What are you reading now?

[crodio]

I'm reading an old as **** book by De Broglie. Printed in 52, bought in 56. (I bought it used and found the mail stamp.)  Written in 37'
The book is about quantums, but it could have been titled "how the french invented the world"

 

[Vraelomon]

Looks all right to me. Much better than this:

Spoiler

That's obviously a euphemism for a small penis.

 

[Arvenski]

Looks all right to me. Much better than this:

Spoiler

Holy crap. Out of curiosity, is the writing in the book as bad as the cover on it?

 

[Naikon]

Started reading Of Mice and Men

 

[Lumos]

Looks all right to me. Much better than this:

Spoiler

Holy crap. Out of curiosity, is the writing in the book as bad as the cover on it?

The only reason I'm doing this is because I found it as a free download on some site that at least looked legit, okay? It's definitely not because I must have some masochistic streaks in me, in order to do this to myself...
At any rate, I bolted through the first 5%, which wasn't that much. Here's what I can say:

Spoiler: Abandon all hope, ye who read this

The prologue begins with the story of how, in 2150 BC, a nation of good guys, dismayed by how everyone else is a sinner falling from grace with their Creator, leaves Earth and goes to another galaxy where other humans live. Later, the biblical Flood comes, and only one worthy family is left alive.
Oh, dear. We're in for a treat, aren't we...
Anyhow, yadda yadda civil war yadda yadda, the good guys, broken, disbanded, crestfallen, return to our galaxy in 1300-something AD, and, seeing how strange Earth has become, have nowhere else to go but on another planet close by.

At least there's a map... Where 3/4 of the locations are marked as "Town" or "Castle". I'm not even kidding.

I'll now leave you with some selected excerpts:

The story starts in medias res, as our protagonist is being chased by baddies:

How had I been suckered into doing this fool’s errand anyway? It was one thing to be a man alone and be chased, but carrying along a kid laid down a whole new array of problems to contend with. I didn’t know anything about kids! Taking this kid along hadn’t been a part of the plan, but he was here and that was that. A chase was tough on man and horse alike, but on a kid it had to be especially tough and I was grateful that this kid exhibited a lot of toughness.

He's also apparently a kidnapper.

The author goes into a flashback, and has some weird relationship with the past perfect tense. Look, I'm no native speaker, but I did score absurdly high on my TOEFL, and his usage of tenses is rubbing me the wrong way.
What a way with words though!!!:

I let my mind wander back to the past again, when I had lost my family and the innocence of my youth.

After some prolific info-dumping flashbacking, scarring events occur (because his parents were of the good guys, and the rest of the civilisaton is degenerate):

One warm summer morning they came for us. I had almost finished with my morning chores when I had seen my father, walking towards me across the barn lot, stumble and gasp hard as four brightly colored arrow shafts slammed hard into his chest with dull sounding thuds of finality. Horrified by what I had just seen, I dropped the bucket of water I had been carrying from the well and started running towards father, but he had waived me off with a violent gesture of one arm.

Had I not had read this, I wouldn't have had to have had written this sentence.
I could've probably lived with it, still feeling odd, if he wasn't inconsistent with it. Is it also a good idea to put a flashback in past perfect inconsistent? Just treat it like normal, the readers know it's a ****ing flashback!?

At least his dad would have had to have been a badass:

Frozen in place, I had watched him turn to meet the onrushing lancers boldly. I had come unfrozen with a jerk of consciousness then, as I remembered the responsibility he had conveyed to me to protect the family. I’d run for the house with all I’d had in me. As I ran, I watched what became of my father; I had no choice, as I had to run past him to reach the house. He had stood there, tall and proud, and I had watched as somehow he was able to grab hold of a lowered lance and rip it from the hands of its mounted rider. Balancing the lance overhand he had thrown it like a spear at the next rider and I’d saw it impale the rider through his middle, causing him to fall backward off his horse. A third lancer, who had come up from behind my father’s blind side, impaled him through the back with his lance. Tears streaming from my eyes, I had looked away from father and run even faster for the house, determined to save my mother and brother.

<- the only thing I can say about this passage

And how do you stop the flashback? Like this, of course:

A crow cawed loudly, breaking my remembrance of the past momentarily

A profoundly touchingly adverbially written sentence. If only he hadn't missed the tip that you shouldn't rely on adverbs that much.

...
Dear God, this... is a book. It feels like it hasn't been through the hands of an experienced editor, and that's probably the case, despite the fact some lady is listed as an editor. Also, if you want a cover just like this one, here's the site: www.ebookindiecovers.com ! The price probably varies depending on how cheesy you want it.

It's like watching one of those videos of horrible accidents - you're horrified, but you just can't stop. And since I've started, I'll probably try and see what happens next. Let's see how long I can last before the urge to blow my brains out engulfs me.

 

[Anarion]

I'm reading Anna Karenina. I've also recently read Sapiens by Yuval Harari. It was very interesting, although I didn't find it as well written as many critic seem to .

 

[HoJu]

I'm reading Dante's Divine Comedy. I finished with Hell and I'm starting with Purgatory. Hell was the most interesting though, I don't know if I'll make it all the way to Paradise.

 

[Lumos]

Let's see how long I can last before the urge to blow my brains out engulfs me.

Dear Christ, the protagonist (who also seems to be a little bit of a Conan x Spartacus => Mary Sue) in that novel literally started hearing the voice of God, who mentions Himself in Capital Letters. I don't mind God at all, nor any other gods, really, but that's a black mark. I mean, c'mon, not in the fantasy books I'm reading! It's like waking up and finding a garden gnome on the floor next to you. Unexpected.
One more black mark and I'm quitting.

 

[Arvenski]

As I understand it, that guy in the flashback took four arrows to the chest and was still alive and well enough to wave off help, yank a lance out of the hands of a charging horseman, and throw a lance (not a javelin, a lance) with enough force to impale the next horseman who came at him. Does the protagonist's family have some sort of superhuman strength/vitality/something? Because otherwise, that is what I'd call some bull****.

 

[Lumos]

to waive off help

FTFY. It's probably 'cause they're followers of the Old Testament Pre-Jesus.
You're also absolutely right. Daddy takes four arrows, then does heroic feats. My mind had erased that whilst I was copying the highlights over. ****in' Boromir is turning in his grave, ashamed of how he died like a little ***** in comparison.

Please send help. I've taken refuge in writing whilst purging my ears with Blind Guardian for the time being.

 

[Arvenski]

****in' Boromir is turning in his grave, ashamed of how he died like a little ***** in comparison.

Yeah, I'd thought of that. Boromir takes three arrows to the chest and dies. This ******* gets shot four times and appears to hardly give a damn.

And I'm not saying that out of admiration. I'm saying that either this guy (the protagonist's father) was more-than-human, or the writing is as dumb as balls (which we already know, but still).

 

[crodio]

I'm reading Dante's Divine Comedy. I finished with Hell and I'm starting with Purgatory. Hell was the most interesting though, I don't know if I'll make it all the way to Paradise.

Are you reading it in verse or prose?

 

[HoJu]

I'm reading Dante's Divine Comedy. I finished with Hell and I'm starting with Purgatory. Hell was the most interesting though, I don't know if I'll make it all the way to Paradise.

Are you reading it in verse or prose?

Verse, although it is a translation, so I don't know how faithful it is to the original versification.

 

[homicuda]

Reading a wonderfull The Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski . It is the best combination of historical novel with phantasy that I've ever read

 

[HoJu]

Reading a wonderfull The Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski . It is the best combination of historical novel with phantasy that I've ever read

I'm still ****ing waiting for the third book to be published in Spanish.

 

[Lumos]

That atrocious assortment of words and sentences that pretends to be a book is going well. The main character turned out to be the heir to a title, lands, riches, and a castle... and was sent on a fetch-quest. Another guy took exactly four arrows in the chest, but died after only managing to shout out some final instructions.
The kid actually wasn't kidnapped by the protagonist, he's bringing him to safety.
However, there was a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate why an author should be aware of his contemporary slang and should avoid writing things that can be too easily taken out of context:
[quote='A Warrior's Redemption', Guy S. Stanton III]I liked the boy's spunk[/quote]
And, after he gives the boy his "sword":
[quote='A Warrior's Redemption', Guy S. Stanton III]I saw a look of heartfelt gratitude flood into the boy's eyes as if I'd just given him the moon. It felt good to give it to him. I wanted to do more of it, because I liked feeling as I did right now.[/quote]
... Why would you write it like this?!
He really gives the boy a sword. After they were attacked by moor-wolves and the kid helped out. Also mentioned were "moor dunes", but I don't know what those are.

Anyhow, I'll stop filling this thread with my bull****. I might send occasional updates to Arvondor. He asked, so he'll have to deal with it, just like I have to deal with it. If anyone else has an abundance of morbid curiosity and/or too much spare time, send me a PM and I'll include you in the mailing list.

 

[Arvenski]

I might send occasional updates to Arvondor. He asked, so he'll have to deal with it...

 

[Lumos]

Spoiler

 

[Arvenski]

Spoiler

 

[Llew2]

Reading a wonderfull The Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski . It is the best combination of historical novel with phantasy that I've ever read

Well ****. Didn't know there was more from him. To bad there's no English translation.