Okay, I saw this link to the Top Ten Tuesday topic over at Shae Has Left the Room: Series you have that you would love to start, but haven’t. It caught my eye partly because of just reading THE THOUSAND NAMES, so hey! That’s one series I actually *have* started, and only a year after the first book came out, so that’s not bad!
The entry on Shae’s list that would also be on mine is DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Lani Taylor.
I must admit that I have had this book on my TBR shelves for two years and counting, and the whole trilogy is now out, and I’ve heard great things about it, and yet I haven’t yet picked it up.
Another book I have on my TBR shelves is THE DEMON KING by Cinda Williams Chima. The whole series — four books — is out, and yet have I read the first book? No. I actually feel a twinge of guilt when I look at it. It’s been out since 2009.
But you know what makes me feel even more guilty?
Not finding time to go on with a series that I *have* started, and really liked, and yet haven’t finished.
Like Rae Carson’s GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS. I loved the first book, I have the whole series, and yet have I gone on with the second? No. Aargh.
Almost the same is the PATHFINDER trilogy by Orson Scott Card. I loved how the first book played with time in so many different ways, and I do have the second book, but I haven’t read it even though the third is due out early next month, so this would be an okay time to go on.
On the other hand! I HAVE now read the first book of Eileen Wilks’ Lupi series, TEMPTING DANGER. Yay! That’s a different kind of list: Top ten books you have FINALLY gotten around to reading. Took me forever and a day to get to it. For me it was actually just okay, but I felt the same way about the first Kate Daniels’ books — I think it can take a few books for an UF series to hit its stride. It had some nice elements, especially Grandmother.
Go read Daughter of Smoke and Bone! It’s so good! They’re all so good! (In my humble opinion.)
It took me three tries to get into The Demon King, but my sister insisted they were good so I finally plowed through the first chapters and got caught in the story, and the whole series was thoroughly enjoyable. I liked the Heir Chronicles, too.
Loved Girl of Fire and Thorns, thought Crown of Embers was just as good, and then I couldn’t finish Bitter Kingdom. But that might be because it had been too long since reading the others and I had forgotten too much about the characters and stakes. I should try rereading them all again.
Loved Pathfinder and was horribly, offputtingly disappointed in the sequel. It’s like he wrote it when he was asleep or something. I’m actually still a little angry about it, because the story of Pathfinder had so much potential.
I just went to add The Thousand Names to my TBR list and discovered it was already there! (And coincidentally I noticed his middle-grade novel The Forbidden Library (great title!) at my library yesterday. Wexler is definitely on my radar now!)
Series I finally got around to starting: Host’s Touchstone. Loved Stray; have the other two on my iPod for a plane ride I’m taking next week.
Wow, Kim, that’s pretty alarming about Pathfinder. I’ll have to start the sequel very cautiously.
The biggest reason I haven’t gone on with Carson’s series is that, yes, I’ll have to re-read the first book in order to go on to the second.
And ooh! Touchstone! [Claps]. I’m sure you’ll love where the Touchstone trilogy goes!
I have trouble with Daughter of Smoke & Bone because the romance just doesn’t work for me; Taylor’s a lovely writer and I liked the prose and the setting and characters, but when the whole premise is this great star-crossed love story and said love story doesn’t convince me at all…yeah. I read the first one but haven’t gone back to invest the time in the rest of the series.
That said there are SO MANY people who disagree with me on this one.
(Also, I have had the day from hell and may be blowing off steam by being cranky about books.)