I’m so glad you enjoyed Assassin’s Apprentice! I appreciated your thoughts on style. I think narrative perspective is important depending on the type of story the author is trying to tell. They’ve been times when I’ve felt a story would’ve been better in multi-POV, first person, or third person, but I think Hobb and Martin are masters of their craft in what they did for their series. I have so many thougths about this and pacing perceptions! We should talk about it when you’re on Why Read? this October. 😊 Happy reading!
I wanted to start the sequel right after I finished it! I agree about Hobb and Martin both (though I hhave read a lot more Martin, at this point). I don't think _Assassin's Apprentice_ would be _better_ if it was told via multiple POVs, just that it easily could have been, there is a stacked deck in terms of cast list who could easily support their own chapters. By choosing the style and narrative voice she did Hobb crafted a very particular type of atmosphere and story, one that is exactly what she wants it to be. We can definitely talk about perspective! I had intended to mention the upcoming interview, it was even in my notes, but I missed it and didn't realize it until after I had finished rendering and checking the video. I don't think my videos have the reach that it would change the audience much anyway, and I will promote it after the fact.
@@arockinsamsara not a problem! I'm looking forward to our chat! I'm always excited to talk with others who are also passionate about these kinds of topics!
She really is quite amazing, both in collections that she curates and anthologies she edits. I have read a half dozen of her anthologies and loved each one, and I am already enjoying this one!
@@arockinsamsara I think the first one of hers I read was The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror from the late 80s. The covers by Thomas Canty were so memorable.
@@tyghe_bright I haven't read any of her fantasy collections yet, only horror. I did check out that series, those covers are gorgeous. The covers for the Best Horror fo the Year series are also pretty great, though much darker (both figuratively and literally). The art for 15, which I am reading now, and 14 which is sitting on my shelf are by a South American artist named Samuel Araya, but they definitely use different artists in the series. While it is possible I did read collections earlier (I didn't use to pay attention to anthology editors... I know, I know...) the first time I was aware of reading a collection by her was 2022's _Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous._ Since then anything with her name on it I pick up!
Always amazed at how much you read! I like your comments about style in genre fiction. Personally, I struggle to enjoy fantasy and a lot of sci fi because of the use of the revolving character POV, I'm almost universally drawn to first person and limited third person, as well as realism in the prose.
Oh, I'm pretty agnostic, as long as the style being employed actually works for the story being told. That is more important to me, and that is what excites me most, when the author is really in control of their craft and using the style to actively contribute to the story. It's similar with the idea of realism in the prose, for me. I am happy to be in fantastical worlds as long as they have internal coherence. Then a story is real, or true, to itself. The danger, and this happens a lot, is that the when you start bringing in any sort of magical or sci-fi elements you rely on those too much, and in those case it can feel lazy. I do remember hearing an author once (I think Toni Morrison, but I could be remembering incorrectly) basically say that she doesn't accept the designation of "magical realism" as a genre, because just because something feels magical to you and your perspective doesn't mean it is magical, or outside of the normal experience, of the characters and worlds she writes. I am butchering what she said but I appreciated the intention, that we bring our own baggage and expectation to the work we read and as an author writing from an underrepresented and marginalized perspective she actively pushes against colonized interpretations of the work that serve to functionally dismiss them from certain echelons of literary acclaim and impose white/hegemonic restrictions on her experiences of reality. Also, re: the amount I read, it is not _usually_ like this. It has just been a weird year in terms of our schedule here, and I have basically eliminated most other forms of distraction/entertainment other than reading and maybe listening to podcasts while doing chores, so the pages just add up. I anticipate a wane soon, I don't think this is a sustainable rate!
I’m so glad you enjoyed Assassin’s Apprentice! I appreciated your thoughts on style. I think narrative perspective is important depending on the type of story the author is trying to tell. They’ve been times when I’ve felt a story would’ve been better in multi-POV, first person, or third person, but I think Hobb and Martin are masters of their craft in what they did for their series. I have so many thougths about this and pacing perceptions! We should talk about it when you’re on Why Read? this October. 😊 Happy reading!
I wanted to start the sequel right after I finished it! I agree about Hobb and Martin both (though I hhave read a lot more Martin, at this point). I don't think _Assassin's Apprentice_ would be _better_ if it was told via multiple POVs, just that it easily could have been, there is a stacked deck in terms of cast list who could easily support their own chapters. By choosing the style and narrative voice she did Hobb crafted a very particular type of atmosphere and story, one that is exactly what she wants it to be.
We can definitely talk about perspective! I had intended to mention the upcoming interview, it was even in my notes, but I missed it and didn't realize it until after I had finished rendering and checking the video. I don't think my videos have the reach that it would change the audience much anyway, and I will promote it after the fact.
@@arockinsamsara not a problem! I'm looking forward to our chat! I'm always excited to talk with others who are also passionate about these kinds of topics!
I've enjoyed Ellen Datlow's collections for decades.
She really is quite amazing, both in collections that she curates and anthologies she edits. I have read a half dozen of her anthologies and loved each one, and I am already enjoying this one!
@@arockinsamsara I think the first one of hers I read was The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror from the late 80s. The covers by Thomas Canty were so memorable.
@@tyghe_bright I haven't read any of her fantasy collections yet, only horror. I did check out that series, those covers are gorgeous. The covers for the Best Horror fo the Year series are also pretty great, though much darker (both figuratively and literally). The art for 15, which I am reading now, and 14 which is sitting on my shelf are by a South American artist named Samuel Araya, but they definitely use different artists in the series. While it is possible I did read collections earlier (I didn't use to pay attention to anthology editors... I know, I know...) the first time I was aware of reading a collection by her was 2022's _Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous._ Since then anything with her name on it I pick up!
Always amazed at how much you read! I like your comments about style in genre fiction. Personally, I struggle to enjoy fantasy and a lot of sci fi because of the use of the revolving character POV, I'm almost universally drawn to first person and limited third person, as well as realism in the prose.
Realism in the prose. I feel the same.
Oh, I'm pretty agnostic, as long as the style being employed actually works for the story being told. That is more important to me, and that is what excites me most, when the author is really in control of their craft and using the style to actively contribute to the story.
It's similar with the idea of realism in the prose, for me. I am happy to be in fantastical worlds as long as they have internal coherence. Then a story is real, or true, to itself. The danger, and this happens a lot, is that the when you start bringing in any sort of magical or sci-fi elements you rely on those too much, and in those case it can feel lazy. I do remember hearing an author once (I think Toni Morrison, but I could be remembering incorrectly) basically say that she doesn't accept the designation of "magical realism" as a genre, because just because something feels magical to you and your perspective doesn't mean it is magical, or outside of the normal experience, of the characters and worlds she writes. I am butchering what she said but I appreciated the intention, that we bring our own baggage and expectation to the work we read and as an author writing from an underrepresented and marginalized perspective she actively pushes against colonized interpretations of the work that serve to functionally dismiss them from certain echelons of literary acclaim and impose white/hegemonic restrictions on her experiences of reality.
Also, re: the amount I read, it is not _usually_ like this. It has just been a weird year in terms of our schedule here, and I have basically eliminated most other forms of distraction/entertainment other than reading and maybe listening to podcasts while doing chores, so the pages just add up. I anticipate a wane soon, I don't think this is a sustainable rate!
@@arockinsamsara That's also true.