SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
Group Reads Discussions 2010
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Final Thoughts
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Cindy
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Jul 29, 2010 02:33PM
Final thoughts time! Did you like this pick? What do you think? Will you continue the series?
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I enjoyed the book and plan on continuing with the series. It left some unanswered questions. Why doesn't Tavi have any furies? Who are (or were) his parents? What's the deal with Fade?
I'm about to start the 5th book and I think the series gets better and better as it goes. It's answering a lot of those questions you have, Eric.
I finished the second book not too long ago and it was a definite improvement over the first. Enough to make me want to continue for sure. People often complain about fantasies starting slow, but I think they forget that fantasies have a lot more to explain than other genres. Things we take for granted in everyday life, like gravity for instance, don't necessarily work the same in a fantasy world, and because of that, authors have to spend more time some basic world information, which can slow the plot down sometimes.
I've already started on the second book. Will most likely finish the entire series in the next few months. Decent stuff.
I'm on the Fifth book after about a 3 week period. The story line is definitely solid and there is good continuity from book to book.Eric- All of your questions are easily covered in the by book 4. Everything kind of 'clicks' about halfway through that one.
I edited Mihir's review for the last book. So I already know the answers to those so yeah they will be answered. I plan on continuing this series. Not right away as I have 100s of books to read but it'll be a good filler book for myself! I'm glad so many people enjoyed this pick!
I already devoured the whole series. I think it is a very good Fantasy series. But, I still like the Dresden Files better.
Alan wrote: "I finished the second book not too long ago and it was a definite improvement over the first. Enough to make me want to continue for sure. People often complain about fantasies starting slow, but I..."Introductory books that start and end slow are the direct result of the author not knowing how to make his or her first book a viable and exciting story. It's funny how Rowling, Sanderson, Goodkind, Jordan, Weeks, Rothfuss and countless other fantasy authors have not had this problem. Series that start off incredible slow inevitably end up to be not very good. I get so tired of people telling me that I have to be patient and wait till I've read 3 books or more before everything starts to pick up. If the first book hasn't captured my attention I'm certainly not going to read the second one.
Flint wrote: "Alan wrote: "Series that start off incredible slow inevitably end up to be not very good. "I don't find that to be true in every instance. There are a couple of authors I can think of off the top of my head where the writing improves every single book - Lynn Flewelling would be one example. Her Nightrunner series starts off a little weak but gets better and better, and every book since has been an improvement over the last (IMHO).
RE: Furies of Calderon - while I overall found the series a little weak, there was no doubt in my mind the books that followed were an improvement on the first. I do think authors can and do learn from previous efforts. Now, whether it's worth it to any given individual to slog through the initial volumes to get to the better stuff is purely a matter of personal preference, and not caring to do so is totally understandible. :)
You say you know of a couple of authors, but can only name one. My feeling is that if a book that doesn't start off strong it typically doesn't have a very good premise to begin with. I've read books that were ok or a bit better than ok and decided to read the sequel and I've never once been like, wow the second book is great! The pacing might get better and there might be more action, etc., but the writing often remains the same. I'm not saying this of every book, but if you read the ratings on goodreads I don't think you'll ever find a book rated 3.61 suddenly jump to a 4.14. It simply doesn't happen.For the record I still haven't read Furies yet. It's waiting for me at the library and now I'm having second thoughts. I wasn't particularly impressed with Butcher's wizard books so I decided to try these instead.
You don't like the Dresden books? *head asplodes*Well never mind me then, we just have very different reading tastes. :)
I read the first 3. They were ok. I kept reading only because I wanted to find out why the series was so popular. I may read the 4th one at a later date or just listen to it on audio, but if that one doesn't absolutely blow me away then that's where I'll end it. I'm not like those idiots who say they HATE a book series and then continue to read the next 5-10 books and proclaim they hate each one more than the last. I don't hate the dresden books btw.
