What are you reading at the moment?

Pachinko

By Min Jin Lee

I've always been a fan of historical fiction. After reading (The tea girl of hummingbird lane) By Lisa See (great book and I highly recommend it!) I decided to tackle this tome.

Pachinko was a National Book Award finalist last year and as such in every bookstore over here. Craving another hit I caved and got it.

I believe books are like food.... mostly because I'm starving at the moment but the point stands!

There are days when you indulge in a full English breakfast in a fancy restaurant with portions big enough to feed a family of four.

The rest of the week however you have half a tub of cream cheese and a loaf of bread to make do with and you attempt to make it last.

This is this book.

The first part I thought was fine, I liked reading about Sunja's life and the political environment around her. It was a bit bland compared to other historical fiction books as she is considered an anomaly in her village and you never get to learn about others around her. still I thought it was ok and the book was thick enough to offer more later.

Part two is where things get murky. The second generation is growing up and we need to spread the cheeses extra thin if we want to get to the corners. Too many characters and we only glance at them superficially to make time for the next event in another person's life. One of the mains actually dies but since he wasn't mentioned since part and you only get one paragraph about it mid part two it left zero impact and I kept wondering why he was allowing this to happen to his family.

Part three... we are out of cheese and the only parts of the loaf remaining are the crusty bookends that have hardened and lost all pretense of freshness.



Even after reading this tome I only have a superficial idea of the Korean/Japanese relationship during that era. Seeing how both are so culturally rich I wished more of the changes in tradition and how the different generations viewed things was included or if the focus had been on just one character and their journey through those changing times for a more emotional impact.

I thought it might be the translation. That this was a korean book translated to English but no. This was intended for an American audience yet gives you no background regarding the common traditions and workings of either countries.

Even the word (pachinko) isn't explained. It's just that one of the sons is working there now and climbing up the ranks.

As mentioned I'm into historical fiction so I know that Pachinko is a Japanese style Pinball machine were you actually collect the metallic balls to get a prize from the counter. There are parlors detected to it in Japan and although it is technically an arcade game it is closer to the slot machine in casinos and is used for gambling (which is illegal in Japan so loophole!)



I dropped this book mid way during part three when it all went down hill. If you are going to bring one culture to another with different norms and practices then you should explain them rather then having the characters always be the exception to the rule. Even the little things like what were the women selling to make ends met? I don't know because the author just said sweet... which makes little sense as sugar during that time was scarce and yet the women were working with it. What were they making? No idea.

Then They sell Kimchi. I know what that is because I love Asian cuisine but not a single other person in our household knows what that is.. and we've been to Korea in 2015! it's not even explained in the book, just lets pickle and sell kimchi...

I don't know, to me this started ok and ended way down. It seemed to target people of an Asian background already familiar with that era yet it was marketed to English speaking countries.

Ok boring rant over. I just had to get that out.

 

Romance novels to help finish up this other story of mine. I figured I'd do a dual publishing. Nightmare Online and the romance novel will go up at around the same time, probably even the same weekend in either late April or early May. At least, I hope.

 

I just finished Scourged, the final book in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne.

A decent read, but disappointed for a number of reasons. I'd hoped for a better end to the 9 book series (with a number of short stories and novellas also within the world created by Hearne).

 

So, three series I started and all worth checking out:

The first one I mentioned earlier, Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World by Mad Snail.

Introduction:

The world’s largest VRMMO, Conviction, was almost like a second world for humanity. It had integrated itself into the real world’s economy, with both corporations and individuals seeking their fortunes through the game.

In this game, Nie Yan prided himself in his Level 180 Thief. He could barely be considered among the top experts in the game. Though, that was the only thing he could take pride in. He was penniless and unable to advance in life; a situation he was forced into by the enemy of his father. If it weren’t for the little money he made by selling off items in Conviction, he would’ve barely been able to eat. In the end, he chose to settle his matters once and for all. He assassinated his father’s enemy. He lay dying shortly after being shot in the pursuit.

However, that wasn’t the end of his story. Instead, he awoke moments later to find that he had reincarnated into his past self. Armed with his experience and knowledge of future events, he sets out to live his life anew.

Great series, lots of fun. The obvious cheat is that the MC has years of experience in the game so when he goes back in time to when the game starts, he's got lots of tricks up his sleeve. The first 400 chapters have been translated. Slightly frustrating, though, because I don't know how long I'll have to wait before I can continue.

 

The second one was both fantastic and maddening:

Godly Hunter by Intransient.

Introduction:

With the sudden announcement of the launch of the holographic virtual network, Chen Mo, a hacker, received a special commission to hack this system in a bid to halt advancement. To complete his task, he enters GENESIS – the holographic virtual game touted as the most secure – to look for a way to hack it. In his search, he inevitably becomes a terrifying force to behold.

What I loved: As opposed to the usual LitRPG themes, in this game the MC is a hacker hired to try and make the game crash. So, rather than worrying about leveling up he has no hesitation in trying the most ridiculous things to see if he can find a weakness or a bug in the game to exploit and creating a new character from scratch is just part of the job. Of course, this doesn't mean he's a weak player by any means!

Sigh, the fatal flaw: The lady who was translating it had to stop due to personal reasons and nobody else has picked up the book for translation. Also, the rights have been bought by Qidian and from what I've read they are the last people you want to get the rights on a series. So, unless a miracle happens, I don't know when or if we'll ever see another chapter again. I suppose you can read the Machine Translations but they make my head hurt.

Nevertheless, this was one of my favourite books to read and I highly recommend you find the first 73 chapters that have been translated and read them.

 

The third one I'm busy with at the moment:

Shura’s Wrath by Mars Gravity.

Introduction:

The mysterious boy Ling Chen is saved by a little girl as he lay on the street dying. Years later, he strikes a deal to save this savior-turned sister and enters the virtual world. In a future Earth where advanced warfare has forced nations to settle issues virtually or else suffer the consequences, Ling Chen bursts into the scene and goes from unknown to legend. Yet all is not as it seems, for Ling Chen has a dark past, and there is a greater mystery at hand behind this virtual world.

Obviously, since I have a weakness for OP MCs, I am loving this series. A true badass in real life, not just in the virtual world, the MC is one of those characters you'll probably either love or hate. His backstory explains a lot about his personality and insane powers and skills, though, and there seems to be a bigger story brewing that is slowly unfolding as the story progresses which hints at challenges and conflicts that might not be limited to the game or even Earth itself!

Currently on Book 3 and I'm getting more absorbed the more I read.

 

Just finished rereading the empire of bones saga

 

Isn’t Empire of Bones still ongoing?

 

Just finished the Lies of Locke Lamora great series although the first book is much better then the two proceeding it was still an amazing read.

 

yup, but just saw the last one came out, so reread everything

 

Codename: Freedom - The Goblin Siege.

 

One Mad Snail series he actually somewhat finished. Did you try Machine Translations? I for one avoid his works like the plague. I usually like them until some point halfway, but he either rushes to completion or not finishes them at all. People actually use "another Mad Snail" when someone is not updating regularly or takes too long to update.

I'm not too sure what to read after goblin and login accepted. I want something that is very popular because I don't know what's popular nowadays.

Edit: I meant "very".

 

'Ey, gimme a month.
/s

 

I didn't like it because of the wasted potential, but The Dungeon and Those Who Dwell within isn't terrible. I liked the systems and advancements, it inspired something I'm working on, but so much potential felt like it was wasted with all the time jumps. That one book could have been three or four easily.

 

I've been too busy to read anything lately. I did squeeze in some rereads of Karl Edward Wagner in between work and sleep - excellent grim fantasy novellas. Highly recommended.

 

I've looked at Machine Translations but my Machine Dao is not strong enough - all they do is leave me bewildered and bebothered. At least someone is actively working on the translations which is more than I can say for Godly Hunter This is my first Mad Snail series so I hope this one turns out alright because it started out fun.

As for popular: Have you checked out King's Avatar yet? More Gamelit than RPGLit but an excellent series well worth picking up, imo.

On another note: Finished Book 5 of Shura's Wrath yesterday and was struggling with it. My first encounter with the hate and bitterness the Chinese feel towards the Japanese in a series and at some stage it was starting to put me off. Anything and everything the MC did was praised because he did it to the Japanese (who obviously had it coming according to the author, Mars Gravity). Thank goodness I'm finished with that part because otherwise it's a decent read.

 

I've read The King's Avatar and really liked it up until a bit further in (much further than currently translated). Having so many chapters hurts those novels a lot, it got boring for me eventually. Also, I felt like it lost a bit of the mystery and what made it good, but now that we're talking about it, I might go back and finish it anyway. If you're going to read Chinese novels, expect hate against Japanese and Koreans. Veiled Racism is a thing too (often unveiled as well). Unfortunately, so is rape. Also, women are depicted very poorly often, as if they will never be as good as men. Not all novels have those of course, but you will find them often enough to be very bothered by them. It's often what pushes me away from a novel. It's tough to keep going because you know it will eventually come back. Hate just doesn't disappear like that. I think that is also what will make it so that some of those novels will never be popular worldwide without some heavy editing.

 

Oh man, Karl Edward Wagner is one of my favorites.

 

I must have been lucky, because the first two series I read, Coiling Dragon and I Shall Seal The Heavens didn't have any of that. Well, the chauvinism was there but not more so than any Western series. Suppose that's why they're so highly regarded. As for Mars Gravity: I think once I finish this series I'll probably stay away from his other books.

I've had another LitRPG series recommended to me: Praise the Orc. Might check that out next.

 

The thing about Mars is he does some things well enough for you to want to read his books, but others are just stupid and dumb. The last series I read from him is Against The Gods (currently ongoing), but updates are slow and the plot is lost. Well, right now you have problems finding a plot at all. He just makes the MC do stupid things all the time just for the sake of conflict and has no idea at all how to write relationships and love interests. You might want to read Ancient Godly Monarch, it is one of the series I liked (although with its own problems). I can put the MC on the shelf of good MCs for sure. I started Praise The Orc today by coincidence! Let's see how it goes.