Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-29-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(now 100 proof!)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, undeck those halls, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Astute AoSHQ Sunday Morning Book Thread readers might note that the image above shows all the books I read in 2024. That's a lot of books.

Of course, this is just a drop in the vast, VAST ocean of literature enjoyed by the Moron Horde at large. The breadth and depth of knowledge displayed here every week in the comments is mind-boggling. You all are amazing!

2024 YEAR IN REVIEW

Most of the BookTube videos that show up in my YouTube feed these days fall into one of the following categories:

• Best Books of 2024
• Worst Books of 2024
• Books to read in 2025
• End-of-the-year Book Hauls

I won't bore you with my own details of what I think are the "best" and "worst" books I've read in 2024 since that's so highly subjective as to be practically meaningless. Instead, I can give you my thoughts on "memorable" reads--i.e., books or series that left an impression on me, for better or worse. I reached a rather major milestone in my life this year (crossing the 29 year mark, give or take 21 years), so I thought it would be appropriate to cross a few books/series off my "bucket list."

Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson -- I've had this series for years after I read the first one, Gardens of the Moon and enjoyed it. I re-read it way back in January and decided to finish the entire series--all ten books--in the span of about ten weeks. I was able to achieve my goal and I really love this series. I can see why it shows up consistently in top-ten lists around the Internet. The characters are complex, the world-building is top-notch, and the action is *intense*. There were several books that I could not put down because the story gripped me and kept me reading, even if the book was 1,000+ pages (which most of them are). Just an amazing series all around. Definitely in my own top-ten list of epic fantasy reads.

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia -- Like Malazan, this is amazing epic fantasy, though it's centered around mostly one character, rather than an ensemble cast. The Indian-flavored society/culture gives the series a very distinctive feel. I did find some of the action a little TOO over-the-top, as the hero survives numerous encounters that would have killed anyone else in short order. In fact, he dies himself a time or two, only to be brought back to life. That tends to lessen the stakes a bit, as we, the reader, don't feel that there's a whole lot at stake when that happens more than once. Still a fun read, just not "top ten" quality.

Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov -- This series was on my "bucket list" so I decided to get this one out of the way fairly early in the year. Asimov is always an easy read, but his stories tend to lack much *depth* to them. His short stories are much better than his novels. I found the Galactic Empire in Foundation to be rather bland and unimaginative compared to others such as the Galactic Empire in Dune or even in Star Wars (which was inspired in part by Foundation). Interesting ideas sometimes, but it's worth reading only to see how it inspired the science fiction that came afterwards, which tends to be much better.

Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons -- Another in the long list of "bucket list" items I wanted to check off. Fortunately, I found it very enjoyable, though it gets *very* weird very quickly. The first novel, Hyperion is famously modeled after Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, featuring a pilgrimage to a shrine of sorts on a far off planet. Each traveler relates their tale during the trip, and Simmons weaves those stories into a larger narrative that picks up in the later books in the series. In the end, we find out the true history of the galaxy and dark secrets that have led to the hegemony of mankind for the past thousand years or so. It's a wild ride.

Neuromancer by William Gibson -- I'd say this was my most disappointing read of the year. I wanted to like it, but just couldn't. I didn't find the world all that interesting or exciting, even though Gibson more or less coined the phrase "cyberspace." Many authors since Gibson have taken his original ideas and ran with them in far more interesting directions. Neuromancer was influential on the modern urban cyberpunk/science fiction genre, no question, but Neuromancer is not a particularly good book in my opinion (which is subjective, of course!).

Last King of Osten Ard Book 4 - The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams -- As I believe I've mentioned before, this series is definitely inspired by George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, which was itself inspired by Williams' previous series, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Fortunately, Williams knows how to end an epic fantasy and he doesn't disappoint here. It was a pretty good read. He does weaken one of the supporting characters by introducing some "wokeness" that comes out of nowhere, but other than that I thought it was a good way to end his Osten Ard books, while leaving open a crack for more stories in the future.

What are some of YOUR memorable reads for 2024? Which ones disappointed you the most? Which ones brought you the most comfort and joy?

WRITING SMART CHARACTERS

This video uses Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example of how to write a smart character, the problem exists in literature as well. How does an author convey that a character is a genius compared to the rest of the characters, especially when that character will be much smarter than the author himself?

I don't know that I have an answer to this question, but I have seen numerous examples of "smart" characters in books, such Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Sanderson even tackles this question in his books, as the heroes have to acknowledge that their enemy is far, far smarter than they are. One character (Taravangian) was a genius even before he Ascended to godhood and became nearly omniscient.

Genius characters can seem "crazy prepared" in that they always seem to have an answer for any situation. R.A. Salvatore's dark elf mercenary Jarlaxle is infamous for having an exit strategy for *any* scenario, no matter how perilous. Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Star Wars Expanded Universe seems to have an uncanny ability to anticipate the strategies and tactics of the heroes.

Other genius characters will exhibit some form of awesomeness by analysis, drawing connections and conclusions based on seemingly flimsy evidence that nevertheless holds up under scrutiny. They can seem very cold and calculating, but they are just crunching the numbers to determine the odds for success or failure. The conflict between Sherlock Holmes and his archnemesis Professor Moriarty is a good example of two geniuses pitting their wits against each other.

Genius characters can be fun to read, as long as they make sense within the context of the story. I think I prefer genius villains over heroes, though, as the heroes then have to find a non-intellectual way to defeat their opponent, or find a way to outthink someone who appears to have thought their way through every scenario, leaving just a tiny crack for the heroes to exploit if they can only manage to discover it.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Started Watership Down this week. and i'm already happy with my choice. I read one book by Adams before, Shardik, and I remember liking that a lot but it was over 40 years ago so all the details are gone from my mind. I also reread A Christmas Carol because 'tis the season and all that. Even though I hate Charles Dickens thanks to a forced march through Great Expectations in Junior High, I love A Christmas Carol.

Posted by: who knew at December 22, 2024 10:55 AM (+ViXu)

Comment: Watership Down has been mentioned on this thread quite a bit. It seems to a popular book amongst the Horde. I shall have to endeavor to read it. I found a copy of it on the community shelf outside the English department and brought it home, but haven't opted to read it yet. Perhaps that's a good book for 2025...

In his book Parting The Desert, Zachary Karabell tells the story of an engineering feat that changed the world. At a little over 100 miles long, a piece of Egyptian desert was transformed into the most heavily trafficked waterway in the world. Ferdinand de Lessops began digging the Suez Canal in 1854, a sea level canal that enabled ships to cut thousands of miles from the trip between the East and the West. It is still a dominant sea route to this day.

De Lessops made a deal with Said Pasha and began his dig while the Crimean War was raging. Egypt longed to restore the greatness it had known in the time of the Pharaohs, and this route through their country would revolutionize commerce, becoming the primary trade route for shipping. Fifteen years of labor would follow, and England and France would bicker over the canal and over Egypt itself for years to come. It wasn't until 1956 that Egypt would fight to actually posess this great waterway, and signal the first blow against western hegemony in the region.

While de Lessops would come to ruin trying to replicate his feat in Panama, his Suez Canal is a lasting tribute to his vision, and is still a vital route for trade today.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 22, 2024 09:25 AM (XZ9JA)

Comment: The Suez Canal is a fascinating work of engineering. On the one hand, it allows us to drastically shorten the trip for goods between Europe and the Far East (and vice versa). However, it's also situated in one of the most politically unstable regions of the planet. The ships who traverse this engineering marvel still have to dodge pirates and terrorists until they are past the Horn of Africa. It's crazy that this one little canal could transform the nations that border the passage through the Red Sea, but the tribal mentality of the people who live there will NEVER allow themselves to develop into functioning nation states.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

The Stormlight Archive Book 5 - Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

It's too long. At 1,329 pages (hardcover), Wind and Truth is the longest single novel I've ever read. By comparison, Roger Zelazny's Great Book of Amber is an omnibus edition of The Chronicles of Amber that contains TEN full-length novels. It's only 1,258 pages long.

In the Acknowledgements, Sanderson says that every word is his, but I think he relied on too many people providing him with editorial advice. He really needed to trim out 200-300 pages. It reads like it was written by a committee at times, as we see storylines that don't really go anywhere or add much to the story, but seem to be there because someone liked those characters. All of the Interlude chapters could be excised without affecting the story in any meaningful way. I also felt that the story was overly convoluted, as if Sanderson was just showing off how needlessly complex his story was.

As others have pointed out, he also inserted some "woke" elements such as a human male and a singer male establishing an interspecies homosexual relationship for no apparent reason. There's also the woman who carries around papers declaring she's a "man" so that she can work in a male profession (smithing). This is a throw-away description and doesn't contribute to the plot in any way, shape, or form. So why include it other than to check off certain boxes?

Sanderson does have a way of wrapping up his stories, though, so while it was a bit of a slog at times, the last few hundred pages were fast-paced, with a lot of important action and dialogue. Book 5 concludes the first story arc of Sanderson's ten-book series and lays down the foundation for the next five books. I'm hoping they will be a bit shorter. If Book 6 is a 1,400-page monster, then I think I'm done with Sanderson.

Strange Highways by Dean Koontz

Strange Highways by Dean Koontz

This is a collection of shorter fiction. It's not bad, though you can see a lot of the same elements that he includes in his longer stories, such as a government hiding a top-secret project that may lead to the end of the world. It's a change of pace, as the shorter stories move quickly and have a Twilight-Zonish payoff (this is even referenced in "Strange Highways."

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Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Happy New Year!

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