10.7.07
The Critic Inside
Reading is in again... So let's take it in order.
As I've already noted, the Eragon flic is a disgusting Star Wars rip-off. The book, fortunately, is not, and for that reason, whoever wrote the film should be shot. Now, I'm not saying the book isn't bad. It is, Not because Paolini stole ideas from everywhere and everything, but because it is clumsily written. Almost like a teenager wrote it... But unlike R. A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks, Paolini has the excuse of actually having been a teenager when he wrote it, and there may still be hope for him, as the second book is somewhat better in that respect. Not much, mind, but still...
Next came the Oracle's Queen, the third and final part in Lynn Flewelling's Tamir series. To say that it was a refreshment after Eragon and Eldest would be an understatement, as Flewelling's style is light years ahead. The book, however, is the weakest of the three, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that the ending is, well, prophesied. But it was good to see it nonetheless.
And lastly, the fourth part of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire monster epic series... When I read the first three books, I was truly and honestly amazed by something I've never before seen in high fantasy literature - the casual killing of what one thought of as main characters. And not just one or two of them. Just that would've made them worth reading, but the books' qualities didn't end there. Plots, subplots, twists, all wrapped in superb writing style, would've made them great even without characters dying left and right. But, as it so often is, the strengths hid a seed of weakness... All the character killing is bound to leave one without characters sooner or later, and even though Martin still has plenty left, he seems seems to have decided to dedicate the entire fourth book to the less interesting ones. The character's interestingness also seems to be inversely proportional to the attention the character received... I mean, who the hell is Brienne? It has been a long time since I read the first three books, but I have absolutely no recollection of her, and no idea why she gets a third (I had to check, it's not a half, even though it feels like that) of the book to herself when she a) does nothing and b) accomplishes nothing before getting herself killed. At least, that's what I assume the blackout she suffers while being hanged means, but I suppose I'll have to wait for the sixth book (there aren't supposed to be any of the fourth book's characters in the fifth) to be sure. And there better be a sixth book, and maybe a seventh, because the tangled web Martin's woven is far, far from being unraveled.
Now, I only have to hope that Robert Jordan doesn't die (I know, it's a horrible thing to say) before he finishes the last Wheel of Time book... And that it really will be the last one.
As I've already noted, the Eragon flic is a disgusting Star Wars rip-off. The book, fortunately, is not, and for that reason, whoever wrote the film should be shot. Now, I'm not saying the book isn't bad. It is, Not because Paolini stole ideas from everywhere and everything, but because it is clumsily written. Almost like a teenager wrote it... But unlike R. A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks, Paolini has the excuse of actually having been a teenager when he wrote it, and there may still be hope for him, as the second book is somewhat better in that respect. Not much, mind, but still...
Next came the Oracle's Queen, the third and final part in Lynn Flewelling's Tamir series. To say that it was a refreshment after Eragon and Eldest would be an understatement, as Flewelling's style is light years ahead. The book, however, is the weakest of the three, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that the ending is, well, prophesied. But it was good to see it nonetheless.
And lastly, the fourth part of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire monster epic series... When I read the first three books, I was truly and honestly amazed by something I've never before seen in high fantasy literature - the casual killing of what one thought of as main characters. And not just one or two of them. Just that would've made them worth reading, but the books' qualities didn't end there. Plots, subplots, twists, all wrapped in superb writing style, would've made them great even without characters dying left and right. But, as it so often is, the strengths hid a seed of weakness... All the character killing is bound to leave one without characters sooner or later, and even though Martin still has plenty left, he seems seems to have decided to dedicate the entire fourth book to the less interesting ones. The character's interestingness also seems to be inversely proportional to the attention the character received... I mean, who the hell is Brienne? It has been a long time since I read the first three books, but I have absolutely no recollection of her, and no idea why she gets a third (I had to check, it's not a half, even though it feels like that) of the book to herself when she a) does nothing and b) accomplishes nothing before getting herself killed. At least, that's what I assume the blackout she suffers while being hanged means, but I suppose I'll have to wait for the sixth book (there aren't supposed to be any of the fourth book's characters in the fifth) to be sure. And there better be a sixth book, and maybe a seventh, because the tangled web Martin's woven is far, far from being unraveled.
Now, I only have to hope that Robert Jordan doesn't die (I know, it's a horrible thing to say) before he finishes the last Wheel of Time book... And that it really will be the last one.
