Books, The Reading Of.

[effex]

I've given myself permission to quit reading A Princess of Roumania (Paul Park) because it is boring and I've been halfway done with it for two weeks (because it is boring). The writing is too dry for my tastes and the characters almost inaccessible. Mmm, or shallow. Insubstantial? Yeah, we'll go with that. Also, I dislike the way the Baroness Nicola Ceausescu was written (it's hard to dislike a villain when she doesn't understand her own thought processes or motives. Or root for an anti-hero, same problem).

I'm also giving myself a pass on Tongues of Serpents (Naomi Novik) and Changes (Jim Butcher) - I've lost interest in both series.

Instead, I've cracked open Library: An Unquiet History (Matthew Battles) and it's an excellent read thus far.

Comments

[shanejayell]

I liked Changes, but admittedly I'm a die hard Dresden fan.

The cliffhanger nearly drove me nuts, I must say.

[effex]

I've been a long-term fan myself - picked up Storm Front when it first came out (I was 15) and diligently bought every book since - but I've come to accept that the series isn't going in a direction I find interesting. I read a bunch of spoilers for Changes in an attempt to revive interest and... yeah. Backfired.

I'll always be a fan of the series to-date, though.

[shanejayell]

Yeah, I'm not sure I like where it's going either. I'm gonna read Ghost Story and decide what I think after that.

Have you read Side Jobs?

[effex]

I haven't read Side Jobs yet - I keep meaning to borrow it from my brother. I liked the short stories Butcher did in various anthologies, so I have high hopes.

[elspethdixon]

I am diligently pretending "Changes" does not exist. Canon ends at Small Favors and select parts of Turncoat. What do you mean, there are more books after that? (Scene where Morgan dies? What scene where Morgan dies? Clearly he got better and lives to be judgey at Harry another day)

I have vague memories of trying to read Princess of Roumania in college, but I, too, never finished it. Park had this thing I've encountered in other authors (some of Elizabeth Bear's novels work the same way for me, though they're better written) where it feels like there's a pane of glass between you and the characters and you can never really get into them.

[effex]

Yeah, that's about where I'm at - I'm still super fond of the series (and the characters) but I don't want to follow where it's going :/ I hate it when that happens [side eyes all of DC and Marvel]

Pane of glass - That's it exactly! Hell, I don't think his characters can get into themselves, they're always so surprised by their own actions.