Decline and the Fall

For the next few weeks I am going to be reading The Decline and the Fall. I think at this point in my life, I should concentrate on the great books I have never read like Ulysses, Anatomy of Melancholy and Histories.

The Wise Man's Fear- Patrick Rothfuss

Boy, does Pat Rothfuss know how to spin a tale? If the third one is as good as this one, I am almost not going to mind waiting for a long time. This one is much, much more mature than "The Name of the Wind", as is Kvothe. The storytelling is not pathbreaking by any stretch of imagination, but the way the Author tells the story is fantastic. Yes, the book is too long and doesn't work like a novel and leap forward in resolving the book's central crisis, but you hardly notice these small quibbles, when you are rush headlong in the flow of the story. In fact, for over a week, I couldn't think of anything else but the book. Now, it's time for a headlong dive in to "The Crippled god"

Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas is not a dumb book. It has internalized the tropes of various genres and does a great job of miming each genre, from the paperback thriller to the science fiction novelette and the post apocalyptic fantasy.The novel is constantly engaging and sweeps up the reader with each shift in tone.You can almost feel it when the author shifts gears to a new genre.However, the juggling of genres and their interlinking, while being mildly interesting and competently executed, is only superficially clever. The book does not aim to, nor does it acheve the sublime brilliance of a true literary masterpiece. To em the only path breaking thing about the novel was the genre bending narrative, which many others have done better than the author. Again, the individual stories themselves are nothing remarkable. Like, I said, the idea seems to be to use the standard genre tropes and expect the whole to to lift the mundane sumof parts to the level of brilliance. But, it never quite seems to take off
Ultimately, although the book is not a bad read, it remains just that, when it could have been so much more

Acacia- War with the Mein, David Anthony Durham

So far in January I have been able to read two books. The first one was pure genre- Acacia- The War with the Mein. The book was not really bad. The story was fairly straightforward. We have the weak emperor, four royal children, a wise Wazir, who could have been a better king, but knows his place and a cunning barbarian chieftain, thirsting for revenge, whose ancestors were betrayed by the Empire hundreds of years ago. Yeah, we've heard this story a hundred different times told in a hundred different variations in the theme. although the author has thrown in some new and some not so new characters and characterizations, Acacia is not about to re-invent the genre, nor is it supposed to. We Genre fans prefer the warmth of a comforting cliche to an ill conceived foray in to the unknown. If there is a genre that invites a lot of ironic insight both thematically and the reading habits of the typical fan, it most definitely should be Fantasy
Thankfully, the book did have some awesome set pieces that helped it redeem itself to a degree, but, somehow, the execution was rushed, as if the author- David Anthony Durham, couldn't wait to complete the scene. What might have been an entire series in a more accomplished writer, devolves in a hurried race to the finishing line with David. To sum up, the book is a solid effort, but, you wont go toyour deathbed regretting not having read this one

The second book that I read this month was Cloud Atlas by, David Mitchell. The review should be up in the net post. Possibly tomorrow. Until then, Good Night and Good luck!

How To live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Why are the fate of our fathers so important? How to live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is about another protagonist passively obsessed with finding his Father. We watch as Charles Yu meet Luke Skywalker's son, relive the high points of his not so remarkable life and shoot himself and therefore getting stuck in a time loop. The only thing interesting about the book is the background- the Science fictional Universe- Minor Universe 31. Of course Time travel pseudoscience is always been fascinating and Yu nails it. The concepts are complex witout being abstruse. In short, How to live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe has great set pieces, but a pedestrian storyline makes it only a so-so read.

The way of kings- Brandon Sanderson

First of all, let me make something very clear. There is nothing ground breaking about the Way of Kings. It has got the standard High/epic fantasy characters. The naturally gifted young man who always felt like an outsider finds hidden powers, a girl takes great risks to save her family and a General who only wants to protect a Foolish king from himself. Now that we have got that out of the way, the execution is flawless. Sanderson has got the setup and the background just right. He doesn’t go on to so much detail that those who are interested in the human conflict are bored ,while at the same time there is enough background on politics, Magic systems and Culture for those who are interested in the actual World building. Importantly, there is not a dull moment with no “arms being folded under Breasts” or “skirts being smoothened” and the shifts in the POV keep the story moving at a breakneck pace. He ties up most of the plots by the end of the book and does a competent job of clearly and sympathetically painting the characters' inner conflicts. Because it does not stray too much from the High/ Epic Fantasy template, you can almost tell exactly what is going to happen next. So, it really boils down to this- Was this book good enough that I would read book two? Yes. Is it good enough that I will read this book again? Probably not.

Towers of Midnight

Just one more step to Tarmon Gaidon. I came in to the series pretty late. During my early twenties. In College, so I went through the first 9-10 books in one go., So, while there were characters that irritated me like Aviendha, Elayne, Nynaeve and Gawyn, I was never completely put off by the fact that nothing really happens in the books 5-11. Nevertheless, it is a relief to see most characters moving closer to resolution.In any case, no one is going to contemplate reading this book if they haven't read the first 12. If you have been with this series for years in some cases and decades in others, all you need is a little bit of validation that some end is in sight for you to go and buy this book. Yes, the end is in sight and this is a step in the right direction. That said, this is not Jordan, so as with any such change of guard, there are some clashes in style and some misses with plotting and continuity(Especialy with Tam). I am entirely satisfied with Sanderson's writing style. It is not Jordan, but Sanderson is good enough. The transition is sometimes seamless and jarring at others. But then, considering that I would have been happy with a wikipedia entry like precis of what happened in Tarmon Gaidon after Jordan's death, I can't help but be thriled that the series is now in more capable hands. That said, this book is definitely better than the Gathering Storm. Many charaters actually grow up finally and Tarmon Gaidon feels imminent. Now, I am going to shut up wait with bated breath for "A Memory of Light".

PS: By the way what do the Towers of Midnight represent? The Black Tower? Also, Asmodean's Killer's reveal is a big anticlimax