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!