Various reviews. Minor spoilers; major ones whited out (highlight to read).
( Valiant, Holly Black. )
( Song of Fire & Ice series, George R. R. Martin. )
( Black Sun Rising, CS Friedman. )
( Sailing to Sarantium, Guy Gavriel Kay. )
( Nightlife, Rob Thurman. )
Anyway.
YMMV, of course, as always.
Next up, Bujold's Paladin of Souls and Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. I have high hopes for both of these, but first I have some revising of my own to do. After all, can't frickin' publish what I don't frickin' finish. Sigh.
EDIT, son of: Wow, Novik's gonna make me cry, damn it, it's like Napoleonic era warfare and dragons and impeccable titling and formality all wrapped up in one, and the lovely semi-colons, too. *sniff* I adore a writer who knows the semi-colon. Halfway through already, and haven't found a damn thing yet to fuss about, this is rare, and a beautiful thing.
EDIT, revenge of: ( because the world must END. )
So the question is: after reading a good stretch of fantasy, do any of you find "the world will end" to be a Big Cost and useful in a story's plotline, or do you find it a cop-out, or over-the-top? In which stories did it work for you, or did it stop working, or does it only work in certain instances? Just curious.
EDIT, pt 3.5: OMG His Majesty's Dragon is fucking flawless. Not a single frickin' complaint. I ripped through that book in maybe five hours. Okay, one complaint. TOO SHORT. Crap, now I shall go cry for not being able to write like that. OMG. OMG. Fucking A.
( Valiant, Holly Black. )
( Song of Fire & Ice series, George R. R. Martin. )
( Black Sun Rising, CS Friedman. )
( Sailing to Sarantium, Guy Gavriel Kay. )
( Nightlife, Rob Thurman. )
Anyway.
YMMV, of course, as always.
Next up, Bujold's Paladin of Souls and Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. I have high hopes for both of these, but first I have some revising of my own to do. After all, can't frickin' publish what I don't frickin' finish. Sigh.
EDIT, son of: Wow, Novik's gonna make me cry, damn it, it's like Napoleonic era warfare and dragons and impeccable titling and formality all wrapped up in one, and the lovely semi-colons, too. *sniff* I adore a writer who knows the semi-colon. Halfway through already, and haven't found a damn thing yet to fuss about, this is rare, and a beautiful thing.
EDIT, revenge of: ( because the world must END. )
So the question is: after reading a good stretch of fantasy, do any of you find "the world will end" to be a Big Cost and useful in a story's plotline, or do you find it a cop-out, or over-the-top? In which stories did it work for you, or did it stop working, or does it only work in certain instances? Just curious.
EDIT, pt 3.5: OMG His Majesty's Dragon is fucking flawless. Not a single frickin' complaint. I ripped through that book in maybe five hours. Okay, one complaint. TOO SHORT. Crap, now I shall go cry for not being able to write like that. OMG. OMG. Fucking A.