Funny, I thought very similar things about 1632, though there are many good bits in it and the premise is exceedingly interesting. But I didn’t identify the smugness as “left wing” smugness, it seemed to me to be American Exceptionalism smugness. That is, random anybodies from an unexceptional American town get to trip off to Germany and totally wow them with Truth Justice and the American Way. And they get to be completely kick-ass in every respect. Way to go!
Also, the town of Grantville appears to be populated entirely by Mary Sue, Gary Stu and the whole extended Stu family.
The Stu / Sue family; yes, absolutely. And for the ultimate Mary Sue: that bloody cheerleader-turned-rifleperson girl. I detested her with a passion. Won’t say what I ardently wished to happen to her; it might get me banned from the board.
One of the 1632 books had a line that I particularly like, though. They were having a fair or something (sorry, the details have slipped from my mind like sand through a sieve) and one had observed that their German allies had agreed to only serve soft drinks to the Grantville youngsters.
“Unfortunately, they consider beer to be a soft drink.”
I liked 1632. But in my opinion, the series went into a sharp decline after the first book. Flint started farming the writing out to other people and the series lost all focus.
And every single one of them happens to be obsessed with some obscure hobby that means that they happened to have some essential bit of modern equipment stuck in their storage shed when the need arises.
“Hmmm. We could really use a diesel egg incubator.”
“Well, Ol’ Farmer Brown did his PhD thesis on the history of diesel egg incubators, and has several dozen of them stashed away in his barn!”
“Say, that’s handy!”
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I got about a quarter of the way through this before I stopped reading. It was for my own good, I was in danger of damaging my eyes with all the rolling they were doing. The central character was amazing, I know this because I was being told this constantly. I see it recommended here and there every now and again and every time I do a little “grrrr” to myself.
American Pastoral by Philip Roth. I had read another of his books and really liked it so I was expecting to enjoy this as I’d heard great things about it. I think the point I quit was when he went into great detail about how to make a glove.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman. I actually finished this one, even though I did so in a flurry of tuts. I remember thinking at the time that it read like an early draft. There was a good idea in there, I think another go around with an editor could have shaped it up. But it had possibly the whiniest central character I’ve read for some time.
I’ll have no truck with people hating on Jane Austen, no truck whatsoever.
Interestingly enough I really, really liked “The Name of the Wind” and “The Magicians”. However, “Wise Man’s Fear” (Name of the Wind’s sequel) wasn’t that great (though decidedly above average), and I’ve heard “The Magician King” isn’t that great either.
Though neither sequels are bad enough to be on a disapprove list.
What I found jarring-- and I should say that I only read the first book, so it may have been addressed in a later installment-- was how an entire West Virginia mining town is transported like unto Gilligan’s Island, and nobody puts together a meth lab as a matter of some urgency.
NOTW was an excellent book. Sure the main character is amazing, but hey, if you don’t like heroes in your fiction, why start a book the blurb for which makes no bones of being about a larger than life hero character? Also, the frame story makes it quite clear that for all his brilliance, the main character is reduced to a shadow of whatever he once was. And Rothfuss is careful not to let Kvothe become too perfect, and always in believable ways. His anger, his training, his instincts, they all get him into trouble often enough. To top it all, Rothfuss writes beautifully. You’re only the second person I’ve come across who doesn’t like NOTW, and I’ve recommended the book to many, many people, who’ve all loved it in turn.
All that said, I still don’t disagree with NOTW being in this list(for now). And that’s because…
…I thought the second book was crap. It could be that I think so because I had such high hopes after reading the first, and had to wait so long for it to come out. It was still very well written, but the plotting is just execrable. It barely moves forward, accomplishing little in the way of overall plot advancement, and seems entirely to consist of Kvothe literally stumbling from one unbelievable adventure to the next. Every individual adventure is still a great read, but when so many are strung out one after the other, and after reading through all of them you still don’t get a sense that the whole story has gone anywhere, it can be quite a let down.
I have no idea how/if he’ll rescue the series with the third book, so I no longer recommend the series to people.
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