Do our blog writing skills improve? And some KingKiller Chronicles segues

There's a long winded built-up to this question, so bear with me.
I was describing to my colleague at work how I spent most of this weekend sleepless due to a) Baby and b) Reading Patrick Rothfuss.

Now, I've read both of Patrick Rothfuss' books before (The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear). I've written about The Wise Man's Fear . 
If you are new to these names, they are books 1 and 2 of the KingKiller Chronicles. These books cover Day One and Day Two of the narrative, and Day three (or Book 3: The Doors of Stone) ought to be released in the next couple of years.*


(Aside) This wait for the third book is quite exciting, actually! There is quite an enthusiastic set of  Tor readers over at Jo Walton's re-read on Tor.com. Lots of theories being discussed!

* We dare not name a date, for Rothfuss is infamous for missing publishing deadlines. Current Goodreads site for Day Three in the Chronicles shows nothing, and it was reporting 2020 at one point to throw cold water on us eager readers.
P.S. Mr. Rothfuss' hilarious take on the goodreads readers who like to "review" books before they are out - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/327213074

Yet I really can't do the book justice. Trying to make a summary of the plot or storyline is an exercise in futility, as I realized when explaining to my colleague why he should read Rothfuss. It also seems like I've had this problem before - When I last wrote about The Wise Man's Fear , I actually didn't do a full review! Just trying to goad people into reading does count though, right?

This brings me to my point - do our blogging skills improve over the months and years we blog? I know we all HOPE they do, but without critical assessments, does pure practice result in improved writing skills?

You can vote for Locus Mag's Best Novel of 2011

The time to vote for your fav books of 2011 is here! 

Locus Mag's annual list of best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, novellas, novellettes and short stories for 2011 is now open. I've voted for a few of my fav reads (see list here) - I'm sure there are at least a dozen books that I've forgotten and should have voted for too. 
Still, Snuff and The Wise Man's Fear were truly stellar and both deserve to win Best Fantasy Novel for 2011. My choices:

Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear: 1
Terry Pratchett, Snuff: 2 
Gail Carriger, Heartless: 3
Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller WriteIn Rank: 4

You don't have to be a subscriber to nominate or vote, and you can choose books that you think should have been nominated (see my 4th vote above).
So what are you waiting for? Oh, the link? Here you go!

My confession - ebooks vs. paper

After two dozen posts extolling the virtues of ebooks, I am finally going to write one praising paper books. 

My confession is: Rereading is easier on physical books!

Image From www.Gawker.com

My most recent hardback buy was Towers of Midnight by Brandson Sanderson and Robert Jordan, from the Wheel of Time series. This is the penultimate book in the series, and I was incredibly kicked to be able to get it on the day it released (as I was in the US of A at that time).

I completed this monster-sized novel on my birthday, one day and one night after it arrived, as it was an early arrival birthday gift. One really can’t get all the implications of such a busy book in so short a time, so I let everything simmer for a few weeks.

Last weekend, I decided to re-read the second half of the book…it felt great to be able to easily pick spots to slow down for, turning pages kept my momentum going. I've even taken to reading it for a few minutes every other day, just to re-read parts that I might have missed earlier. The pages feel great, with that still-stiff, only been read by one person in the world, feeling.

This is probably the only book that could have prompted this confession - I'm a little obsessed with the Wheel of Time series, as you might know.

I probably wouldn’t have read this again if I had only an ebook version – sad but true.

New to Wheel of Time?

Read this brief series review

You can read my review of the Towers of Midnight here

New to eBooks?

View

Review: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Rating: A

Description: "The Last Battle has started. The seals on the Dark One’s prison are crumbling. The Pattern itself is unraveling, and the armies of the Shadow have begun to boil out of the Blight...It is time to toss the dice"

Length: 864 pages of Hardcover (no ebook for 1 more year)

Overview: This is the most hotly anticipated book of the year (currently on a number of Amazon Bestseller Lists)! As the penultimate book in the Wheel of Time series, Towers of Midnight is about a lot of things, but there are two main focuses here - Tying off several hanging stories and prophecies, AND  bringing all the required players to the site of the Final Showdown. A very fast-paced novel, there were very few moments that I could bear to put this book down (I read till 4 AM!)

Plus: A lot of resolutions, several plot-lines were tied up nicely. Rand was more of 'hidden' character in this book. Not to say that he didn't have a lot to say and do, but Rand came in at pivotal moments in other character's stories and changed the game. We didn't see too many Rand POV chapters, if I recall. Still, the phenomenal amount of work he got done in this manner! Perrin, not one of my fav characters, had one of the key Moments of Awesome in the book - and it was about time!! 

Brandon's writing has really improved from his previous work on the series (The Gathering Storm). His ability to enter a character's personality and write multiple timelines is clearly growing, and hopefully will hit the sweet spot in the Final novel.

Minus: While this peeve is not about the actual book itself, it is more of a publisher gripe - why is the ebook being released one year after the hardcover? Not sure what the logic is. People do get used to reading on the Kindle, and especially for long, heavy books like this, I would have loved to be able to have the ebook option.

The focus clearly was on timelines, plots and resolving several open threads. Brandon had to hustle to be able to fit it all in and bring the diverse characters upto speed. I don't blame him for this, and I know he is able to write thrilling, deep characters, as we saw in The Way of Kings.

Overall: A very, very, strong setup for the finale - The Last Battle.

You will like this if: You are a high/epic fantasy reader, or like anything by George R. R. Martin, Steven Erikson, Robert Jordan. If you have read Brandon Sanderson's books, this is for you. If you haven't picked up the series yet, what better time than now? The next and final book is coming, and you have 13 books to go for entertainment..Unlike poor souls like me who waited 15 years for the complete series and The Last Battle.

Buy from Amazon: by Jordan's, Sanderson's Towers of Midnight (Hardcover) (2010) (Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time))

***

New to the series? Read my review of the entire series here.

My detailed analysis of the last book, The Gathering Storm, is here.

A review of Brandon's last book, The Way of Kings is here.

Watch the Trailer for Towers of Midnight here: 
Trailer - Towers of Midnight (a.k.a Most Anticipated Book of the Year)

Trailer - Towers of Midnight (a.k.a Most Anticipated Book of the Year)

The regular old-timers on this blog know that I have long been a fan of Robert Jordan's (my review of the Wheel of Time is linked there). When The Gathering Storm, Book 12, came out, I read it with bated breath, and reviewed it in detail. I read Brandon Sanderson's entire Mistborn series to understand his writing style, and it paid off when TGS was released. Now, I am loyal to both authors, independently and together. 

That is why I am SO excited about Towers of Midnight - the penultimate book in the Wheel of Time series!! I have this on pre-order for my birthday.

Here is the Trailer, and the Making of the Trailer (after the break)

The Best Book Covers of the Decade

Just thought this was worth expanding upon (I tweeted the link a few months ago) - -

The super resource The Book Cover Archive blog has listed their top 10 best book covers of the decade.

My two favorite ones are from 2001 and 2004 respectively:

Designer : John Gall                                                                          and Designer: Buchanan-Smith LLC

 

Find the list of the best book covers of the decade here -

Book cover archive

Another list of book covers, this time by Vanity Fair, is here:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2008/09/25-best-book-jacket-designs.html

The VF list seems to have been made on the quality of the book itself, and not the jacket covers.  How did Catch-22 make it onto the list of great covers?

There are lots of great covers that they ignore in favor of classic favorite novels.
What do you think?

Hi.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what to blog about; Things this blog could have been about:

• My MBA experience, from GMAT to applications to being at Purdue
• My interest in marketing and internet marketing strategies
• Books and the Fantasy genre

Finally, books have been the most consistent part of my life - I knew, whether I was in Chicago, U.S.A or in Manipal, India, I could always find peace in a book. This blog is not just a review blog however, I will also use this space to post author updates, upcoming book releases and links to fascinating book covers and reading tips.

Welcome :)