This and That. Books. And Things. Apologies for being so slow to post.

 There's something about books, going into a bookstore and looking around to see what's new.  There's always something exciting, some new author, or an old favourite just waiting to be read.  And because I work there, I can be real fussy.  If I read a paragraph and don't much like it, I'll try another, somewhere a little further in. That's it.  No more chances, unless it's come recommended or I've enjoyed reading the author before.  I almost threw down the latest Sanderson book, even though I think he's a great writer, because the characters at the beginning weren't empathetic or compelling enough.  Then I made the mistake of saying that to my husband.  He looked at me with utter shock.  "But you can tell it's going to get good."  Yes, but for me it had to get EXTREMELY good to make up for the mucking around.  And I still think that first section could have been pretty much edited out with no/little loss of story. 

Then I was chatting about books with a friend, and to a certain extent we liked the same sort of thing, but I was shocked that she could love Hyddenworld by William Horwood.  Someone had recommended it to me so I stuck at it for the requisite hundred pages, maybe even one or two more.  But in my eyes it was unoriginal hack.  Nothing new, nothing original, the same old same old... more Tolkien anyone?  But for her it was like cuddling up with a favourite blanket, and a warm cup of cocoa.  Nice, and warm and friendly.  Now I'm busy struggling though Tad Williams latest book, and I love bits of it, and hate others.  Shadowrise is I continuation of his Shadow... series.  And some of it is exactly the blanket and slippers and cocoa and its fantastic and some of it - I have to wonder what he was thinking.  It's just not as succinct as I expect from a writer of his calibre - and it's not that its not succinct because some of the charm of the series is that its epic.  And I love epic.  Truly properly epic, but I think it's just because its at the stage where Robert Jordan, and even to a certain extent George RR Martin struggled/are struggling with their epics.  There's just so much happening, and the characters are so beloved it's hard to focus on the real story and the way it.  Now George, well he was earning enough that he could spend the years it takes to knock his behemoth into shape (and hopefully he has - because boy, I haven't looked forward to a book half so much as I've looked forward to his latest - due out July 12 - in America) but Tad Williams undoubtedly lacks that luxury, so he just keeps on keeping on, which is great because for me these books are that cosy blanket, the hot drink, the gluten free muffin, yes, it has many aspects of trite fantasy, the very stuff I railed against in Hyddenworld, but there's a life here, a soul, a little unexpectedness, and an unexplored world - that for me still holds some excitement, and enormous potential.  So, yes, it's taking a while but I'm happy to keep reading on, to find out if Briony and Barrick will ever fulfil their early potential, to see if Flint, the orphan boy is really who I think he is, and if Qinnitan will eventually find her freedom, and the King too, and to see if Tad can do what he always seems to have in the past, pull his series together in a surprisingly good ending.  And once I've finished this series, there's China Meiville, George RR Martin, and I live in hope, another Frances Hardinger, Robin Hobb... and that's not counting the new authors, the ones where you pick up the book and can't put it down, I found both Frances Hardinger and Emma Clayton that way, and there's always the hope that I'll find another un-put-down-able author - and may be this time they wont be kids books.They'll be the "important sort of biographies that Joanna and Mary like so much, the literature...  No, who am I kidding, I like what I like - and as many have said before, there's no accounting for taste and still, that's half the fun.

Yes working in a bookshop is very rewarding, because there's nothing a writer likes better than talking about books. Great Books. 

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

In completing Wheel of Time, Brandon Sanderson has shown that he has the right stuff when it comes to epic fantasy.  His worlds are as rich as his writing, his characters are troubled, his setting gritty and on a grand scale, but do be warned I found the first hundred or so pages of this book quite hard going - yes, there was action and yes the world showed signs of greatness, but it took along time for the events he set up to be resolved - still because of his previous works I trusted it would be worth the wait - and yes it was - by the end I just could not put the book down.  I had to know what was going to happen next.  It did not matter that it was four o'clock in the morning, my favourite characters were in peril - would they live or would they die? 

There is alot of warfare in this book,and a carefully constructed "magic" that seems to be based on rules that are only very slowly being revealed, but nothing safe and easy.  The creatures who inhabit the world are quite foreign, including massive chasmfiends that are hunted for sport, and the strange "spren" that seem to be everywhere, and whose place in the universe slowly becomes more apparent.  It's as dangerous and deadly as "Game of Thrones" and I so want to give away the end - because it does pull the whole book into perspective and make you ask the only question there is to ask: WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE COMING OUT!  Thank goodness Sanderson is such a fast writer, now all we need to do is get him a curmudgeony editor just to make sure that the pacing stays even. Or maybe, I should, like my friends say, learn patience.  the only problem is that takes too long.


Overall yes, this is a great book, and lovers of epic fantasy who are still waiting for George RR Martin's colossus to come out could do far worse than read it.  And believe it or not given the choice I would probably read the sequel to this first, just because I found the last George R R Martin book a tiny bit disappointing.  Maybe it didn't have enough Arya in it, or enough Imp (my favourite characters by far) - but I cannot imagine that the surgeon, and fighter Kaladin will ever be far from the action so long as he is alive.

Towers of Midnight, by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan

The seals to the Dark One's prison are crumbling the pattern is unravelling etc etc...


The Wheel of Time is full of hefty tomes, many of which could quite frankly have done with an edit. A bit of red line through say - a couple of hundred pages and book number thirteen would have been a real page turner.  As it is, there is plenty of worry and a modicum of hair pulling (thank goodness), some meetings, afew repetitive wolfy bits, and as per usual the majority of the action is left to the end.  Still, if you've made it this far don't give up now because the last book has been set up as a real page turner.  I only hope that it lives up to my expectations in a way that this book did not.  It's not nearly as good as book twelve, instead the sole purpose of this penultimate book seems to set up the finale due in America some time around March 2012 although I hope it is late and that they use a few weeks -- months even, to sort out the typos and plot loops where the story stagnates, and just stick to the plot, which is very strong when it doesn't get bogged down by all the infinitesimal details of it's own grandeur.


Review by Alicia Ponder.

The Gathering Storm, Book 12 in the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series by Brandon Sanderson

Death is merely an inconvenience for Robert Jordan, as his long running series The Wheel of Time continues to turn.

It is in fact (thankfully) turning a little faster now. Under the hands of Robert Jordan, the Wheel of Time was becoming little more than a cash cow. Nothing happened, and then still less happened, while the most powerful women tugged at braids like nine-year olds - and had nothing better to do than sit through endless meetings and choose which clothes to wear. NO MORE.

Brandon Sanderson has injected new life into the characters, sped up the plot, and rekindled the flame of the first few books of this series. The threads are now finally coming together as the different factions battle it out for supremacy while a still greater evil threatens to wipe them all out of existence - forever. So yes, this book is worth reading - the only thing that's vaguely frustrating is this is BOOK 12 - and I can't help but think, are we there yet?

Two more to go.

I can't wait.

LINKS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time  (useful for abridged plots)
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/