This year wasn’t too bad for books I started but wasn’t able to finish – just two:
1. Colours in the Steel- K.J. Parker
I was five chapters into this book when I gave it up. There was nothing inherently bad about it, I just couldn’t get myself interested.
The premise is interesting enough – a city where justice is dispensed by the sword, so all the lawyers are fencers. There are a number of parallel story lines going on, and that might be the problem. I just wasn’t grabbed by any of the characters, and just couldn’t bring myself to keep going.
2. The Named – Marianne Curley
I’m not really sure what made me dislike this book so instantly. Could be getting thrown into the action with too little prep (a very fine line). Could be the teenager as ancient hero. Could be the teenager as ancient hero getting his former best friend’s kid sister as an apprentice and having to check her out in history class because he hadn’t paid attention to her in so long he forgot what she looked like. I made it three chapters in and called it a day.