mapledragon

I go through phases in my reading. Sometimes I just don’t want to read or forget that I enjoy it. Sometimes I get wrapped up in a book and consume it ferociously. And sometimes I just want to read to be distracted, or to help me shut down. When I am focused on large things in my life, I tend to be slightly obsessive about authors or series – I don’t have to think about what to read next, or whether I will enjoy it. I can just grab the next book. In these stages the more predictable and easy to consume the better.

During the write-up phase of my PhD, I decided that it was my mission to read everything by Simon R. Green. I started with the Nightside series, which was certainly engaging, but quickly became quite formulaic. But the books were short, easy to get through and the characters were interesting enough. From there I discovered Green’s proper fantasy novels, which I think were better written and of a higher quality. Blue Moon Rising, Blood and Honour, Shadows Fall and Drinking Midnight Wine are particularly good! The Hawk and Fisher stories are also a good read. Then came the Secret History series, which was exciting for the first novel or two, but very quickly fell into predictability and repetition. I found the same with the Ghost Finder novels as well. Deathstalker (and then Twilight of the Empire) were the last series I started, and I found it more engaging than I anticipated. At some point towards the end of my PhD (2015) I think I had a brief period of a couple weeks where I had actually read everything he had published to that point! But he is quite prolific, and new books were coming out quickly in the newer series (Nightside, Deathstalker and Hawk and Fisher were pretty much wrapped up at this point). It felt like a natural stopping point for me – I was moving onto a new phase of my life post-PhD and decided to make a clean break, moving on to explore a wider world of reading!

Now, years later, I find myself in a new phase of life, fully occupied by baby. But in the final months before her arrival when I was finding quiet time very welcome (lock down helped), I started really consuming Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra. My sister in law recommended the series a couple of years ago, and I had dipped into it a bit – read maybe the first 2 or 3. I liked the characters and found it engaging enough but was playing the field of novels so to speak. Since March, however, the combination of being pregnant and being in lock down (or something like it) led me to once more opt for the obsessive reading of one author. So, I have been working my way through the books at a swift pace. In my one quiet week of calm between starting maternity leave and being induced, I got through 2 and half novels. I spent a good portion of my 24 hours as an in-patient prior to active labour reading Cast in Ruin. However, unsurprisingly, the arrival of our little one put reading on hold for a bit. But I am now back at it, and continuing with the series. It is great to dip in and out of without too much worry about getting lost. And the series reads like one long story arc broken into books, rather than stand alone stories (think more Babylon 5, less Star Trek: The Next Generation). I have moments where I get a bit frustrated with the writing (it’s a bit inconsistent) or the fact that the plots are a bit predictable, but the series has become a great go-to to mark another phase of life.

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Entry 8 of #100DaysToOffload

20 September 2020