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SpaceSasqwatch

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Well I finished Lord Foul's Bane and I've gotta say Thomas Covenant is by some stretch the most hateable "hero" I've ever come across... dunno could I face a load more books of his contrariness and pathetic ill temper.

Thomas covenant bored the tits off me.Must of tried to read it 10+ times at this stage.

Nody

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Well I finished Lord Foul's Bane and I've gotta say Thomas Covenant is by some stretch the most hateable "hero" I've ever come across... dunno could I face a load more books of his contrariness and pathetic ill temper. The story itself was totally generic, but I guess it partly defined the genre so I'll let if away with that. Some of it was carbon copy Tolkien though.
And now, in a moment of weakness and absent mindedness, I click on book 2 of War of the Spider Queen... why oh why...

He is an anti-hero; that's the point of the series and the fact he's carrying his actions as a cross for the whole series while everyone expects a dashing hero he's just a normal guy who's feeling guilty over his actions and lack of heroic powers so to speak.

Strelok wrote:

tad williams otherland series is incredible. his memory,sorrow and thorn is more out and out classic fantasy and is also fantastic

From what I remember did this not have the most pathetic and whiny wannabe of all time? I only recall managing one or two books because I wanted to strangle the lead for being such a pain in the behind at all times that I had to stop reading the series ( could be wrong as it was well over a decade since I recall reading them).

Dan_Solo

Nody wrote: »

He is an anti-hero; that's the point of the series and the fact he's carrying his actions as a cross for the whole series while everyone expects a dashing hero he's just a normal guy who's feeling guilty over his actions and lack of heroic powers so to speak.

Well it was actually the only thing about the book I really found interesting really, at the start anyway. It was almost an exercise in seeing how dislikeable a central character could be in a novel. Anti-heros are two a penny, even Conan or the Grey Mouser were quite selfish thieves at heart, with any good they did seemingly incidental. Covenant is worse though, he's irritating. He appears to have no empathy for any other character in the entire book. In fact it's very vague on why he even bothers to go on the quest when he clearly doesn't care a hoot for the whole place.
If the story was more interesting it might have been easier to get over this, but it was such tropey orcs elves with different names tripe. Has anybody read all 10 or whatever books? Do they get better?
(also Covenant does appear to have heroic "wild magic" powers? He's not helpless, he just doesn't appear to want to help)

Nody

Dan_Solo wrote: »

If the story was more interesting it might have been easier to get over this, but it was such tropey orcs elves with different names tripe. Has anybody read all 10 or whatever books? Do they get better?
(also Covenant does appear to have heroic "wild magic" powers? He's not helpless, he just doesn't appear to want to help)

As far as I recall I only read the first two sets of three books close to 20 years ago (I'm getting old ). His character does grow through out the books and in the second trilogy he steps it up so to speak (once again going by very foggy memory). Don't get me wrong it's far from a master piece of all time in the overall story but the concept of him as the anti hero in the full meaning (Conan was still really strong, usually got his way etc. which is anything but for this guy) and the frustrations of being a simple human who's done something horrible and yet everyone expects to be Hercules without any clue how or why.

david75

I made an attempt at Thomas covenant once but gave up cos I found my self having to reach for a dictionary every two or three sentences. Willfully obtuse weiting. Only have one pal who likes those books. Everyone else hates them

ElWalrus

Just finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. Really liked it, read through it quite quickly (even though it is relatively short). Some nice black/dry humour in there.

Started House of 1000 Suns by Allistair Reynolds now. Epic scale, interesting so far.

Thargor

Oh yeah, forgot about that one and he's one of my fav authors, its just house of suns though not 1000 Suns, ordered thanks.

strelok

Nody wrote: »

From what I remember did this not have the most pathetic and whiny wannabe of all time? I only recall managing one or two books because I wanted to strangle the lead for being such a pain in the behind at all times that I had to stop reading the series ( could be wrong as it was well over a decade since I recall reading them).

otherland or memory,sorrow & thorn?

can't remember either of the main characters being annoyingly whiny... it's been quite a while since I read it and my memory is very hazy but if I had to guess, i'd say seoman (memory,sorrow and thorn) could certainly have drifted into annoying teenager mode from time to time.

i guess I was an annoying teenager the first time I read them so it all seemed fair enough

pH

Just finished Armada by Ernest Cline, I'd read "ready player one" and had thought I remembered liking it, however this book is utter tripe, a braindead plot, poorly written with unlikable and cardboard thin characters, awful rubbish from start to finish.

mcgovern

pH wrote: »

Just finished Armada by Ernest Cline, I'd read "ready player one" and had thought I remembered liking it, however this book is utter tripe, a braindead plot, poorly written with unlikable and cardboard thin characters, awful rubbish from start to finish.

I just finished listening to it on audiobook. It was better than nothing stuck in traffic, but can't say I'd disagree with any of your comments.
Ready Player One was great, but Armada just tried to shoe-horn pop culture references in everywhere. Who actually curses using curses from a different film each time?
Every 'twist' was about as unexpected as getting taxed on my pay cheque.

mcgovern

Finished Stonewielder which was pretty enjoyable. The read The Maze Runner by James Dashner which wasn't bad, light reading - though quite predictable.
The read Half a King by Joe Abercrombie which was similar in that it good but predictable.
After that I tried The Bees by Laline Paull as it was on special offer and I'd seen it nominated for a good few awards. It was similar to the other two in that it was predictable, but unlike the other two it was boring, I wouldn't recommend it.
I had then started Poseidon' Wake by Alastair Reynolds when my Kindle died. It was out of warranty so I've had to order a new one, which will take a week to deliver

shootermacg

Kovu wrote: »

Absolutely loved that series.

Jayd0g wrote: »

Night Angel series before that was brilliant!

Are you guys kidding me? That is utter tripe, utter tripe!

shootermacg

ElWalrus wrote: »

Just finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. Really liked it, read through it quite quickly (even though it is relatively short). Some nice black/dry humour in there.

Reading it the the moment and enjoying it.

Just to add if you haven't read the Prince of Nothing series, go read it! Its absolutely brilliant! Possibly up there with any classic you care to mention, simply epic!

Kovu

shootermacg wrote: »

Are you guys kidding me? That is utter tripe, utter tripe!

Potato, Potāto. What suits my style of reading won't suit somebody else and vice versa.

AbusesToilets

Really looking forward to the new Sanderson novel with the Alloy of law characters. Thought Alloy was one of the best books he has written, really enjoyable characters and nice sprinkling of future plot threads.

shrapnel222

Kovu wrote: »

Potato, Potāto. What suits my style of reading won't suit somebody else and vice versa.

very true, i mean some people actually enjoyed Thomas the Covenant :eek:

:pac:

Buford T. Justice XIX

shrapnel222 wrote: »

very true, i mean some people actually enjoyed Thomas the Covenant :eek:

:pac:

I enjoyed the series but it was nearly 30 years ago when it was released and the fantasy choice wasn't exactly huge back then.

I enjoyed the subversion of reality with Covenant having to deal with a new reality of being 'cured' of leprosy and all the convention he had built around himself to maintain his health and how he deals with it.

But I may be in the minority in that:)

vasch_ro

I agree loved the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant 1st and 2nd

unreg999

Reading it now, it's good but i wouldn't agree that Alloy is the best Sanderson novel!!

ElWalrus

Thargor wrote: »

Oh yeah, forgot about that one and he's one of my fav authors, its just house of suns though not 1000 Suns, ordered thanks.

Sorry, don't know where I got the '1000' from! :pac:

About quarter way through this now, really enjoying it!

Bits_n_Bobs

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

I enjoyed the series but it was nearly 30 years ago when it was released and the fantasy choice wasn't exactly huge back then.

I enjoyed the subversion of reality with Covenant having to deal with a new reality of being 'cured' of leprosy and all the convention he had built around himself to maintain his health and how he deals with it.

But I may be in the minority in that:)

Second that - I also enjoyed it circa 30 years ago. Reading this thread reminded me of it however I really doubt I will ever re-read it. The pacing was turgid and I know it was a struggle to get through. Mind you I read LOTR around the same time and also struggled through that for similar reasons.

More recently...

Just finished The Liars Key by Mark Lawrence. Suffers as the middle book of a trilogy and not as good as the first and it is a bit of a 'road-trip' style fantasy series so far. I'm not entirely convinced by his world-building but despite all that it's a pretty compelling read and I'm looking forward to the final instalment.

Re-reading Alastair Reynolds Redemption Ark series and finding it just as great as first time round. Just starting on Absolution Gap and looking forward to spending a few evenings in it's company.

Also read The Lazarus War by Jamie Sawyer after spotting a recommendation from Neal Asher on Goodreads. Rollicking good read and heartily recommended.

Thargor

Finished Nemesis Games, the most recent expanse book, thought it was going to finish the series but nope, tune in next time. A very very dragged out book, just him milking the cashcow now, all the events would have been condensed into a few chapters by another author. Basically the whole first half of the book is setting up a mystery and then nothing happens to resolve it at all. Im going to pirate the rest of the series to find out what happens then never bother with him again, he's not worth my money.

Bits_n_Bobs

Dumped Cibola Burn after reading around 20% - delighted to hear of your disgust with Nemesis Games as I keep thinking I might of been a bit hasty

Thargor

Theres something really wrong with the way he does characters, they are just so utterly and completely flat, its a curse of a lot of sci-fi/fantasy but he is particularly bad. Its a universe full of good ideas but he doesn't use it properly, you get no sense of scale or location when he talks about Mars/Jupiter or the new worlds the way you would with say Peter F Hamilton or Stephen Baxter.

croot

shootermacg wrote: »

Are you guys kidding me? That is utter tripe, utter tripe!

I don't think its fair to label something as tripe like this when a book is so subjective. Its your opinion but it wasn't that bad iirc. But then I'd read any old tripe....

shootermacg wrote: »

Reading it the the moment and enjoying it.

Just to add if you haven't read the Prince of Nothing series, go read it! Its absolutely brilliant! Possibly up there with any classic you care to mention, simply epic!

Agree on the prince of nothing. Brilliant (in my opinion):D

Sleepy

About two thirds of the way through The Way of Shadows and loving it. Love the brutality of the world it's set in.

Paddy Samurai

The first 20% was slow going and took me a while to get into ,but now I'm flying through it and have read about 75%. I love post apocalyptic books , Swan Song and The Stand been among my favourites.
I don't know the ending ,but I see a lot of disscussion and argument about it. I can only hope the ending won't disappoint.

World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books Swan Song and Stinger in this gripping new novel, The Border, a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations.
But it is not just the living ships of the monstrous Gorgons or the motion-blurred shock troops of the armored Cyphers that endanger the holdouts in the human bastion of Panther Ridge. The world itself has turned against the handful of survivors, as one by one they succumb to despair and suicide or, even worse, are transformed by otherworldly pollution into hideous Gray Men, cannibalistic mutants driven by insatiable hunger. Into these desperate circumstances comes an amnesiac teenaged boy who names himself Ethan—a boy who must overcome mistrust and suspicion to master unknowable powers that may prove to be the last hope for humanity's salvation. Those same powers make Ethan a threat to the warring aliens, long used to fearing only each other, and thrust him and his comrades into ever more perilous circumstances.

shootermacg

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

The first 20% was slow going and took me a while to get into ,but now I'm flying through it and have read about 75%. I love post apocalyptic books , Swan Song and The Stand been among my favourites.
I don't know the ending ,but I see a lot of disscussion and argument about it. I can only hope the ending won't disappoint.

There's an ongoing series of books along those lines, quite enjoyable actually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Earth

Dades

Thargor wrote: »

Theres something really wrong with the way he does characters, they are just so utterly and completely flat, its a curse of a lot of sci-fi/fantasy but he is particularly bad. Its a universe full of good ideas but he doesn't use it properly, you get no sense of scale or location when he talks about Mars/Jupiter or the new worlds the way you would with say Peter F Hamilton or Stephen Baxter.

That's why I gave up halfway through book 3. I was entertained for a while but when nobody learned, or grew, or evolved it stopped being interesting. The first book was fresh, though.

ixoy

70% into 'Terenesia' by Greg Egan. This time his big science concept is evolution. It's a bit more character focused than some of his other works although the ideas aren't as interesting. Doesn't require the same level of knowledge as his other works either. Probably below average for Egan.