I quit that series after Path of Daggers, but I loved the first 4-5 books of that series. I took a couple of vacation days out of college to pick up newly released novels and finish them on release day. I've been waiting for Sanderson to finish it all up before resuming the series. I still can't decide if I'll just read the final trilogy, resume with Winter's Heart, or start the whole bloody thing over.
If it was me I'd start it over - too many characters, too many plot twists and turns. Winter's Heart is epic though, top three in the series if you ask me. The following volume, Crossroads of Twilight, is the worst. Be prepared, but keep in mind it sets up a lot of the stuff in Knife of Dreams, which is very good.
I wouldn't start with the prequel. It is worth reading eventually, but I think it steals the early novels of their mystique. As for Crossroads of Twilight, if it is the one I'm thinking of, it is absolutely the worst in the series. I'm still reading the Dresden files. At first I was just churning through them, but I realized I would run out and be left disappointed, so I've been slow rolling them a bit recently.
I am reading the Guy Gavriel Kay book based on Alfred the Great. I forget the name. It is ok so far. It has been too long since I was really blown away or even really liked something. It kind of sucks...reading to read but nothing will grab me. Why is Abercrombie so well liked on this board? Trilogy had promise but was ultimately killed for me by choices made and overrall uselesness of the whole story due to the conclusion ( which had become obvious but was still annoying and felt like a cop out).
That was probably my least favorite Kay novel. I'd try Lions of al-Rassan, Under Heaven, Tigana, Sailing to Sarantium\Lord of Emperors if you want a better Kay experience. Those first two were some of the absolute books I read last year and rank highly among my all time favorite novels. I think people enjoy Abercrombie because of his black, gallows style humor. He definitely breaks the mold for typical fantasy plots and characters. That series definitely didn't end the way I thought it would when I first started, but I was okay with that. There were a few things didn't get wrapped up or were intentionally set up as cliffhangers, which was a bit annoying. I do love that we have at least 6 more books to sort these things out. Some series you just want to get to the finale to see how it all shakes out. With Abercrombie, I'm just kicking back and enjoying the ride. I have favorite characters, but Abercrombie has a knack for elevating minor characters to major screen time and maintaining the same overall themes and tone. Eventually all the unresolved stuff will get sorted out. As long as Abercrombie doesn't pull a Rothfuss\Martin\Lynch and start delaying his books multiple years, I'm digging the man's writing.
Have you read Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom? It's a different look at Alfred that I enjoyed very much. While he isn't the main character, he has a large roll in the series, of which The Last Kingdom is the first. Some of Cornwell's best work.
I went on a Bill Bryson kick a while back. All very entertaining reads. I get on stuck on reading books by the same author. Most recently was Cormac McCarthy's - Blood Meridien (as suggested by many on a recent thread), All the Pretty Horses, and The Crossing. Three in a row was about as much as I could take as I enjoy the writing and stories, the endings always leave me a little sad. Has he ever ended a novel with any kind of resolution? I just started on the Twilight series because my wife read them recently and made me watch the first two movies. Even though I am not a teenage girl I am enjoying the story halfway through the first book.
Answering in this thread from the 2011 What Are You Reading thread I've read The Historian and liked it a lot. Elizabeth Kostova has a lush, florid writing style, and the story itself was engrossing. Who knew Dracula and historical research could be so much fun? Kostova weaves a plot stretching back quite a ways through a number of scenic European locales, and I polished this off pretty quickly. I bought her second novel, The Swan Thieves, on release day based off the strength of The Historian. Mild spoiler-not plot related Spoiler Kostova's weakness as a writer are her underwhelming endings. She doesn't cheat or take some deus ex machina approach. However after finishing both of her novels, I was left with a "That's it?" feeling after reading endings that did not live up to the first 90%.
When I find a book I really like I go to Amazon and view that book and see what Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought. Browsing through The Historian's list, I came across some of my personal favorites: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Those are my two favorite novels of all time. Some don't like the writing style of The Book Thief, but those two feature some of the best stories, vivid characters, and iconic moments I've read. Zafon is a master of words and has some of the best writing chops I've ever encountered. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson is in there as well. Good book, great writing, but the ending was ambiguous and it delved into some funky dream sequences that I thought went overly long. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer is listed. If you like quaint British ensemble films (which I do), this book is for you. It's told entirely in letter form, but once you adapt to the style, it's a fun read. I'll also throw out Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I read those two, The Book Thief, The Historian, and The Shadow of the Wind in a monster reading streak four or five years ago. I highly recommend Robert McCammon's Matthew Corbett series and Pillars of the Eart\World Without End by Ken Folett. I'm going to cut myself off before I run this 100+ paragraphs long.
I have read the series and don't love it. Cornwell is too formulaic and it is annoying how he managed to take such a brilliant historical figure - the man most responsible for England's creation and survival, the only British king called "the Great" - and made him a weak tag along follower of both the evil Church (bad) and the heroic hero (good) even though the hero really wants to be a Dane. And, again, a lot of the main elements of the story and characters are formula at this point.
I just checked out the Kindle version of "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. So far, its a very entertaining read, and I will look for a few others down the road. btw, the first time I was able to check out an ereader book from the South Montgomery County Library system. Really easy, straightforward process and it appears they have a pretty decent ereader catalog, even for the Kindle. I have two books (Zombie Guide, The Last Stand) on hold.
The Night Eternal - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan. It's the final chapter of The Strain triology. Not as good as the first, but tons better than the second. Would love to see this as a movie directed by its author.
I've had it forever, but I'm just now getting around to reading Bonds of Vengeance by David B. Coe. I'm also reading White Jazz by James Ellroy.
Currently reading "Mission Song" by John Le Carre. My next few books will be cosen from: Power of the Dog - Don Winslow The Kingdom - Robert Lacey Roberts Ridge - Malcolm MacPherson The Seige of Mecca - Trofimov Horn of Africa - Philip Caputo The Rum Diary - Hunter S Thompson Night Soldiers - Alan Furst Napolean Wars - Charles Esdaile
thanks! I think i'll read the shadow of the wind next. I've read a few of the books you mentioned including book thief, time traveler's wife. I own guernsey but haven't gotten around to it.
