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2 hours ago, Chairslinger said:

Just started Return of the King. 

 

Very happy that after 20 years I think I finally am going to power my way through it.

I've debated trying to read these books in more recent years. I tried in high school, but they were so dull. I'd like to read them, but at least the movies were satisfying.

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Fellowship is definitely the hardest part to get through.

 

Coming to it as a fan of the movie is tough because book fans, I am sure, would balk at calling it filler because it was already there and the movies took it out, but the beginning of the book feels like that. As I think I said if you count getting to Bree as when they are actually out of the Shire, that is the first 150 pages of the book:beatup:

 

To make matters worse, the movies portray characters like Mary, Pippin, Legolas, and Gimli in a way that book readers really only get to see after hundreds of pages. So Pippin is introduced as a trickster immediately in the movies, Legolas and Gimli's rivalry/friendship is started right away, as well. At the beginning of Fellowship for the whole trip out of the Shire, the four hobbits feel terribly interchangeable in their personality(except maybe Sam).

 

I didn't realize it was causing so much of this problem, but something about Fellowship that exacerbates this is that it is a single perspective book. This also means that things like Gandalf's captivity in Orthanc is totally offscreen until he shows up in Rivendell and infodumps it. 

 

Having said all that, you might think that I wouldn't recommend the book, but after reading the Two Towers I definitely would. While the general issue of the movie doing pacing better is still true, I found the distance between book and movie shrank drastically. There are even a few things I think the book did better than the movies.

 

I can see why the performance of Ghollum was so highly praised at the time the movies were released. When you read the book it is hard to see how the part would be portrayed on screen without feeling weird or hokey, but Sirkis nailed it and actually stayed very close to the source material.

 

I have noticed a lot of people who don't like the books don't like the dense prose, but it is one of my favorite parts of the books. Dense prose is often blamed as for why a novel is boring, but that is definitely not a problem I had with Fellowship. To me it is the pacing and lack of action, not the prose. I think the books show their age compared to modern Fantasy in some ways, but the prose is one area where I would put it up against any other Fantasy I have read. 

 

I almost never recommend the audiobook over the text, but I found an audiobook of Fellowship on Youtube that has some sound effects and interjects the movie soundtrack at points(which I really enjoyed because I love the movie soundtrack). It is so well done it is almost like an audio play, but the actual spoken part is only the text of the book. Also, they make the song breaks in the book sooooo much more bearable.

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I’ve finished 11.23.63 and despite it being completely ridiculous, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was almost more fun as, after a long term of teaching, it’s the Christmas Holidays and after 50 hour work weeks and a newborn to take care of, my wife has banned me from working. That has meant since Saturday afternoon I’ve read about 300 pages and loved it. I’ve got some education based books to read (Mark. Plan. Teach and Running the Room) along with Troy by Stephen Fry to read over the break.

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I need to figure what what my next SK read will be. I've got a decent selection. I'd ordered a copy of Desperation on eBay, but it seems to be lost or indefinitely delayed through USPS and the seller refunded me today without me even asking.

 

I've got: The Stand, 11-22-63, Different Seasons, Finders Keepers, The Outsider, Let It Bleed, The Institute, The Green Mile, Revival, and Doctor Sleep.

 

Not a bad selection, just hard to pick!

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14 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I need to figure what what my next SK read will be. I've got a decent selection. I'd ordered a copy of Desperation on eBay, but it seems to be lost or indefinitely delayed through USPS and the seller refunded me today without me even asking.

 

I've got: The Stand, 11-22-63, Different Seasons, Finders Keepers, The Outsider, Let It Bleed, The Institute, The Green Mile, Revival, and Doctor Sleep.

 

Not a bad selection, just hard to pick!


The Stand and The Green Mile would be my choices and in that order. The rest are good, but The Stand is such a great story and told in that particular King way.

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1 hour ago, gamer.tv said:


The Stand and The Green Mile would be my choices and in that order. The rest are good, but The Stand is such a great story and told in that particular King way.

I think it's the length of The Stand that has put me off for so long. I really want to read it. But it took me like 4 months to get through It because it was so long and it was really slow in parts to where I'd have to put it aside and read something else for a bit. Does The Stand work in a similar way?

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21 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I need to figure what what my next SK read will be. I've got a decent selection. I'd ordered a copy of Desperation on eBay, but it seems to be lost or indefinitely delayed through USPS and the seller refunded me today without me even asking.

 

I've got: The Stand, 11-22-63, Different Seasons, Finders Keepers, The Outsider, Let It Bleed, The Institute, The Green Mile, Revival, and Doctor Sleep.

 

Not a bad selection, just hard to pick!

 

 

My 2 cents:

 

The Desperation/Regulators combo was odd as hell. If you didn't know the two books were written back to back..literally. King finished Desperation one day and the next he started on Regulators, which he put out under his Bachman name...they were kind of mirror novels of each other.  

 

The Stand is a friggin classic. Massive time commitment as it's 1000+ pages long. I can still remember when the uncut version got release. ( I read it upside down :p yes that is as crazy as it sounds)

11-22-63 is a brilliant take on time travel. It's also a massive novel, though not as big as The Stand, but like The Stand it's also a novel I've read multiple times. (hell most of these novels I've read multiple times, lol) 

I just blew through the novels of Different Seasons just recently...great stories in there.

Finders Keepers is pretty good and kicks off a trilogy...well maybe kind of a Quadrilogy....with...

The Outsider being that 4th book of sorts. Perhaps not a direct sequel but be aware that there are spoilers in it for the Finders Keepers trilogy. 

Let It Bleed wasn't bad, though I can honestly only recall one of the stories...which FYI happens to be related to The Outsider.

The Green Mile is definitely an enjoyable story.

 First time I read Revival I was freaking glued to it. Second time it felt kind of slow.

I loved Doctor Sleep and have read through it quite a few times.

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19 hours ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

 

My 2 cents:

 

The Desperation/Regulators combo was odd as hell. If you didn't know the two books were written back to back..literally. King finished Desperation one day and the next he started on Regulators, which he put out under his Bachman name...they were kind of mirror novels of each other.  

 

The Stand is a friggin classic. Massive time commitment as it's 1000+ pages long. I can still remember when the uncut version got release. ( I read it upside down :p yes that is as crazy as it sounds)

11-22-63 is a brilliant take on time travel. It's also a massive novel, though not as big as The Stand, but like The Stand it's also a novel I've read multiple times. (hell most of these novels I've read multiple times, lol) 

I just blew through the novels of Different Seasons just recently...great stories in there.

Finders Keepers is pretty good and kicks off a trilogy...well maybe kind of a Quadrilogy....with...

The Outsider being that 4th book of sorts. Perhaps not a direct sequel but be aware that there are spoilers in it for the Finders Keepers trilogy. 

Let It Bleed wasn't bad, though I can honestly only recall one of the stories...which FYI happens to be related to The Outsider.

The Green Mile is definitely an enjoyable story.

 First time I read Revival I was freaking glued to it. Second time it felt kind of slow.

I loved Doctor Sleep and have read through it quite a few times.

Okay, I think I'll aim to make The Stand my January read. I've had it long enough. I may take breaks on it, though.

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On 12/21/2020 at 2:11 AM, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Yeah, this is one of the only instances I can think of where I watched the movie first and have always been satisfied with that. 
 

Maybe some day I’ll get to the books. At any rate, I’d start with The Hobbit first. 

 

 

Hobbit is an interesting book. Both easier and harder to get into than LotR in some ways.

 

It's a more accessible book with more action, but it also almost fairy tale-ish in plot devices that strain credulity.

 

I'll put it this way, years ago when I tried to read the books I was able to finish the Hobbit and found it mildly enjoyable while, as I said, I couldn't get through LotR. Now that I have finally finished LotR I would definitely say it is the better story/book. I thought each book just kept getting better and by the end I gotta say I was a convert. 

 

 

On 12/28/2020 at 9:37 AM, CitizenVectron said:

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea a while back but am only now just moving on to another book. About 1/5 way through Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. My spouse got me Rhythm of War for Christmas (book 4 of Stormlight Archive, Brandon Sanderson) and apparently the events/characters of Warbreaker play heavily in it.

 

 

I have been holding off on starting Stormlight pretty much ever since it came out. After waiting so long for The Dark Tower and Wheel of Time to finish, even though I started them about halfway through their run, I didn't want to get into another series I would have to wait a decade or two to get finished.

 

Now that book 4 is out, I am finding it much harder to justfiy putting off. Has Brandon stuck to his story of it being a 10 book series....or is it creeping?

 

Sounds like you are a fan of Fantasy. Any series recommendations? After finishing LotR I am looking for something new. 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Chairslinger said:

 

 

I have been holding off on starting Stormlight pretty much ever since it came out. After waiting so long for The Dark Tower and Wheel of Time to finish, even though I started them about halfway through their run, I didn't want to get into another series I would have to wait a decade or two to get finished.

 

Now that book 4 is out, I am finding it much harder to justfiy putting off. Has Brandon stuck to his story of it being a 10 book series....or is it creeping?

 

Sounds like you are a fan of Fantasy. Any series recommendations? After finishing LotR I am looking for something new. 

 

 

 

 

Stormlight will be two series of five books each, I think, separated by a large difference of time. 

 

What kind of fantasy do you like? Stormlight is high fantasy, and is some of the best. The first book's (Way of Kings) climax is just amazing. If you like something a bit more grounded, I'd highly recommend The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie:

  • The Blade Itself
  • Before They Are Hanged
  • Last Argument of Kings

It has magic, but soft magic, and is "grimdark" fantasy. Lots of dirt, sweat, and grit. It's really good, and overturned so many fantasy tropes that it spawned a new genre, really.

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11 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

Stormlight will be two series of five books each, I think, separated by a large difference of time. 

 

What kind of fantasy do you like? Stormlight is high fantasy, and is some of the best. The first book's (Way of Kings) climax is just amazing.

 

 

Huh, I am trying to remember if I ever heard of the thing about two 5 book series. I think I may have heard Brandon describe it as two 5 book series before, but not that there would be a difference in time. So Stormlight is going to be more like the expanded Mistborn-iverse with multiple distinct casts and storylines rather than one big series like, say, Wheel of Time?

 

As for what series I like, well, I plan on reading Stormlight regardless. Because I have been a fan of Sanderson's ever since he finished the Wheel of Time. Read the first Mistborn trilogy and really enjoyed it. Tried Elantris, but could not get through it. As I said, it wasn't lack of interest in Stormlight that has made me hold off, it is wanting to wait until it is a little further along before I dive in. 

 

I tend to like Fantasy that has moved away from the most classic tropes like Trolls, Orcs, Goblins, etc. Though I have not dived into the modern trend of modern grimdark, either. Other than the first book of ASoIaF. My favorite series is Wheel of Time. It seems to be a bridge between Classic and Modern Fantasy. Modifying classic tropes without aggressively subverting them. I also really enjoyed Mistborn, as I said. I definitely prefer harder magic systems. 

 

The reason WoT remains my favorite is mainly because of how deep the world is, but also because Jordan was so good about setting up plot points. How prophecies and predictions made in book 1 could be discussed, reasoned out, predicted by fans, and not be paid off until 20 years later in the final book. It is an experience I haven't ever really found with any other series.

 

 

11 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

If you like something a bit more grounded, I'd highly recommend The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie:

  • The Blade Itself
  • Before They Are Hanged
  • Last Argument of Kings

It has magic, but soft magic, and is "grimdark" fantasy. Lots of dirt, sweat, and grit. It's really good, and overturned so many fantasy tropes that it spawned a new genre, really.

 

 

 

I have heard good things about the First Law series. It is only my list to try, but probably not next up.

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Hmm. Have you read Warbreaker, by Sanderson? Interesting magic system with an even more interesting religious system. Also ties into Stormlight, especially book 4.

 

Also, I would really recommend The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss. Yes, he is never going to finish the series...but the writing is that good. The best-written fantasy ever, imo.

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3 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Hmm. Have you read Warbreaker, by Sanderson? Interesting magic system with an even more interesting religious system. Also ties into Stormlight, especially book 4.

 

 

No I haven't.

 

It's funny to find out Warbreaker ties into Stormlight. I remember when it was just a standalone novel and how Brandon was very experimental in the writing process. Releasing chapters online while they were still being edited.

 

What do you think about the Cosmere in general? The idea of nearly all of Brandon's writing being a part of a shared universe ala the Dark Tower Kingverse is very appealing to me.

 

 

3 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

Also, I would really recommend The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss. Yes, he is never going to finish the series...but the writing is that good. The best-written fantasy ever, imo.

 

 

Yup, I have heard good things about the writing in that book. I have also heard the second book is a drop off in quality. Would you agree?

Also, I see the first book was released in 2007, then the second in 2011. The way you phrased it makes me think there is some long running joke about him finishing the series ala ASoIaF. What's the story there? I mean, I have read some delayed series before, but kind of crazy that someone could stall on the third book of a trilogy for 9 years......

All that said, you have intrigued me and I think Name of the Wind may be next on my list.

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9 minutes ago, Chairslinger said:

 

 

No I haven't.

 

It's funny to find out Warbreaker ties into Stormlight. I remember when it was just a standalone novel and how Brandon was very experimental in the writing process. Releasing chapters online while they were still being edited.

 

What do you think about the Cosmere in general? The idea of nearly all of Brandon's writing being a part of a shared universe ala the Dark Tower Kingverse is very appealing to me.

 

 

 

 

Yup, I have heard good things about the writing in that book. I have also heard the second book is a drop off in quality. Would you agree?

Also, I see the first book was released in 2007, then the second in 2011. The way you phrased it makes me think there is some long running joke about him finishing the series ala ASoIaF. What's the story there? I mean, I have read some delayed series before, but kind of crazy that someone could stall on the third book of a trilogy for 9 years......

All that said, you have intrigued me and I think Name of the Wind may be next on my list.

 

I've only read Mistborn trilogy, the first three Stormlight, and now Warbreaker (Stormlight 4 is next). I like them though!

 

I haven't read The Doors of Stone (book 2 of Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss), unfortunately, I am afraid of the drop in quality. His editor commented this past spring that he hasn't seen a single chapter from Rothfuss in something like 2-3 years, and believes he's stopped writing altogether. Will be interesting to see what kind of contract he's bound to. It's been 9 years and there's nothing to show for it.

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7 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

I've only read Mistborn trilogy, the first three Stormlight, and now Warbreaker (Stormlight 4 is next). I like them though!

 

I haven't read The Doors of Stone (book 2 of Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss), unfortunately, I am afraid of the drop in quality. His editor commented this past spring that he hasn't seen a single chapter from Rothfuss in something like 2-3 years, and believes he's stopped writing altogether. Will be interesting to see what kind of contract he's bound to. It's been 9 years and there's nothing to show for it.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I looked it up and I see Name of the Wind is a relatively breezy 250k. I think I will read it and decide at the end if I want to read book 2 and then finally start Stormlight :)

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22 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

I've only read Mistborn trilogy, the first three Stormlight, and now Warbreaker (Stormlight 4 is next). I like them though!

 

I haven't read The Doors of Stone (book 2 of Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss), unfortunately, I am afraid of the drop in quality. His editor commented this past spring that he hasn't seen a single chapter from Rothfuss in something like 2-3 years, and believes he's stopped writing altogether. Will be interesting to see what kind of contract he's bound to. It's been 9 years and there's nothing to show for it.

 

 

book 2 of The Kingkiller Chronicles is The Wise Man's Fear and it's great. Book 3 is The Doors of Stone and I'm of the belief that it's likely never coming out.

 

 

Started on The Roach today, new book by Rhett C. Bruno (love so much of his work) The story is dark and gritty, deals with a 'retired' superhero who was known as The Roach. He kind of reminds me of Rorschach in how he deals/dealt with bad guys. The guy is 'retired' because he'd been shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down and is now in a wheelchair. 

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19 hours ago, TheLeon said:

I don't remember much of a drop in quality between the two Kingkiller books, but it's been a while since I've read them (holy crap, has it really been 9 years? We'll get Half Life 3 before we get that third fuckin' book.)

 


I'm sure that I’ve read the author has no interest in finishing the series.

 

In the last 10 days I’ve finished 11.23.63, Mark. Plan. Teach, Troy and now on to Warriors of the Storm.

 

Reading books is such a privilege and so wonderful I can’t understand why more people don’t make the time to read.

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9 minutes ago, gamer.tv said:


I'm sure that I’ve read the author has no interest in finishing the series.

 

In the last 10 days I’ve finished 11.23.63, Mark. Plan. Teach, Troy and now on to Warriors of the Storm.

 

Reading books is such a privilege and so wonderful I can’t understand why more people don’t make the time to read.

I've got two books left in the Saxon Tales. Warriors of the Storm was really good, lot of big events there for Uhtred. I just finished War of the Wolf and it was maybe my favorite.
I might made Sword King my first read of 2021. I love this series and I'm eager to see how it ends.

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Finished War Lord by Bernard Cornwell. I didn’t care for the previous book and while this one is slightly better, it is good that the series is ending. I want to check out this King Arthur books but my library does not have them digitally. Hopefully they do have hard copies. 

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12 hours ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

Finished War Lord by Bernard Cornwell. I didn’t care for the previous book and while this one is slightly better, it is good that the series is ending. I want to check out this King Arthur books but my library does not have them digitally. Hopefully they do have hard copies. 


Def go out of your way to find The Warlord Chronicles(King Arthur story). It is probably my favorite cumulative story that I’ve read in the last 10 years or so. Def helps if you’re already a fan of Arthurian stuff because the way Cronwell handles transitioning those characters to a real life setting is brilliant. 
 

Im finishing up a reread of Dune(which I started to get ready for the movie 😐). Probably going to read Ready Player Two next for something light and fluffy. Not sure what to do after that. I’ve never read any of the Dune sequels because I didn’t hear great things. Are any actually worth reading? Also might jump back into the Dark Tower series as I only got about halfway through before I needed a break. 

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