My Reading Habits
Oct. 7th, 2004 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So currently I'm reading Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. Part of his Malzan Empire series. It's the second book and it weighs in at a comfy 900-odd pages.
I rather like it. It's really about 4 interwoven stories and they keep cutting back and forth enough that stuff moves forward without bogging down and it's always pretty interesting. It's certainly a darn sight better than Moby Dick. Heck, considering the fact that stuff is actually happening, it beats The Scar by a country mile.
However, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that if you can't tell a story in 150-300 pages, your book probably isn't worth reading. I know that part of this stems from my chilling frear that I'll get half way through some monster book (or monster series) and suddenly realize it's all for crap. But really, I find that most of my favorite stories stopped trying to focus on 900 people and just cut straight to the chase. I think it's actually a benefit from the space restrictions. You don't have time to fool around, you have to get the story down or it's all over.
One solid protagonist. A couple of supporting characters. A good villian or problem. You've got a good story. Sure, there can be a glittering array of throwaway characters and a bunch of books following the episodic adventures of a character or group is also totally fine.
But my reading list is huge, people. Either you give me Story Now, or stuff it.
later
Tom
p.s. This also encourages me to take another stab at the NaNoWriMo contest again this year. If Erikson can crank out that monster in a year, I can easily put out a really slick short novel in a month.
So currently I'm reading Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. Part of his Malzan Empire series. It's the second book and it weighs in at a comfy 900-odd pages.
I rather like it. It's really about 4 interwoven stories and they keep cutting back and forth enough that stuff moves forward without bogging down and it's always pretty interesting. It's certainly a darn sight better than Moby Dick. Heck, considering the fact that stuff is actually happening, it beats The Scar by a country mile.
However, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that if you can't tell a story in 150-300 pages, your book probably isn't worth reading. I know that part of this stems from my chilling frear that I'll get half way through some monster book (or monster series) and suddenly realize it's all for crap. But really, I find that most of my favorite stories stopped trying to focus on 900 people and just cut straight to the chase. I think it's actually a benefit from the space restrictions. You don't have time to fool around, you have to get the story down or it's all over.
One solid protagonist. A couple of supporting characters. A good villian or problem. You've got a good story. Sure, there can be a glittering array of throwaway characters and a bunch of books following the episodic adventures of a character or group is also totally fine.
But my reading list is huge, people. Either you give me Story Now, or stuff it.
later
Tom
p.s. This also encourages me to take another stab at the NaNoWriMo contest again this year. If Erikson can crank out that monster in a year, I can easily put out a really slick short novel in a month.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 07:06 am (UTC)What's Deadhouse Gates about anyway? At least what's the genre?
no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 07:48 am (UTC)The genre is epic fantasy.
It's not quite Lord of the Rings, it's more Black Company if you've read those. I have no idea how it compares to the Wheel of Time, but I suspect Erikson's stuff is more gritty. The book basically is detailing the fall of a world-spanning empire, but the protagonists are in the Empire's army (and not terribly high-ranking either). The first book, Gardens of the Moon, switched back and forth between the army and the city it was encroaching on.
The magic system described in the book is very tasty if somewhat vague.
I rather like it
Tom
no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 09:57 am (UTC)Actually it's a principle of story craft. After the Norse stopped being stuck in the same longhouse all winter long, the art of the saga really declined. Even the "classic" irish tales are meant to be told in an hour or less, to appease the pub crowd.
A good story, is well-paced, clean and effective down to every sentence. Murder your darlings, peel out the sub-sub plots and use them as the stock for another tale. One of my bigest complaints of modern serial authors. Don't focus on the characters or setting or even plot. Focus on the story.