Update on Books
Posted under: I’ve been slowly working my way through the first round of books from my booklist.
ANATHEM by Neal Stephenson
(recommended by Dammerung)
I didn’t even make it through the first chapter on this one. I could tell that it was going to be an amazing, epic book, but the worldbuilding was SO complex and SO thorough that I immediately felt bombarded by jargon.
It had a glossary at the front of the book, and it quoted from a fictional “The Dictionary” to help readers understand what was being said. I had plenty of warning that this was no glittery romp of a book.
I got the impression that it might have been well worth the effort to try and dig into it … I’m just not that kind of reader.
The writing was NOT heavy and boring, it was just that I understood so very little of what was being said and the concepts being introduced that I would have had to go back and start over, taking notes on the various words being used and what they meant.
So! ANATHEM was a bust for me, but only because I am clearly not its target audience. It would have huge payoff to the reader willing to put in more effort than I.
RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund
I found this one on a blog book list. A modern teen YA novel where unicorns are poisonous, vicious beasts and young virginal girls born into certain families train to become hunters.
The writing was good, the concept unique, and the book was fun to read.
I’ll be checking the sequel from the library soon, and keeping an eye on this author.
Next Up
I have two more from the library already waiting for me to pick them up and crack the covers!
Awwww. Well I can kinda understand your position. And yeah its worth the deep investment in terminology but not a read for when you’ve got a lot of other things on your plate.
Dammerung´s last post ..The Truth of the what
@Dammerung
And I pretty much ALWAYS have a lot of other things on my plate. Plates. I’m like one of those plate-spinner clown people.
Which totally reminds me of the first time I saw a “spinning” class offered, and I thought it was plate spinning. *snerk*