What book are you reading?

[Martok]

Am currently in the midst of reading the Orcs: First Blood Trilogy by Stan Nicholls. An interesting take on a stock fantasy race, wherein they're the protagonists and (most) humans are the rampaging marauders.

It's not the best fantasy literature I've ever read, but it's definitely not bad either. It's been keeping me turning to the next page on a pretty consistent basis.

I would like to downgrade my earlier assessment of this series. I'd been enjoying it overall, but the third (and final) book ended up being a huge disappointment.

It was everything the final entry in a trilogy should *not* be: It was anti-climactic, had little character development (and in some cases, characters displayed qualities that went almost completely against their pre-existing personality), the dialog was stilted, and the plot meandered more than than the Mississippi River.

I suspect that after the first two books (which are pretty decent), the author didn't know how to finish the story -- or if he did, then his execution was lacking. Either way, the ending was a big letdown compared to how the books started out.

I can recommend checking out the trilogy at your local library, but don't make the mistake I did of actually purchasing it. While far from horrible, it was definitely was not worth the money.



Tomorrow, I start on (re)reading Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. I first read it about six years ago, and really enjoyed it. I've since purchased my own copy earlier this year (I originally borrowed it from a friend), and am now finally ready to give it another go. Should be fun.