What are you reading in 2024?

[Retros_x]

I commited myself to read through Sanderson's Cosmeres books, because everyone around me nags on me how I can be a fan of Fantasy, but never have read Sanderson. But whenever I've heard people talking about his books it sounded like I would not like them. Bad Prose, hard magic sytems etc. But his current impact on fantasy is not deniable so I feel I have to at least give it a try. Furthermore the whole Cosmere idea sounds like MCU done right.

I already finished the Mistborne trilogy and Elantris and currently reading the emperor's soul. The first 4 books left me with mixed feelings. I hated the hard magic system and artifical worldbuilding of the Mistborn trilogy, but I enjoyed the plot(twists), the spectacular action scenes, the pacing and the characters - although the first book is by far the best for me. Overall the stakes in this trilogy are raising way too fast IMO. It felt like the high fantasy version of DBZ. First book starts outs as a fantasy heist last book ends with

Spoiler: spoiler for full Mistborn trilogy

a new god re-creating the full planet and solar system

.
The prose was nothing worth of speaking at best and at worst filled with repetitions and unimaginative expressions. I literally frowned whenever I read "He/she frowned."

Elantris was interesting because the prose felt a bit better although it was published before Mistborne books. The worldbuilding also felt much more natural and I loved the core premise. Unfortunately the pacing was nailbiting slow filled with tons of scenes where the characters are just discussing the current events and potential solutions again and again without coming to new conclusions. I want a book with Elantris world building and Mistborne pacing and action - Maybe Warbreaker, the next big upcoming Sanderson book in my reading list?

Currently I am reading the Elantris novella "The emperor's soul" and I am enjoying it a lot. The tight novella format forces Sanderson to focus on just a few characters and a tight plot which feels like a much better format for his style at least for my reading preference. Currently my favorite Sanderson story and I am enjoying it. But I am definitely curious about Warbreakers and of course, the stormlight books, which are next in line.

 

[Autumnal]

I haven’t read anything beyond excerpts by Sanderson. I didn’t like them. Nobody is suggesting that the books would give me any more pleasure. In accord with board rules, I won’t get into my real-life concerns, since they’re political.

Since I’m a middle-aged cranky person who isn’t commercially involved with fantasy, I don’t have to care. There are and have been many influential authors I never read. I have Tolkien, Moorcock, Wolfe, and Carey to reread, and books by Hanrahan, Kritzer, Spark, de Bodard, McGuire, Erickson, and a bunch of others for the first time.

When I see reports that make me excited and curious about something by Sanderson, then I’ll read it. I’m open to surprises.

 

[overgeeked]

I haven’t read anything beyond excerpts by Sanderson. I didn’t like them. Nobody is suggesting that the books would give me any more pleasure. In accord with board rules, I won’t get into my real-life concerns, since they’re political.

Since I’m a middle-aged cranky person who isn’t commercially involved with fantasy, I don’t have to care. There are and have been many influential authors I never read. I have Tolkien, Moorcock, Wolfe, and Carey to reread, and books by Hanrahan, Kritzer, Spark, de Bodard, McGuire, Erickson, and a bunch of others for the first time.

When I see reports that make me excited and curious about something by Sanderson, then I’ll read it. I’m open to surprises.

So much this. Life’s too short and the potential TBR list is too long to force yourself to read something you’re not interested in.

 

[prabe]

So much this. Life’s too short and the potential TBR list is too long to force yourself to read something you’re not interested in.

Especially something there's as much of as there is Sanderson.

 

[Zaukrie]

So much this. Life’s too short and the potential TBR list is too long to force yourself to read something you’re not interested in.

Agreed! I've really started abandoning books in the last decade. Or at least series.

 

[prabe]

Agreed! I've really started abandoning books in the last decade. Or at least series.

Sometimes a book has proven by the end to be worth some rough going at the start, but it's not the way to bet. It's one thing if you're going to be reading the book in an evening or two, it's another if you're going to be inside it for weeks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just finished Mexican Gothic for spooky season. Extremely good book. I would not at all be surprised to see someone like Mike Flanagan (although not him, because he's too busy with Stephen King adaptations) turn it into a prestige cable miniseries. Likewise, it's an extremely solid basis for an RPG adventure, whether CoC or a traditional fantasy RPG.

It didn't take me too long to figure out what was going on, generally speaking, but the author did a great job with dread and writing a somewhat Lovecraftian novel that moves Lovecraft's gross views into the mouths of the villains, which feels like a good way to thread that needle.

Due to the specifics of the story, it doesn't lean as much into the Mexican setting as I might have liked -- it probably would have been possible to have the villains be of Spanish birth, rather than English -- but it was otherwise very enjoyable.

And now, because apparently I can't get enough of icky biological stuff, I'm starting the fourth book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Absolution.

 

[prabe]

Just finished Mexican Gothic for spooky season. Extremely good book. I would not at all be surprised to see someone like Mike Flanagan (although not him, because he's too busy with Stephen King adaptations) turn it into a prestige cable miniseries. Likewise, it's an extremely solid basis for an RPG adventure, whether CoC or a traditional fantasy RPG.

It didn't take me too long to figure out what was going on, generally speaking, but the author did a great job with dread and writing a somewhat Lovecraftian novel that moves Lovecraft's gross views into the mouths of the villains, which feels like a good way to thread that needle.

By the nature of the story, it doesn't lean as much into the Mexican setting as I might have liked -- it probably would have been possible to have the villains be of Spanish birth, rather than English -- but it was otherwise very enjoyable.

And now, because apparently I can't get enough of icky biological stuff, I'm starting the fourth book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Absolution.

I've gotta say, as much as I want to like VanderMeer, I ... just can't. His prose rubs me as emotionally dead and moves me to heights of apathy. At least, his fiction--I've read some of his essays, like about observing the wild things around where he lives, and they were really good.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've gotta say, as much as I want to like VanderMeer, I ... just can't. His prose rubs me as emotionally dead and moves me to heights of apathy. At least, his fiction--I've read some of his essays, like about observing the wild things around where he lives, and they were really good.

It's definitely pretty chilly and fiction of ideas, rather than of gripping characters or even a lot of plot. It wouldn't work for me if the Southern Reach books weren't all pretty short and zippy. (The new one is hundreds of pages, but the font is amusingly large -- this is a much smaller book than Amazon makes it appear.)

 

[prabe]

It's definitely pretty chilly and fiction of ideas, rather than of gripping characters or even a lot of plot. It wouldn't work for me if the Southern Reach books weren't all pretty short and zippy. (The new one is hundreds of pages, but the font is amusingly large -- this is a much smaller book than Amazon makes it appear.)

Somewhere in the past couple of years I checked out Dead Astronauts. I read it until it was time to make dinner, at which point I put it down--and after dinner I looked at it, thought about finishing it, and decided not to.

Hummingbird Salamander I found emotionally deadened and thought the narrator had strong unreliable vibes--including through the ending.

Annihilation I thought the narrative voice--that removed, aloof first-person POV, where it's hard to care about the narrator or the events of the novel because it doesn't seem as though the narrator does--was the single creepiest thing about the novel: The events barely seemed to register on her, so they barely registered on me. (I am not going to be reading anything further by VanderMeer, three tries is enough for me to know his writing doesn't work for me.)