Books. For the literati among us.

I don't remember which were this year and which were last year, but:
Brandon Sanderson - Most of the Cosmere books
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law trilogy
James Islington - Licanius Trilogy

Highly recommend the Licanius Trilogy. Really well done. A few issues with writing as this is I believe his first - or one of his first - works, but really damn good nonetheless. Ending was mostly satisfying, I walked away with a smile on my face from satisfaction.
 
mgarbowski said:
Five more. You're about halfway through what I considered the slog of books 7 to 11 or 12. Jordan had a plan but he nonetheless got a bit lost IMO. But he started pulling it together it really worked, and Sanderson did I think a superb job of finishing the series after Jordan passed, using RJ's extensive notes.
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Thanks, yes, five.

I read the first six or seven when they were first being released, it was interesting to revisit them. I don't know if 7-9 were a slog (although that definitely seems to be the consensus), but I'm definitely more tired of Nynaeve's attitude than I remember being.

I've been a little nervous about the handover to Sanderson, so nice to hear a vote in its favor
 
joe said:
I don't know if 7-9 were a slog (although that definitely seems to be the consensus),
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I still can't get over that the primary plot in Book 7 was several people looking for a bowl. OK it's a particular magic bowl, but still. They even knew what city it was in so it wasn't like a quest. It was just looking for a lost bowl in the city of the lost bowl. And then they find it, but they don't even use it until Book 8, because the book about looking for the lost bowl was already 700+ pages long and Jordan had to close it up.

I once read that when Jordan proposed the series he told his publisher it was going to be 3 books, and his editor said "better make the contract for 6 books because he never delivers within the proposed constraints." It ends up being 14 books plus a prequel.

Don't get me wrong: I read the entire series twice, but the middle third, oof.
 
mgarbowski said:
I still can't get over that the primary plot in Book 7 was several people looking for a bowl. OK it's a particular magic bowl, but still. They even knew what city it was in so it wasn't like a quest. It was just looking for a lost bowl in the city of the lost bowl. And then they find it, but they don't even use it until Book 8, because the book about looking for the lost bowl was already 700+ pages long and Jordan had to close it up.

I once read that when Jordan proposed the series he told his publisher it was going to be 3 books, and his editor said "better make the contract for 6 books because he never delivers within the proposed constraints." It ends up being 14 books plus a prequel.

Don't get me wrong: I read the entire series twice, but the middle third, oof.
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I guess I count as someone who read the whole thing 1.5 times. WOT and GOT are both series that I started, read a few books of, realized they weren’t complete and then abandoned. I think it was after abandoning GOT that I promised myself I’d never start another series if it wasn’t already complete. At the time I was afraid Martin would die before finishing. Turned out I should have had my eye on RJ.

GOT I never reread and just watched the TV series. WOT I went back to the books and read all 14 in one go.
 
FootyLovin said:
I guess I count as someone who read the whole thing 1.5 times. WOT and GOT are both series that I started, read a few books of, realized they weren’t complete and then abandoned. I think it was after abandoning GOT that I promised myself I’d never start another series if it wasn’t already complete. At the time I was afraid Martin would die before finishing. Turned out I should have had my eye on RJ.

GOT I never reread and just watched the TV series. WOT I went back to the books and read all 14 in one go.
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Sanderson Jordan was diagnosed with heart disease about a year before he died; he died of treatment complications I believe. In any event, years earlier before he was even ill he had made arrangements with his publisher and wife to act as literary executors to find someone to finish the job in case something unexpected happened, and he created a detailed series outline and Bible so someone could, in fact, do so. Jordan also wrote and published 11 books in 16 years.

In contrast, Martin is IMO a selfish SOB who by all accounts does not know how to finish his own series, is happy to cash his HBO residual checks, and let others mangle the ending on screen, because again, he does not know how to end it himself. And my understanding is he has left instructions that nobody else can finish the books if he does not.
 
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mgarbowski said:
Five more. You're about halfway through what I considered the slog of books 7 to 11 or 12. Jordan had a plan but he nonetheless got a bit lost IMO. But he started pulling it together it really worked, and Sanderson did I think a superb job of finishing the series after Jordan passed, using RJ's extensive notes.
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Definitely the point where those clothing descriptions got me. Sanderson did such a good job finishing up. This was my first exposure to Sanderson and he became my favorite author.
 
Gotham Gator said:
The Hatian Revolution is fascinating and undercovered by contemporary history literature
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My in-laws immigrated from Haiti in the 60's after Papa Doc took over. Their preferred books are all in French. So presumably not much help.

My wife's fave is Graham Greene's The Comedians.

My daughter's fave from learning about her family history is Jake Johnston's Aid State.
 
Gotham Gator said:
Autocracy Inc. - Applebaum
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Ack!!

I’m two chapters in and can’t handle the rage inside. Corrupt fucking world. Assholes get ahead. I can tell this is a terrific book. But I think I’m ready to put it away. I need to go meditate.

Thanks for the rec though.
 
FootyLovin said:
Ack!!

I’m two chapters in and can’t handle the rage inside. Corrupt fucking world. Assholes get ahead. I can tell this is a terrific book. But I think I’m ready to put it away. I need to go meditate.

Thanks for the rec though.
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I felt that fury too. I did finish it, but it was hard.

It's important to understand how networked all these regimes are - as well as the people inside them.

It's also important to understand that while we don't think we are at war with these regimes, they sure as fuck think they're at war with us.
 
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