Zack > Recent Status Updates

Oof. I know this will end in tragedy for all parties involved and it bums me out.

I can’t remember which review talked about how much SK hates fat women, but definitely seeing that. Talks about funny couples and puts “fat woman-skinny man” into that category.

Sorry for spamming everyone! I'm trying to create some accountability on working through the books I already have instead of running to the library or Overdrive. Feel free to throw out your thoughts on "Books on My Physical Shelf to Read" because a lot of those books have been on my shelf for a loooong time.

I think I’ve mentioned this before. It feels like King just throws random shit in that doesn’t make sense and instead of justifying, just says “it’s KA, duh.”

I don’t know if I’m ready to wade back in to “The Dark Tower” so quickly, but that hold came in way faster than expected.

I don’t know if I’ll finish it. It’s been such a letdown from the first book.

First book was an ecological mystery of a fever dream. Second book so far, office politics. Ugh. Interesting idea to get more perspective on the shadowy organization in charge of expeditions into Area X, but big let down so far.

They sure like to talk about how they journey hasn’t even started yet. FFS, we’re 200+ pages into the THIRD BOOK. And the journey still hasn’t started?

The rape demon Susannah has to fight using her past as a hypersexualized black woman is problematic at best.

Besides that, book has gotten better.

Feels like there is some on-the-fly retconning going on.

I hate it when major plots points revolve around allies not communicating. Lazy and stupid.

Also, still trying to figure out why this is considered one of the best fantasy series of all time. Do I have to read the rest of King’s books to get it?

So far, the big Scientific Revolution is phylogeny and cladistics. Oof. Rough.

Second, balance of forward story momentum and character building is poor. Not much is happening, AND the characters aren’t growing either. Aka it’s boring.

So I’ve picked this back up from the library now that I’m home. I think there are two reasons this sequel hasn’t grabbed me. One, the first book had multiple storylines that were basically different genres all in one book. Now all of those storylines are doing the same thing, political intrigue, and they aren’t doing it that well.

Was not expecting Sad Boi + conservative (little “c”) rural + MMIW-adjacent + murder as a subplot

Taking it back to the library since I’ll be unable to read for a few weeks. I’ve had a hard time connecting to this one like I did the first one, but I think that’s more me than the book.

It’s pretty good, but I have to put it on pause. I go back to work and don’t think I should take a library book. I’m not versed in slasher films, so there’s a lot that just isn’t for me. Reminds me some of “Hack/Slash,” but only from how seriously it takes Slashers.

It’s not grabbing me like the first one did. Feels slower, but it may also be me.

He had six great pages! Fremont straight up massacred a native village because white settlers asked him to. Author did a great treatment of trying to figure out who those villagers were. He cited other writers and didn’t shit on them either.

“Fremont is arrogant therefore not reliable.
Carson doesn’t talk much so everything he does say is perfectly reliable.
All other writers on this subject are halfwits for me to make fun of and then do the same things I made fun of them for doing.”

There. Now you don’t have to read this book.

Too much of this book is about what the author feels instead of what he’s found through research. He just did a brief literature survey and, to me, looks a lot like a list of confirmation bias.

At one point he shits on a writer as using “dubious sources,” when he never cites anything.

We’ll see if I finish this!

“The practice of buying and selling orphaned Indian children was more common among mountain men than most historians have recognized, but we know no further details about this venture of Carson‘s into the trade.”

So where does the author’s knowledge come from? Was he there? Any citations?

Yup, this is a rage read. Roberts reminds me of Bill Bryson (a condescending arrogant asshole that belittles others without actually offering much themselves). Author talks about wanting to give the native perspective, but just gives them passing mentions. Talks trash about biographers lack of scholarship and then not cite anything.

Also feels like he wants to be Craig Childs w/o doing the real landscape work.

Oof. Author talks about how he will finally give indigenous people a seat at this storytable and then talks about Fremont being the FIRST PERSON EVER to summit Fremont Peak, which the author describes as a walk-up. I feel it’s safe to assume native people probably summited every walk-up during the thousands of years they have inhabited this continent.

MC (and alleged “good guy”) massacres another non-human person.

The characters spend a lot of time wondering what to do next and I feel like that is more the author not being sure where to go next. Feels like a lot of wasted pages so far, but also things that could have come up a long time ago (spoiler, but apparently Kendra has this crazy power set unknown until now?)

Also! Feels odd that Mull is totally fine with mutilating non-human people in a “middle grade” book. Seth straight up slaughtered a harpy a few pages ago.

I have no clue what’s going on. They keep saying “Humbuggle must have lost the Wizenstone” over and over, but a lot of blanks aren’t really being filled in. I guess I was supposed to read the last book again like yesterday.

Damnit! I didn’t realize it until it was too late. This is the same asshole that wrote “The Pueblo Revolt.” We’ll see how this goes.

I think I’m going to make my reading goal this year! I was in doubt for a while.