I've been very busy lately, and it's cut into my reading time quite a bit, but I finally finished enough books to bother making a new post.
Horns by Joe Hill: This was the weakest Joe Hill novel I've read, but I still liked it quite a bit. The story was very character driven, and the characters were all great, especially the main bad guy. The biggest problem was the structure. The book jumps around in time a lot. It was probably the only way to tell the story, but it hurts the momentum in spots. The other problem was the premise itself, which would probably fit better in a shorter work.
The Adversary Cycle Book 1 - The Keep by F. Paul Wilson: I read this back when I was a teenager, and loved it then. Still liked it quite a lot this time. Wilson has many flaws as a writer, particularly when it comes to writing female characters. He also has a very pulpy sensibility, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's something I didn't notice when reading his books as a teenager. He has strengths as well, including a good imagination and a knack for writing very fast paced stories. I really like the blend of old fashioned Lovecraftian weird fiction and urban fantasy in his books.
Malazan Book 1 - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson: I had been warned that this was tough to finish, but I promised myself I would get all the way through and start the second book before making a decision on the series. It took me forever, but I finally finished it today. If I was going to judge the series based on this book alone, I would not continue. There were a few sections that weren't horrible and the universe seems interesting, but there were too many characters, too many sub-plots, and too much build-up for an ending that didn't deliver. And the biggest issue, the one that everybody talks about, is the massive learning curve, and the general lack of finesse in the doling out of information about the setting. Even during the last few chapters there were new terms being introduced with no explanation other than context to figure out what the hell people were talking about. Reading the book was kind of like wandering around in a foggy landscape where you can make out enough details to keep from getting lost, but you still aren't sure exactly what the place looks like. Some people seem to actually like this about the series, and I can sort of see why. It's engaging in a way to read something so alien, like solving a puzzle. But I think Erikson takes it so far here that he's basically shooting himself in the foot. At this point I'm somewhat intrigued to see where the story will go next, but I hope things improve a lot in a hurry.
Horns by Joe Hill: This was the weakest Joe Hill novel I've read, but I still liked it quite a bit. The story was very character driven, and the characters were all great, especially the main bad guy. The biggest problem was the structure. The book jumps around in time a lot. It was probably the only way to tell the story, but it hurts the momentum in spots. The other problem was the premise itself, which would probably fit better in a shorter work.
The Adversary Cycle Book 1 - The Keep by F. Paul Wilson: I read this back when I was a teenager, and loved it then. Still liked it quite a lot this time. Wilson has many flaws as a writer, particularly when it comes to writing female characters. He also has a very pulpy sensibility, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's something I didn't notice when reading his books as a teenager. He has strengths as well, including a good imagination and a knack for writing very fast paced stories. I really like the blend of old fashioned Lovecraftian weird fiction and urban fantasy in his books.
Malazan Book 1 - Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson: I had been warned that this was tough to finish, but I promised myself I would get all the way through and start the second book before making a decision on the series. It took me forever, but I finally finished it today. If I was going to judge the series based on this book alone, I would not continue. There were a few sections that weren't horrible and the universe seems interesting, but there were too many characters, too many sub-plots, and too much build-up for an ending that didn't deliver. And the biggest issue, the one that everybody talks about, is the massive learning curve, and the general lack of finesse in the doling out of information about the setting. Even during the last few chapters there were new terms being introduced with no explanation other than context to figure out what the hell people were talking about. Reading the book was kind of like wandering around in a foggy landscape where you can make out enough details to keep from getting lost, but you still aren't sure exactly what the place looks like. Some people seem to actually like this about the series, and I can sort of see why. It's engaging in a way to read something so alien, like solving a puzzle. But I think Erikson takes it so far here that he's basically shooting himself in the foot. At this point I'm somewhat intrigued to see where the story will go next, but I hope things improve a lot in a hurry.
