Am I Broken?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly because I put down The Black Prism by Brent Weeks, and I'm not so sure I want to pick it back up again. I have a passing interest, but it's nothing against my wanting to finish Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. And the reason I've been doing a lot of thinking is because, aside from one other poorly-worded review, I'm the only one on Amazon who had anything critical to say about this book. It could mean any number of things, but, end result, I'm worried!

The book had a lot of really good things going for it. The magic system was unique, the characters were interesting, and even the world itself was neat in the way it was set up. But there were so many things that bothered me to the point of aggravation, and most of those things centered on the writing itself, and how the story was communicated.

For the most part, when I read, I like books that are straight to the point as soon as possible. I'm perfectly aware that in a fantasy world some explanation is required. But there's no reason why you can't take a step back and distribute that page's worth of exposition and loop it into the story somehow. I just dunno why. It bugs me. And it bugs me when everything has to be explained, like we aren't smart enough to figure some things out. I like very little hand-holding unless it's absolutely necessary.

Enough of that. Anyway, I'm just trying to decide why I didn't like The Black Prism, because I'm feeling kinda crazy that I didn't. Meh.

All right, stop. I quit.

In one of my favourite novels, So Long and Thanks For All The Fish by Douglas Adams (the fourth in the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series) there's a minor character named Wonko the Sane.

I absolutely love this book, much more so than the other four. The few pages with Wonko in them are one of the best bits - they really stuck with me and I've always thought of him when the world seems too much.

He's a man on a beach in California who one day looks at a packet of toothpicks and reads:

Hold stick near center of its length.
Moisten pointed end in mouth.
Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum.
Use gentle in-and-out motion.

Appalled by the realisation that he now lives in a world where people might require instructions to open a can of toothpicks, he builds four walls around himself, designed to look like the outside of a house. He decides to remain in his asylum, never daring to re-enter the civilisation that allowed the toothpick instructions.

I'd like to print off that 'Candwich' thing and paste it on the door to the outside world!

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Apologies to I-mockery.com for stealing their news item!