Karsa Orlong

Indeed! I didn't hate it. I guess I wanted/expected more from this, given its popularity, and my patience wore a little thin. But then that's no different from people not liking Gardens, so it's horses for courses. I'm not giving up on WoT just yet, but I think my original idea of reading one book from the series per month has bitten the dust. I think I'd end up breaking things

Book #12: The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time Book 2) by Robert Jordan Blurb: The second book in Robert Jordan's internationally bestselling epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Thoughts: This is a spoiler-free zone - I won't go into story specifics, or use a more detailed blurb, as I know others are or will be reading this book soon. I was expecting an improvement with this book but I ended up finding it very frustrating. There are a handful of decent twists and ideas in here but - for me, at least - they are almost completely undermined by a hackneyed plot (and sub-plots) and an amount of padding that nearly makes the bloated, statuesque pacing of A Dance with Dragons palatable. Nearly. As with the first book, there is evidence here that Jordan knew what he was doing. There are parts where I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Unfortunately, they are short-lived, and surrounded by page after page of bland, derivative characters either explaining the plot for the umpteenth time, or whining about their lot in life. It has all the angst of a teen drama at times, and the ordinary nature of Jordan's prose doesn't help. Repetition is still a bugbear, and even worse in this book. An exclamation beginning with 'Light!' appears seemingly on every page and other expressions ('burn me', 'fortune prick me', 'Wooly-headed fool', 'the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills' etc etc) are repeated so many times I'm convinced they are there only to bolster the word-count. The action scenes turn into a list of the 'forms' that Rand has learned. This worked once, but then becomes an excuse to not actually offer a proper description of the fights. Humour is sorely lacking, too. The only laugh it got out of me was when they went to an inn called The Nine Rings. At least Jordan was honest about his influences I'm aware, of course, that some of these criticisms can be levelled at other epic fantasies. The glacial pacing of the last two 'Ice & Fire' books make me think Martin has no clue where his story is going, whilst a couple of Steven Erikson's later books are padded to the point where I wanted to scream at him to 'get on with it!' They could all do with better, stronger editors, but both those authors are at least trying to do something different with the genre. The Great Hunt is yet another 'quest' story, with 'shadow' lurking in the background. If it were populated by Martin's characters, or Erikson's invention, or Abercrombie's wit, or Gemmell's heart, I would probably have a much different opinion. But they are among my favourites, so I am bound to think that. As it is, I am just about okay with 'The Wheel of Time'. Despite all my complaints, it is still readable. I keep telling myself that all the people who love this series can't be wrong, and keep wondering what I'm missing. Whenever I rip into a book in this way I always think to myself 'well, if you can do better, go and write it yourself'. It hasn't happened yet, naturally I think, though, that by the end of the second book, I should be gripped, yet all I'm feeling is a sinking feeling brought on by the thought of having to wade through the third one. But, somehow, in the final 20 or 30 pages, there was almost - almost - enough there to make me curious about what will happen next. I think it'll be a while before I do so, however - and that, perhaps, is my most telling criticism. When I finished A Game of Thrones I went out the next day and bought A Clash of Kings. When I finished Gardens of the Moon I went out the next day and bought Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. I'm not going out today to buy The Dragon Reborn. 6/10

Yeah, it's not doing a lot for me.

500 pages into Robert Jordan's The Great Hunt. Nearly gave up on it yesterday but am trying to stick it out till the end.

I've got the Kindle version, too, but my friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday and this just seemed a great idea - one to keep forever Wandering around Forbidden Planet this morning, nearly but not quite buying loads of books that were nowhere near my wishlist, but have decided that Paul Kearney needs to be bumped up that list and soon, although I might start with his 'Monarchies of the Gods' books rather than The Ten Thousand (which is the one that's on my wishlist)

The pacing was poor, yeah, for sure. Lots of padding. This is good news about Red Country (I'm waiting for the paperback, although I could have got a signed copy of the hardback in Forbidden Planet this morning and am kind of wishing I had . . . ). The Heroes was almost my favourite read of last year. Awesome book from start to finish. I hope you enjoy it.

Great review, Tim, although I personally thought it picked up a bit in the second half. The first half had me losing the will to live

I'm glad you said 'Karma' and not 'Karsa' A belated gift arrived today: This is to replace my battered old paperback copy, which I gave to charity before Christmas

Yeah, I've got to tell him, I think, in case there's a chance he can get his money back somehow

Those Rush autographs are fakes After I posted the photo earlier I dug out my signed tourbook collection, which I got through the band's fan club, and compared the signatures and they didn't match up, so I posted the photo on the Rush forum and was immediately told by a couple of collectors on there that they aren't real. I'm not so upset for myself, but I feel awful for my friend who went to the effort and paid for them. Somebody's a bit richer at his expense

Thanks again everyone

Well that's ruined my day.

Indeed Thanks everyone

Dunno what you mean That's the problem with plans Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone

Aw, thanks!

A couple of gifts I received that were a complete surprise: My friend said to me that they thought they'd made a big mistake with my present, and the one they were worried about was The Daylight War, because they thought it sounded like my kind of thing but didn't realise it was the third book in the series, and didn't know if I'd read the previous two. So there was relief all round when I was so happy with it But . . . Not as happy as with this, though, from another friend. This just about eclipses every other present I've ever had My favourite album of all time, Permanent Waves, signed by all three members my favourite band. To say I was astonished when I opened it is probably a bit of an understatement Need to get it framed. I'm still in awe

Plan update: Marathon Man - William Goldman - finished 03/02/13 The Kingdom of Bones – Stephen Gallagher The Mozart Conspiracy – Scott Mariani (next in Ben Hope series) The First Men In the Moon – H G Wells - finished 10/02/13 The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan (next in Wheel of Time series) - started 15/02/13 Heresy – S J Parris (first in Gordiano Bruno series) Post Captain – Patrick O’Brian (next in Aubrey/Maturin series) The Heresy of Dr Dee – Phil Rickman (next in Dr Dee series) - finished 07/02/13 Dead Beat – Jim Butcher (next in Dresden Files series) The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis (Milkweed Tryptich Book 2) - finished 14/02/13

Here's a review of The Coldest War written by one of the guys over on the Malazan forums, just to prove I'm not the only one it had this effect upon ETA: It was thanks to him that I bought Bitter Seeds in the first place

Book #11: The Coldest War (Milkweed Tryptich Book 2) by Ian Tregillis From Amazon: For decades, Britain's warlocks have been all that stands between the British Empire and the Soviet Union - a vast domain stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the English Channel. Now each warlock's death is another blow to Britain's national security. Meanwhile, a brother and sister - the subjects of a twisted Nazi experiment to imbue ordinary people with superhuman abilities - escape from a top-secret facility deep behind the Iron Curtain. They head for England, because that's where former spy Raybould Marsh lives. And Gretel, the mad seer, has plans for him. As Marsh is once again drawn into the world of Milkweed, he discovers that Britain's darkest acts didn't end with the war. And while he strives to protect queen and country, he is forced to confront his own willingness to accept victory at any cost. Thoughts: I won't say anything further about the plot beyond the blurb above, what with this being a sequel and all. Sometimes a sequel comes along that you're looking forward to so much that it can't possibly meet your expectations. Just occasionally one comes along that defies your expectations. The Coldest War has completely floored me. With it, Tregillis has not only refined his writing skills, he has also excised the aspects of Bitter Seeds that maybe didn't work so well, taken the parts that did work, and kicked them up several levels. Take the first book as set-up. Now he is polishing and honing his ideas until they are blinding. Every question left unanswered at the end of the first book is answered here, revelations that - on a couple of occasions - had my jaw hanging open in awe at their sheer genius. I could actually feel my heart thumping as I read the final chapters. I had no clue what was going to happen and, when it did, I immediately read it again, then dived back into the first book to look for something, and then felt my jaw hanging open again. It is so cleverly thought out, so briliantly plotted and paced, I just can't get over it at the moment One thing I can say, without really spoiling anything, is that the action - with the exception of a handful of stunning set-pieces - is actually played down in this book. The emphasis is very much on the characters, and the effects the events in the first book has had on their friendships, their marriages, their families. The science fiction elements are still there, woven seamlessly into the telling of the story. Tregillis has a set of rules and he sticks to them - the Lovecraftian horror and man-made super-humans serve the story, rather than vice versa - but oh how they serve it. I don't really want to say a lot more about it at the moment. I'm very conscious that I've given some very high scores already this year, and that maybe I'm painting myself into a corner by doing so. On the cover of each of these books is a quote from George RR Martin saying that Tregillis is 'A major talent'. Now George and Ian are friends, apparently, so I would normally take that with a pinch of salt, but I think I might have to agree with him. This is only Tregillis's second book. I can't wait to see what happens next, and what he does beyond that. When I commented on Bitter Seeds I think Tim asked why I only gave it an 8, and poppyshake observed it was 'the old room for improvement' score. Well, here's the improvement 10/10

The one-volume edition of ADwD is the smaller trade paperback size and is only marginally thicker than AFfC. Naturally, the publishers didn't want that version in the shops, as they'd only make half the money from it

Yeah, I'd start with The Player of Games, too. I started with Consider Phlebas and it really isn't very good, imo. My favourites - of those I've read to date - are both non-Culture, though: Feersum Endjinn and The Algebraist.

I'm quite surprised by the way mine is going so far - haven't yet felt tempted to change it to any great degree. Good luck with yours! Best book in the series by a country mile, imo - enjoy! Well, when I say 'book' I mean 'half book'. Still can't get over the publisher's shameless money-grabbing, making fans pay twice for what should be one volume I'll be reading this soon, too. Although obviously not whilst I'm working through the current plan Oh good, you can be the test subject! I hear the first book is pretty average but then things pick up - seems to be a recurring theme with fantasy series. I like the idea that it's based on Ancient Rome, though. If Dresden is anything to go by it should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MseY_CFxd9s

Atlantis gets Merlin's Saturday night slot