They are still considered classics and studied in colleges.
The first Earthsea book comes across as fairly simple, in a Lord of the Rings prose kind of way. It's early fantasy, with a mythic tone. But radical even then because the protagonist isn't a white dude. The later books in the series get more overtly interesting. They're definitely worth reading, but I have a feeling you'll struggle based on the tone of your posts.
Good enough for a thoroughly middle-aged man who like his fantasy and sci-fi grown up and gnarly? Cos "YA" makes me run in the opposite direction, normally.
I'm a middle-aged man who read the first Earthsea novel just a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is about young people, and the language is accessible to a teenage audience, but that's about all it has in common with YA, imo.
The interesting thing about Earthsea is that it's written in a style designed to evoke old-school sagas / fables / myth. A little like Lord of the Rings, I guess, The narrative is third-person omniscient, and at a remove; you're not really getting up-close-and-personal with the protagonist and his every thought and feeling. Personally, I enjoyed that, but some modern readers don't, so fair warning.
Get it from the library and give it a try!
They are still considered classics and studied in colleges.
Genuinely can't tell if that makes it more or less appealing 
Robear wrote:They are still considered classics and studied in colleges.
Genuinely can't tell if that makes it more or less appealing :)
They're also very short. You won't need to invest a ton of time to figure out if you like it or not.
They are not simple YA books, is what I'm saying.
The first Earthsea book comes across as fairly simple, in a Lord of the Rings prose kind of way. It's early fantasy, with a mythic tone. But radical even then because the protagonist isn't a white dude. The later books in the series get more overtly interesting. They're definitely worth reading, but I have a feeling you'll struggle based on the tone of your posts.
What beanman101283 said. Additionally, there's a distinct lack of conquering armies, sex, or grimdark skullduggery. As much of the FotR is spent on hobbit-holes, endless travel, and pipe tobacco, eventually you get to the empires, the dark lord's servants, and good against evil. IIRC, the Earthsea trilogy really doesn't have that in the same way, so it can be a bit disorienting.
As I recall, the entire first book is spent waiting for a revelation. I hope that's not a spoiler.
the 22nd book in Preston & Child’s Pendergast series came out a couple weeks ago and while I’m still enjoying it, at this point I’m wondering if maybe the series has jumped a few sharks. Multiple characters have died and resurrected and they’ve traveled to parallel dimensions and even through time.
the 22nd book in Preston & Child’s Pendergast series came out a couple weeks ago and while I’m still enjoying it, at this point I’m wondering if maybe the series has jumped a few sharks. Multiple characters have died and resurrected and they’ve traveled to parallel dimensions and even through time.
I couldn't go on after The Obsidian Chamber. It was just. So. Freaking. Dumb.
But I think The Wheel of Darkness was when it fully jumped the shark.
I mean, just read the plot summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Darkness
I actually thought Wheel of Darkness was fine. I liked the general concept, it was just poorly executed upon- other authors have handled it better (like Peter Watts’ Echopraxia). I think the main sticking point with Wheel of Darkness is that it marks the point where they clearly had already worked through all the story concepts they had when they began the series and started having to come up with increasingly goofy ideas to keep the ball rolling.
I think I gave up at Brimstone. They aren't the right flavour of nonsense for me.
Well, Special Agent Pendergast has a time machine now. It’s been the central concept of the last couple books.
I'll read it soon as i'm done with the latest Bobiverse book. They are so long gone over the shark but i find them fun reads.
This. They are, at heart, well-written Penny Dreadful pulps, so they can introduce an Orc v Elves war and I'd be there for it. #LaundryFiles, I guess.
the 22nd book in Preston & Child’s Pendergast series came out a couple weeks ago and while I’m still enjoying it, at this point I’m wondering if maybe the series has jumped a few sharks. Multiple characters have died and resurrected and they’ve traveled to parallel dimensions and even through time.
So... the MCU then?
I really enjoyed The Masquerades of Spring, the prequel Rivers of London novella which came out the other day. It's told from the POV of an english expat to New York in the 1920s, upon whose door Thomas Nightingale appears and drags him into a mystery. It has lots of period detail in the assorted demi-mondes they find themselves in. Aaronovitch is always fantastic at bringing the character, culture and history of the setting into the fabric of the story.
I think it's a real step up from Winter's Gifts, which didn't really work for me. However, I really liked The October Man: I'm hoping to see the protagonists of that again - there was some great setup which we haven't seen again.
More of a throwback, I read Frederick Pohl's Gateway on a recommendation. I found the setting very interesting, though I can't say I really enjoyed the specific plot. I hit my usual problem in that I really didn't like hanging out with the POV character, who was both weak-willed and indecisive, but also has violent tantrums under stress. There's also a bit of very dated stuff in there involving violence by a man against a woman. It wasn't as bad as Thomas Convenant (hated that guy), and was mercifully near the end rather than the beginning, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Completed The Witcher series. The books were great when dealing with witchers. However, the books tended to go down useless sidetracks that were way to long. There were many times I was like WTF does any of this have to do with the main story. Why does he keep going back to characters no one cares about.
All in all I give the complete series 6 coins for the witcher out of 10. All other media for this is better than the books. The games, the tv show, the cartoon are all good.
I'll read it soon as i'm done with the latest Bobiverse book. They are so long gone over the shark but i find them fun reads.
Oh is the new book out. I love those crazy bobs.
Completed The Witcher series. The books were great when dealing with witchers. However, the books tended to go down useless sidetracks that were way to long. There were many times I was like WTF does any of this have to do with the main story. Why does he keep going back to characters no one cares about.
I think the big benefit of reading the books for me was enhancing my enjoyment of the games, particularly the Witcher 3, since it meant I had a much firmer grasp of who everyone was and why I should be excited about them.
(Though it did in retrospect reveal just how much of the Witcher 1 was just retreading specific stories from the books, particularly the short story compilations.)
ranalin wrote:I'll read it soon as i'm done with the latest Bobiverse book. They are so long gone over the shark but i find them fun reads.
Oh is the new book out. I love those crazy bobs.
Came out on the 5th. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It was more with the bob's with more problems to solve.
Came out on the 5th. Thoroughly enjoyed it. It was more with the bob's with more problems to solve.
Audible exclusive until January though. Got me all excited, but I prefer to wait for the print version.
I had to return Titanium Noir before finishing it, but I will definitely put it on hold for later. It's a bit of a slow burn, but I like the snarky humor and setting.
Started Scalzi's Redshirts and I am really enjoying that one. It has strong vibes of a particular Black Mirror episode, but with more likable characters and less creepiness. Looking forward to finding out the "real" story, if there is one.
I started Scalzi's Kaiju Preservation Society last night and the timing was funny because there's a vaccination scene near the beginning and I'd just gotten flu/covid/shingles vaccinations earlier the same day.
So far it's a fun book.
I enjoyed it. Classic Scalzi.
"I lift things."
Jason “David Wong” Pargin’s new novel, I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, just released.
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