I'm not sure how behind I am on keeping track of my reading but I feel like it's been a really, really long time. I have little catching up to do.
For a month and a half or so I read The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. They're by Patrick Rothfuss and make up the first two books of an as of yet unfinished trilogy. They had some pretty stellar reviews so a couple months ago (time is flying!) when I was on a mission to get some new books on my shelves The Name of the Wind one was on the top of the list. The style of the book threw me off a little when I start reading it. The premise is that the main character is dictating his life story to a chronicler and has three days to do so. Each book in the series is a day. What's interesting is that there's a fair amount of transitioning from the days of the story to the book's present day.
The series is called The Kingkiller Chronicle although after two books there has been no king killing to speak of. As far as fantasy books go, it's pretty epic. It's epic in size, for one, with the first book being over 700 pages and the second just shy of 1000. Reading The Wise Man's Fear in two weeks while working and being under the weather was kind of epic itself. More than just page count, though, it covers a lot of epic ground of a character of legend and it doesn't feel rushed. You know how sometimes books rush you through things and you feel like it's just to get to the next big exciting thing? Yeah, Rothfuss didn't do that. He didn't get bogged down in details either, though, and I enjoyed the books quite a bit because of that. They won't make my all time favourite list, but are definitely worth the read and I'll look forward to the third book whenever it comes out.
Another thing I really liked about the series is that there is so much going on. There are a fair number of characters, but not enough to get confused with if you're paying attention, and they all seem to have layers. Like ogres and onions. Maybe it's just my untrusting nature, except it really isn't, but there is so much behind the scenes intrigue going on that it kept me roped in. Without it I would still have been into the books, but the fact that every character seems to have big secrets is what keeps things really intriguing. It's a subplot of intrigue, if you will. Either way, the books were good and I quite liked them.
And, because it's me and I impeccable taste in literature, I followed up my epic fantasy with Janet Evanovich and Three to get Deadly. You know, a little chick lit mystery novel to cleanse the palate between epic fantasies. It took me a week to get through which was longer than I expected. An easy read, I was just too incredibly busy and stressed out to bother to put in any book time. Bed time was more for sleeping than reading and that cut out a big chunk of my reading time.
Three to get Deadly was as interesting as I'd expected. It was fast paced, easy to read, and, although there was some depth of character, there was also a lot of pooh jokes. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad it was a short book and nothing longer than a week commitment.
I am now reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. It was also very highly recommended and, if the copy I got from the library is any indication, very popular. That or someone hated it so much they tried to destroy it. It's another popular fantasy book from a few years ago, and I'm hoping it is excellent. I've barely started so it's too soon to tell how it's going to go. So far so good, though.
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