The Dark Tower of Bab-il
Why am I not surprised?
I write like
Stephen King
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Especially since I borrowed his autobio/writing guide On Writing from my freshman year Creative Writing teacher and kind of never gave it back, having read it cover to cover and used it as a reference several times. Not to mention he's about the only American author I can name off the top of my head. Pathetically sad - and kinda goes against King's philosophy and all -, but I guess I've just had the misfortune of picking up really crappy books with 'see it coming from page two' Mary Sue/Gary Stu romances that have just turned me completely off of pay-per-read fiction. I know, I know: blasphemy! ...but as much as I've condemned 'avoidance by association', I guess it's just an unavoidable human condition.
The last book I read that I actually really liked, one that - as far as I remember; it was about seven years ago now - didn't have a jarring, horrible romantic plot tumor was IdleWild by Nick Sagan. There was a completely unrelated movie with the same title that came out around that time, which confused and disappointed me. The story has a bit of a Matrix ring to it, definitely sci-fi, but I think it'd make a decent movie, provided it had a good director, actors, scriptwriter, etc. There was a sequel, if I recall - but I never got around to reading it, and frankly, it didn't quite grab me as much as the first one did.
The second-to-last book I read - or tried to read before skimming to the end of - was Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen. Suuuucks! Slow, wooden dialogue, clichéd, and just plain uninteresting. One of the things that irked me most was the odd use of the word 'automobile', as in "I was almost killed in an automobile accident last year..." Who in these modern times - besides of Gedde Watanabe in Sixteen Candles - says that? So formal...yet her main characters are also prone to saying 'Damn!' Reminds me of a Danny Phantom suefic I sporked once.
The last book I tried reading and eventually gave up on was Vellum by Hal Duncan. Honestly, I was riveted by the Preface. Then the main story came in and got really confusing and boring.
Another book I remember reading was False Memory by Dean Koontz. I actually thought it was fairly interesting until the conclusion. I know most people consider 'aliens did it' the biggest cop-out ending of all time, but I'd really have preferred something like that over the 'evil therapist' reveal he went with. Gah.
Anybody got any good sci-fi/fantasy recs that might restore my faith in humanity and printed literature?
I write like
Stephen King
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Especially since I borrowed his autobio/writing guide On Writing from my freshman year Creative Writing teacher and kind of never gave it back, having read it cover to cover and used it as a reference several times. Not to mention he's about the only American author I can name off the top of my head. Pathetically sad - and kinda goes against King's philosophy and all -, but I guess I've just had the misfortune of picking up really crappy books with 'see it coming from page two' Mary Sue/Gary Stu romances that have just turned me completely off of pay-per-read fiction. I know, I know: blasphemy! ...but as much as I've condemned 'avoidance by association', I guess it's just an unavoidable human condition.
The last book I read that I actually really liked, one that - as far as I remember; it was about seven years ago now - didn't have a jarring, horrible romantic plot tumor was IdleWild by Nick Sagan. There was a completely unrelated movie with the same title that came out around that time, which confused and disappointed me. The story has a bit of a Matrix ring to it, definitely sci-fi, but I think it'd make a decent movie, provided it had a good director, actors, scriptwriter, etc. There was a sequel, if I recall - but I never got around to reading it, and frankly, it didn't quite grab me as much as the first one did.
The second-to-last book I read - or tried to read before skimming to the end of - was Pandora's Daughter by Iris Johansen. Suuuucks! Slow, wooden dialogue, clichéd, and just plain uninteresting. One of the things that irked me most was the odd use of the word 'automobile', as in "I was almost killed in an automobile accident last year..." Who in these modern times - besides of Gedde Watanabe in Sixteen Candles - says that? So formal...yet her main characters are also prone to saying 'Damn!' Reminds me of a Danny Phantom suefic I sporked once.
The last book I tried reading and eventually gave up on was Vellum by Hal Duncan. Honestly, I was riveted by the Preface. Then the main story came in and got really confusing and boring.
Another book I remember reading was False Memory by Dean Koontz. I actually thought it was fairly interesting until the conclusion. I know most people consider 'aliens did it' the biggest cop-out ending of all time, but I'd really have preferred something like that over the 'evil therapist' reveal he went with. Gah.
Anybody got any good sci-fi/fantasy recs that might restore my faith in humanity and printed literature?