Just tried Lev Grossman's The Magicians, and by Hagrid's left nut it was horrible.

Its primary problem was the incompetent writing. Grossman tells, rather than shows. And the consequence of this is that the characters don't feel remotely like real people - instead they're just cardboard cutouts. Instead of being immersed in the plotline, you feel like you're observing the events from a bored distance. And let's not get to what the story is about - nothing, as far as I can see.

Taure put it pretty well:

 

Apparently he's writing a second trilogy in the same universe. It's going to be called Iron Gold.

 

The Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones Series)
The Dresdan Files
The Dune series for the most part I'm not sold completely on the new stuff
The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon)
Old Man's War series
Fight Club

 

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Just finished When You Are Engulfed by Flames by David Sedaris. It’s a collection of stories and snippets about the hilarious aspects of Sedaris’ life, and it is a genuinely funny if sometimes bizarre read. The stories take you from topics like guinea worms to cursing old women, to anthropomorphized spiders, to littering in Thailand and language learning in Tokyo. There are many more, of course, but I wouldn’t want to tell too much.

Sedaris’ voice is strong, and the way he describes these strange and weird moments of life make the book a real joy to read. Mostly because underneath all the laughter (and the book got plenty of that from me) there is always also a spark of insight. Sentences that jump out and make you think even while you are still grinning at the last joke.

Goodreads link

 

Has anyone read Rothfuss' 'The Slow Regard of Silent Things'? It's basically Kingkiller 2.5, centered around Auri.

I wasn't much of a fan of Auri's in the regular books so I didn't feel compelled to read it, but I would like to hear some opinions on the book. If it's incredibly good I might give it a shot.

 

I tried, but couldn't get through it. Essentially, everything that you loved about the KKC? It's not in Slow Regard of Silent Things. SRoST is a lot of mad whimsy on the part of Auri, and I at least don't find it really charming or interesting, let alone purposeful.

 

I read it not long ago, and I thought it wasnt bad. What its not is a book, its a short story, a chapter in the larger story of KKC.

If you like Auri's fae-like madness then you'll enjoy this study of how she works and the realm she inhabits. I wouldnt ever buy it though, not worth spending a full book's amount on it.

Edit: Though of course, I did buy it

 

^ Pretty much this. If you like Auri, then at least borrow it. It is quite charming, in an odd way. If you don't like Auri though, I wouldn't bother.

 

Did someone here read The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley ? And if so can you please tell me (in spoiler tags) how does it end? I keep trying to find the ending online and I cant and I dont want to waste my time on a 600 page book in which I hate all the characters.

 

Spoiler

It ends with a siege of the Annurian capital by the horse lords and most characters dying while saving the world (Which means that the mortal bodies of the two gods have to self-sacrifice themselves on top of the spear building because otherwise humans would lose all their emotions/new gods (which is the goal of the Cerestim general))

Kaden (who has managed to convinced Meneketh the god of slaughter to merge with his body) and Triste (the vessel for the goddess of love) are the ones sacrificing themselves while the rest of the cast helps tjem to reach the top (as well as defeats Balendin who has become a extremely powerful mage), Valyn, broken by the betrayal of his sister in book two and becoming a mad berserker, joins one of the horse barbarians in trying to kill Balendin (as well as having kinky sex) only to end up helping Kaden in the end, after the fight in the capital he joins the horse barbarians. Adare (who has a son with the general) ends up emperor of the Annurian Empire. The Kettral have mostly killed themselves in a civil war (with one of the survivors setting up a drug business which has to be defeated by some of the side characters) but a few survive and rebuild their order.

The rest of the people/characters is dead (very likely killed during the last battle), the exception being Kiel who continues to chronicle human history

It is an okay book/series in my opinion though I like the first one the best while the following books (especially the second) destroy a lot of their potential with a series of mistakes and never really recover.

 

Thank You. Another series similar to (Raven's Shadow ) where the first book is very good but the second and third books destroy the series. Too bad.

 

Honestly, the third book was a big improvement on the second. I thought parts of the second were good, but the end just dragged.

I wouldn't compare this series to ravens shadow at all, and I think you did yourself a disservice by reading the spoilers and not giving the book a try.

I'd rate this about a 4/5, I think it was a bit rushed.

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck is my favourite book of all time, I read it once and didn't enjoy it but on a second reading it clicked and I loved it. I feel like I know the characters personally. Have since reread it several times. Currently reading Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.

 

I am thinking of reading Wheel of Time series. Should I start from Book 1. I was checking reviews of this series on goodreads , they are all over place.

 

Wheel of Time is very polarising. I personally love it, but many people do have pretty understandable issues with it. I'd say try reading the first one or two, if you don't like it then you aren't going to like the rest of the series, the first six books is generally agreed to be the strongest part of the series. It gets bogged down a lot in books eight through ten, then picks back up again for a strong finish.

 

Ugh, Crossroads of Twilight. I get why Jordan thought it was necessary in the series (

Spoiler

for the worldwide reaction to the male half of the source being cleansed

), but he was was way off.

At 14, 1000 page volumes, WoT is a serious commitment. I'm a heavy reader, and while I enjoyed having read it and embraced the story, I skip Book 10 every time I read them again.

 

My opinion has always been that Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight could have been combined into one single book without losing anything of importance

 

Is Brian Stavely's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy any good? I need some decent fantasy for beach reading.

 

I consider it to be very good, I'd give it a 4-4.5/5. Some parts of it are weak, more parts are very strong.

 

Good characters? Vivid settings? Interesting plot?