I enjoyed Ysabel, but it was a different kind of Guy Gavriel Kay novel. It was set it in modern day, which is unusual for Kay's works other than parts of the Fionavar trilogy. This is a direct continuation of that trilogy as two of the main characters from the original trilogy show up as major characters in this novel. Ysabel focused on a love triangle played out over millenia. Two men continue to revisit Provence over and over to bring back their beloved Ysabel in a sacrificial rite so they can once again battle for her love. It was an interesting premise, and the story was told crisply with Kay's usual brilliance for plot development and description. It failed a bit in his character development. I didn't feel like these were well-rounded characters. The main character was a teenage boy who just kind of had powers that developed seemingly in order to advance the plot. The group scenes also felt off, like Kay was trying to hard to introduce humor into their conversation without the best result. This was still a pretty good book, and I read it in two sittings. It seems like the last three books of Kay I read were the ones with the worst character development. It's weird to be done with my Kay marathon. The guy is a brilliant writer, and even his subpar efforts blow away most other writers. Certain themes (old empire\country\kingdom beset by internal strife\political corruption\foreign armies, artists (poets, musicians, storytellers), doctors) occur multiple times, but they always seem fresh in the scope of that individual novel. As I mentioned many times in this thread, Kay's schtick is to study a historical period and base a fantasy setting on that land, its history, its historical figures, religion, and economy. Deckard had asked where I would recommend starting with Guy Gavriel Kay, so here's my recommended order: Under Heaven - A story based on the 8th century Tang Dynasty and the events leading up to the An Shi Rebellion. This is hands down my favorite Kay novel and ranks among my all-time favorite books. The Lions of al-Rassan - The story of two military strategists (one an El Cid analogue) in a medieval Spain analogue. An excellent and memorable novel. I would recommend reading this before the next two entries so it can provide some context for a few of the scenes. This is usually regarded as Kay's best novel. Sailing to Sarantium - a mosaicist under emperor Valerius II (a Justinian I analogue) in Sarantium (a Constantinople analogue), in two parts. This two book series is outstanding. The first book is good, but the sequel is better. Lord of Emperors - Such an amazing novel, filled with memorable scenes. The whole two book series is almost worth it alone for the epic chariot race. Tigana - Relating to a sorcerer-oppressed realm in a medieval Italy analogue. This was a good and memorable read and is usually regarded as one Kay's best two works (along with Lions of al-Rassan). The Summer Tree - The Fionavar trilogy. I liked this trilogy, but you could tell that Kay had just finished working with the Tolkein estate on The Silmarillion. There were a lot of themes borrowed from Tolkein, but this was a better written series. The Wandering Fire - The Fionavar trilogy. The Darkest Road - The Fionavar trilogy. Ysabel - I probably liked this novel more than the Fionavar trilogy, but you really should read that series first so you have a better understanding of two characters. You'd probably also get some events spoiled by reading Ysabel first. A Song for Arbonne - A modification of the Albigensian Crusade in a medieval Provence analogue. A good book, but one that the characters felt a bit thinner than Kay's other works. The Last Light of the Sun -A story based on the Erling (Viking analogue culture) invasions of Anglcyn (which is an analogue of Saxon-England) and Cyngael (a medieval Wales analogue) during the rule of Aeldred (an analogue of Alfred the Great). This was my least favorite Kay novel. The mixing of vikings and celtic faerie magic just didn't work for me, and his characters and plotlines were kind of muddled. I'm reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I'm about halfway through and am enjoying it, but I'm struggling a bit to understand the universal lovefest going on for this novel. It's good, but not all-time great.
I'm going to check this guy out, thanks, Scribo. How does he measure with Joe Abercrombie? Currently reading The First World War by John Keegan. Good book so far- getting through the first 75 pages worth of European generals and aristocrats is kind of a slog but it's important to learn the causes of WWI and to be honest, I had just a distant idea of what went on. It's nice to fill in the blanks.
Just got done reading this (my second time actually): Revenge of the green dragons (pdf) The short story (about 23 pages) is a true story about a New York street gang (the Green Dragons) during the 80's. It's pretty crazy, recommended for anyone who likes Goodfellas. There's talks about making a movie based on it.
They are two very different authors. Abercrombie is dark humor and over the top gore with complex and flawed characters. Kay is more epic stories that are filled with vivid characters and packed with memorable scenes. You get the feeling that you're reading a history book and looking back at a seismic time for an empire through the actions of a handful of key players. Kay, however, doesn't shy away from over the top violence, sex, or language. You might be interested in Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick. Hulick has been described as a cross between Abcrombie and Scott Lynch. Mixing Abercrombie's gallows humor with Lynch's smart ass humor sounds pretty awesome. It's in my read stack, and I plan to tackle that very soon.
Somewhere between 60 and 100. It really depends on what I'm reading and how busy I am with other things. I am a fast reader, but some novels are tougher to devour than others. I probably would have been upward of 100 this year if I hadn't gotten so bogged down with Steven Erickson's Malazan series, which was really slow, frustrating reading. It also depends on how worn out I am after taking care of two small children as well...
I bought this because I liked the sound of the "Big Idea" piece he did for Scalzi's blog... and then Pat Rothfuss gushed about it to seal the deal. I don't have much time for reading fiction these days, but at least I've got that one on my shelf. I read just the first book the Malazan series... I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't stomach his writing style. I don't mind a complex narrative (in fact, I prefer it), but none of the characters ever really came alive for me; they just seemed dead and lifeless. I have the same problem with Glen Cook. I must be in the minority, because a lot of people really seem to like those authors. In epic fantasy Hobb's Farseer/Tawny Man is probably tops for me. I do dig the first-person view. Sci Fi would have to be Dan Simmons' Hyperion books. I'm unfortunately not even reading any fiction at the moment at all; I just started a PhD, and I'm reading 800 pages of weak of dense material just to keep up with classes. But if and when I get time, I'll probably be reading either the aforementioned Ready Player One or the first Dresden Files novel, because for whatever reason I've never read one, and I get the feeling I should at least give them a try.
Farseer\Tawny Man were awesome, but did you read the Live Ship Traders middle trilogy, which came between the two other sets? I thought it was the best of that whole epic tale. Deckard, I have to keep bugging you about this set. We're talking about Patrick O'Brien meets fantasy with sentient ships. Right up your alley. If you're looking for a fantasy audio book, you might want to try The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scotty Lynch or The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. These two are some of the bright, irreverant stars of modern fantasy. Lynch features a smart ass con man, and Abercrombie is darkly humurous with flawed (sometimes fatally) characters.
Just finished listening to this. Enjoyable. Would translate well to a movie and I think there are plans to do so. Now listening to Helter Skelter. Reading Drood.
Oh yeah, I definitely read the Liveship trilogy, as well as the Soldier Son trilogy that she did after Tawny Man (haven't gotten into Rain Wild Chronicles yet, I think I may wait until they've all been released). But although I did really like Liveship, it just didn't grab me quite like the Fitz books did. Part of it, I think, is that I do tend to gravitate towards the first-person voice, which Hobb does really, really well. To each his/her own. I know other folks who like Liveship better, but to me they just can't beat Fitz, the Fool, Burrich, Chade, and Nighteyes.
I completely understand that. I was annoyed that I had to shift away from Fitz, Burrich, Chade, and Nighteyes after the first trilogy but just got really caught up in the Liveship trilogy. If you look at the 6 books centered around Fitz and the three around the Liveships, the Fitz story is more epic. Watching the life arc of Fitz was incredible, and you feel such empathy for him in the second trilogy in particular. I keep hoping she'll return to Fitz, but she has pretty firmly indicated his story is finished. I also haven't read the Rain Wild trilogy. I have the first two, and book three comes out February 2012. What were your thoughts on the Soldier Son trilogy? It seems reviews are pretty lukewarm, and I've heard people talk about it as an inferior effort to her Fitz\Fool\Liveship epic.
First, yeah, I can't really imagine a more conclusive wrap-up to Fitz's story than the one found in Fool's Fate. In fact, I was both surprised and delighted that Hobb provided something like 150 pages of what I would consider "wrap-up story." Others found that aspect annoying, but I tend to think that most authors don't provide enough of a "cool-down" after the big climactic scene; I like to get a sense of closure, especially after six books, and those final 150 pages really fit the bill for me and left me feeling really good about the whole series in general. Much as I love those characters, I think it would be downright silly of her to do any books with Fitz again after wrapping him up so nicely. Soldier Son was... weird. It was certainly creative, and felt like Hobb was really trying for something a bit different. It's still placed in an imaginary world, but in a much more modern age... it felt sort of early 20th century-ish. It was certainly a very well-realized world, with great internal consistency, but the narrative itself became more and more strange with each successive book. Without giving too much away, the third book actually involves a character sort of getting stuck in his own head watching as another personality starts to take over his body... so the narrator is in first-person in the sense that his body is doing the actions, but sort of third as well since he has limited agency. My overall impression of the books once I finished was that they were an interesting experiment that ultimately didn't work out as well as they could have. I may eventually give them a second try -- some books actually improve with a second reading -- but they don't compare with her three previous trilogies in any case. EDIT: PS Did you know that Hobb has exactly two reviews up on Amazon? One is for Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind, and the other is the 2005 film MirrorMask (written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Dave McKean, and in collaboration with the Jim Henson Company). Robin Hobb's Amazon reviews
That's what I used, too. You should know that the problems in there are much harder than the actual exam. It makes for frustrating study, but it's effective.
I am finally done with Hunger Games trilogy. I really enjoyed the books. My only gripe is that it seemed too rushed at the end.
I loved the first book. The second book was as good if not better than the first, but its major flaw was that it was a lead-in for the third book. That was what ruined the series for me. They ruined Katniss's character in Mockingjay, and I hated the ending. I wish I had stopped with the first book, which on its own is a classic.
Cutting for Stone was an interesting novel. It bore down in a lot of heavy family and medical details, but it was an engrossing read. It tells the story of a catholic-founded hospital in Ethiopa over a 60 year span. The main character is a twin born to a nun and the hospital's brilliant surgeon. The twins are raised by another set of doctors after death and abandonment, and much of the story deals with their learning medicine and the strength and fragility of family bonds. The medical details are not for the squeamish. Detailed analysis of bowel surgery, septic vaginal infections, and other traumas are rampant. This novel has received universal praise, and I think it's a very excellent story but short of all-time great. Definitely worth reading, especially if you like historical pieces (30's through the 2004), are interested in Ethiopian history and culture, or are into medical subjects. I'm reading Doc by Mary Doria Russell next. I've read three of her other novels, and they were all outstanding. I've done quite a bit of research on Doc Holliday, and he was a character in my own novel so I'm interested to read a fictionalized, but mainly historically based approach to this very interesting character.
BTW, after seeing this thread and considering the fact that I hadn't read anything for entertainment in quite some time due to all my assigned reading, I finally decided to say "screw it" and read a few novels just so I could remember what reading for fun was actually like. I decided I would try out the first Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher. I actually ended up liking the first one well enough to immediately pick up and read the second one. I'm glad I did, since the second book was even better than the first. They're simply monstrously entertaining mystery/thriller crossed with a mish-mash of fantasy. And Butcher has a talent for keeping his main character constantly beleaguered in a believable way, with every problem he solves creating two or three new problems. It keeps you turning the pages just to see how Dresden finally gets out of all the mess he's fallen into. I certainly plan to read more Dresden Files when I find a little more time.
