Entry tags:
Reading explosion.
I just finished reading Sweep #4 Dark Magick and I read it in the space of two days. THESE BOOKS ARE GENIOUS! And I don't necessarily mean the writing- not that it's bad or anything- but what really ratchets up the momentum of the books is that each one is short. If you put three books together you'd have a regular novel lenght book. So they are fast reads with short chapters. Each book ends on a cliffhanger that leads right into the successive book! I can't even tell how well the author has managed this format, it's really good (and probably helped significantly by the fact that I don't have to wait too long for the next book-I'm getting them as fast as I can order them from other library branchs). Plus it is a fantastic soap opera, there's love, betrayal, family sagas, a bunch of hot guys and of course-magick.
Cate Teirnan is my new hero!!!!!
I've still been working on my required reading too which is really fascinating. But they are a bit slower paced than Sweep.
Let me go on about His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, why I haven't been reading it, and what it has to do with my required reading. Humor me for a minute.
There are certain fantasy books, usually alternate history books like HMD that I pick up and start reading then hit a sort of wall. The wall is this- the author puts forth a great premise- dragons being used as allies in warfare- and then cuts it off at the knees- at least for me. I find myself asking the book "Yes, this is all very well and good, but what about the rest of the world?" I want to know very badly how dragons have affected world events in other places. In particular- and I have hopes this may yet be answered in the other 3 Temeraire books- how dragons impacted the American Revolution- Is America infact still a colony? Do the Native Americans also have dragon allies and are they holding the invading Europeans at bay? What about South America? There are mentions of S.A. dragon breeds- were the Spanish repelled? Did the Inca and Aztec hold their own? Did the use of dragons put them at a more equal footing or did the Spanish guns still overwhelm the indigenous peoples? I feel like the Novik books take one premise and one historic period and then remove it from all context. And as a reader I feel that remove- that vacuum, very keenly. Which sucks a little of the fun out. But agian- with luck in upcoming Temeraire novels the context will be put back in. Also I suppose it's the idea that you don't want to 'frontload' the novel with a lot exposition and info dumping. Keep it tight and focused. But I don't think I can wholeheartedly agree. Info dumping done right can add a lot of texture.
Too be honest, at a little over halfway through the first book I want a wider perspective of this alternate history and I just don't really care about the Napoleonic wars. Still, here's hoping.
AND lastly- still trolling for readers! Anyone want ot read my W.I.P.??? It's short- because I'm trying to keep it that way (unlike the RFN) and because I just started working it!!
Coincedentally as I'm reading The Decline and Fall of the British Empire the author says that Britain was so freaked out by the French Revolution that Britain really cemented it's empire at this time, adding vast holdings and solidifying its grip on places like India. So now I'm wondering how Indian dragons played a part.
Cate Teirnan is my new hero!!!!!
I've still been working on my required reading too which is really fascinating. But they are a bit slower paced than Sweep.
Let me go on about His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, why I haven't been reading it, and what it has to do with my required reading. Humor me for a minute.
There are certain fantasy books, usually alternate history books like HMD that I pick up and start reading then hit a sort of wall. The wall is this- the author puts forth a great premise- dragons being used as allies in warfare- and then cuts it off at the knees- at least for me. I find myself asking the book "Yes, this is all very well and good, but what about the rest of the world?" I want to know very badly how dragons have affected world events in other places. In particular- and I have hopes this may yet be answered in the other 3 Temeraire books- how dragons impacted the American Revolution- Is America infact still a colony? Do the Native Americans also have dragon allies and are they holding the invading Europeans at bay? What about South America? There are mentions of S.A. dragon breeds- were the Spanish repelled? Did the Inca and Aztec hold their own? Did the use of dragons put them at a more equal footing or did the Spanish guns still overwhelm the indigenous peoples? I feel like the Novik books take one premise and one historic period and then remove it from all context. And as a reader I feel that remove- that vacuum, very keenly. Which sucks a little of the fun out. But agian- with luck in upcoming Temeraire novels the context will be put back in. Also I suppose it's the idea that you don't want to 'frontload' the novel with a lot exposition and info dumping. Keep it tight and focused. But I don't think I can wholeheartedly agree. Info dumping done right can add a lot of texture.
Too be honest, at a little over halfway through the first book I want a wider perspective of this alternate history and I just don't really care about the Napoleonic wars. Still, here's hoping.
AND lastly- still trolling for readers! Anyone want ot read my W.I.P.??? It's short- because I'm trying to keep it that way (unlike the RFN) and because I just started working it!!
Coincedentally as I'm reading The Decline and Fall of the British Empire the author says that Britain was so freaked out by the French Revolution that Britain really cemented it's empire at this time, adding vast holdings and solidifying its grip on places like India. So now I'm wondering how Indian dragons played a part.