*hugs you* I know what you mean. I read 'Furies of Calderon', and did enjoy it, but also felt it wasn't up to Butcher's usual excellent standard with the Dresden Files books. The second Calderon book was better, but...yeah, still has issues, mainly with the "wow, I can see where this is going a mile off". Apparently Butcher has always wanted to write high fantasy, and devoured all the classic fantasy novels as a kid. I think there comes a point, for some people, where they are so over-saturated with the best of a genre that they can't manage anything very original when they sit down to write in that genre for themselves.
Buck up, there's another Dresden book coming out in a couple of months.
If you're looking for something good...Robin McKinley has a new book out, "Dragonhaven". Not everyone can take her relentless exposition, but this one is written in first person POV, so it's a bit less dense than her other novels.
Rob Thurman's books really are great - a very different take on the urban fantasy genre.
I see you're a Diana Wynne Jones fan - her new Chrestomanci book, "The Pinhoe Egg", is delightful.
Personally, in the high fantasy genre, the only really original and excellent books I've read in the past year were "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (I'm waiting impatiently for my turn at a library copy of the sequel) and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which never disappoints.
I wonder if you've read anything by Lynn Flewelling? The trilogy that starts with "The Bone Doll's Twin" is great. Her "Nightrunner Series" is also excellent, although it's (surprisingly, for published novels) slash. There's very little explicit in it, though, so I'd recommend it for anyone who is willing to read a really good story even when slash isn't generally their cup of tea.
Published novels have been, by and large, so excruciatingly poor in the last few years (I blame the publishing companies. Some of these books have clearly never been past an editor), and there's so much great fanfiction out there, that I'm seriously thinking about getting myself some kind of PDA and putting lots of fanfiction on it. The only time I really get to read is on the bus to and from work, and during lunch at work, so something smaller and more portable than great heavy hardback novels would certainly be nice...
Frustration in book-land
Buck up, there's another Dresden book coming out in a couple of months.
If you're looking for something good...Robin McKinley has a new book out, "Dragonhaven". Not everyone can take her relentless exposition, but this one is written in first person POV, so it's a bit less dense than her other novels.
Rob Thurman's books really are great - a very different take on the urban fantasy genre.
I see you're a Diana Wynne Jones fan - her new Chrestomanci book, "The Pinhoe Egg", is delightful.
Personally, in the high fantasy genre, the only really original and excellent books I've read in the past year were "The Lies of Locke Lamora" (I'm waiting impatiently for my turn at a library copy of the sequel) and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which never disappoints.
I wonder if you've read anything by Lynn Flewelling? The trilogy that starts with "The Bone Doll's Twin" is great. Her "Nightrunner Series" is also excellent, although it's (surprisingly, for published novels) slash. There's very little explicit in it, though, so I'd recommend it for anyone who is willing to read a really good story even when slash isn't generally their cup of tea.
Published novels have been, by and large, so excruciatingly poor in the last few years (I blame the publishing companies. Some of these books have clearly never been past an editor), and there's so much great fanfiction out there, that I'm seriously thinking about getting myself some kind of PDA and putting lots of fanfiction on it. The only time I really get to read is on the bus to and from work, and during lunch at work, so something smaller and more portable than great heavy hardback novels would certainly be nice...