Yeah, if I had one thing I could change about the books, it'd be the insane prologues. Some of those things are re-god-damn-diculous.

Rand, to me, is maybe the least interesting character. Matt and Perrin's stories and character arcs are less...generic. Still the hero's journey, but they're just cooler characters.

And I really don't like what they (Jordan/Sanderson) turned Rand into in the last book. Without spoiling anything, let's just say he's too Jesus for my taste. (Even so, I think it's one of the better books.)

Even Aviendha, Elayne, Min, Egwene, Faile, Tuon and Nynaeve interest me more than Rand, as annoying as they can each be from time to time.

The women were the most annoying to me. They weren't fleshed out very well. Also this whole "we are going to a super strict school but can sneak out for extended adventures" was kind of :rolleyes:.

Oh well. I've got piles of other stuff I'm working through at the moment (the Dark Tower series atm). I have a bad habit of picking up entire series at garage sales.

making my way through 'spook' by mary roach. it's great so far, but it's a busy time of the year for me and I'm finding my way through via fits and spurts.

Let's just say it's about the destination more than the journey with the women. They are annoying in the early books. And they're still annoying in the later books, but they're more...important, as far as the world goes. You can see the point of them being there so much...Dark Tower was pretty good. I need to re-read that again sometime.

He's working on an 8th book actually. One that goes in before Wolves of the Calla (I think).

That's good to know. I just reread The Stand (extended version) and was in a King mood. The Drawing of the Three is more like vintage King. I haven't liked anything he has done recently so that was kind of nice.

I just read it for the first time this week. I came across it in the book store, and even though I was familiar with the title, I had absolutely no idea what it was about. But, it's only 214 pages, so I figured it was at least a quick read.

My first impression was that the book sucked. I laboured through it. I did have some apprehension about what Holden was going to do or how he would end up. I could tell by mid-way through the book that he was a depressed and psychotic individual, but he just annoyed me. He really did. (heh).

But, I've read a couple of reviews because I just needed to know why this thing was such a classic. I guess it has a lot to do with when it was written and the fact that in 1951 a lot of this subject matter was extremely shocking. Maybe it's a sad statement that in today's world, Holden just ain't that dramatic...

After due consideration, I'm glad I read it and I think differently of it, but I had to read other's thoughts on it...I guess I'm not that bright.

Okay, enough sitting on the sidelines for me. I'm currently on the homestretch of a WoT re-read that I needed to do in preparation for the last book about halfway through Knife of Dreams. So this kicked off on New Years and yep just like I remembered Winter's Heart sucked, I really got bogged down by it. Picking up a lot more of the nuance I probably missed previously.

Before that Echo by Jack McDevitt which I blew through in no time, definitely McDevitt's best work since he won the Nebula with Seeker and Spook Country and Zero History by Williams Gibson which were surprisingly good. Up next in the ever expanding hopper is probably a re-read of GRR Martin for the new book since its been forever since I touched Feast and I very eagerly await Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge. If you read SF and don't know why or who Vinge is please do yourself a favor and bump A Fire Upon the Deep to the front of the queue.

"The Grand Slam" by Mark Frost. Same guy that wrote "The Greatest Game Ever Played". As you might guess, this is about Bobby Jones winning the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open & British Amateur in the same season. It also documents the rise in popularity of golf in the U.S. after Francis Ouimet won the U.S. Open in 1913 (?).

Reading it now. I agree with your impression. I'm about 2/3rds through right now. I hope the ending lives up to the build up.

Just finished reading The Scarab Path, book 5 in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadow of the Apt. As I've said before, it's a tremendous series so far. Viewpoint characters die when you least expect it, some heroically, some barely noticed. Characters who survive change. The world at large changes, too, and he introduces new elements to the world that add facets to the story without making the whole thing unwieldy. And it's the kind of series where the books can be hard to put down at night, where you look up and realize it's 4 am and you should've been asleep hours ago. It's steampunky and magical, filled with romance and intrigue and politics and war.

Just finished reading The Lucky Bastards Club.

Another great read for those WW2 fans, and especially if you like aviation books.

Oh, it does... he goes full Stephenson at the end. The guy can write plodding, idea-driven stuff that interests me, but he can also write page-turning, plot-driven action as good as anyone in the business.

Almost done with 'Assassins Gate' by George Packer, i think i've learned more from this one book than i have any other book or documentary about the Iraq war. Its very even handed, loaded with well researched information & he does a GREAT job of melding all of the disparate facts into something that makes sense, gives it context. Anyone seeking a deeper understanding of that war should read this book, it reads like a novel, very entertaining & enlightening. :thumb: