Month 12: Interesting vs. well-written

Month 12 of 260 (4.62 percent)

Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)

Pages read: 7,025 (8.66 percent)

H-list: 2,040/22,674 (9.00 percent)

N-list: 2,506/35,009 (7.16 percent)

O-list: 2,492/23,466 (10.62 percent)

Finished: Dragon War

Reading: The Name of the Wind

The only book I finished this month is Dragon War, the third volume of a trilogy set in the D&D world of Eberron. I didn't enjoy the story all that much; what I liked was a few of the characters, particularly the changeling and the warforged, who were different enough from humans that it was interesting to read about them. There was one sentence near the end about one character's magical weapon that made me want to read more about that sword. The other characters, the humans and elves, were less interesting, which is a shame because that includes the two main characters. I kind of want to go read other Eberron books, and it makes me more interested in D&D books that focus on the less-common races. I'm already planning on reading Erin Evans' book about tieflings, so maybe I'll just go there.

I'm mostly through The Name of the Wind, which is marvelous but also standard. It reminds me of Robin Hobb's Assassin series, in that it's a first-person account of a young boy who grows to be a legend, but I enjoy it a lot more. I don't think it's because of the character; it has something to do with the setting, for sure; but it's mainly that the writing is just so smooth. It's not a grind to read, as Hobb can sometimes be (especially on the long road trip of Assassin's Quest); there's always something happening even while the long-term story is still developing. But, like I say, it's standard; so far it's typical western fantasy, with no big thought-provoking questions. So far.