Ryan’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2012)

Ryan’s comments from the The Dapper Gentlemen of Letters group.

I'm waiting on the darn book from the library.

Art of Fielding sounds like it would be fine.

I'll try to come up with a suggestion that isn't part of a damn series, because so much of what I read seems to be.

This was a strange read for me. Some sections of it really flew along, and others just dragged so horribly.

This is probably why I have also failed in the past to get into Stephenson. I connected with some of the characters early on, but it became such a slog in the middle that I struggled to maintain interest for a while, and then again as the book wound down with the ending obviously hurtling towards you.

I definitely struggled with the intricate and long-winded exposition that popped up all over the place, whether it was about a building, or a hill, or whatever. It really made it feel like I was digging through the book for the story at times.

While I was not as intrigued by the idea of an MMO being a major part of the story as some prior to reading this, I would agree that it seemed to be more of a normal place setting, than any kind of revolutionary character building or storytelling approach.

I've read a lot of worse books, but I wouldn't run out and recommend it either.

Closing in on 700 pages now. And man, it was a real slog there for a couple hundred pages in the middle.

Started it a little late, as I was sick earlier in the month and didn't want to dive into something as complicated.

I'm only about a third of the way through so far. Characters seem interesting, so far at least. I am not finding myself really engaged in the overall plot a whole ton yet. Some story threads I feel a connection with but others are just kind of there for me.

Just picked it up today and starting.