The Wolves of Midwinter

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Book Recommendations from my Blog Readers:


I hate feeling this useless or lost. Though, I'm desperately in need of a new book to fulfill that void within. I'm facing one of those trials where you are sifting through piles of books with intriguing and puzzling premises only to feel unfulfilled by the book once it is started.

Naturally, I'm a very selective reader. I usually am unable to fill due dates for book reviews because some of the books are very boring, meaningless, and plodding. Some of them have deceptive, flashy covers that promise a fantastically intelligent read. When you finally plunge into the cold waters of this soulless book, you're left dreaming of that warmer pool of well concocted plots, dimensional characters, and insightful comments about human nature.


Honestly, these books are so hard to find. Recently, I read a book called "Sherlockian." I felt very excited before cracking the cover. I absolutely love the witticism and intelligence of the original Sherlocke Holmes story. Yet, I discovered that the book was very mediocre. The characters ended up being empty husks with no substance. They were uninteresting Sherlock Holmes role players that had no idea or clue how to perfect the characters of Watson or Sherlock Holmes. Even, the inner mystery itself was bereft of the elusiveness that permeates the original stories. Hardly anything about this book made me believe that the author truly understood the rewarding qualities of the Sherlock Holmes story. Yes, the prose may have been prettied. But, the internal qualities of the story itself made me feel absent. It left me with the unfilled hole in my heart that hungers for something substantive.


Why is it so hard to find stories that impact you? Why are there many fantasy, sci-fi, or mystery books that are developed with the exception of finely crafted characters? When you do finally find them, the feelings that you get from this impacting stories are fleeting. Right before you, they dematerialize and you're left with that emptiness that ensues as you wander the library for something meaningful to read. I want something that helps me to explore all those questions that persistently bug me. More than anything, I crave characters who affix themselves to your heart and make you passionately care about anything that might befall them.

Blog followers, I ask you for recommendations. I'm normally the one who distributes reviews for books that I loved. But, I really need you to recommend me some  stories that you believe to be fantastic. You know the credentials for the types of books I read: I love things that have characters and stories that entrap you. I want insights that mystify you. What I don't want? I don't want stories that deflate your ability to see the artistry of the world, the stories that are filled with procedural battle scenes, or stale characters that only serve to partially enliven an overwrought universe. If someone finds  a fantasy and science fiction book that has the richness of Buffy, Angel, or Firefly; I would be eternally grateful to them. Or, if someone finds a book that has that same marked complexity as a very well-made BBC Drama.

2 comments:

Sean Anand said...

I would like to offer to you a trilogy that has yet to be completed. Though I fear that if I tell you of this book series, you might not indeed thank me for it because it has been over 7 years I believe since the third book could have been written. I suggest for your reading pleasure, a book called "The Ruins of Ambrai: Exiles Book 1" by Melanie Rawn.

Unknown said...

Thanks Sean for the reccomendation! With my latest load of books purchased from Amazon, I made sure to include that book within my shopping cart. It certainly sounds like something that would intrigue me. I actually recall Brandon Sanderson recommending me Melanie Rawn, based off my love of Warbreaker.