When I have some time, I am currently reading Ash by Melinda Lo.
Very slow progress to be honest, but I'm trying. Generally enjoyable read though. Sort of interesting take on a classic tale.
Very slow progress to be honest, but I'm trying. Generally enjoyable read though. Sort of interesting take on a classic tale.
Afraid to say that's kind of the last really good book of the series Lanfear, after that it really gets bogged down and lacks direction, until around book 11 or so as I remember. Like a lot of modern authors Jordan suffers from a lack of brevity, a shame because those first four novels were great and set a blistering pace. Strangely enough he did not suffer from this in his earlier work in the Conan books, I guess he must have been struggling with the illness and all.
Someone told me that the books 10 and 11 are very boring,I didnt think that trouble started since the fifth book!that's sad!
Fires of Heaven's allright but they just get slower and more pointless as series continues, in nine or so I think he described a dress over about three fucking pages. I still haven't read the last ones by Brandon Sanderson, as the series just killed itself for me.
I couldn't even make it through Wheel of Time for this very reason.
three pages..for a dress? I prefer Martin who describes in detail the banquets and makes me hungry! XD
well, fortunately the publisher hasn't still finished to reprint some volumes of the saga so I can take a break and read something else!
Last edited:
i have completed reading last wish and blood of elves 2 times...want to again start from fresh
i have also completed reading immortals of meluha,the secret of nagas,and oath of vayuputras..,johny gone down , the alchemist...... a month ago
ri8 now i m reading deliver us from evil of david baldacci...though it has lot of suspense and thriller elements....
i have also completed reading immortals of meluha,the secret of nagas,and oath of vayuputras..,johny gone down , the alchemist...... a month ago
ri8 now i m reading deliver us from evil of david baldacci...though it has lot of suspense and thriller elements....
Blood of Elves done. Come at me, Time of Contempt!
I enjoyed the read, though the style is much different than what I'm used to. Sapkowski leaves much more to imagination than I find other authors do, and focuses much more on the dialogue - often not even cutting a character's sentence, in order to describe some action, but just letting you imagine what happened by what the character says. Almost seems like a play-script at times, with the book jumping from sentence to sentence without interrupting it with descriptions of actions or environment.
Usually it helps in creating a flowing dialogue, but sometimes I found myself hoping for a little more focus on the surroundings. Nothing major, though.
One thing that came off a bit strange, since I come form the game to the books, is how Geralt is, relatively speaking, not as expressionless as he is in the first game. Though come to think of it, in the first game I can't remember anyone smiling, not just Geralt, so maybe it was some technical limitation of the time.
Looking forward to Time of Contempt. Blood of Elves felt like a preface - setting the ground for the more significant stuff that will happen. Be it...
I enjoyed the read, though the style is much different than what I'm used to. Sapkowski leaves much more to imagination than I find other authors do, and focuses much more on the dialogue - often not even cutting a character's sentence, in order to describe some action, but just letting you imagine what happened by what the character says. Almost seems like a play-script at times, with the book jumping from sentence to sentence without interrupting it with descriptions of actions or environment.
Usually it helps in creating a flowing dialogue, but sometimes I found myself hoping for a little more focus on the surroundings. Nothing major, though.
One thing that came off a bit strange, since I come form the game to the books, is how Geralt is, relatively speaking, not as expressionless as he is in the first game. Though come to think of it, in the first game I can't remember anyone smiling, not just Geralt, so maybe it was some technical limitation of the time.
Looking forward to Time of Contempt. Blood of Elves felt like a preface - setting the ground for the more significant stuff that will happen. Be it...
The (awesome!) meeting of the kings and their decision to pretty much massacre the Scoia'tael, or Ciri training under Yennefer. Loved those two last chapters of the book the most.
Last edited:
I read blood of elves as soon as it came out in the US and honestly I had to force myself to finish. The English translation is dreadful.
Reread it in Spanish recently and it's like a night and day difference. It doesn't just tell you events, it's actually a fantastic read.
I'm reading Neuromancer right now and while fun, I have my reservations about Gibson's writing.
Other than that I'm reading a ton of research papers as usual but I don't think that's what this thread is about.
Reread it in Spanish recently and it's like a night and day difference. It doesn't just tell you events, it's actually a fantastic read.
I'm reading Neuromancer right now and while fun, I have my reservations about Gibson's writing.
Other than that I'm reading a ton of research papers as usual but I don't think that's what this thread is about.
University has been neglected recently in favor of The Witcher. I've finished a quarter of Baptism of Fire, and I'm having a hard time putting it down. Time of Contempt was a fun read with a lot of political focus, but the more adventure-oriented BoF is a welcome change, as well as spending more time with Geralt.
My feelings and impressions so far:
My feelings and impressions so far:
The coup attempt in the island of Thanedd was cool. I had this morbid, masochistic fascination as I read how Geralt had his ass handed to him by Vilgefortz - you're so used to reading how Geralt is unmatched, and suddenly enters this cocky superstar and takes our witcher back to preschool. It was a harsh reminder that Geralt isn't invincible, let alone immortal, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Vilgefortz, as well as Geralt's injuries. I remember in the first Witcher game, when you finally meet the errant witcher Berengar in chapter 4, he mentions something about Geralt's injuries. It's fun, now, to know what event he's referring to. Also, it was fun following Ciri in the Frying Pan, as well as seeing her join the Rats - yet another arc that I'm eager to see develop, as well as the consequences of what happened to her magic in the desert, when she played with fire.
Sometimes I have a bit of difficulty following all the different characters and allegiances (the mages, and the different Nilfgaardians), but it's nothing major, and I'm certain it was the same when I originally read A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, I would've liked for there to be a map attached to the book, because too often I seek maps on the internet to understand where the mentioned locations are. Again, a minor issue.
The thing I feel is the greatest "miss" at the moment is Nilfgaard. At first, it felt as if this conflict between Nilfgaard and the northern kingdoms had the potential of being a very nicely-done "grey" war, without a clear good and evil: Nilfgaard, on one hand, is a conquering empire, and on the other hand it seems to bring stability and economical prosperity to its lands, as well as freedom for all races. The northern kingdoms, on one hand, are the independent lands and underdogs against the mighty empire, which instinctively makes you root for them, yet on the other hand they seem quite venomously racist. I think keeping the impression of Nilfgaard as an "Enlightened Conqueror" would've made the conflict much more ambiguous and interesting. But the more I read, the more Nilfgaard is coming off as a cruel and merciless empire, willing to go to any lengths for its goals, leaving in its wake scorched earth and thousands of massacred innocents. It's not that the northern kingdoms are suddenly a noble lot, but Nilfgaard - at this point in my read - is coming off as a much greater evil. That's not to say I'm not enjoying it, far from it.
It's an interesting journey for me, since I know from the first game that the war will lead to an epic and decisive battle at Brenna, and on the micro scale it ends with Yennefer, Geralt and Ciri in Rivia, while the first two "die". However, though I'm aware of these two major events taking place somewhere in the future and near the end, my understanding of them is still very vague, and it's still fun to see how the story leads to them.
Sometimes I have a bit of difficulty following all the different characters and allegiances (the mages, and the different Nilfgaardians), but it's nothing major, and I'm certain it was the same when I originally read A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, I would've liked for there to be a map attached to the book, because too often I seek maps on the internet to understand where the mentioned locations are. Again, a minor issue.
The thing I feel is the greatest "miss" at the moment is Nilfgaard. At first, it felt as if this conflict between Nilfgaard and the northern kingdoms had the potential of being a very nicely-done "grey" war, without a clear good and evil: Nilfgaard, on one hand, is a conquering empire, and on the other hand it seems to bring stability and economical prosperity to its lands, as well as freedom for all races. The northern kingdoms, on one hand, are the independent lands and underdogs against the mighty empire, which instinctively makes you root for them, yet on the other hand they seem quite venomously racist. I think keeping the impression of Nilfgaard as an "Enlightened Conqueror" would've made the conflict much more ambiguous and interesting. But the more I read, the more Nilfgaard is coming off as a cruel and merciless empire, willing to go to any lengths for its goals, leaving in its wake scorched earth and thousands of massacred innocents. It's not that the northern kingdoms are suddenly a noble lot, but Nilfgaard - at this point in my read - is coming off as a much greater evil. That's not to say I'm not enjoying it, far from it.
It's an interesting journey for me, since I know from the first game that the war will lead to an epic and decisive battle at Brenna, and on the micro scale it ends with Yennefer, Geralt and Ciri in Rivia, while the first two "die". However, though I'm aware of these two major events taking place somewhere in the future and near the end, my understanding of them is still very vague, and it's still fun to see how the story leads to them.
Other than reading 5 academic papers / texts every day, I've read Childhood's End by Arthur Clark and I am reading the Ruin of Kasch by Roberto Calasso.
Just finished Tower of the Swallow. Left with a "dafuq just happened?" feeling.
Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the last part of my journey with the Witcher book series, and I'm excited.
Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the last part of my journey with the Witcher book series, and I'm excited.
Things are pretty confusing at this point, so I'll articulate just a few of my thoughts and feelings. I have a couple of "technical" gripes with the book. First, I just want to get this off my chest - I don't like how often Sapkowski uses the single-line style, for what I consider to be a bit of an excessive attempt to dramatize things. Additionally, at times the timeline became very confusing and hard to follow, with the amount of jumping between characters and their frequent flashbacks.
As for the plot - Yennefer is in some deep shit Also, poor Geralt's journey feels as if it was for naught, seeing as the druids burned his only known source of information. Btw, I'm glad he was slightly more mature in this book, because in Baptism of Fire he was acting like a little bitch throughout most of their adventure. And lastly... what an ending! That scene on the lake... mm-mm-mmh! Honestly, I wonder at times whether the franchise should have been titled "Witcheress", with the games having us play Ciri in her early 20s.
Oh. And I have no clue what the hell happened in those last 3 pages, inside the Tower. :troll:
As for the plot - Yennefer is in some deep shit
Also, poor Geralt's journey feels as if it was for naught, seeing as the druids burned his only known source of information. Btw, I'm glad he was slightly more mature in this book, because in Baptism of Fire he was acting like a little bitch throughout most of their adventure. And lastly... what an ending! That scene on the lake... mm-mm-mmh! Honestly, I wonder at times whether the franchise should have been titled "Witcheress", with the games having us play Ciri in her early 20s. Oh. And I have no clue what the hell happened in those last 3 pages, inside the Tower. :troll:
Finally cracked open me first Thomas Hardy book, had them sitting on me shelf for twenty years and just never got round to 'em, quite good prose.
It's quite normal. But if you did not understand what happened in the 6th book I think you'll have a lot of questions at the end of the 7th book, trust me.Just finished Tower of the Swallow. Left with a "dafuq just happened?" feeling.
Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the last part of my journey with the Witcher book series, and I'm excited.
Things are pretty confusing at this point, so I'll articulate just a few of my thoughts and feelings. I have a couple of "technical" gripes with the book. First, I just want to get this off my chest - I don't like how often Sapkowski uses the single-line style, for what I consider to be a bit of an excessive attempt to dramatize things. Additionally, at times the timeline became very confusing and hard to follow, with the amount of jumping between characters and their frequent flashbacks.
As for the plot - Yennefer is in some deep shit
Oh. And I have no clue what the hell happened in those last 3 pages, inside the Tower. :troll:
:wat:
About the scene at the lake, that you mention in the spoiler: i am not going to forget this, ever. It 's one of the best, strongest, most atmospheric scenes i 've read.Just finished Tower of the Swallow. Left with a "dafuq just happened?" feeling.
Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the last part of my journey with the Witcher book series, and I'm excited.
Things are pretty confusing at this point, so I'll articulate just a few of my thoughts and feelings. I have a couple of "technical" gripes with the book. First, I just want to get this off my chest - I don't like how often Sapkowski uses the single-line style, for what I consider to be a bit of an excessive attempt to dramatize things. Additionally, at times the timeline became very confusing and hard to follow, with the amount of jumping between characters and their frequent flashbacks.
As for the plot - Yennefer is in some deep shit
Oh. And I have no clue what the hell happened in those last 3 pages, inside the Tower. :troll:
I 'm currently reading George Martin's A Dance with Dragons, book 2. It 's very good, so good that i can't help thinking about it the whole day, (and night: i even dreamed Dany, twice! ) But i want it to end too, because i have other books to read as well, and Ice and Fire kept me long enough.