Trail-Mix Readers discussion

Here is the thread for discussing Transitory.

Ask questions, tell us how you feel, and please use the *SPOILER* tag judiciously.

Also, don;t forget to join the Ian Williams Fan Club if you liked the book. he has a new novel coming out soon. (I realize I'm going overboard, but what can I say? Talented writers deserve the acknowledgment.)

So, how did you all feel about Nate when you first met him and how did your feelings grow through the book?

For me, it took me a while to actually start to like him. He annoyed me for much of the first part of the book.

I'm about halfway through the book and yep, Nate annoyed me. I kinda wanted to smack him with his "10% reading". But now, I'm liking him a bit more.

Yes! The reading irritated the crap out of me!

Stuart irritated me a lot more than Nate did. I think L'Armin was my favorite character, though.

Ian's new book is a dystopian, so I'm wondering how different this is going to be.

Here's my Goodreads review link

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

They are processing my Amazon 3 star review under the headline "Diverting but wanted more"

I think part of the problem is that when you have a hard time warming up to the main character it's hard to warm up to the book. But Williams could have helped us by feeding a few more details about their surroundings through Helen's dialogue. I went back through the first few chapters and realized that we really didn't get a lot of specifics, the name of the planet, the name of the city or the hotel or even the details of the festival other than "orbital resonance" and "the planning." Yes, Nate didn't pay attention, but Helen could have dropped a few of those details for us.

Philip, your review very much reflects my own feelings. Well done.

Okay, my Amazon review went live. Here's the link even though it's identical to the goodreads review

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NJETUR...

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THE SPOILER TAGS,SO READ THE REST OF THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK


......The two most memorable scenes for me were when: L'armin expressed his disapproval of what he felt was Nate and his company's exploitation of other planets for their mineral resources. For me, this sent a very strong message.

......When L'Armin and the other member of his race (name escapes me at the moment) took Ante and Helen to the wasteland that used to be their home.

I guess I'm the only one who didn't find Nate annoying. a little self-important, yes, but not that bad. His position at the head of the company was all he knew; his father drilled it into him. And once when he tried to leave, and came back with his tail between his legs, he came to the conclusion that Dear old Dad was right. I don't blame him for his upbringing, especially when he had so little say in his own future.

I found it a little disappointing the Williams didn't follow up on the corporate distruction theme. L'Armin's awareness that Nate's corporate destruction of planets was possibly destroying a harmonic resonance never reverberated with Nate. Once his own case was resolved he bounced back to business as usual, and the readers seemed never to be challenged to question Nate's lack of concern. Nate may be more willing to focus on his own life and affairs but his cosmic awareness was no keener.

I have had an interesting experience reading this thread, as it has brought to light for me differing expectations of readers. Readers are expressing what they like and don't like in a book. So I was wondering: what are your must-haves in a read and what things are no big deal to you? Here is my two-cents:
Must-haves: interesting characters, a plot line that moves along at a reasonable pace, and descriptions I can visualize. No-big-deals: an occasional typo or two, wordiness (because, as you probably figured out, I'm pretty verbose myself), and minor plot holes. What are your thoughts?

Jessica, my must-haves in a book are interesting characters, adequate descriptions, and believability. It seems the new trend is to gloss over descriptions and let the reader make their own assumptions, but I think this often backfires. When visual details are not revealed until late in the book, I find it distracting and often disappointing.
Another HUGE must-have is believability. Nothing is more distracting than thinking 'who would actually DO that?' or 'okay, this is just ridiculous'. Out of respect for other authors, I try to finish every book I begin, but when the plot or characters become unbelievable, it may take me awhile!

Becki, you're right. I have noticed that the new trend is "let the reader draw their own conclusions." This may work if you do it sparingly, but too much will confuse readers. Plus, I think some writers are using it as an excuse to not resolve all subplots. I tend to get emotionally involved with characters (I know, I'm weird), both my own and those in books I'm reading. If I don't have "chemistry' with the characters, then it ruins the whole book for me. I can read pretty much any genre or plotline (provided, of course, that it flows smoothly), but plotlines revolve around people, and flat characters ruin a story more than anything else. And in my own defense, I think anyone who is familiar with "Ice" would probably be thinking "Who would actually DO that?" when they read my plotline. (The idea came to me in a dream). I, too, am a sucker for beautiful visual descriptions.

I get emotionally involved too and if the story isn't believable, my involvement plummets. I must admit though, there are some things I am willing to forgive.

Recently I read a book in which all the female characters were variations of the same person. The author obviously hasn't had a lot of experience with women and has a very skewed reality because of it. I forgave him because for all I know he's autistic and will never have a good handle on women. Once I did that, I was able to read the books and thoroughly enjoyed them.

I can suspend disbelief to a certain extent, but when I can no longer be emotionally invested in the characters, I'm out. And I don't finish all the books I start because I can't get motivated to read if I don't like the book.

I need interesting characters and a plot that doesn't drag too much. If I get bored, I will put it down and it's a struggle to pick it up again.

Unfortunately, I have too many books and not enough time, so if a book isn't working for me, I will tend not to finish it, rather than continue on and then give a low rating.

But interesting characters, despite a lackluster plot, can keep me coming back for more.

My pet peeve is too many typos though. One or two and I won't complain, but one or two a chapter keeps pulling me out of the story and it gets distracting.

REMINDER!!! Get your reviews to Jessica ASAP! The end of the month is coming and we are about to embark on a new journey with a new author! Just three more days to get your review featured on her blog!

Also, remember, you can always review a book from a previous month, so if you don't get one written by the 31st, you can always review it later.