SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club discussion

I started reading this book yesterday and I have to say that its wonderfully written. I've read a couple of this other books and he definitely has a talent for words.

My only thing is that so far I really don't have a strong connection to the main character yet. I don't yet feel invested in the story. I certainly hope that changes because I feel like I should be all wrapped up in it.

I had totally spaced that we were starting a new book and started The Kingdom of Gods, the third book in the Inheritance Trilogy today. I am already completely sucked into it by the way.

I'll start this one next but it might be several days before I get to it.

Geoffrey, I see that you abandoned the book so now I'm curious to hear why. I don't know if anyone else is reading it but I absolutely loved it and gave it 5 stars. Here's my review:

"This is certainly a book I would never had read if it wasn't a book club pick. Reading the description really didn't pique my interest all that much and I know absolutely nothing about the Tang Dynasty so didn't even make that connection until I read some references to it after I finished the book. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try. Good decision. The first couple of chapters were a bit slow as I tried to wrap my tongue around the names and embrace a setting that is so different from what I usually read. It didn't take long though before I was completely engrossed in the story.

It really didn't read like a fantasy novel at all for me but like a historical novel with a few minor fantastical elements in it. It's a rich, sweeping story that ties together the stories of a number of characters at the end of a dynasty. The main character is Shen Tai, a man who is given an incredible gift that suddenly makes him a major player in the current events of the day. There's love, hate, political intrigue, honor and betrayal...it's just a wonderful story and I am so glad I took a chance on it."

One thing I'm interested to hear is what others think about it as a "fantasy". This book really speaks to the question of what defines fantasy. If someone had recommended this book to me as general fiction I don't think it would have occurred to me to put it on the fantasy shelf. I see that it won all kinds of awards in the fantasy genre but it's interesting to see how many different categories people have shelved it on. It's the kind of book that I think would appeal to a lot of people who might never pick up a "fantasy" novel.

I think I was reading it at the wrong time. I loved the writing style and the story was interesting to me ... and I just couldn't get into it. :(

I do think it helped that when I started reading it I read it for 4 hours straight at the airport and on the plane; it definitely allowed me to get into the story.

*sigh* I am never going to get caught up with my reading and read anything here, it seems. I quite liked Tigana by Kay and suspect I might like this, too; but the month (and year) is practically over already. :-(