{"id":146,"date":"2008-03-27T17:48:35","date_gmt":"2008-03-28T01:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/?p=146"},"modified":"2008-03-27T17:48:35","modified_gmt":"2008-03-28T01:48:35","slug":"article-pile-o-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/articles\/article-pile-o-shame\/","title":{"rendered":"Article | Pile o’ Shame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone’s got one.<\/p>\n

That secret pile of novels, so very well regarded by the literary world, sitting in a dark corner of their house, sadly neglected despite assurances by so many others that “you’ve got to read them!” It’s a secret Pile ‘o Shame<\/strong> that haunts readers, always calling out longingly to be conquered but always growing bigger.<\/p>\n

There’re simply too many novels out there (even if you only count the ones worth reading) for anyone to tackle all of them, and so the pile grows bigger. It’s so shameful that many readers hide it, boastfully playing on Internet message boards and blogs, pretending they’ve read them, or at the very least have given them a meaningful glance – catch them in their lie and they’re quick to exit the conversation.<\/p>\n

I thought it would be fun to come out of the closet with my Pile o’ Shame<\/strong> every once in a while, crucifying myself before the masses by laying bare the gaps in my knowledge of the genre. I’ll explain a little of why<\/em> I haven’t read them before – whether it’s ignorance, taste, fear or otherwise – all in hopes that someone will come along and convince me exactly why<\/em> a particular novel or series deserves to be the next wiped off my Pile o’ Shame<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So, let’s get this started.
\n<\/p>\n

The Pile – Round One<\/h3>\n
\n

Richard Morgan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Whole Damn Library<\/strong>
\n\"Altered
\nYeah, I know, eh? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone on at length about my frothing desire for Morgan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upcoming Fantasy novel, The Steel Remains<\/strong>, and yet I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never read anything by the man. A lot of the hype, at least for me, was fueled by the early reviews\/previews from Joe Abercrombie<\/a> and The Genre Files<\/a>, both of whom had nothing but glowing words for the novel.<\/p>\n

My wheelhouse, as made evident by A Dribble of Ink<\/strong>, is Fantasy, and so that, as silly as it may be, is probably the basic reason behind the lack of Richard Morgan in my life. Everything I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard about his novels seems right up my alley: gritty and violent, a charismatic protagonist, and eerily realistic future setting.<\/p>\n

This is probably the series I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m most likely to tackle in the near future. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Altered Carbon<\/strong> sitting beside my bed and it will likely be read just as soon as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m done with Greg Keyes’ The Born Queen<\/strong>, if not before.<\/p>\n

\n

The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker<\/strong>
\n\"The
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll admit that this one hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been started merely out of fear. It just looks so dense, obtuse and difficult. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got the three trade paperbacks sitting on my bookshelf, looking all pretty and menacing, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just never been able to work up the courage to jump in.<\/p>\n

This is partly due to the fact that I read for enjoyment and Bakker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s works just seem like so much work<\/em>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begrudge people who enjoy this, in fact a little part of me envies them, but I tend towards works that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t force me to fight the prose and the story to enjoy them. That all being said, I often find works like that very rewarding when I do<\/em> finish them, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Bakker has stayed on my Pile \u00e2\u20ac\u02dco Shame<\/strong> and not just been relegated to the never-gonna-be-read closet.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m expecting to get a review copy of Neuropath<\/strong> sometime soon and that, along with my upcoming interview with Bakker, will hopefully get the ball rolling and help me become a confident enough reader to pick up Prince of Nothing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

The Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney<\/strong>
\n\"Hawkwood's
\nNow here’s a series that I can explain without much shame. I’ve been aware of Kearney’s work for a couple of years now and have tried hard to lay my hands on copies of the novels. I’d scour every used bookstore I came across and slowly managed to acquire a few of the five novels. <\/p>\n

Then I caught wind of the upcoming Omnibus…<\/p>\n

Now the plan’s to read the Omnibus the second<\/em> it arrives on store shelves. Like Morgan’s novels, everything I hear about The Monarchies of God<\/strong> leads me to believe that it will be the exact type of Fantasy I’ve grown to love so much over the years. Kearney’s upcoming novel, The Ten Thousand<\/strong> , being released this fall by Solaris, also sounds interesting and I’ll hopefully be able to get my hands on that.<\/p>\n

Reading Kearney has been a long time coming for me, something always seemed to get in the way, but I’m hoping that once I get to it, I won’t have regrets. <\/p>\n

\n

Alright, so there you go, three series I’m mightily ashamed to admit never to reading. It stretches much farther, and I’ll probably return with another article like this in the future; but, for the meantime, you can berate me, tell me why I’m a fool for missing out, or why I continue to stay far away. While you’re at it, why notlet me know what happens to be in your<\/em> Pile ‘o Shame<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone’s got one. That secret pile of novels, so very well regarded by the literary world, sitting in a dark corner of their house, sadly neglected despite assurances by so many others that “you’ve got to read them!” It’s a secret Pile ‘o Shame that haunts readers, always calling out longingly to be conquered but… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n