What are you reading in 2025?

[John Lloyd1]

I'd pit them at about the same level, both had a similar mastery of irony and humor though Jordan was more dry and arch. Generally Jordan had a stronger mastery of setting and perspective, Pratchett better wordplay.

The two of them each take up a lot of shelf real estate, all of it worth the space.

Someday I should give wot a go.

 

[Parmandur]

Someday I should give wot a go.

The ending is extraordinarily satisfying.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Are you talking about the uncut edition or the normal one?

Uncut. Though honestly, it read more like "expanded".

 

[Parmandur]

Just started Katabasis by R. F. Kuang...already in the first few pages, this may be the smartest book I've read since Jonathan Strang & Mr. Norrel.

 

[Autumnal]

Id be interested to hear. Do be aware the books are rather grim and violent and depressing, even more than the norm for the genre.

I read Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker and history. I do grimdark. But I do appreciate advance comments like that, because sometimes I need something else at a particular moment.

@Parmandur I’ll be interested in your reaction. Katabasis is here in my queue too.

 

[trappedslider]

Uncut. Though honestly, it read more like "expanded".

So the uncut included stuff that got left on the cutting room floor one of the biggest examples i can think off of the top of my head is Trashcan man's trip across America to Vegas.

 

[Thomas Shey]

So the uncut included stuff that got left on the cutting room floor one of the biggest examples i can think off of the top of my head is Trashcan man's trip across America to Vegas.

Honestly, most of the last quarter of the book could have gone and not harmed the story at all.

I mean, I'd been reading King since Carrie, and the difference in "I need space to develop characters to set up the story properly like I did in Salem's Lot" and "I just will go into a lot of side issues that either don't set up anything, or go into detail at a point where its no longer serving the story". And it tells a lot that the cut down version seemed to harm, well, nothing.

 

[Kaodi]

I never actually finished Wheel of Time. I think I own and have read every one that Jordan finished himself, but none of the Sanderson ones.

An an aside, I wonder whether the Wheel of Time is one book series where you can reasonably still say, "No spoilers, please," . Even though it ended over ten years ago reading it is such a big commitment that, like, why would you tell someone in the middle how it ends?