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You've more or less summed up why most of this thread is now dedicated to hating the books, yeah. They're bad, their author is a creepy gently caress and congratulations to recognizing it without actually delving into the swamps of the second book; I think most of us were willing to give him a chance after the first.
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Jan 17, 2016 23:59
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Honestly I think the first book is decent, especially given how poo poo a lot of what gets published in fantasy is (I'm looking at you today Michael Sullivan). But, then the second book came out. After reading it, rather than assuming the good parts of the first book are the norm and the bad parts the exception, the expectation flipped. At least that's how it worked for me. I was also 17 or something when the first book came out so who loving knows really. I thought Ayn Rand was a good author at the time so take anything I say with a grain of salt.
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Jan 18, 2016 02:10
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I made it about halfway through book 2. The whole thing was too obviously a re-do on his own life where the sensitive musician gets the girl and sticks it to those mean rich kids. This series is just aggressively low-T.
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Jan 18, 2016 05:29
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Boof Bonser posted:I made it about halfway through book 2. The whole thing was too obviously a re-do on his own life where the sensitive musician gets the girl and sticks it to those mean rich kids. This series is just aggressively low-T. I can't view it in quite that light. Would hope that an author would gain some insight so as not to write himself as an absolute Mary Sue over the course of his life. Instead I think it's simply that he knows he wrote himself into a corner with the first book. Instead of working his way out of it he decided to reskin some stories he wrote in college as kvothe and call it a day. Hell, the only real things of value we get from WMF is the C'Thon and meeting his aunt. All that said, the audiobook of the first one is a lovely listen.
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Jan 18, 2016 05:48
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I actually still like his books, I'm mostly just trolling when I diss them (apart from that "hey I'll limit myself to three books beforehand,,scrap my original story and make second one compilation of digressions", that really was dumb). I just made the mistake of visiting his blog while waiting for third book and began to dislike Rothfuss himself mallamp fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 22:33
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That one guy defending the rich dude who has the easiest job in the world not finishing his book was my fave part of skimming the thread.
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Jan 18, 2016 23:02
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Groovelord Neato posted:That one guy defending the rich dude who has the easiest job in the world not finishing his book was my fave part of skimming the thread. Are you calling "being an author" the easiest job in the world? Cause it really isn't...
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Jan 18, 2016 23:11
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It is once you've got a hit under your belt and a fanbase.
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Jan 18, 2016 23:57
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Groovelord Neato posted:It is once you've got a hit under your belt and a fanbase. I'd debate with you...but you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
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Jan 19, 2016 00:54
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Well, you sure showed me.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:04
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Groovelord Neato posted:Well, you sure showed me. Here; I'll show you where you demonstrated your ignorance: Groovelord Neato posted:That one guy defending the rich dude who has the easiest job in the world not finishing his book was my fave part of skimming the thread.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:18
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jivjov posted:Here; I'll show you where you demonstrated your ignorance: Please stop. This has gone from funny to embarrassing.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:25
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HIJK posted:Please stop. This has gone from funny to embarrassing. Yeah...Groovelord is just being an rear end for no reason...
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Jan 19, 2016 01:29
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jivjov posted:Yeah...Groovelord is just being an rear end for no reason... Actually I was talking about you.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:34
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HIJK posted:Actually I was talking about you. Because I rightfully pointed out that being an author is not "the easiest job in the world"?
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Jan 19, 2016 01:35
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I think "sitting around streaming Fallout 4 while being literally years (emphasis plural) past a due date" definitely ranks up there on the easiest job ever scale. Is writing an easy job? No. Is not writing an easy job? Hell yes.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:43
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PJOmega posted:I think "sitting around streaming Fallout 4 while being literally years (emphasis plural) past a due date" definitely ranks up there on the easiest job ever scale. Are authors somehow suddenly obligated to literally never do anything else with their time than write? Is he allowed to eat, or sleep? Or must he spend 24 hours a day writing in order to satisfy you?
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Jan 19, 2016 01:48
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Benson Cunningham posted:Honestly I think the first book is decent, especially given how poo poo a lot of what gets published in fantasy is (I'm looking at you today Michael Sullivan). But, then the second book came out. After reading it, rather than assuming the good parts of the first book are the norm and the bad parts the exception, the expectation flipped. I was fine with the first book until he got to school, at which point any promise it had went right out the window and in to a wood chipper and got worse than the random fantasy books/series that are available for free at random times on iBooks.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:50
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The government should ban authors from playing videogames
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Jan 19, 2016 01:51
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jivjov posted:Are authors somehow suddenly obligated to literally never do anything else with their time than write? Holy Histrionics. Was explaining the point that was likely being made.
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Jan 19, 2016 02:28
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I think the Fallout 4 thing wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been so public about how he was doing it in lieu of spending extra time writing the third book. If he had just said he was playing FO4, it would've been fine. Instead, he said "I could be spending some extra time writing since I'm already past my deadline, but instead I'll play Fallout 4." Not exactly ingratiating himself to people.
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Jan 19, 2016 03:03
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jivjov posted:Are authors somehow suddenly obligated to literally never do anything else with their time than write? I'm not sure we should call them "authors" though, if they're not publishing readable material for audiences other than themselves. The "publishing" part is important. Perhaps Rothfuss is a 'former-writer' at this point?
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Jan 19, 2016 03:04
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The thing about Rothfuss is that he's a much better business man than he is a writer. Just look at what he's been able to leverage from a single fairly successful book. I suppose we should be thankful on some level that he's dedicated a lot of that acumen into charitable causes.
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Jan 19, 2016 03:11
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Ornamented Death posted:The thing about Rothfuss is that he's a much better business man than he is a writer. Just look at what he's been able to leverage from a single fairly successful book. I suppose we should be thankful on some level that he's dedicated a lot of that acumen into charitable causes. Agreed. Honestly, I have nothing against the guy. If he never finished the trilogy and hosed off doing whatever for the rest of his life I'd give a nod and say "you do you." Hell, I liked Melanie Rawn when I was younger and she hosed off in the middle of a trilogy and I simply go "huh." Rothfuss doesn't owe me or anyone poo poo. But I can still make fun of his "I'm totally writing the third book" shtick. Can make fun of the huge fall in quality between NotW and WMF. For genre fiction NotW was excellent, and for fiction in general it was solidly good. Can definitely make fun of people bending over backwards to defend every little mistake or contrivance in the books.
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Jan 19, 2016 04:19
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Didn't Rawn have the draft of the next book in that trilogy stolen? Edit: Nope, looks like she just shelved it. Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2016 04:46
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Ornamented Death posted:Didn't Rawn have the draft of the next book in that trilogy stolen? If I recall correctly she got sick or injured while writing the third, collabed on the Golden Key while rehabbing, and then decided to not go back to the trilogy. Authorial online presence wasn't as much of A Thing which is probably a good thing.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:09
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If anyone does like 'child goes to magic school' books, check out Lev Grossman's The Magicians. The series gets pretty dark, but stays interesting and has a number of good payoffs. It's also set in modern times rather than a fantasy world, so in that sense its closer to Harry Potter than Name of the Wind. Anyway check it out, I'm vouching for it.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:10
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Benson Cunningham posted:If anyone does like 'child goes to magic school' books, check out Lev Grossman's The Magicians. The series gets pretty dark, but stays interesting and has a number of good payoffs. It's also set in modern times rather than a fantasy world, so in that sense its closer to Harry Potter than Name of the Wind. Seconded. It's well-written genre subversion that actually mostly works, through three whole books and is enjoyable even when it doesn't entirely succeed at poking fun at the ridiculousness of magic school. I've read them all or audiobooked through, at least three times each. Middle-named my firstborn child after a character, so you could say that I'm a fan...
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Jan 19, 2016 05:15
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Benson Cunningham posted:If anyone does like 'child goes to magic school' books, check out Lev Grossman's The Magicians. The series gets pretty dark, but stays interesting and has a number of good payoffs. It's also set in modern times rather than a fantasy world, so in that sense its closer to Harry Potter than Name of the Wind. That poo poo even has a TV adaption.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:20
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Odette posted:That poo poo even has a TV adaption. I've been shown the NYCC trailer for it and I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be serious or Charmed-esque tongue in cheek.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:25
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Aquarium Gravel posted:Seconded. It's well-written genre subversion that actually mostly works, through three whole books and is enjoyable even when it doesn't entirely succeed at poking fun at the ridiculousness of magic school. Haha that's awesome. When speaking of genre subversion, I find that the best examples come from authors who love the genre they are poking fun at. Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash is great because while it openly mocks cyberpunk, it's a legitimately good cyberpunk novel. I feel the same way about Lev Grossman's work. My less popular literary opinion, not liking Kurt Vonnegut, is largely because his stories don't hold up if you dispense with the satire (because that's all they are). But that's pretty off topic so I'll stop there.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:32
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jivjov posted:Are authors somehow suddenly obligated to literally never do anything else with their time than write? What is with this weird as gently caress Stockholm poo poo for book writers and their fans? There's a reasonable and unreasonable amount of time an author can spend writer. Taking 4-7 years to write 1/3 of the amount the wrote in 5 years is pretty reflective of how much time they're actually committing to their work vs. how hard it is. I remember the Locke Lamora author getting a shitload of grief for the gap between book 2 and 3 until he finally posted a personal as gently caress explanation about his crippling battle with depression and personal trauma. http://relentlessreading.com/2015/03/29/depression-is-a-bastard-how-scott-lynch-faced-his-demons-and-became-a-bestseller/ Anyone who struggles with not killing themselves gets a bit of a pass for writing if that's the defense they choose to use. On the other hand, we get GRRM who has been attending every convention he can, constantly blogging about the Jets, and not writing a goddamn thing, as well as Rothfuss who is constantly taking on other work (kickstarters etc.), writing different stuff (the Auri book), and then getting personally offended and raging when people confront him about progress for his next book. If it's supposed to be the job that pays his bills and is his livelihood, then anything less then 30-40 hours a week trying to write/edit/craft the story he's famous for is pretty loving amateur. Remember, this is their chosen career. Should they just not work and coast on their laurels because "art is hard"? gently caress that, there's a point where a creative mind hits a wall and can't progress and where said creative mind just doesn't even bother giving a gently caress and does almost nothing because they don't have to. Rothfuss is currently a pale shadow of GRRM, having this weird idea that he can gently caress off his writing job and goof around with his favorite hobbies and no one will challenge him on it. GRRM is already secure, no matter what he does the TV show royalties will keep him rich as gently caress until he dies, but Rothfuss is nothing more then another unfinished fantasy author with a great start who could flame out and retroactively destroy his good name.
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Jan 19, 2016 11:06
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I really don't get this kind of fan entitlement. Rothfuss is a hack, but for reasons that have nothing to do with him writing or not. He doesn't owe his readers anything. Like, you could argue about dedication to work and their attitude or laziness or whatever but in the end that's their own problem to solve.
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Jan 19, 2016 11:14
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To be honest I'm pretty sure Rothfuss is depressed too, dude looks stressed as hell with his greying hair and all Still shouldn't be a dick towards his fans (who don't donate all their money to cult of worldbuilders) though
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Jan 19, 2016 11:24
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I liked the part where Rothfuss said "If you donate money I'll write the book", then money was donated and he immediately changed it to "If you donate money I'll play videogames"
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Jan 19, 2016 11:26
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anilEhilated posted:I really don't get this kind of fan entitlement. Rothfuss is a hack, but for reasons that have nothing to do with him writing or not. He doesn't owe his readers anything. I find that attitude lame as hell. He owes his publisher what he agreed upon, he doesn't owe his audience a timely release, especially considering he did release that Auri book recently so it's not like there has been a great deal of time since his last book. Srice fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2016 11:51
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Last year Kazou Ishiguro released a book for the first time in literally a decade and heck, I was glad of it.
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Jan 19, 2016 11:53
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pentyne posted:What is with this weird as gently caress Stockholm poo poo for book writers and their fans? So the only "excuse" for an author not writing fast enough to please Forums Poster pentyne is being literally suicidal? You are truly an awful human being. If Rothfuss broke a publishing deadline, the publisher would drop him. Let them worry about relations with contacted authors; that's not really your concern (or any armchair critic).
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Jan 19, 2016 12:00
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Generally speaking, GRRM isn't even late, he's right on pace (provided his book comes out by the end of next year): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ic-of-geometry/ This is a point someone brought up a while ago in this thread, actually. GRRM's only late by his own reckoning, to keep his promise of not having the show pass WoW. However, it became crystal clear that this would happen once it was obvious the show runners were going to stick to roughly one book per season, which GRRM himself admits is not what he anticipated. Rothfuss deserves a fair amount (though probably not all) of the poo poo he gets because of how much time he spent swearing up and down that the whole series was largely complete when TNotW came out and especially because of the lovely way he treated fans that brought this up when it started to become clear this wasn't the case. Fans are generally understanding, we know not everyone can write at the speed of Sanderson. But when we wait years longer than promised and TWMF is what we get...
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Jan 19, 2016 13:44
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Srice posted:especially considering he did release that Auri book recently so it's not like there has been a great deal of time since his last book. The Twelve was one of the rare changing places of the Underthing. It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to be itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true.
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Jan 19, 2016 13:52
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