Tag: Books

Death Masks…

I take back everything I said in my previous post about knowing why I would fall out of love with The Dresden Files. I’ve just finished Death Masks and all the elements I was starting to get bored of have fallen by the wayside.

As a writer it’s very hard to know how much to miss out and how much previous knowledge to attribute to the reader. This book seems to have made the break from a full explanation of all the facts from the previous books, into passing mentions. As a result, I’m not tearing my hair and and screaming, “I already know that! You explained it completely in the last 4 books!”

I can feel this leading on to a post about presenting, because there is some overlap with conversations and events of recent weeks. Funny how once you get an idea in your head, every situation seems to relate to it. No such things as coincidence, or so the Celestine Prophecy tells me… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

PS. I’m so happy and hyper now I don’t have to by a new mobile… 🙂

Fool Moon and Summer Knight (The Dresden Files)…

As I mentioned in a previous post, I lost my first copy of Fool Moon in New Zealand, so after finishing Grave Peril I skipped back and finished Fool Moon, then moved on to Summer Knight. The books do make some references to previous events, so reading them out of order was not the best thing to do, but I still enjoyed them.

Having said that, now I’ve completed four of the books there are a few things that are starting to grate on me. I won’t mention them specifically in case by drawing attention to them I spoil the experience for someone else. The best way I can explain it is by paraphrasing something I saw on Oprah (there is no hope for me :)). It goes something like this…

The thing that makes you fall in love with someone is often the thing that makes you want to leave them. For example:

“They are funny.” becomes “They can’t take anything seriously.”

“They are beautiful.” becomes “They are obsessed with their looks.”

“They are reliable.” becomes “They are boring.”

And so on…

Well I guess this is similar to my experience of The Dresden Files. What first drew me to them is now getting a little long in the tooth. I’ll finish the series because I’ve already bout the rest of the books, but part of me is looking forward to them and part of me is not.

Cheers

Tim…

Grave Peril…

I was about 1/3 of the way through Fool Moon, the second book in the Dresden Files series, when the book went missing (insert Twilight Zone music here), so I switched to book 3 (Grave Peril) while I wait for Amazon to send me a new copy.

What with the illness and timezone change, I’ve spent a lot of time in bed not sleeping, so these books have come in very handy. I’ve now read 2 1/3 books in the series and I’m quite into them, so I’ve bought the rest of the series. Hopefully a delivery person will come knocking on my door tomorrow and I can get back to reading Fool Moon.

Cheers

Tim…

Storm Front (The Dresden Files)…

One of the few advantages of such long flights as UK to New Zealand is you get plenty of time to read.

I’ve mentioned several times that I’ve struggled to find something to follow the Discworld series. Several people recommended The Dresden Files series so I went out and bought the first few books. I tried a couple of times to read the first book (Storm Front) and really couldn’t get into it. I brought the first 3 books with me, just in case I got bored, and fortunately for me it was a case of third time lucky.

I really enjoyed Storm Front and can’t believe it was the same book I gave up on two times before. Just goes to show how mood and circumstance has a big impact on your taste. I’m on to the second book (Fool Moon) now and so far so good.

Cheers

Tim…

Nation…

Since finishing the Discworld series* I’ve really struggled to find something else to latch on to. I’ve tried a few things, but nothing has really grabbed my attention. Being the nonliterary type I am, one of the most important factors in any book is how easy it is to read. Some of the stuff I’ve tried has been what I can only describe as jagged or spiky. Authors with writing styles like that last about 4 pages with me…

On my recent trip to Australia I bought Nation, my first non-Discworld Terry Pratchett book. I never got chance to read it on the trip, even during the 21 hour flights, but I finished it this morning.

It’s very different to the Discworld books. It’s not a funny book by any means, but it’s a really interesting story and of course it flows nicely making it effortless to read. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

* I’m still waiting for the paperback of Unseen Academicals to be released. Reading hardbacks in the bath is a pain.

Thud!

The first 50 pages of Thud! were a real struggle for me. I love the Sam Vimes character so I was expecting this book to click instantly and it just didn’t. It starts off quite serious and there seems to be a distinct lack of humour. So I switched my mindset from expecting humour to just reading a detective story and then started to find it much more amusing. It does seem significanly more serious and it just feels different to many of the Discworld books I’ve read, but maybe it was just me. Even so, it was pretty cool.

Cheers

Tim…

A Hat Full of Sky and Going Postal…

The recent traveling as given me a chance to read some more Discworld books.

A Hat Full of Sky – Another mission for the new witch Tiffany Aching. A nice story, but like the other Young Adult Discworld books, it lacks a little edge.

Going Postal – Against his will, a conman called Moist von Lipwig becomes Ankh-Morpork’s latest postmaster. So does he make a go of it, use it to continue his life of crime, or make a run for it? I’m always hesitant when a new character is introduced, but this one works really well.

Cheers

Tim…

A few more Discworld books…

I’ve not been reading too much recently, but I managed to get through a few more Discworld books:

Night Watch: Vimes goes back in time and teaches a new recruit (his young self) to be a good copper. Probably my favorite book in the series so far. It has a bit of everything in it.

The Wee Free Men: Another in the “Young Adult” series of books. A young witch is on a mission to save her borther. Nice enough story, but being aimed at young adults, it doesn’t have the depth of some of the other books.

Monstrous Regiment: A young girl joins the army to search for her missing brother. Not nearly as similar to the last book as the one-line summary would have you believe. Some proper belly-laughs in this book.

Cheers

Tim…

Maskerade, Feet of Clay, Hogfather, Jingo, The Last Continent and The Celestine Prophecy…

I’ve read a five more of the Discworld series.

Maskerade: The witches get involved in a Phantom of the Opera plot.

Feet of Clay : The City Watch are involved in a detective story involving Golems, men made out of clay.

Hogfather : Death takes over the role of the Hogfather and leaves his granddaughter to carry on the family business.

Jingo : Ankh-Morpork goes to war with Klatch over a mysterious new island.

The Last Continent : Rincewind and the Wizards get mixed up in the creation and evolution of the continent XXXX, which has striking similarities with Australia. This was especially funny as I started reading it when I was in Australia. No Worries! 🙂

On a completely different tack, one of my friends recommended The Celestine Prophecy. It’s written in the first-person, so it has the feel of fact, rather than fiction. Quite an interesting book really. Anything that makes you question your belief system is interesting, even if it is a bit fanciful.

That brings me up to date I think. I best get out to a book shop and get the next Discworld book. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…