Reading Fated by Benedict Jacka, first book in his urban fantasy series Alex Verus.
It is interesting to see how different Alex is from Dresden, both are very different kind of mages, though both have their own issues with their respective councils.
What about all of you? What have you all been reading or listening to lately?
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I finished Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time today, a bit shy of two years after I started it. Well, I actually started the series in the nineties, but this time I managed to finish it.
OP asked me for my opinion on the ending, but at this point I’m sort of unsure myself. It’s such a long series with so many concepts and characters that it’s hard to summarize my thoughts in writing. I don’t have that Talent. I do find myself satisfied with how the series ended, though. There’s some Christian philosophy woven in to the conclusion that I don’t really agree with, but it makes sense and works within the world the story takes place in. Brandon Sanderson was a great choice for writing the final books.
Yes, it is a good series, but one I can’t really recommend to most people, and it frustrated me at many points. Heck, I think half the books should have been slashed. Don’t have your spouse for an editor I suppose.
I’m glad it’s done.
I also read Guy Delisle’s comic book Hostage. It’s the true story of a kidnapped NGO administrator who was kidnapped in 1997 in the Caucasus. Very interesting read and a daring story to adapt to a comic book, since it’s mostly one man alone hand cuffed to a radiator. It must have been a harrowing experience for the hostage though.
Next up I think I’ll read Остров Сахалин by Eduard Verkin. It’s a sci-fi book I picked up from the library.
So,
Ending
I didn’t like the ending. The final fight, it felt very anti-climatic to me. I am not sure what I wanted the fight to be, so cant say I have any better suggestion.
I can see that. Despite the slow pacing of the books, the last fight felt rushed. But more than that, it’s possible such a metaphysical fight can never truly be expressed in words; we don’t have the language for it. It will by necessity feel underwhelming, since the writing has to be done from a human perspective for us to understand and relate to it. As writers and readers we are imprisoned by our humanity and very limited perspective. This is why tackling such huge cosmic issues is difficult to do in a truly satisfying manner. Everything always sounds too human and not grand enough, because that is what we have to anchor it to. Like, say, I like reading sci-fi books about truly alien intelligences, but those are always creations of human minds, playing with human tropes. In the end, writing something outside human experience is impossible for us, lest what is written becomes entirely unintelligible.
I may be missing the mark here, but sometimes I have thoughts and they take flight. I just wanted to say that I can understand expecting more, even if I personally enjoyed the ending well enough.
That’s actually a valid point. I guess I can stop blaming Sanderson for botching up the final fight 😀
Thank you for your comment on the Wheel of Time. Now I feel less guilty for skipping parts.