Let's catch up on some books. I've been requesting book suggestions on facebook recently, but I'm happy to take them here, too. My reading list always goes through feast and famine stages, and it's currently resembling one of those skinny cows that eats lots of books but still stays skinny.
11/22/63 by Stephen King
I don't read Stephen King, as a general rule, but this looked interesting and not terrifying. I was right on both counts. I'm only ruining the first 50 pages out of 800+ to say that the book involves someone who is able to travel back in time, and ends up on the idea that the Kennedy assassination needs to be prevented. Most of the book takes place in the late 50s an early 60s as the hero goes into a sort of deep cover for reasons that I won't spoil. The book had quite a bit less interesting commentary / humor situations stemming from someone from the present (2012ish) living in the early 60s than I expected. I was a bit disappointed when about 200 pages into the book it started developing some bad language. And then another 200 pages in there was suddenly more sex going on than I really needed. (To clarify, the amount of sex I need in a book is none.) It's not like things were graphic by any means, but I really didn't see any point in telling me exactly how busy the main characters were getting.
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
This was probably my least favorite Sanderson book that I've read, but given the overall excellent quality of his work, that isn't exactly a condemnation. Really, the only issue I have with this book is that it is written for young adults. YA fiction isn't bad or anything, but a good adult fiction book is basically always going to win out over a good YA fiction book. The story is a near-future post-apocalyptic situation where a small percentage of regular people have developed super powers and destroyed the world. The main bad-guy, for instance, can turn stuff to steel, and is pretty much invulnerable to bullets or other weapons. So, he's taken over Chicago and has other super-powered people working for him running the city as his own personal kingdom. Enter the heroes who are going to save the world by taking down the villains running everything. Typical plotting, explosions, and near-escapes ensue. The book seems to be set up to be a series. Given the length (384 pages) and reading level it's a pretty quick read and I'll probably read the next one when it comes out.
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
The cover of the book says it's the best new work of fantasy to be written in the last 20 years, or something like that (credited to Orson Scott Card). As this is Sanderson's first book, it may have been true at the time, but I remain partial to Mistborn and the Way of Kings which he has written since then. Elantris is a city inhabited by people who are, essentially magicians. They can heal people, they live for a very long time, they make rocks into food, all that good stuff. Normal people become Elantrins in a magical transformation that happens overnight (literally), until something happens and it all goes wrong. Instead of a blessing the transformation becomes a curse where the people are left in a sort of zombie state physically (but not mentally) and the magic doesn't work anymore. The city is sealed off and avoided, and anyone else who is transformed is shoved into the city and forgotten about by their families. It goes without saying that our main character (who is the crown prince) is going to end up with the curse and be sent to Elantris. At the same time we've got people plotting to over throw the kingdom, and other sorts of turmoil going on. I liked that this is a stand alone novel, as I'm currently stuck waiting for books to come out in too many series as it is.
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Yes, I've become pretty predictable. This is a short novel (170 pages) that I read in a single day. I guess it's supposed to be set in the same world as Elantris, but the overlap is so minimal that it might as well not even be there. Sci-fi and fantasy books are hard to summarize, because they can get so complicated to make the world make any sense. The best I can do in a single sentence is that the main character is a magical forger or sorts who is being held captive until she magically re-creates the Emperor's consciousness after he's been left a vegetable after head trauma from an assassination attempt. Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? All fantasy books do when you sum them up like that. But it's an interesting enough short read, particularly if you're working late at night watching a furnace cool down very slowly.
No comments:
Post a Comment