What BOOK(s) are you reading?

The goods news is that Canticle is a 5 book series and Dark Elf is at like 40 books. So you dodged a bullet there. The bad news is Canticle's writing isn't any better.

I am currently reading Shadows and Reflections, an anthology of stories revisiting various works by Roger Zelazny. I have been a fan of Zelazny's since I randomly encountered Guns of Avalon at a used book sale in the '70s, so I am familiar nearly all of the source material. There are some fine writers involved, and the book was edited by George R.R. Martin and Steven Brust. But many of these stories are merely vignettes, doing little more than dropping some names and expressing a mood. One of the more interesting stories isn't even based on any of Zelazny's writing, just an odd dream that he told another writer about because the dream somehow included that writer telling the story. If you're not a big fan of Zelazny, you should skip this collection because it relies too much on prior knowledge of his works. If you're a big fan of Zelazny, you will probably find this collection at least moderately enjoyable, but might still be better off checking it out from a library instead of buying it.

ubarose wrote: This summer I learned that my mother loves R.A. Salvatore and has read every last one of his books. So I promised to read some of them so we could talk about them. I'm halfway through Homeland. It feels shallow, which I expected, but I am surprised that it isn't more fun. The world is interesting, but the story isn't particularly compelling. My mom says I should have started with Canticle, so that is next on my reading list.

I got my son (12) into reading the Drizzt books. I still have a bunch of them lying around from when I was a wee lad, and I was really into them. I remember that prequel trilogy beginning with Homeland to be kind of a slog (as most prequels are). I would have recommended you start with The Crystal Shard. The writing is for shit, but at least it's fun in a mindless blockbuster action movie sort of way. I know I read the Canticle books when I was a kid, but I don't remember anything about them.

I started reading Steven Erikson's Malazan series for ... I think the third time? Man, reading the first one, Gardens of the Moon, when you actually have some idea of what's going on is so different from reading it for the first time. He throws so much world-building stuff at you with little to no explanation. I'm excited to revisit the series.

I read 5 of the Drizzt books and I actually thought Homeland was the best of them. As you say, the Icewind Dale trilogy is about on the level of Krull for story depth and characterization. Homeland was a switch, though, as Salvatore went in depth on the drow culture and the characters were much better developed. The next book, Exile, was where I thought it turned into a slog. In the music business, they'd call it "self-indulgent", as he took a really long time to tell a story that didn't really have the nuance of the previous book. I forced myself to get through that one and didn't feel like bothering with any more. But, like any media, YMMV.

Finished book 7 of the Witcher series. Wow, did this story go places FAAAR from the "grr, I'm a witcher and I kill monsters and have sexy time with hot witches" that it initially promised. I imagine polish kids can follow all the political shenanigans since they are probably lifted whole cloth from prussian and holy roman empire conflicts but wow, it takes a lot of work to keep all the duchies and kingdoms straight. Very similar to reading Cornwell's Sharpe series or O'brien's Aubrey series. Ciri kind of takes over around book 4 or so, at least as the center of attention while Geralt really takes a step back in prominence. I'm not even sure what the actual plot was, other than "save Ciri" which became kinda moot once she gained enough power to start saving everyone else instead. Geralt does get an ending of sorts. I can see why the video game and comics focus so much on either his pre-Cintra days or take an alternate track for the Ciri journey. One book to go but I think it is a prequel of the witchers heyday.

Still, it is a quite refreshing medieval mythology that doesn't draw so much on the english Tolkien stuff. I like the prussian influences, reminds me a lot of Warhammer Fantasy stuff. It's also VERY grim, easy to see why a guy living in the USSR and steeped in european history would write it this way. GRRM didn't even go this dark with GoT at the height of the war (though, book wise, he still has "Winter is HERE!!!" to go)

Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man is that good. I was expecting the purple prose of a Tracer Bullet. I got a genre Raymond Carver. Even in prose delivered mostly through dialogue, Nick Charles’ world of decadent immorality and casual violence is sharply defined. I’m not the greatest reader of the mystery genre, but on the strength of the solution and the writing, I could see coming back to this for another read. That seems high praise for the genre.

An interesting read, too, as my wife and I have returned to Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective recently. Nick and Nora get to run around town, interviewing everyone and trying to corroborate and confirm what they can. We are all Nora when Nick explains it at the end.

City of Broken Magic, by Mirah Bolender. It's a promising first book in a fantasy trilogy or possibly series by a local writer. The protagonist is an apprentice monster hunter, in a world where monsters are spawned by broken magic items left over from a previous age where magic was more common. So far, I'm fairly impressed with this fast-paced first book that manages world-building with discrete and minimal exposition.

Circe by Madeline Miller. If you know your Greek Mythology, it is even more fun how things can fall into place from a different viewpoint. If not, it's still all there. I found the middle part a bit muddy but that was because of Odysseus, the first and last third are among the best writing I've enjoyed in recent years.

Spectacular writing also in Agent running in the Field, John le Carré's penultimate book. The dialogue and plot are so dense, I've practically seen the movie that will be made out of this. Nothing new if you've read some of his other works, but what a brilliant craftsman.

Pleasantly surprised by 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. Every once in a while I want ideas before dialogue or plot, and this book delivered big time. In the process of acquiring more of his. You guys talked about it, so thanks.

So I'm reading (listening to) the biography of Robert E. Lee by Allen Guelzo. It's supposed to be really illuminating and really well written.

I'm six and a half hours in to a 23 hour book, and one thing becomes painfully clear. Robert E. Lee is the most boring human in American history. Talk about dull. This is the guy that when he walks into a bar and starts looking around for a seat you throw your coat on the one next to you. Not that he'd ever walk into a bar. He walks into the opera, in his full dress uniform (when he's a Lieutenant). Civil Service job because he's afraid to go after something more exciting. Never got a single demerit in school because he was such a goodie goodie.

So the writing is good and it's free out of the library, but I keep asking myself if I really give a damn about the guy's life. Liberal use of the fast-forward button is helping and I'm playing at 2x. But even with that Lee is duller than a stone.

Of the two most revered commanders of the Southern side of the American Civil War, Jackson is, by far, the more interesting one. That dude was three characters to Lee's 0.5.

Sagrilarus wrote: So I'm reading (listening to) the biography of Robert E. Lee by Allen Guelzo. It's supposed to be really illuminating and really well written.

I'm six and a half hours in to a 23 hour book, and one thing becomes painfully clear. Robert E. Lee is the most boring human in American history. Talk about dull. This is the guy that when he walks into a bar and starts looking around for a seat you throw your coat on the one next to you. Not that he'd ever walk into a bar. He walks into the opera, in his full dress uniform (when he's a Lieutenant). Civil Service job because he's afraid to go after something more exciting. Never got a single demerit in school because he was such a goodie goodie.

So the writing is good and it's free out of the library, but I keep asking myself if I really give a damn about the guy's life. Liberal use of the fast-forward button is helping and I'm playing at 2x. But even with that Lee is duller than a stone.

This is very funny compared to Grant's, uh, more colorful life.

Grant was definitely the better guy to road trip with. His biography went 48 hours and still managed to be twice as interesting per hour. His own memoirs are actually really interesting. I like the way he thought. And damn did he care about his country.

Lee just seems to have been a bit of a wet noodle. Safe, boring, dependable Bob Lee. (Even his name is boring.)