Some Books I've Read
(Ratings out of 10 - consider 6 to be the minimum of what I expect a published book to be.)
(Please note these are my opinions only, and I'm an uncultured rube.)
The Privilege of the Sword
by Ellen Kushner
Dec 19, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8.5
Enjoyability: 9
Kitty Takes a Vacation
by Carrie Vaughn
Dec 17, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
Kitty Goes to Washington
by Carrie Vaughn
Dec 12, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 8
Kitty In the Midnight Hour
by Carrie Vaughn
Dec 11, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 8.5
Enjoyability: 8.5
Bring It On
by Laura Anne Gilman
Dec 9, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
Staying Dead
by Laura Anne Gilman
Dec 1, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
Urban Shaman / Thunderbird Falls / Coyote Dreams
by C. E. Murphy
Nov 12-15, 2007
Quality of writing: 6 / 7.5 / 7.5
Quality of story: 6 / 8 / 7.5
Enjoyability: 6 / 8 / 7.5
Point of Honour
by Madeleine E. Robins
Nov 3, 2007
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8
Black Unicorn
by Tanith Lee
Oct 30, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8
Endymion / The Fall of Endymion
by Dan Simmons
October 24, 2007
Quality of writing: 7.5 / 7
Quality of story: 6 / 5.5
Enjoyability: 5.5 / 5.5
Sorrow's Light
by Freda Warrington
October 7, 2007
Quality of writing: 9.5
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8.5
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
October 4, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 9
Enjoyability: 9
Mona Lisa Overdrive
by William Gibson
October 2, 2007
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 9
His Majesty's Dragon
by Naomi Novak
September 23, 2007
Quality of writing: 8.5
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 8
Stardust
by Neil Gaiman
September 21, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8.5
Enjoyability: 8
Storm Front: Book 1 of the Dresden Files
by Jim Butcher
September 19, 2007
Quality of writing: 7.5
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 8
A Dance in Blood Velvet
by Freda Warrington
September 9, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 9
Mind Games
by William Deverell
September 3, 2007
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 7
Dark Side of the Moon
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
August 8, 2007
Quality of writing: 5
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 6
The White Wolf's Son
by Michael Moorcock
August 5, 2007
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8.5
Enjoyability: 9
The Crimson Sword
by Eldon Thompson
July 3, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 4
Enjoyability: 6
Caves of Buda
by Leah R. Cutter
July 2, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 6
Enjoyability: 6
No Quarter
by Tanya Huff
May 25, 2007
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
by Robert McKee
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: n/a
Enjoyability: n/a
My opinion:
This is the best writing book I've ever read. It analyses what keeps your audience enthralled and explains the nuts and bolts of how to craft a gripping story. I'd recommend this one to every writer.
The Fox Woman
by Kij Johnson
May 25, 2007
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
On Writing
by Stephen King
May 9, 2007
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: n/a
Enjoyability: 7.5
The Hallowed Hunt
by Lois McMaster Bujold
May 8, 2007
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 6
The Amulet of Samarkand
by Jonathan Stroud
Quality of writing: 7.5
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8
Rats and Gargoyles
by Mary Gentle
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 5
Enjoyability: 6
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Quality of writing: 8 (by my very modern standards, okay?)
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 6
Speaker for the Dead
by Orson Scott Card
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8
Alvin Journeyman
by Orson Scott Card
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 5
Enjoyability: 5
The Crystal City
by Orson Scott Card
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 9
Enjoyability: 10
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 8
Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 6
Enjoyability: 10/6, depending on what you want in a book
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
by Jeffry P. Lindsay
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7.5
Hyperion / The Fall of Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Quality of writing: 10 / 10
Quality of story: 10 / 10
Enjoyability: 10 / 10
My opinion:
These two books together comprise the best science fiction story I've ever read in my life!
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
The Tamir trilogy
by Lynn Flewelling
Quality of writing: 5
Quality of story: 8 sliding into 5 by the end of book three
Enjoyability: 8 sliding into 4 by the end of book three
The Nightrunner series
by Lynn Flewelling
Quality of writing: 5
Quality of story: 4 creeping up to 8 by the end of book three
Enjoyability: 7 creeping up to 9 by the end of book three
Valentine Pontifex
by Robert Silverberg
Quality of writing: 6
Quality of story: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Lord Valentine's Castle
by Robert Silverberg
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 7
Enjoyability: 7
The Sailing to Sarantium series
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 10
My opinion:
Gah, gah, gah! Guy Gavriel Kay = so damned brilliant.
The Fionavar Tapestry series
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Quality of writing: 7
Quality of story: 9
Enjoyability: 7.5
Last Light of the Sun
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 9
Enjoyability: 10
My opinion:
Gah, gah, gah! Guy Gavriel Kay = so damned brilliant.
Um; I've said that before, haven't I? Sorry.
Trainspotting
by Irvine Welsh
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: n/a
Enjoyability: 6
The Time Traveller's Wife
by Audrey Niffeneger
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 10
Enjoyability: 9.5
My Opinion: This really is as good as everyone says!
Shadowmarch
by Tad Williams
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 6
Enjoyability: 6
A Song of Ice and Fire series
by George R. R. Martin
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 9.5
Enjoyability: 10
My Opinion: Faaaaaabulous writing; slurps you in and makes you care deeply about at least different ten characters' stories.
Night of the Wolf
by Alice Borchardt
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 9
My Opinion: There's some really brilliant writing here; the characterization in particular is fantastic.
Book of the Damned / Book of the Beast / Book of the Dead / Book of the Mad
by Tanith Lee
Quality of writing: 10 / 8 / 6 / 9
Quality of story: 9 / 7 / 3 / 8
Enjoyability: 9 / 8 / 3 / 8
The Silver Metal Lover
by Tanith Lee
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 9
Enjoyability: 10
My Opinion: This is wonderful book; it made me cry like a sop. It's a romance for people who hate romance novels.
In Cold Hell
by Tanith Lee
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 7.5
A Bed of Earth
by Tanith Lee
Quality of writing: 10
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 8
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Lord Foul's Bane
by Stephen R. Donaldson
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 4
Enjoyability: 3
The Children of Men
by P. D. James
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 6
Enjoyability: 5
Contact
by Carl Sagan
Quality of writing: 8
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 7
The Wintersmith
by Terry Pratchett
Quality of writing: 9
Quality of story: 8
Enjoyability: 8
Silver's Bane
by Ann Kelleher
Quality of writing: 3
Quality of story: 7.5
Enjoyability: 6.5
Books I Tried to Read and Couldn't Finish
Gossamyr / Rhiana
by Michele Hauf
Dec 20, 2007
Stopped reading: page 2 / page 2
Reason why: Purplest prose I've ever seen in a published book. / Less purple than Gossamyr, but still intrusive.
An Unexpected Apprentice
by Jody Lynn Nye
Nov 16, 2007
Stopped reading: page 13
Reason why: Couldn't get into it
Moon Called
by Patricia Briggs
Oct 18, 2007
Stopped reading: page 17
Reason why: Too much backstory and telling
A Fine Balance
by Rohinton Mistry
May 25, 2007
Stopped reading: page 33
Reason why: Writing so great I couldn't handle the story, emotionally
Cast in Shadow
by Michelle Sagara
May 9, 2007
Stopped reading: page 15
Reason why: Too much backstory and telling
Shaman's Crossing
by Robin Hobb
Stopped reading: ~ page 15
Reason why: Too much backstory and telling
Moonrise
by Mitchell Smith
Stopped reading: ~ page 100
Reason why: Great writing, but the characters spent too much time tromping around in the bush
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
Stopped reading: ~ page 10
Reason why: Just not my cup of tea; I couldn't get into it
Myth-Taken Identity
by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye
Stopped reading: ~ page 20
Reason why: Couldn't get into it
The Dragon Queen
by Alice Borchardt
Stopped reading: ~ page 15
Reason why: Couldn't get into it
