I loved The Name of the Wind. Like you, I had quibbles (though I forget now what they were), but overall it was different and well-written, and that's sadly all too rare.
As for the Carriger series... Quite frankly, the second book sucks, and I'm really shocked that several otherwise intelligent people I know are willing to forgive its major faults because...well, I don't really know why, to tell you the truth. The heroine proves herself to be a total moron. And the rules the author created for her world and for the whole soulless-paranormal being dynamic? Totally contravened, and for no good reason. The book is crap, her editor should be read the riot act, and I hope you skip it, because at least you'll be able to maintain your good feelings about Book 1.
Glad to hear you read and enjoyed NotW! I came to it aware of the hype around it, but it didn't disappoint, which is also pretty rare. It's definitely a universe I'm excited about, which is my favorite thing to discover about a new fantasy book :)
I remember you being dissatisfied with the Soulless sequel, but I couldn't remember why, so thank you for explaining that. Definitely the sorts of things that would bug me. Did you give up after book 2, or have you read on and do the later sequels get better again? I probably will read it regardless, or at least give it a shot, but I'd feel better knowing it was a blip and not the way the whole series is...
I'm currently trying to reread the Name of the Wind. On my first read, my major pet peeve was that Kvothe simply was good at everything, which is something I simply don't like in characters. Music, fight, magic, etc, he does it all. :/ Also, I couldn't get that much into the story, but that may also be due to the fact that I'm reading it in spanish, and translated books usually lose a lot (was a christmas gift actually)
Yeah... one of the reasons I think it took me a while to warm up to present-day!Kvothe is that he is being set up as so powerful and notorious and stuff. I actually don't mind him being good at both music and magic -- the music makes sense, given that his father was a great bard, apparently, and he grew up among all that, and I know quite a few people for whom musical and scientific/mathematical virtuosity go hand-in-hand, so I guess I sort of naturally assume that those are not independent areas of excellence but, like, symptoms of the same, admittedly brilliant, mind. I guess we'll see how the fighting prowess comes about
( ... )
Also, please tell me this fandom is shipping Kvothe/Bast like crazyI don't really know about fandom, but I certainly do. Bast is actully one of the reasons I am invested in the present moment-narrative, in Kote and his innkeep routine and that tiny community. I love the journey, just like you say, but somehow the inkeep thing does intrigue me enough
( ... )
also fanart!mauvais_pliDecember 5 2011, 18:06:38 UTC
I like this and this, and this particularly. Just started browsing again, and this one is also quite arresting, if doesn't really capture Kvothe the way I see him.
I don't really know about fandom, but I certainly do.
Oh good! :) Bast is definitely my favorite thing about the present-day storyline, and I can't wait to get to the part of the story where Kvothe first meets him and takes him on as a student.
and the visit to the shoemaker as a sort of culmination of it - the shoemaker bit and the symbolism of it really stuck with me.
I did like the shoemaker scene... one thing about Tarbean, I guess, is that it felt to me a bit too much like the city was divided into saints and monsters, with the exception of the pawn shop owner, maybe, who was adequately gray.
I quite liked the colloquiality of the language, and the mixing of actual scientific and invented scientific words. For me that added up to a pretty modern feel, which I thought went very well with the generally scientific nature of the magic.
the hero is a redhead singer actor warlock extraordinaire, seriously, in no universe I would say no to that."Heh. I think there might be a line coming beyond which Kvothe will start feeling
( ... )
Yeah, I found Soulless. . .twee. It was fine for reading on the bus and I got some giggles out of it, but if I'd lost it I wouldn't have gone out of my way to find another copy and I feel no compulsion to pick up the sequels. I do share your fondness for MacDougall.
My partners both love it, though, and seem to enjoy the sequels as well. I can see why the series is popular. Just not my thing.
Twee is a good word for it, actually. I can definitely see why it's popular, too, although some of the people on my flist who enjoy it I think of people who are into serious and nuanced fantasy, and it was so much fluffier and frothier than I'd expected based on that.
It's not a series that I can foresee myself feeling passionate about, but i guess I'll keep reading while I keep coming across them and it keeps being fun.
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As for the Carriger series... Quite frankly, the second book sucks, and I'm really shocked that several otherwise intelligent people I know are willing to forgive its major faults because...well, I don't really know why, to tell you the truth. The heroine proves herself to be a total moron. And the rules the author created for her world and for the whole soulless-paranormal being dynamic? Totally contravened, and for no good reason. The book is crap, her editor should be read the riot act, and I hope you skip it, because at least you'll be able to maintain your good feelings about Book 1.
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I remember you being dissatisfied with the Soulless sequel, but I couldn't remember why, so thank you for explaining that. Definitely the sorts of things that would bug me. Did you give up after book 2, or have you read on and do the later sequels get better again? I probably will read it regardless, or at least give it a shot, but I'd feel better knowing it was a blip and not the way the whole series is...
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Also, I couldn't get that much into the story, but that may also be due to the fact that I'm reading it in spanish, and translated books usually lose a lot (was a christmas gift actually)
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Oh good! :) Bast is definitely my favorite thing about the present-day storyline, and I can't wait to get to the part of the story where Kvothe first meets him and takes him on as a student.
and the visit to the shoemaker as a sort of culmination of it - the shoemaker bit and the symbolism of it really stuck with me.
I did like the shoemaker scene... one thing about Tarbean, I guess, is that it felt to me a bit too much like the city was divided into saints and monsters, with the exception of the pawn shop owner, maybe, who was adequately gray.
I quite liked the colloquiality of the language, and the mixing of actual scientific and invented scientific words. For me that added up to a pretty modern feel, which I thought went very well with the generally scientific nature of the magic.
the hero is a redhead singer actor warlock extraordinaire, seriously, in no universe I would say no to that."Heh. I think there might be a line coming beyond which Kvothe will start feeling ( ... )
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My partners both love it, though, and seem to enjoy the sequels as well. I can see why the series is popular. Just not my thing.
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It's not a series that I can foresee myself feeling passionate about, but i guess I'll keep reading while I keep coming across them and it keeps being fun.
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