Reading roundup
Have been reading fantasy in the meantime. Roll-up for the past month or so.
Alta, Mercedes Lackey
This is the sequel to Joust and, I dunno, I expected a bit more, actually, even though I didn't care for Joust much either. First of all, the pseudo-Egypt-with-dragons setting is something I wasn't wild about to begin with, although the dragon-lore and training techniques are kind of neat. Second, what I like best about Lackey's books is the easy camaraderie and banter of a large cast of lively characters. These books are written in a different style, much more reserved, and the characterization is more tell than show, at least for the supporting cast, so most of that is missing.
I don't remember this from previous books, but she seemed to be explaining minor, unimportant actions a lot: he put on his kilt, but didn't put on his sandals, because his feet would get muddy anyway on the unpaved path, and he needed to take a bath afterwards in any case, because he would be covered in blood from the dragon meat, etc., etc. Perhaps this is a way of showing that the protagonist is a careful planner, in all aspects of his life, but even so -- boring!
And I didn't find large chunks of the plot -- and/or motivation behind the plot -- believable. Rather, I felt the explanations presented as brilliant and "oh, it all suddenly fits!" were a bit forced or no more likely than other possible explanations (not that I wanted to exert myself to think of alternatives). I just didn't buy it, I guess.
Whatever, I'll read the sequel, probably, because it's Lackey, but... meh.
Legends II, edited by Robert Silverberg
I read 2/3 of the original Legends series (in paperback, 2 volumes out of 3), and in general, I think the premise of the book is a great idea -- novellas by "masters of modern fantasy" set in the epic realms they are most famous for. At its best, a collection of this sort is like finding an extra chapter in your favorite book. Only a few of the stories in Legends II were like that, though. Here they all are, grouped by... uh, groups.
1) "Extra chapter in your favorite book."
Robin Hobb, "Homecoming", Realm of the Elderlings -- There is no piece of work that I've read by Hobb that I didn't really like. I loved this novella, the glimpse of the past it explored (settling of the Rain Wilds), and the way it was put together. I think it works (though in slightly different ways) whether or not one has read the Bingtown Traders novels (which I have). There were a few things that were perhaps less subtle than they were meant to be -- or maybe not -- but overall: Just -- wow!
2) "Really doesn't add much to canon, but... OK."
Raymond E. Feist, "The Messenger", The Riftwar Saga -- I actually don't know what the point of this piece was. I've read all of the Riftwar books (but got bored at Krondor: whatever), but I don't find them masterpieces of the genre or anything, so I wasn't expecting much. An OK read, but, unlike Robin Hobb's story, this one just doesn't stand on its own.
Orson Scott Card, "The Yazoo Queen", Tales of Alvin Maker -- another "eh", but slightly less so. Doesn't stand on its own (and not really supposed to, I guess). Beyond the abolitionist views and the lookit!-historical-figure-in-alternative-history-setting thrills, not much there, except maybe Alvin's instance of powerlessness. Not bad, really, but I found a lot of the vignettes in the Alvin Maker novels (like the one about Verily Cooper, for example) more engaging that this novella. And what's with all the Spanish?
Neil Gaiman, "Monarch of the Glen", American Gods -- much as I loved Shadow in AG, this wasn't really the kind of sequel I was looking for. I don't know, perhaps my expectations were too high, but I didn't think this compared with AG. And I really disliked learning Shadow's real name. But maybe that's just me. I actually do think Gaiman should have kept him on American soil. It's just not the same.
George R.R. Martin, "The Sworn Sword", Song of Ice and Fire -- this was the one I was really disappointed by, actually. Not because the story was worse than the others -- it was actually one of the more readable ones, but because I expected so much more from Martin. I *loved* the Dunk and Egg adventure in the first Legends (forget what it was called -- "The Hedge Knight," I think), but at the end of that story I didn't think, "I want to know what happens to them next." Because I thought the story was pretty well over. The sequel doesn't have the same things going for it as the first -- the gutter boy among great ones setting, or the mystery of Egg's identity. There were some good lines, and good descriptions, and nifty history, and neat character sketches, and great twists -- which is no less than one would expect from Martin -- but, as in the previous cases, I didn't think it really could stand on its own, unlike the novella in Legends I.
3) "Huh, cool, now I want to read the novels, maybe."
Elizabeth Haydon, "Threshold", Symphony of Ages -- had never read her before (had seen a few books, but was put off by them being sequels and/or the cover art), but I really liked this one. The summary of the setting seemed really complicated and a bit absurd, but the story itself was really neat. I think this was the only story in the collection, actually, where I ended up caring for the characters, more so even than Robin Hobb's, to the point that I was really hoping for an outcome different from what the described history dictated. I went out and picked up the first novel in the cycle, Rhapsody, at the first opportunity, and am reading it quite happily now.
Tad Williams, "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World", Otherland -- I'd read his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy awhile back, and really, really liked it, but never got around to the Otherland books, mainly because the somewhat sci-fi setting was a turnoff for me. After reading this novella, though, I will probably give the books a try. Didn't so much care for the plot, but the setting is certainly neat, and really, who can resist -- all those Tolkien references, and a birthday party in Rivendell! yeah!
Diana Gabaldon, "Lord John and the Succubus", Outlander -- I probably won't be picking up these actual books unless I'm out of things to read, as I don't care much for time-travel historical fantasy, but I definitely enjoyed the story, even though it had nothing fantastic in it at all.
4) "Read these authors only in anthologies like this, because I promised myself I wouldn't skip stories."
Robert Silverberg, "The Book of Changes", Majipoor -- OK, maybe I was missing a lot of this by being unfamiliar with the main Majipoor works, but I found this novella pretty dull and pointless. But, OK, at least it was about writing a poem in one's dreams, which is kind of neat, given that I sometimes dream about this sort of thing.
Anne McCaffrey, "Beyond Between", Pern -- I don't like fantasies with dragons set on other planets. The premise didn't make much sense to me. I finished it, that's about all I can say.
5) "I'm not even going to bother reading this story, because it's the last in the book, so technically I'm not skipping anything."
Terry Brooks, "Indomitable," Shannara -- I read the first three Shannara books when I first discovered fantasy because... well, I really don't know. I think I was going through Tolkien withdrawal and had run out of Ursula LeGuin. Anyway, I lost interest around Wishsong -- or maybe even earlier -- actually, I'd really felt gypped when I found out that the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, etc. were supposed to be post-apocalyptic mutated humans. So I haven't read any Brooks in years. I gave it a try -- read the first three pages or so and figured, why was I wasting my time. So I stopped.
Overall, it seems like the types of stories that work best in the Legends format are ones set in the somewhat-distant past, with a set of characters completely or mostly separate from that of the main novels. (This was the case with Hobb's and Haydon's novellas, and George R.R. Martin's excellent story in Legends I. Of course, it's also the case with the Silverberg piece, but maybe I just don't care much for that series.) This makes a kind of sense, as removing a novella to the past eliminates the crutches of familiar setting and characters and forces the author to make it a stand-alone work, which almost certainly makes it better.
Dhampir, Barb and J.C.Hendee
This is a YA book with a cover blurb that read something like, "If you like Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love this book." Which is usually not a great sign. And one of the figures on the cover was a very movie!Legolas!half-elf, with long pale hair, etc., etc. So, it's an odd book. It has a cinematic feel to it, not because it's particularly descriptive, or anything, although there's a lot of action, but even more because of how the plot unfolds -- the build-up, and the big battle towards the end, and then the final showdown. My expectations were very low going in, so it actually ended up being better than I expected. Clearly it's leaving room for a sequel or a series, as certain things are left mostly unexplained. It was... a good paperback to have around, since all the other books I was reading were heavy hardcovers.
Still haven't finished "The Well-Favored Man", though I've gotten a lot farther into it. As in, to the actual *plot*. Currently reading Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon, and am looking forward to more of that, and perhaps Otherland.
Alta, Mercedes Lackey
This is the sequel to Joust and, I dunno, I expected a bit more, actually, even though I didn't care for Joust much either. First of all, the pseudo-Egypt-with-dragons setting is something I wasn't wild about to begin with, although the dragon-lore and training techniques are kind of neat. Second, what I like best about Lackey's books is the easy camaraderie and banter of a large cast of lively characters. These books are written in a different style, much more reserved, and the characterization is more tell than show, at least for the supporting cast, so most of that is missing.
I don't remember this from previous books, but she seemed to be explaining minor, unimportant actions a lot: he put on his kilt, but didn't put on his sandals, because his feet would get muddy anyway on the unpaved path, and he needed to take a bath afterwards in any case, because he would be covered in blood from the dragon meat, etc., etc. Perhaps this is a way of showing that the protagonist is a careful planner, in all aspects of his life, but even so -- boring!
And I didn't find large chunks of the plot -- and/or motivation behind the plot -- believable. Rather, I felt the explanations presented as brilliant and "oh, it all suddenly fits!" were a bit forced or no more likely than other possible explanations (not that I wanted to exert myself to think of alternatives). I just didn't buy it, I guess.
Whatever, I'll read the sequel, probably, because it's Lackey, but... meh.
Legends II, edited by Robert Silverberg
I read 2/3 of the original Legends series (in paperback, 2 volumes out of 3), and in general, I think the premise of the book is a great idea -- novellas by "masters of modern fantasy" set in the epic realms they are most famous for. At its best, a collection of this sort is like finding an extra chapter in your favorite book. Only a few of the stories in Legends II were like that, though. Here they all are, grouped by... uh, groups.
1) "Extra chapter in your favorite book."
Robin Hobb, "Homecoming", Realm of the Elderlings -- There is no piece of work that I've read by Hobb that I didn't really like. I loved this novella, the glimpse of the past it explored (settling of the Rain Wilds), and the way it was put together. I think it works (though in slightly different ways) whether or not one has read the Bingtown Traders novels (which I have). There were a few things that were perhaps less subtle than they were meant to be -- or maybe not -- but overall: Just -- wow!
2) "Really doesn't add much to canon, but... OK."
Raymond E. Feist, "The Messenger", The Riftwar Saga -- I actually don't know what the point of this piece was. I've read all of the Riftwar books (but got bored at Krondor: whatever), but I don't find them masterpieces of the genre or anything, so I wasn't expecting much. An OK read, but, unlike Robin Hobb's story, this one just doesn't stand on its own.
Orson Scott Card, "The Yazoo Queen", Tales of Alvin Maker -- another "eh", but slightly less so. Doesn't stand on its own (and not really supposed to, I guess). Beyond the abolitionist views and the lookit!-historical-figure-in-alternative-history-setting thrills, not much there, except maybe Alvin's instance of powerlessness. Not bad, really, but I found a lot of the vignettes in the Alvin Maker novels (like the one about Verily Cooper, for example) more engaging that this novella. And what's with all the Spanish?
Neil Gaiman, "Monarch of the Glen", American Gods -- much as I loved Shadow in AG, this wasn't really the kind of sequel I was looking for. I don't know, perhaps my expectations were too high, but I didn't think this compared with AG. And I really disliked learning Shadow's real name. But maybe that's just me. I actually do think Gaiman should have kept him on American soil. It's just not the same.
George R.R. Martin, "The Sworn Sword", Song of Ice and Fire -- this was the one I was really disappointed by, actually. Not because the story was worse than the others -- it was actually one of the more readable ones, but because I expected so much more from Martin. I *loved* the Dunk and Egg adventure in the first Legends (forget what it was called -- "The Hedge Knight," I think), but at the end of that story I didn't think, "I want to know what happens to them next." Because I thought the story was pretty well over. The sequel doesn't have the same things going for it as the first -- the gutter boy among great ones setting, or the mystery of Egg's identity. There were some good lines, and good descriptions, and nifty history, and neat character sketches, and great twists -- which is no less than one would expect from Martin -- but, as in the previous cases, I didn't think it really could stand on its own, unlike the novella in Legends I.
3) "Huh, cool, now I want to read the novels, maybe."
Elizabeth Haydon, "Threshold", Symphony of Ages -- had never read her before (had seen a few books, but was put off by them being sequels and/or the cover art), but I really liked this one. The summary of the setting seemed really complicated and a bit absurd, but the story itself was really neat. I think this was the only story in the collection, actually, where I ended up caring for the characters, more so even than Robin Hobb's, to the point that I was really hoping for an outcome different from what the described history dictated. I went out and picked up the first novel in the cycle, Rhapsody, at the first opportunity, and am reading it quite happily now.
Tad Williams, "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World", Otherland -- I'd read his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy awhile back, and really, really liked it, but never got around to the Otherland books, mainly because the somewhat sci-fi setting was a turnoff for me. After reading this novella, though, I will probably give the books a try. Didn't so much care for the plot, but the setting is certainly neat, and really, who can resist -- all those Tolkien references, and a birthday party in Rivendell! yeah!
Diana Gabaldon, "Lord John and the Succubus", Outlander -- I probably won't be picking up these actual books unless I'm out of things to read, as I don't care much for time-travel historical fantasy, but I definitely enjoyed the story, even though it had nothing fantastic in it at all.
4) "Read these authors only in anthologies like this, because I promised myself I wouldn't skip stories."
Robert Silverberg, "The Book of Changes", Majipoor -- OK, maybe I was missing a lot of this by being unfamiliar with the main Majipoor works, but I found this novella pretty dull and pointless. But, OK, at least it was about writing a poem in one's dreams, which is kind of neat, given that I sometimes dream about this sort of thing.
Anne McCaffrey, "Beyond Between", Pern -- I don't like fantasies with dragons set on other planets. The premise didn't make much sense to me. I finished it, that's about all I can say.
5) "I'm not even going to bother reading this story, because it's the last in the book, so technically I'm not skipping anything."
Terry Brooks, "Indomitable," Shannara -- I read the first three Shannara books when I first discovered fantasy because... well, I really don't know. I think I was going through Tolkien withdrawal and had run out of Ursula LeGuin. Anyway, I lost interest around Wishsong -- or maybe even earlier -- actually, I'd really felt gypped when I found out that the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, etc. were supposed to be post-apocalyptic mutated humans. So I haven't read any Brooks in years. I gave it a try -- read the first three pages or so and figured, why was I wasting my time. So I stopped.
Overall, it seems like the types of stories that work best in the Legends format are ones set in the somewhat-distant past, with a set of characters completely or mostly separate from that of the main novels. (This was the case with Hobb's and Haydon's novellas, and George R.R. Martin's excellent story in Legends I. Of course, it's also the case with the Silverberg piece, but maybe I just don't care much for that series.) This makes a kind of sense, as removing a novella to the past eliminates the crutches of familiar setting and characters and forces the author to make it a stand-alone work, which almost certainly makes it better.
Dhampir, Barb and J.C.Hendee
This is a YA book with a cover blurb that read something like, "If you like Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will love this book." Which is usually not a great sign. And one of the figures on the cover was a very movie!Legolas!half-elf, with long pale hair, etc., etc. So, it's an odd book. It has a cinematic feel to it, not because it's particularly descriptive, or anything, although there's a lot of action, but even more because of how the plot unfolds -- the build-up, and the big battle towards the end, and then the final showdown. My expectations were very low going in, so it actually ended up being better than I expected. Clearly it's leaving room for a sequel or a series, as certain things are left mostly unexplained. It was... a good paperback to have around, since all the other books I was reading were heavy hardcovers.
Still haven't finished "The Well-Favored Man", though I've gotten a lot farther into it. As in, to the actual *plot*. Currently reading Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon, and am looking forward to more of that, and perhaps Otherland.