Subject: I'm interested to know what you think of Graceling.
Author:
Posted on: 2017-02-20 03:22:00 UTC
I read it once, a few years ago, and though my memory's fuzzy I remember I loathed the main character by the end of the book.
Don't think we had one of those yet, and I'm curious: what are PPCers reading right now? Is it interesting? And so on.
I'll begin: I'm reading two books. The first is Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein — it's the autobiographical-ish story of a reporter in Japan; the second is How to do Things with Words, by JL Austion, which is Philosophy of Language (specifically — speech act theory, or "how are we doing things with words").
I'm currently working my way through the Ahriman series of 40k novels, as well as The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in America, a collection of his letters from '68 to '76.
I've been wanting to read his Dream Cycle for a while, and earlier today I finished the Cats of Ulthar. I'm planning on starting a book of short stories called the King in Yellow tomorrow. The first few stories focus on this play that supposedly drives people mad, so that seems pretty interesting.
Right now though, I'm reading through page after page on TV Tropes. Hopefully soon I'll be finished!
Cats of Ulthar is brilliant. You read Dream-Quest to Unknown Kadath, or any of the Silver Key thingoes? They're bloody good, too.
And you lucky ducky, reading the King in Yellow. Been meaning to read that for aaaaaages!
Not yet, I want to read some of the other stuff featuring Randolph before hand, and Nyarlathotep too.
Feb issue of Nylon mag , re - reading the HON series ( yeah , I know ....... ) and online I've been re - reading like crazy , hottopicgirl's badfics , Hermione's Talent ( 1 & 2 ) and Karaoke Night . Those are the main ones but there are MANY assorted other things . I'm quite a reader . 8D
Okay I'll be more serious now. Besides a relatively small pile of Dragon Age fanfiction, I'm also reading 'The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword' by Jack Campbell, whose books (both under Jack Campbell and John G Hemry) I would thoroughly recommend to any Sci-Fi fan.
The one thing I would say is that his writing style is quite different to most other people's I've read is that he doesn't actually describe the physical characteristics of his main characters, we've gone through eleven books now in 'The Lost Fleet' and 'The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier' and we still don't have a full description of the main character, John Geary. But then again, it's hardly felt like things like that are needed. The final thing I will say is that all the battles that occur in his books, especially the space battles feel so realistic, Campbell manages to plot out each and every battle in 4 dimensions and just makes each and every one of them work, he does it almost too well at times because I know I've had to actually close the book and stop and work out exactly each battle is playing out.
If the title of the series starts as 'The Lost' (or, from May onward 'The Genesis) then they all take part in the same universe and I'd recommend reading through 'The Lost Fleet' before reading 'The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier' or 'The Lost Stars', 'Stark's War' is probably the least futuristic of all the books Campbell has written and the majority of it takes place on the Moon, whilst 'JAG in Space' is a lot more about the day to day running of a spaceship mixed in with some really interesting legal drama.
*ahem* I think I may have got a little distracted, oh well.
Storme Hawk
Reading them.
--Key is reading everything
There is the cruising through Whateley Academy, MLP fanfics, many other fanfics actally, fantasy series, webcomics, mangas... Kinda busy, and I'm not accouting for work, games, TV series...
The PPC message board, I wouldn't be able to post otherwise......
Oh, you mean other stuff. Right. Yes. I have a pile beside my bed that I'm working my way through, A Dance with Dragons I'm about half way through. Below that I've got Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre with a bookmark in Chapter Two. Then below that is The Citizen of the World by Oliver Goldsmith.
Finished Kraken, by China Mieville a week back. It was quite good - very sort of bizarre look on urban fantasy. I'll admit, it deflates a bit towards the end - the bizarreness sort of wears off slowly, and it just kind of turns into a more generic urban fantasy. A good one, mind you, with really interesting ideas on magic and reality and such, but it's a bit disappointing considering the start. Made me expect a bit much, perhaps.
It also has the first positive portrayal of a cultist character I've ever seen! One've the main characters, part of a cult that worships squids and such. He's entirely faithful with his beliefs, and yet is still shown as a totally reasonable, relateable person!
I'll appreciate him for as long as possible, considering he's also most likely the last positive portrayal of a cultist character I'll see, too.
I also recently got The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway. It's a bit of a mess, as genres go, but it can be generally summarised as an absurdly comedic post-apocalypse kind of thing. Which is probably very inaccurate, anyhow.
I've not even got halfway, but, I mean, it's surprised me, it really has. For all the surreal humour satirising this and that and bureaucracy and such, it's actually quite genuinely sweet at times. I note this in particular, because these kinds of stories with these kinds of humour usually sway in a more bitter, distant direction, y'know? And it's damn bloody funny as bollocks, too.
Aaaand, just today, in fact, relating to a school project thing I've got, one've my teachers lent me a copy of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The script. Book. Scriptbook. Dunno what that's called.
Only actually read a few pages into it, on account of having just gotten it, but it's bloody funny as hell, too. The very opening joke is so well delivered, and escalates perfectly. Brilliant stuff!
P'raps I should stop being a filthy plebian animal and actually watch the play but, er. Pssssh.
Your liking them is recommendation enough (and you've mentioned so much great-sounding stuff to me that I need to start making a dent in the pile. And books are easier than TV shows or stealing my sister's Lovecraft tome). Plus, I need more touching surreal satire, because that is the life I live. Do you know cultists in real life, or are you interested in positive portrayals because it's an unusual angle, or. . .?
Actually, not Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, because I've already read it -- yes, read the script; I'm extremely classy and I can get away with not having seen it onstage so worry not, young one! Your teacher is very cool for having a project related to it.
--Key is an actor; she's the opposite of a person
I mean, I've probably bumped into one or gotten angry at one with a loud car, at some point, but I've not ever met a cultist or any some such. I'm fascinated by that positive portrayal, because, as you said - it's a bloody unusual angle. These types of stories - and pretty much all involving cultists in general - have such a rigid archetype for cultists. Always villainous and mysterious and darkly cloaked and whatnot. And not only is this a chap who is portrayed entirely reasonably, his status as a cultist adds an entire other facet to his personality! He's driven by his faith, has a full, relateable history relating to his faith and why he has it, and you just have little moments of him praying or recalling verses or whatnot. And you can look at him and you can not only see how he became part of that cult, but you can relate entirely with it. He's a human!
I mean, I always was one for representing characters that don't fit your standard archetypes and such, so it certainly appealed to me!
And, huzzah! I'm classy! I have class! I'll celebrate this with really cheap pizza delivered to my door! And my teacher doesn't got any projects relating to it (but she is pretty cool,) it relates to a major work thingo I'm doing. Writing a story with elements of absurdism and such.
And, you know, I actually just read that section you're referencing, today, and it struck me, that part. Bloody hell.
As anyone in the lounge or on the wiki already knows, I just finished Watership Down by Richard Adams recently. It was rather better than I was expecting. I've never seen the movie, but I didn't find the violence to be too overwrought in the text. Then again, I am a zookeeper, and am used to seeing animal violence regularly, so not sure if that would bother other folks. Either way, I found the characterization of the individual rabbits and their collective culture to a very believable representation of how a prey species might behave, which importantly helped keep the story from feeling dated, despite its age. It was a fairly quick read, too, so I definitely recommend it to anyone who can stomach tooth-and-nail rabbit battles.
I'm still in the middle of Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One. I'm not very far yet, but I had to watch the movie version for Senior Synthesis back in high school, so I already know most of the major points. It's a long, sprawling story about a little British boy growing up in South Africa right at the start of World War II, his experience shaped by dealing with nationalism-based hatred from the Nazi-sympathetic Boers (local white people) while also observing how native black people are treated by both. It's a good theme, obviously, but I have to warn for not just vulgar language, but extremely frequent use of the k-word. I also don't know if any sex scenes are coming up later, since I'm only up to Peekay being eleven years old. (I don't recall any from the movie, but the movie cut stuff from the book, and I may just have forgotten any that were.)
—doctorlit is aiming for a biography on Saint Ignatius next; he likes to mix things up with a teeny dose of non-fiction, ever-so-rarely
Thanks for the recommendation!
I remember reading Watership Down years ago and being impressed by the characters and worldbuilding; it's super cool to hear its accuracy verified by an actual zookeeper!
--Key
Specifically, I just brought home and began reading five books, while I was already in the middle of Lord of the Rings (I swear I'll finish it eventually), three essays on Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (for school), a giant essay on Euripides' Medea (school again), Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (for school and fun; I love it, and rereading Crooked Kingdom (the sequel to Six of Crows. I like it, okay?).
The library haul:
-Making Money, by Terry Prachett. I've been excited to read Prachett, because a bunch of my friends like him, but. . . this is bad; I'll probably put it down. It's about banking. Not in a good way. I'm choosing to assume his writing is hit-or-miss?
-Siege and Storm, by Leigh Bardugo. This is also bad. I'm reading it because it's part of the series Leigh Bardugo wrote before Six of Crows and set in the same world. I want to write fanfic set in this world, and the wiki isn't well-maintained, so: melodramatic romance with a limp, uninteresting protagonist, here I come.
-Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. Haven't gotten far enough to judge yet. Haven't gotten far enough to know what it's about yet. It's been recommended to me constantly since seventh grade; it's about time I gave it a chance.
-Flight, by Sherman Alexie. This is so excellent.
-Black Butler, volume 22. Before you judge me, remember that the manga and anime are different, and I can't stand the anime.
Plus a couple of fanfic (a Six of Crows modern AU and some of Miss Cam's old LOTR slash), sundry webcomics, and PPC stuff as it's published (of course).
That's it for active reading; there's some other stuff I dip into now and again, though.
--Key has a problem. She's working on it but this week is not her week.
I just searched up Flight, and it looks bloody brilliant! That sort of structure reminds me a little bit, just a touch, of Slaughterhouse 5. A bit. Just a tad. And if you haven't read that, mate. You got to read that.
Oh, aw, mate. Is there anything else about it you recommend that I don't want to search up because I'm afraid of spoilers?
Also, I haven't read much of Pratchett, and what I have read has mainly been his earlier works. I have heard, here and there, that his later stuff (which includes Making Money) isn't all too good, but, then, I wouldn't know. Er. Not having read it.
What were the problems with it, might I ask? I've only really seen his good writing, so I'm curious as to what, exactly, it was he did to bugger it up, y'know?
And just got higher.
--Key
You could say the structure is like Octavia Butler's Kindred. You could say it's like that book about a time-traveling cat I read when I was ten. This is not a book with an innovative structure, but it's so good. I'm not sure it's spoilable, because most of it is in the character and emotional impact. . . like, the author isn't trying to surprise you with anything. Just, Sherman Alexie is a good writer and if one of his books falls under my nose (or in the vicinity thereof), I will read it.
Making Money. . . well, it has two plots. One is a tense, thrilling tale of assassination, scheming, and corruption. It gets almost no space. The other is the story of a brilliant, successful man's idea for taking the local currency off the gold standard. No detail is spared. While I appreciate the idea, there is a reason bank fantasy novels aren't a thing. Also, I don't know. There's something irritating about the book. I might finish it just so I can put my finger on what it is.
--Key
I mean, apparently it uses humour and stuff, too. And I bloody leap on that stuff like a female mosquito. And instead of laying eggs I just laugh.
Pffffft. I'm sure that concept could be made interesting. It, er. Is a bloody shame, then, that it didn't! The idea of the Discworld actively going through technological and social development, as the series progressed, fascinated me. Bit of a shame that one part was buggered.
Do tell, if you put together what it is!
The three Discworld books I've read are The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Men at Arms, and I enjoyed the three of them thoroughly. And recommend them and all.
I wish I had time to read as many books as you. Alas, for the sake of time.
I should probably get around to reading Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom. I read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and all I remember was loving the world it was set in. I remember liking Graceling but that was a while back. There are too many fantasy books which I read for the base idea and worldbuilding and end up forgetting things such as characters, and plot.
The Black Butler manga is excellent. Especially the Zombie Titanic arc, or whatever it's called.
Essays are being not-written as I write this. But I'm slowly being sucked into Siege and Storm. . . it's weird, so much of the writing is pretentious and unrefined, and I go in being annoyed by every single one of the characters (except the Darkling,and that's just because he's so emphatically not Edward Cullen) and the ridiculous collect-'em-all approach to monster-hunting, but after reading a couple chapters I forget all that and find myself wringing my hands with worry over the fate of Alina and Mal's relationship and daydreaming about studying Tidemaking out by the lake. Sigh.
Six of Crows/ Crooked Kingdom has a different kind of worldbuilding from the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Shadow and Bone has a lot more development in the shiny, epic, heroic types of departments (how does the royalty live, how are battles fought,what can be done with magic, where do the monsters live, etc.), while Six of Crows deals mostly with the nitty-gritty, borderline-realistic issues (how do cities respond to epidemics, where does the food come from, how does the criminal justice system work, what human rights are systematically being violated, what's it like to live with a disability, etc. It's so great). So I'd say if you like the worldbuilding, you should read it. It's even got conlangs! Most of which are a mangled form of Dutch!
Squee, that Black Butler arc is my favorite too! I remember the first time I read it, when I reaized theirship was a stand-in for the Titanic, I almost put it down, it seemed so ridiculous, but I'm so glad I kept reading because, augh, that was beautiful on so many levels (I kind of want to start gushing about it now, but you know how great it is and anything else would be spoilers for the people innocently reading our conversation).
--Key does not need to calm down
I read it once, a few years ago, and though my memory's fuzzy I remember I loathed the main character by the end of the book.
I'm only a few chapters in, but she's very irritating. I would keep giving it a chance and hope for substantial character development, but based on what you said, I don't have a lot of hope.
I'm not going to call her a Sue, but I feel like the author is using sexism in a way typical of Suethors. The main character is Extra-Special Cool for being in the army and being allowed to do important things when usually women can't, but there's no sense that this was something she had to struggle to overcome -- it just gets mentioned in passing to highlight how unique her abilities are/the importance of her job/how privileged she is as the king's niece (?). Maybe this changes later in the book. . . but all the rising action suggests that the book's focus will be on the intrigue surrounding a kidnapping and the main character's love life. I suspect it will only be ever treated as another feather in the cap of this bratty superpowered princess.
Heh, you know it's badly done when I'm thinking it's ridiculous for having a magical power to be so painful. Magical oppression is one of my favorite tropes. And technically speaking, I can find nothing wrong with its portrayal here -- it's not like it doesn't affect her and only exists to give her a tragic backstory -- but for some reason it falls quite flat. Maybe I'm just spoiled because Six of Crows does it so well. . .
Or maybe I just don't like this book. Maybe I just don't care about any of the characters. Yeah, that's probably it.
--Key
Novel: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, which came recommended to me by several people. It's not my usual fare, since it's historical fiction about the start of World War I, but it's very good. All the characters are interesting, even when they're not being particularly nice, and you get to sympathize with multiple points of view from people of various nationalities. Also, this may or may not be a selling point for you, but a surprising amount of nookie takes place. I think it's fun—it's kinda detailed, but not TOO detailed, and real people fall in love and/or have sex, so it fits in with Follett's meticulous character-writing—but nobody told me about it ahead of time, and I think it should probably be mentioned.
Fanfic: "Saving the Dragonborn" by SaxyGirl - Skyrim - Farkas/F!Dragonborn. A light, fluffy, fun series of (mis)adventures with my favorite character and a perfectly tolerable, nay, likeable OC. Raelynn is clueless, hapless, and a little bit hopeless, but her heart's in the right place, and she's funny. ^_^ The SPaG isn't perfect and the characterization of both parties is a little inconsistent, IMO (exacerbated somewhat by the episodes being told out of chronological order), but I had fun reading the whole thing and I'll go back for more if the author updates.
(Out of curiosity, fellow Dovahkiin: Got a favorite twin? Farkas or Vilkas, and why?)
~Neshomeh has been on a serious Skyrim bender lately.
They're a bit too flat for my tastes and their questline is boring. I kinda prefer Mjoll; it's a shame most of the stuff concerning her was cut/never implemented, IIRC.
And yeah, it bugged me that she didn't seem to have any purpose besides that one miscellaneous go-fetch quest. I wanted to take out the Thieves' Guild and/or the Blackbriars with her and clean up Riften, but alas. I guess the need to have Riften change hands for the war would've superseded anything like that.
Disagree about the Companions, obviously. {= ) Their conflict as a whole is more internal than external, though, very existential-angst-y. I can imagine that it might be harder to approach if you're not one to latch onto that sort of thing like I am. What would you have wanted from them to make them more interesting for you?
~Neshomeh
You've pretty much nailed it — I don't like existential angst. Also, they're... kinda not warriory enough? Like, when I think about warriors, I think about, well, Dwarves: disciplined, tough, and riding giant boars. Not about a bunch of Nords with a hairy problem. (Then again I dislike the Nords in general; I don't like their trope, so to speak.)
In my headcanon, the Dragonborn sucks them into dragon-fighting, protecting people from the ones that can't be reasoned with (because screw the Blades, seriously), and they regain some of their former glory as champions of mankind—and merkind, too, because if Athis is any indication this bunch aren't terribly racist, so yay. After that, they wouldn't just be hired muscle anymore, and anybody who wanted to crack wise about fetching the mead would have to be prepared for a well-deserved smackdown. ^_^
~Neshomeh
[Expletive deleted] Delphine and wosshisname (the old guy). They kinda treat the Dovahkiin as their errand boy/girl/mer/whatever, even after the Dragonborn proves themselves to them, and they have the gall to stop talking to you if you don't want to murder Paarthurnax.
Alright, I'm reading Tale of Two Cities because I have to, but I'd guess that's not really relevant. On my own time, I'm splitting my time between the webcomic Freefall, and the anime Fate/Stay Night, which for some reason I am watching after Fate/Zero.