Andi > Recent Status Updates

"He wanted to survive, more than anything, and he had just put himself at risk for her. Because he loved her, and despite it all, she loved him too." Whyyyy would you spell this out! Just as I was getting into this story, this author can't help but show her hand and overwrite and remove all doubt in A GOD OF LIES. Trust the audience, let it stay uncertain, but nope. The writing is like this constantly, so insecure

Interesting case where any stylism to the prose, any flourishes at all, would greatly improve this simple quest story and short book. This is dry and has less flavor than a math textbook. Sucks, because even though this first third has been way too slow, there's aspects that are truly interesting, and now we're on a medieval pilgrimage, a special interest of mine. Hoping for planted story seeds to bear fruit soon

I have to let go of Rowland's setting, but it's hard when they're using it to put all kinds of real-world historical research on display in thick paragraphs and long pages. It just doesn't mean anything to the story, and it's slowing everything down. "Ottoman Empire" pitch but just one religion and multiple gods so far, mixed ethnicities of names, no international conflicts, the romance is all miscommunication so far

Inspired by the Ottoman Empire but no mention of religions or divers peoples, barely any hierarchy, no slavery whatsoever. Every year, I sour further at the concept of selling a fantasy book on a setting or aesthetic. Rowland has done research, but on odd cherrypicked things. Meghan Whalen Turner wrote about slavery in her middle grade fantasy, but you can't stomach one mention of slavery in a romantasy for adults?

I told myself to be less annoying about criticizing books here but OH MY GOD this paint-by-numbers epic fantasy just had the wishywashy chessmaster say "we're all complicit" out loud after yet another paragraphs-long explanation about... uh... what political fantasy is and how systems of control operate and why empire is bad. Bro this could've been a Twitter thread. This whole story is so derivative and paper-thin

Plot twists one after the other, and I love it. Feels a lot like when you're coming out of adolescence into adulthood and the world finally makes more sense, but you also realize that your mentors either suck at communication, or were willfully lying to try and create some alternate reality. Burrich's "you thought you were wronged" is incorrect - we thought being different in the wrong way was worth killing over

I'm liking all the turns in the story even if they come slowly. Hobb seems interested in consequences that last and on mundane things taken for granted in fantasy that actually take time and work - riding horses, caring for dogs, healing, poisoning. Molly is so uninspired, which is a bummer because all of the other characters are nuanced and interesting. I have love/hate relationships with all of Fitz's mentors lol

I really like how Fitz clearly had his perception altered/broken by Galen's Skill and that that is the true violation of this book so far. Hobb commits to him not just naturally going back to "normal." I like that Fitz is wrong a lot in a way that makes you think you're supposed to go along with whatever the protagonist says is true, only for Fitz to be proven wrong later. Writing way smarter than it seems at first

Idk what I was expecting, but it wasn't this slow pace. It's told beautifully and in patient detail, but the setting and Fitz's life so far are so much cut from generic fantasy cloth that I keep waiting for the significance that the slow pace is dwelling on. The intriguing kernels like the animal affinity, Wit, and Skill keep me going, though

Still liking this, and there's moments where I really like this a lot. Other moments where it's almost too D&D, too standard sword-and-sorcery. Weakest link for characters so far is Paran - spunky (and rude) young male protagonist chosen by the gods is almost painfully ironic in how he's written, and the fact that he doesn't fit in with the tone or character roster really stands out. I hope that's on purpose?

I continue to like this more, especially if I view the myriad POVs as windows through which to learn about the meddling gods and what they're up to. After some chapters of the thief-assassin war, I gave in and looked up Erikson's inspiration. Malazan was created by him and another guy as a TTRPG in the 80's - now it all makes a lot more sense, lol, and explains the pulpy feel but with Warhammer-esque military focus

There's still a lot I don't understand or can't visualize, but the characters make a lot more sense now. Writing feels a little like modern camera lens writing, very restricted POVs and not storytelling-esque. Weirdly enough, the more characters I see and the more worldbuilding elements I encounter, the more I think this is just pulp fantasy with a dead serious tone. Not bad, just not as elevated as people say it is

I'd braced myself, so it's not like I hate it. Regardless of Erikson's touted genius, you have to assume that the amount of information and clarity withholding has meaning and payoff at some point. So far, I haven't read anything to latch onto as a mystery that intrigues me or a character I want unmasked. I can't picture this world either. At some point, it's just playing keepaway with your own readers for no reason

"We can’t acknowledge what we have no words for. With that in mind, a huge aspect of telling good stories is listening and recognizing themes which seem unresolved for people. A writer’s job is to express what other people can’t." Feels like it should be obvious but it isn't, important to keep in mind with AI on the rise and defensiveness over cardboard prose. "what seems unresolved for people" is new to me

"it creates a greater sense of authority and realism by acknowledging the nature of stories. The actual events are not happening as you read. A story is always a residue, a leftover of reality. Most stories begin at the first event, never admitting they’re told in retrospect, maybe because the author fears losing tension and immediacy." Chuck dwells on this a lot and it makes me think of modern camera-lens writing

"Anyone who looks at a system of people and thinks the system is the problem, is a fool." If this is the thesis statement, I'm strapped in for the sheer "oh dear" of it all. I think it's possible to frame up this argument, but I don't think this is the author to do it, and I'm morbidly curious to read with a straight face that you gotta Get the bad guys at the tip top to Fix Everything. Sanderson IS his influence...

baffled at this writing style. immediate, bare bones yet the pacing is glacial. togas, tunics, the Eternal Flame, fantasy Latin are reminders that this world is magic "Roman" but the writing spends all its time on Vis laboriously thinking through inconsequential manipulations and keeps speeding past hints and summaries of history/culture. Vis woke up and sat in a bath with no mention of clothing? hard to be absorbed

this book is driving me crazy because what are we doing here! why is this popular! islington wants me to be so impressed with this protag ender's game-style but he's so bland and there's nothing to like about him. no sense of pacing or scale. main chars are perfect and so smug. no culture, visuals, or wonder in this world. there's no flavor! brutalist authoritarian society, yes, but i don't feel fear or dread either

3 chapters in and this is pissing me offffff. if this was written by a woman and had a female protagonist, this would be on the YA shelf! cardboard prose. faceless gary stu protagonist with anger issues. the girl who sees sweaty naked men all day every day blushes and stammers at the mere sight of him. looooong fight and training scenes. "epic fantasy" "adult sci-fantasy" go home everybody you're drunk

"I've noticed that those who turn away from a faith are often more hateful toward it than any outsider could be" Brandon and your parroted Sunday School logic don't piss me offfffff

I want to like this climax, but I'm stuck on how limpwristed it feels. All the magical secrets get exposited to us, but this info is mostly used for fight scene reasons in the end. No leaning into the fact that the Thalo are humans and not fantastical creatures, and what that means for the characters and their culture. I liked when Krona resisted Hintosep earlier but now she just goes along with the magical plot.

Plot is coming together and making it clear what book 3 is about. But I'm not feeling it. Plot pivots that should feel like a big deal don't. Even the assassination felt meh bc exactly what everyone expected would happen, happened. I was interested in Thibault/Krona in book 1, but Mandip stole the show in book 2. All the pieces of a great fantasy story are there but I just don't care for the result.

Same deal as book 1 - very rough and uncomfortable writing in the first third, and now the writing is great and much more confident in the second third. Although it’s probably not great to have your first thrill happen at the 50% mark of your thriller. Still, I’m loving Mandip and the threads are starting to come together. Krona is not interesting in her own POV however. I like Thibault with Mandip more, lol

Stoppp overexplaining! The first 1 or maybe 2 sentences is always enough. “[Acel] hardly looked directly at Krona these days. Acel had already lost her husband and eldest child, and she often behaved as though Krona was already gone too.” Excellent! But THEN: “Krona didn’t blame her. She thought she understood. It was a way for Acel to protect herself—“ And it keeps going! Stop ruining it I already get it

These books feel slow because of repeated info. “He’d always preferred his conquests to be older than himself, somehow. More experienced, more worldly. It wasn’t difficult to impress someone on the verge of adulthood. There was no challenge there - no real prize to be won. At near twenty, he was plenty ready for bigger fish, as it were.” Repeated basically the same thing like 5 times in a row there.

I find this sequel a little funny, I can't tell if Lostetter planned this from the start, or if she realized she truly didn't explain basics of this world in book 1. I understand this society 10x better on page 22 than I did in all 500 pages of book 1. But now Krona feels guilty for being a PO who breaks the law off-duty when she had no qualms in book 1 and didn't experience anything that would've changed her mind

Going absolutely insane at how fast the details of this story fall apart if you think just a little bit about being creative with the painstaking Allomancy mechanics. I'm actually enjoying it way more than on my first read, but I also keep getting SLAPPED with disappointment every time it's made clear that the physical mechanics of the magic were such a high priority. So much gets left on the table as a result

“cis men” and “cis women” and explaining “pronouns” complete with forward slashes (she/her, they/them) are choices in fantasy that I can never square in my head. Stands out strangely. This society was built on the concept of 5 genders and it appears analogous to 1800s to early 1900s New Orleans maybe? So why only cis men and women, why use ultra-modern language around this - doesn’t feel genuine

Story has hit its stride. Tense conversations related to the mystery feel purposeful now instead of forced and clunky like they were up to this point. Much better editing now too. Romances are not subtle and are awkwardly written, but this middle portion handles Krona’s feelings with action and grace. Til now, it was insecure fanfic-style body reactions and forced humor. Act 1 should’ve been rearranged maybe

“hot agony ripped through her LOVE HANDLE” “well versed in climbing a steed while top-heavy” “It worried her. Annoyed her. Disturbed her.” “The speed at which they changed reminded him of a countdown” and how would these characters know what a countdown is? Are there screens in this world? Prose just this side of awkward and I am not following the setting at all