It was far down the afternoon; and when all the spearings of the crimson fight were done: and floating in the lovely sunset sea and sky, sun and whale both stilly died together; then, such a sweetness and such plaintiveness, such inwreathing orisons curled up in that rosy air, that it almost seemed as if far over from the deep green convent valleys of the Manilla isles, the Spanish land-breeze, wantonly turned sailor, had gone to sea, freighted with these vesper hymns.

After that it seems self explanatory why it takes longer to read Moby Dick than I would imagine.

What I admire about Watterson is that he did everything on his own terms. He didn’t want his art to be made into toys and that’s why there never was any Calvin and Hobbes toys and he quit the cartoon because he wanted to quit while he was still good.  There’s something to be admired about that.  

Michael Connelly

Not only does he write quickly, but his work is still good. I give Nine Dragons a B+. It’s good, but not great. If you like police procedurals, you’ll like this book. You probably won’t love it, but it’s a fun read. Unlike The Scarecrow, which is about a newspaper writer, Connelly brings back his main protagonist Detective Harry Bosch. My complaint about many Harry Bosch novels is that Connelly has Bosch do something bullheaded and stupid during the book’s climax. Luckily, this book does that suffer from that problem.

I don’t give this book an A because Connelly didn’t hold my rapt attention the entire novel. He carried me along well, but I wasn’t on my the edge of my seat the entire time.

I give the first book a B+. I thought it was pretty fun, but the series went downhill from there. I give the second book a B and the third book a C. I disliked the ending of the series for two reasons. First, I disliked the choices the authors made in concluding the series. Their conclusion just wasn’t satisfying. But I admit that reasonable people can disagree about those choices. Second, the the hero’s motivations weren’t clear and the decisions he made at that book’s climax seemed like a whim. The series builds to the climax in the third book and the hero makes a decision on a whim? Did he understand what his actions would cause?  Why did he do what he did?

Because I didn’t like the third book much, I can’t recommend the series. The first book was fun, but in the end I was let down. 

One thing I like about Dan Brown is how much his critics hate his work. A lot of critics can’t stand his success.

I don’t understand why his critics hate his books so much. They aren’t literature and shouldn’t be read as such.

Did I mention that George R.R. Martin has still not bothered to finish book 5 of his series after 4 years?

David Gemmell is the most underappreciated fantasy novelist I know of. I’ve only read four of his books, but I have enjoyed them all. Hero in the Shadows was no exception. I really enjoyed the opening and the main character, Waylander. Who doesn’t enjoy a story of an ex-assassin-turned benevolent leader who can’t keep from killing the bad guys.

As I like to say about books like this, it isn’t literature, but it’s a fun read.     

The Last Oracle by James Rollins is fun summer reading. It was fast paced, enjoyable read. It isn’t literature and the writing don’t blow your hair back. Instead, this is brain candy. If you like the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child techno-thriller novels you’ll like this.  

I curse George R.R. Martin because it is unlikely he will finish this series any time in the next decade. The first book, A Game of Thrones, came out in 1996. He followed that with A Clash of Kings in 1998, and then A Storm of Swords in 2000. But that high level of productivity on this series died after A Storm of Swords. Book 4 in the series, A Feast for Crows came out in 2005 and he has yet to finish book 5. The problem is that in 2005, when A Feast for Crows came out, he said he was about half way done with book 5. Now, 4 years later, he still hasn’t finished.

I wish Martin would focus his energies on this series and HBO version of the series. But I can only wish. 

In the mean time, I’ll have to look for more interesting books to read.