NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Thursday, February 14, 2008

Booking Through Thursday



Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?

Oh, yeah. Laurell K. Hamilton. Absolutely. I was enthralled with the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. I couldn't get enough, and I recommended them to everyone. Then, slowly but surely, they became nothing but Erotica-Fest. I swear Anita was hopping into bed with everyone and everything. I lost interest in whatever little bit of story line was left and I haven't read one since I got 1/3 of the way into Obsidian Butterfly. I'm sad, because I really loved them. I will probably go back and read the beginning of the series someday, because to this day those are some of the most memorable books I've ever read. But I will most likely never purchase nor read any of the later books or any of her new ones. Bummer.

Now that I think about it, I'm going to have to say, with all due respect, the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan also let me down. The first three are stunning, and I would highly, highly recommend them. As for the rest, every one of them is around 1000 pages and nothing happens. Ever. I know Mr. Jordan recently passed away and I feel really bad about this, but I hated the rest of the series and only continued because it started out so great that I kept hoping it would get back on track. There are many who would argue with me, but I was really disappointed.

Play along with Booking Through Thursday here!

Lezlie

4 comments:

Brad K. said...

I found the Laurell K. Hamilton morbid sex-fest off-putting - I may have just tried one too late in her sequence.

I do enjoy, a lot, similar work by Patricia Briggs (Often shelved with Science Fiction), especially her Moon Called / Mercedes (Mercy) Thompsen series. Kelley Armstrong is shelved with horror (I would skip her mundane detective novel, Exit Strategy), and is very good. Bitten, Stolen, Dime Store Magic - the focus and main characters tend to jump around from book to book in this loosely connected series. Very Good.

You might also look into Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels trilogy, also shelved with science fiction. I found Bishop to be very rewarding to read.

I hadn't thought of it before, but Susan R. Matthews's science fiction stories of The Judiciary probably also count as horror as well. The series centers on a superb young physician, forced by his family to serve a twisted government formed as a high court - and using specially trained doctors for judicial torturers. A very dark and engaging story.

Enjoy!

Lezlie said...

Brad -- Thanks for the suggestions! The Susan R. Matthews sounds especially interesting.

You may like the first books in the Anita Blake series, so if you're still willing to give it a try, I believe it starts with "Guilty Pleasure". The first 4 or 5 or so are great!

Lezlie

Melanie said...

I hadn't heard anyone else say that they didn't like the later Wheel of Time books besides me. I really liked the first 3 and i made it through the next three but i just can't continue. they are as you say, slow and far too long.

Lezlie said...

Melanie ~ There are at least 3 of us. One of my husband's co-workers is just as frustrated with WoT. I have much higher hopes for Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series which I'm listening to now.

Lezlie