If you are very observant you may have noticed a couple of changes over in my “Books I’m Reading” and “Books that are Next” lists. Both Ringworld and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have disappeared from the lists. I finished the first and read the other this weekend.

Ringworld came somewhat recommended from Steve, but not what I would say highly recommended. He said it was good, but didn’t seem all that jacked about it. I enjoyed reading the book, and am glad I did, but I can’t say I liked it a ton. I still measure my science fiction by Isaac Asimov’s epic Robot/Empire/Foundation series, which many people don’t like that much, but which I thouroughly enjoyed.

I must say that I really enjoyed the science fiction part of of Ringworld. The concept of the ringworld was very interesting and well thought out. My problem with the book basically lies with the characters. Larry Niven just never seemed to be able to get me to care about the characters that much. I found myself rolling my eyes at their actions and decisions from time to time. They never really seemed to acheive a real depth and seemed a little cardboard to me.

The latest Harry Potter I enjoyed very much. The main thing I feel about the Half-Blood Prince is the main thing I have felt about the rest of the Harry Potter series: very easy to read (I started it Saturday night and finished it Monday night) and yet very entertaining. The plot is thickening, and there were a couple of huge twists and turns in the plot. A couple of things that were very surprising and a couple of things that you always wondered about but weren’t sure until this book. The world gets fleshed out a bit more and more. The characters grow up another year realistically. And much to my relief, Harry was much less whiny and annoying in this book than the last; I enjoyed that quite a bit more.

I’m convinced that there is one main plot device that seems to be used to create the conflict in nearly anything I read or watch. Miscommunication. Either someone lies/streches the truth to someone, or someone misunderstands what someone else is saying, or someone doesn’t tell someone something–usually because of embarrassment, or to not bother the person, or a host of other stupid reasons. But in this series especially, if the good guys would just be open and honest with everyone else, most of the bad things that happen wouldn’t happen. Of course, that wouldn’t make for very interesting reading, but it just seems too obvious some times.

All in all a good weekend for reading. I did start my next book last night. I started Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. It is the 9th book in a fantasy series I’ve been reading since 1994. I reread the last few chapters of the 8th book, Naked Empire before starting to refresh my memory a bit. When books in a series come out years apart, one tends to forget exactly what’s going on.