I never finished this book either. I bought it when it came out because it was getting great reviews. I wonder sometimes if I read the same book the reviewers did since, like you, I just couldn't get into it and I didn't care about any one or thing going on. I got to the middle and just couldn't bring myself to continue, which is saying something since I pretty much hated Twilight from the second paragraph or so and yet I was able to finish reading the whole series. This book and Anne Rice's The Witching Hour are the only two books in the last 10 years that I've never been able to finish once I've started them.
I've allowed myself more freedom with DNFs. It's rare that a book pisses me off, but if I'm bored or not interested or engaged, I look at my TBR pile and ask myself if it's really worth finishing the book. The answer is rarely yes.
I quite liked it. . . but then, I like that period and read a lot set in it, so much of the appeal *was* the historical/alternate historical context. My review, in case you're interested, though it's really a review comparing the book to John Crowley's Little, Big:
Yeah, not being well read in that period and not having an active interest in that period means the hook is rather lost on me. The period is one of the reasons I've avoided Naomi Novak's series (that and the dragons). :)
The first 4 of the Temeraire series are actually very good, its mostly about the dragons and the war, and quite well done. The dragons are very personable and standalone characters in their own right.
I would recommend you give Temeraire a try at least - the mannerisms and speech and reasons behind some choices/decisions within period are a bit perplexing to our modern way of looking at things, but no less so than giant flying spaceships that can skip through time :)
My first encounter with this book was some years ago on a long trip with my late husband with the audio version and we both fell in love with it especially as a pastiche to Jane Austen and Regency period comedy of manners.
Of course, we were only able to get partway through and I continued to listen to it for ages and ages when I was driving to and from work and found it worked very well in that context.
It's made a big impact in the UK scoring to the point that a friend has penned a non-fiction historical work 'The Book of English Magic' which references the term Clarke uses throughout the book.
It sounds as though the circusmtances were not ideal for you. I found the same thing the first time round with 'The Historian' which left me cold and then I revisited a couple of years later and took it at a more measured pace and found I loved it. That two was a very wordy, slow book that was as much about atmosphere than plot.
Sounds like the audio is the way to go! I do wonder about The Historian. I can like historical fiction, but what hooks me to each individual book is an elusive thing. :)
I also bounced off this, I really wanted to like it but the prose was too dense, was like reading my way thru knee hi molasses on a frosty day. My brain just couldnt process the story through all the words.
Interestingly I also couldnt read Little,Big. But The Witching Hour (or the Mayfair Witches as my version is called) I really enjoyed and have read several times. In fact it was my first Anne Rice read :)
Oh thats a shame, its not her best work. Queen of the Damned is much stronger.
Mayfair witches became a series with Lasher and the Talamasca based on the popularity she got from the Lestat series, but as a standalone its quite good. Its an early one so her writing style is tighter and less florid :)
I had the same issue. And, similarly, since there are about a million books I'm both eager to read and will hold my attention, I moved on. I always feel like a bit of a failure when an award-winner doesn't hold me, but I know that my reading time should be filled up with literary love, not begrudging page-turning.
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This book and Anne Rice's The Witching Hour are the only two books in the last 10 years that I've never been able to finish once I've started them.
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http://fantasyreaders.livejournal.com/89934.html
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Thanks for the link!
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I would recommend you give Temeraire a try at least - the mannerisms and speech and reasons behind some choices/decisions within period are a bit perplexing to our modern way of looking at things, but no less so than giant flying spaceships that can skip through time :)
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Of course, we were only able to get partway through and I continued to listen to it for ages and ages when I was driving to and from work and found it worked very well in that context.
It's made a big impact in the UK scoring to the point that a friend has penned a non-fiction historical work 'The Book of English Magic' which references the term Clarke uses throughout the book.
It sounds as though the circusmtances were not ideal for you. I found the same thing the first time round with 'The Historian' which left me cold and then I revisited a couple of years later and took it at a more measured pace and found I loved it. That two was a very wordy, slow book that was as much about atmosphere than plot.
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Sounds like the audio is the way to go! I do wonder about The Historian. I can like historical fiction, but what hooks me to each individual book is an elusive thing. :)
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Interestingly I also couldnt read Little,Big. But The Witching Hour (or the Mayfair Witches as my version is called) I really enjoyed and have read several times. In fact it was my first Anne Rice read :)
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Mayfair witches became a series with Lasher and the Talamasca based on the popularity she got from the Lestat series, but as a standalone its quite good. Its an early one so her writing style is tighter and less florid :)
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Amen. Amen to your whole comment, because I totally relate. :)
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