out like movies in my head. I am a visual thinker by nature after all.

And I HATE that. But everyone seems to think that is the "correct" way to write stories these days. Sigh.

I love Howard's Conan stories. Some of my favorites. I think his writing is great. But he never describes every motion Conan makes during a fight. That would be ridiculous.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
And I HATE that. But everyone seems to think that is the "correct" way to write stories these days. Sigh.

I love Howard's Conan stories. Some of my favorites. I think his writing is great. But he never describes every motion Conan makes during a fight. That would be ridiculous.
Sounds like I need to study them more closely then. I do recall Howard tends to paint in broader and less choreographed strokes when describing battle scenes involving more characters.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
And I HATE that. But everyone seems to think that is the "correct" way to write stories these days. Sigh.

I love Howard's Conan stories. Some of my favorites. I think his writing is great. But he never describes every motion Conan makes during a fight. That would be ridiculous.

Well, as we've established numerous times on this site, there is no "correct" way to write something. So if someone cares to view their action scenes the way they want, then that's up to them. I've seen action scenes written numerous ways and if they're good, they're good.
 
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Mythopoet

Auror
Well, as we've established numerous times on this site, there is no "correct" way to write something. So if someone cares to view their actions scenes the way they want, then that's up to them. I've seen action scenes written numerous ways and if they're good, they're good.

Perhaps I should clarify that when I post in this thread I do so with my "reader hat" on. Meaning, I'm talking about these books from a reader's point of view as much as possible. While as a writer I wholeheartedly agree that there is no one correct way to do anything in storytelling, I also feel that the only person in the storytelling relationship that has the real right to critique a work is the reader. Because stories are meant for readers and readers are the ones who pay the writer's salary. So as a writer, I agree with you. As a reader, I strongly feel that hundreds of pages of the author basically describing in detail the movie playing in their head is the wrong way to tell a story. That's just a misuse of the medium of the written story.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
So as a writer, I agree with you. As a reader, I strongly feel that hundreds of pages of the author basically describing in detail the movie playing in their head is the wrong way to tell a story.

I kind of feel like these things go hand and hand to be honest. If you're saying "I don't want to read stuff like this and I hate it" then saying "But do what you want as a writer" it's kind of, I don't know, confusing.

I would hope I write the same way I read. Or at least learn things from reading and apply them to my own writing, whether doing what I think is good and avoiding what I think is bad.

But anyway, this thread is about what we are reading now, not about technique, so let's get it back on topic.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Well, it is also intended for discussing what we are reading, not just listing books. :) I encourage useful critique.
 

Guy

Inkling
Sounds like I need to study them more closely then. I do recall Howard tends to paint in broader and less choreographed strokes when describing battle scenes involving more characters.
I'm a big Howard fan, too. Fight scenes are one of my pet peeves. I put some specifics in mine so a reader knowledgeable about fighting would nod and say, "Yeah, that would work." The trick, like every other aspect of writing, is to not go too far with it. A Matrix-type fight scene doesn't translate into writing very well. It goes from smooth and flowing to heavy and dense. I think Salvatore made this mistake in describing some of Drizzt's fights. After a while I found myself thing, "Oh, for cryin' out loud, just kill the other guy already."
 

Ghost

Inkling
I tried to start A Clockwork Orange but had a hard time getting into it, so now I'm reading House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I'm also rereading some Angela Carter to find a story to study.
 
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