What are you reading right now? (possible RotE spoilers)

[joost]

Just started on 'Hart en nieren' by Jacques and Dick Meerman. A novel about death, meat consumption, cannibalism, gastronomy, philosophy, scientific research on cookbooks and theology. Very interesting!

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I finally finished The Gates of Night yesterday, and with that the entire Dreaming Dark trilogy. So what can I say about that? Well, to summarize the whole thing:

THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY STUPID

Oh, you want details? Alright. Remember what I said about the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie? How a lot of stuff comes out of nowhere? These books have that all the time. And yet, looking book at earlier parts of the trilogy reveal that it was likely all planned out beforehand. How about that: he planned it all out and it still came out of nowhere. The plot elements felt very disjointed too, it never really meshed together. Like the entire first book, which introduces a few plot elements, but as a story doesn't really have anything to do with the other two books. Over half of the third book is padding. Finally, there are a lot of unresolved questions. Look, I can appreciate keeping an air of mystery about certain things. But failing to answer any of the questions raised during the story, that's just bad writing.

Questions such as... here there be spoilers!

Why was Lei excoriated?
What did that medusa dude have to do with anything?
Why did that general (I forgot his name) collect dragonmarks?
How did this further the goal of the Dreaming Dark, that he was indirectly working for, in any way?
What was Jode up to before he got himself killed?
How much does Alina know and how far does her influence reach?
What was Harmattan up to?
What did Harmattan need Jode's dragonmark for?
What does Daine's new dragonmark do?
What was up with that sword sheath?
Why did Kin knock out Xu'sasar?
What on Earth were Lei's parents doing beneath Keldan Ridge? Why were they building an army of warforged?
What caused the Mourning?

There is no sense of closure. The main plotline is resolved. The main characters are supposed to have finished their own personal journeys, but I didn't feel like they have had any real development. The worst off is Xu'sasar. Granted, she was introduced fairly late and she was annoying, but still...

Apparently, Keith Baker has written another trilogy, which, although not a direct sequel, will resolve some loose ends from this trilogy. Well, that's a whole lot of work; you can knit a sweater with these loose ends. But I won't be checking it out. This is the worst of the worst.

KEITH BAKER, YOU SUCK!

I don't know what my next train book is going to be. Probably non-fiction this time. Also, I have about a hundred pages left to go of Again, Dangerous Visions, a much better book.

['thul]

These beings feel the need to be critical and questioning.
Are you sure he (that author name seems to represent the male gender of the human species) does not intend to make a 4th book?

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I am sure of it. This series was always marketed as a trilogy. After writing this, he has moved on to another trilogy, Thorn of Breland, which I understand does clear up some of the loose ends. Apparently it's not a direct sequel, though, featuring a new main character. Just trust me when I say that the execution of this particular trilogy was really, really shoddy.

There's a nice anecdote I would to relay. When I was slogging through the final few chapters of the book on the train, the man sitting across from me suddenly pointed towards the book and said "I've got that one too."
Me: "Terrible, isn't it?"
Him: *Pulls a copy of Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams out of his bag* "This guy's really good. I've got all his books."
Me: "Yeah, I've tried him, but I find his books difficult to get through..."
It was at this point he needed to get off the train. Which is a pity - imagine the conversations we could have had!

['thul]

That seems fairly plausible then...

These beings are somewhat annoyed by the fact that almost every fantasy author stops at trilogy. Very few go beyond that. Aside from those few that go for dodecologies and similar length-series. A truly great story is rarely finished in three books...

[redchild]

You're very diligent, AR

I'm reading Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein at the moment.

['thul]

Is the book decent?

These beings have only seen the movie series adaption, but enjoyed them.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Aaaand I finished Again, Dangerous Visions this morning. In the spirit of finally reducing my to-read pile (Which A,DV was also from, by the way), my next book will be Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz.

['thul]

These beings are currently reading the book "Fortress in the eye of time" by C.J.Cherryh

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Well, I just finished Deryni Rising. As I said before, I decided to check out Katherine Kurtz's Deryni novels after a recommendation by Pat of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. He described them as a mix between Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin, although he also noted that the books only really hit their stride with the second trilogy. That being said, these are my thoughts on the very first Deryni novel:

Not bad. Not bad at all. And certainly something fans of Robin Hobb might like. It's not terribly original, but given that it was originally published back in 1970, that can be forgiven. It's basically mediaeval Europe (more specifivally, the British Isles) with added magic, but no elves or dwarves. At just 280 pages, the story feels a bit slight though. Also, the worldbuilding so far is fairly limited, we basically get to see just one castle. (But of course, there're more books to come!)

One strange facet of the worldbuilding, though, is that the inhabitants of this imaginary world practise some kind of Christianty! God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are referred to and there are multiple mentions of crucifixes. Latin also pops up at times. Hopefully this will be explained later.

It may not have rocked my world, but it was a pleasant read. I'm now going to read the next book: Deryni Checkmate.