gufnork's log

gufnork

First up this year:

The well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.

This was a great book, especially since a lot of the reviews i'd read beforehand didn't seem to rate it as highly as the first. I thought it was at least as good, if not better. Yes, i think the pacing was a little slower in general but it was interspersed quite nicely with red hot action scenes that just seem to slam into you at precisely the right moments.

Excellent book. Excellent series. Looking forward to reading the third one.

Second was Snuff by Terry Pratchett.

I was very disappointed with this one. I love the Discworld with it's wonderfully kooky characters and it's i-don't-care-how-silly-this-is-it's-still-damn-funny kind of humour. But i think that was the problem with this one in the end. It could have been set anywhere. The Discworld to me is Ankh-Morpork and it's whole host of characters not just Vimes in the countryside with a few bit parts thrown in. I think the best thing that i can say about this one is that it's by Terry Pratchett, so even his not-so-good stuff is still at least readable. Still, disappointing though.

Not one of his best. I miss the Discworld.

gufnork

Third this year was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Had high hopes for this book since a good proportion of the reviews online seem to rate it almost fanatically. Unfortunately it turns out to be mostly hype. I say mostly because there were a couple, if not a few scenes that were really very good, almost exceptionally so. But a few good, even great scenes in a book this size(1362 pages on my ereader) still amounts to a story full of tedium.

All in all, a few good moments struggling amidst the tedium.

gufnork

Fourth was The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Liked this a lot. It's the first in a seven book epic about our protagonist and his search for the dark tower. Is quite dream-like and has an original quality to it that i've rarely come across. Very much looking forward to the second one now. One of the best beginnings to a fantasy series i've come across so far. The second installment apparently has him being thrown into the mind of a 20th century drug dealer. Sounds unusual.

First book i've given 5 stars to on goodreads. Deservedly so. Excellent.

gufnork

Fifth this year was A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin.

This was very good indeed an fully deserves all the good reviews. I enjoyed it more than the first one and have a feeling this series is just going to get better as it goes along.

Excellent book and series. Love it.

gufnork

Sixth book this year, Wild Cards vol.3 - Jokers Wild by George R R Martin.

I wasn't overly excited by the first two in this series to be honest, but they did have their moments and the overall premise of the series is definitely original so i decided to persist for the moment. I'm glad i did, since this 3rd volume was a distinct improvement upon the first two. Maybe it's because it's set over the course of a single day, each chapter being one hour or the fact that it seemed to hold together better and flow quite nicely from one author to the next. I don't know really, but i hope the rest are as good.

Best of the first 3 volumes by a long shot.

gufnork

7th up is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman.

Two of my favourite authors all rolled into one delectable package. This couldn't fail to be good, and i'm glad to say it didn't disappoint. Still wasn't up to discworld standards(excepting the later few, unfortunately), but then nothing has ever come close to most of the discworld books as far as i'm concerned.

A very good read, very humorous throughout with some genuinely hilarious moments.

gufnork

8th up is A Spell For Chameleon by Piers Anthony.

Not even sure if I should pay this one the respect of a few sentences really. Suffice to say it just isn't worth my time, especially when there are so many other books waiting to be read.

Terrible. Wish I hadn't bothered wasting the 20mins I spent on it.

gufnork

9th this year, Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny.

A brilliant novel. Not usually into first person narrative but it worked very well here. I loved the whole shadow worlds bit, and simply couldn't put this one down.

Fantastic book. So glad there are so many more to go.

gufnork

10th this year is a re-read of The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

Out of all the discworld novels, this has to be one of my favourites. I love rincewind for a start so that probably helps, but i just like the whole feel of this one. The re-read was even better than the original read, maybe i noticed things i missed or didn't really pay attention to.

Anyway, excellent even after the 2nd reading.

gufnork

11th is Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett.

I was sure i hadn't quite finished reading this one from a while back but it turns out i'd read it all along. Still, i enjoyed it(again) and think it ranks above average anyway. Not amongst his very best, but still pretty good.

Very good. Enjoyed it... twice.

gufnork

12th is Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad by George R R Martin.

This was quite a large book at 956 pages(at least on my Sony ereader it was), although according to goodreads it's only 300-odd pages. Not sure what that's about, but anyway, i wasn't quite so enamoured with this one as i was with the first 3. It still wasn't bad or even just mediocre, but i like stories that are set in the places that i originally encountered them and this was basically a fictional representation of a Lonely Planet travel guide. I'll be glad to get back to Jokertown and Aces High and other familiar spots.

Not exactly bad, more like a temporary distraction from the main attraction.

gufnork

Have decided since I've a goodreads account, I don't actually need to keep this thread going.

So, I'll say goodbye now...