Has anyone read any books from The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices?
I've read all the Mortal Instruments books. They are okay, but not great: It takes a REALLY bad book to make me not finish a series so I continued to read them despite them being lackluster. I mean, they aren't terrible, but I would say they are somewhat lacking in character development. The author could have done a lot more with her premise, but all in all they are entertaining: I just didn't get drawn into them the way I do with some books. I don't think I will be too interested in seeing the movie until it comes out as a rental or lands on Netflix either. That is is just my personal opinion and it could simply be that they were not the style of book that I prefer.
If you are looking for two EXCELLENT books, try
Divergent and I
nsurgent by Veronica Roth. Both are extremely well written: I purchased them for my daughter and was pleasantly surprised by them. These have an excellent storyline, good character development, great flow, and a believable heroine. It is kind of a "fish out of water" story set in the dystopian future. Not unlike hunger games, yet completely different. These are also being made into movies, which I will be going to see at the theaters.
Also, on the not too shabby list for young adults is the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. These are written as though being transcribed from an audio recording and delve into Egyptian Mythology. Again I purchased these for my daughter. This time because I recognized the author's name: I purchased all the Percy Jackson books for my nephew. They were surprisingly good and full of witty humor and lots of action.
For those of you who like well written fantasy books that are a bit more adult (just more sophisticated, not anything weird), I would also recommend the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Actually, anything written by Brandon Sanderson has been great so far. I have everything he has written and will pre-order everything he writes in the future. He is on Facebook and invites people to come play Magic the Gathering and other similar games with him. He also sneaks into book shops and signs any of his books he finds. Then he posts the location and titles on his Facebook account so fans can find them. All-in-all a pretty awesome guy.
Also good is Patrick Rothfuss, although it takes him FOREVER to write his follow up books. He has published the first two volumes of the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy and they are well thought out and well written: I could not put them down despite their length. Also, a cool person. He collects signed first edition books, which he then auctions off and gives the proceeds to charity. A good writer and a good person all at the same time.
On the fantasy front, I am also a BIG R.A. Salvatore fan. I have read all his books featuring Drizzt Do Urden (a drow elf that lives on the surface). Some are predictable, but I love the character.
Also good is the recently finished Wheel of Time Series. This is a 14 book series started by Robert Jordan about 30 years ago and finished posthumously by Brandon Sanderson. Their are of course, a few weak books out of the 14, but overall an excellent read.
My favorite book series of all time though, has to be the Dune series by Frank Herbert. I first read a few of these while I was in high school a long, long time ago. I purchased the entire set and re-read it every few years. It is too bad that every attempt to make a movie from these books is flat out terrible.
Also, I went a bit old school and read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Mansfield Park last fall: I love those books, especially the first two titles.
Well, that concludes the past six months worth of reading, minus a few odd ball titles. Happy reading everyone.
