Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ozle]

Just finished reading the Blade Itself trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.

Starts off with a LOT of promise, you got the dark twisted characters, the mystery of whats going on, the hidden villain. All the classics are there, and a good writing style.

However, the main problem is, it's spread over three books

The first one is seemingly setting up the other two, in that its them getting ready for the journey, that's pretty much all that happens there. So if you just bought the first one you would be seriously pissed off.

The second book as them doing the journey, which is a MASSIVE disappointment. And also a side story about a city under siege (which is good)

And then the third book, which you could have just started with to be honest, because the 1st and 2nd are pretty much disregarded here and the plot lines they were have fallen pretty much to nothing and the characters are moved onto new storys.

Sure there is a bit of overlap, but the first two are essentially pointless as they set up the third one, which then disregards that set up and moves on.

The best thing about the book ar ethe two side storys of Sand Da Glotka and the party of Northmen, the rest just sort of fizzles out.

So im summary: The writing style is good, the characters are good, but the story itself lets it down.

I'm still tempted to get another of his books and give him a try, Heroes is a standalone dealing with some of the better characters it seems.

[Captain_Frisk]

Dear diary,

I've gone out on a date with this girl 3 times.  The first time we had a good time, and I was super excited for it.  The second date I was hoping to get lucky, but she totally just teased me, but I was raring to go for the 3rd date because it was finally gonna happen.

Our 3rd date didn't go so well.  She was a total psycho and it turned out she was lying the other days.  Man, I wish I could have just gone on that 3rd date first and saved myself the trouble.

Good news, she has a twin sister, I think I'll ask her out.

[Ozle]

Dear Diary

Frisks being mean to me again.

[Ozle]

But I think he has a lot of potential, and it was the three books that was one story that was the main bug bear for me, the first two are essentially pointless.

So in effect:

Dear Diary,

I've decided to start dating. There is this girl I know of, she is extremely overweight, but within her there is a good personality.
But it turns out the personality isn't enough to get over her massive size problem

So I dated her a while to see how it was, and have now found a skinny girl with the same personality and am hoping for better results!

The moral of this story is: 'Don't date fat chicks'

[theory]

Somewhat unrelated: this topic reminds me of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.  It bothers me for other reasons too -- does no one else notice that literally every female character in the books is described as having large breasts?  Yes, there is one prominent exception, but in the second book she gets implants!  WTF!

Also, the author has a serious Mary Sue complex going on in the form of Mikael Blomkvist.  Investigative journalist who saves the world and who every woman falls for, hmm?

[Ozle]

Somewhat unrelated: this topic reminds me of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.  It bothers me for other reasons too -- does no one else notice that literally every female character in the books is described as having large breasts?  Yes, there is one prominent exception, but in the second book she gets implants!  WTF!

Also, the author has a serious Mary Sue complex going on in the form of Mikael Blomkvist.  Investigative journalist who saves the world and who every woman falls for, hmm?

UGH!

Dont get me started on these books.......a rediculously obvious murder mystery in the middle of the first book sandwiched inbetween two massively pointless legal jargon sections.

The 2nd and 3rd were a bit better, but nothing amazing.

I like to call it Nirvana Syndrome.

[theory]

And as far as other annoying trilogies go, this is what I think of Hunger Games:

Book 1 was great UNTIL the ridiculous deus ex machina ending.  My theory is that she wrote it originally with both characters dying, which would have been a great single novel.  Then her editors saw the glorious money pile future and had her rewrite the ending so she could pump out two more books, both of which were miserable, tacked-on, unnecessary, and would never have been read if it weren't for the first.

[Ozle]

Never really bothered with those, looked pretty much like Childrens books from the start.

[Lekkit]

Somewhat unrelated: this topic reminds me of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.  It bothers me for other reasons too -- does no one else notice that literally every female character in the books is described as having large breasts?  Yes, there is one prominent exception, but in the second book she gets implants!  WTF!

Also, the author has a serious Mary Sue complex going on in the form of Mikael Blomkvist.  Investigative journalist who saves the world and who every woman falls for, hmm?

UGH!

Dont get me started on these books.......a rediculously obvious murder mystery in the middle of the first book sandwiched inbetween two massively pointless legal jargon sections.

The 2nd and 3rd were a bit better, but nothing amazing.

I like to call it Nirvana Syndrome.

I haven't read the third book, but I liked the first two. I don't know if there was something lost in the translation, but I didn't really notice a lot of legal stuff in the first book at all. It was super easy to follow. The thing that annoys me is, just as theory says, is Mikael Blomkvist. And the fact that Michael Nyqvist (the actor playing Mikael in the swedish movies) doesn't have the "sexual magnetic super pull" that Mikael Blomkvist is supposed to have doesn't really help a lot.

[Captain_Frisk]

large breasts?

Speaking of... I was trolling kickstarter (a friend of mine is pushing a game there) yesterday and found this:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poots/kingdom-death-monster/posts/357746

Is it just me, or is that outfit totally impractical? 

The minis look amazing (quality of scult wise), but man, I feel like I wouldn't be able to show them to anyone because they'd think (know) that I'm a perv. 

[Ozle]

Oh Oh!
Can we do Dan Brown next!!

[Galzria]

Oh Oh!
Can we do Dan Brown next!!

Dan Brown's writing style is a little light for my tastes. His books are good to fill gaps in my readings of other novelists, but... Eh.

Angels & Demons wasn't terrible.

[Ozle]

Da Vinci Code was not bad, an interesting light read.

but there is a reason NONE of his other books were best-sellers, until that book came out and then all of a sudden  they all were. And it wasn't because people had suddenly found several literary gems!

[Galzria]

Da Vinci Code was not bad, an interesting light read.

but there is a reason NONE of his other books were best-sellers, until that book came out and then all of a sudden  they all were. And it wasn't because people had suddenly found several literary gems!

I read A&D BEFORE Da Vinci Code, fwiw.

[Ozle]

Da Vinci Code was not bad, an interesting light read.

but there is a reason NONE of his other books were best-sellers, until that book came out and then all of a sudden  they all were. And it wasn't because people had suddenly found several literary gems!

I read A&D BEFORE Da Vinci Code, fwiw.

Was it before the Da Vinci code was released and there was a big fuss?

Surely as a man of science though you read A&D and thought 'What a load of bollocks this bit is'

[Galzria]

Da Vinci Code was not bad, an interesting light read.

but there is a reason NONE of his other books were best-sellers, until that book came out and then all of a sudden  they all were. And it wasn't because people had suddenly found several literary gems!

I read A&D BEFORE Da Vinci Code, fwiw.

Was it before the Da Vinci code was released and there was a big fuss?

Surely as a man of science though you read A&D and thought 'What a load of bollocks this bit is'

Well, it's interesting. I've always found a certain fascination with the history of Europe. It's richness, and depth with which it intertwines is fascinating. So reading stories that modernize that history are always of a two-fold nature for me.

First, I really do appreciate a novelist's ability to bring various pieces together and form a more full and vivid picture of the intricacies of those historical pieces - BUT - and second, it drives me up a wall to no end to see the way certain events are twisted to fit the narration of the story.

Which is ultimately the problem I have with Brown. He dives into such a rich, rich history, with so very much to draw from and tell, and then goes on to tell very shallow stories, often concluding by suggesting something that only works out in fantasy land.

His stories want so hard to convey a sense of history as it really was/is, but they often end up so very far from the mark.

[Kuildeous]

Surely as a man of science though you read A&D and thought 'What a load of bollocks this bit is'

No reason a man of science can't appreciate fantasy.

[Ozle]

Surely as a man of science though you read A&D and thought 'What a load of bollocks this bit is'

No reason a man of science can't appreciate fantasy.

Bad science is not fantasy.

[Galzria]

Surely as a man of science though you read A&D and thought 'What a load of bollocks this bit is'

No reason a man of science can't appreciate fantasy.

The problem is, he writes to sell his story as something it's not.

If he was writing from the standpoint that his novels are purely fantasy, and he is offering a different view of history, then fine - great even. See my thread on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. But Brown tries to sell his novels as based in *real history*, which they aren't.

[Ozle]

I cant remember all the stuff i got annoyed about, but the Proton being the antiparticle of the Electron being foremost!

And the 'Humans only use X percent of thier brain' fallacy as well!

GRRRR

[Kuildeous]

But Brown tries to sell his novels as based in *real history*

Wait, really?

What a loser.

I just thought he was trying to be clever like Dick's Man in the High Castle.

[Ozle]

Doesn't he start off Da Vinci Code with a page of FACTS that are questionable as well? Been a long time

[theory]

Ohhhhh that makes me mad like finding out that David Sedaris writes fiction under the guise of nonfiction.  He used to try to write fiction, but failed miserably, and then realized he would sell a lot better if he pretended that it was nonfiction instead.

It's one thing to exaggerate the truth a little bit, and quite another to just wholesale fabricate events, put words in people's mouths, and recharacterize your friends in really cruel ways, all for the sake of making your 'memoir' funnier.

[sjelkjd]

Sure there is a bit of overlap, but the first two are essentially pointless as they set up the third one, which then disregards that set up and moves on.

I thought an important part of the first two books was the development of Jezal into the pawn of Bayaz.  It really drives home how Bayaz is the power behind the throne.
Spoilers:
Pretty much everything Jezal does is manipulated by Bayaz into priming him to be King.  There's Bayaz's interference in the fencing contest, Bayaz puffing up Jezal's contributions during the journey, and Bayaz propping up the rebellion to fall apart when Jezal can get credit for dealing with it.
There are some other interesting things going on too...for instance, if they did find the seed during the journey, Tolomei would have taken it, and presumably bad things would have happened.  You can also see how Glokta gets drawn into Bayaz's control over the course of the series as well, through the bank.

[Brando Commando]

Ohhhhh that makes me mad like finding out that David Sedaris writes fiction under the guise of nonfiction.  He used to try to write fiction, but failed miserably, and then realized he would sell a lot better if he pretended that it was nonfiction instead.

It's one thing to exaggerate the truth a little bit, and quite another to just wholesale fabricate events, put words in people's mouths, and recharacterize your friends in really cruel ways, all for the sake of making your 'memoir' funnier.

As great as I think Sedaris is...I kind of agree with you. Plus, some of his recent pieces on This American Life seemed to just be about griping about everyday living, which is really really well worn territory in the comedy world that doesn't need to be retread by a writer, even a good writer. (I'm thinking of a piece about waiting in line for coffee that I believe was on TAL...maybe that's not representative, though.)