Books

[papercrane]

Wow, I just noticed--Rysade, your avie has Ozy on it! ^_^ Good times.

What is new in the magical magical land of Amber's Literary Adventures: have been reading a lot of salsa books for a paper, so have not had much time to be reading anything but Going Postal. However, have learned a lot about Latin music. Tito Puente is awesome.

A Question to Spark Discussion Hopefully: If you're a fantasy/sci-fi fan (and who isn't, here?) do you prefer
1) serious fantasy, with kingdoms or even universes at stake in an Epic Saga
2) dark, morbid prophecies of the future, with man struggling to survive
or
3) books of a lighter sort, with a protagonist sort of poking at the universe to see if it will explode?

[Caitlin]

All fantasy is good. well, 95% of the time ::glares at ender's shadow::

1)Abhorsen Series (i refuse to admit it's a trilogy)

2)naw, definitely odin't like the morbidness. Poe is better at that than fantasy. I think if you throw the morbidness into fantasy, then it gets all icky and not that great (BUT ONLY if that whole thing is morbid. morbidity is like chocolate. in small quantities it's great, but you get too much and *phoomp* there goes your waistline.)

3)Robert Asprin, baby!!!! Funny Fantasy is great. There should be more of it. (Mabye that's why i like diane's books so much.... there a wee teeny bit of morbidity (but not enough to cause a pimple) and they're funny, but have a bit of a saga-ish/save the universe feel. (like wizards at war, for example)

vv

[Ankaa]

Caitlin:
1) why are you glaring at ender's shadow? ender's shadow is a nice little booky-wooky. ::snaps out of current mindframe::
2) why do you refuse to admit that the abhorsed [insert descrption here] is a trilogy?

[Gryphon]

She refuses to admit that the third book is the last book, is what she means.

Another post, and my karma is at 1234! Hey-o!

[Caitlin]

ender's shadow stopped making sense about 2/3 of the way through it

gryph! you remembered! ::feels special:: yeah, there WILL be more abhorsen books.... he's just leading us all on!!! (note: i would also say this is diane decided to say there would be an ending pt to the yw books... i would probably be MORE adamant)

[Ankaa]

um...es made perfect sense to me...
and the abhorsen __________ can't really be continued unless orannis starts to break out again (sorry if that is a spoiler) or something of a similar nature. Spoiler: <span class="ev_code_WHITE">mogget and the dog are gone</span> , the dog tells nick the future...really, I think garth nix meant for abhorsen to be the concluding book. i mean, it could be continued, but it would only be everyday abhorsen's work.

[Angel_Star]

True, true. Abhorsen is meant to be the concluding book. *sigh* I love that series. I bought the three and listened to them as well. I like reading them myself better than hearing them. Oops, gotta go.

[Caitlin]

i loke listening to the too... ::sighs::: tim curry's voice..... SPAMALOT! (sorry, midterms are messing with what little there is left of my mind)

ABHORSEN WILL RETURN!!! ::grumps::

so have any of ya'll red anything good lately?? i'm in depserate need. (authors i;ve read everything-or almost- by:diane, rowling, mccaffrey, nix, asprin, mckillip, bradley, card, um......) yeah i REALLY REALLY need reccomendations ::begs::

vv

[Gryphon]

I liked Sabriel a little, loathed Lirael, and didn't bother with Abhorsen. Sorry.

Well, we have news on the next Harry Potter book finally. Arrrr rar raaaaa!

Mom: Some people think Harry Potter is going to die in the seventh book.
Dad: Some people think there won't be a seventh book.

It's taking long enough!

Book recommendations? Well, if you want a reeeaaally long trilogy, try Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. Wait, wait, you didn't list Pratchett. Terry Pratchett's books are great. XD

[Kathy Li]

Caitlin, have you tried Robin McKinley's Damar books: The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. I also like George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series, but some folks find it really depressing and violent (excerpt so you can judge for yourself).

Diana Wynne Jones, maybe? Howl's Moving Castle is a good one to start with.

And if you're going to pick up Terry Pratchett, I'd recommend starting with Wee Free Men.

How about DD's Stealing the Elf-King's Roses? Or her Star Trek novel, My Enemy, My Ally?

How about the more trad high fantasy stuff? Tolkien (LoTR), LeGuin (Earthsea + lots more), Moorcock (Elric), Ouffut (Fahfrd and the Gray Mouser), etc.?

[Caitlin]

i did the diane ones.... and diana wynne jones ( i LOVE the chrestomanci quartet) and pratchett ( i got my dad a cpoy of wee free men for christmas so he'd stop taking mine) i LOVED memory, sorrow, and thorn (one of the RA's at CTY reccomended it) but i haven't read martin or mckinley. i shall have to try them. Thanks!

vv

[Kathy Li]

Oh forgot a few. Guy Gavriel Kay: The Summer Tree. Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn.

[Ankaa]

hm...right now I'm reading The Quincunx by someone, forgot who...anyway, it's really good. it's about a boy who's the last heir to a really old family, and it's basically about tons of overlapping conspiracies to kill/abduct/otherwise harm him. google it if you're interested.

[Caitlin]

hey have any of you guys read the wyrd trilogy? i saw it at the local library whilst we were in maine (we were there for two weeks and i got a library card anyway) and i'm debating whether or not to buy it at borders (since psycho governor rendell squished library funding, my local library system isn't buying anywhere near as many new books, and i'm trying to convince my librarian to buy the rest of the young wizard books)

vv

[Kathy Li]

I have finished Louise de La Valli&egrave;re and am finally embarking on The Man in the Iron Mask. I am about four hundred pages away from finishing the Three Musketeers saga. Yeeps.

I think I hate the editor. He keeps carefully explaining all the classical allusions (which I know), but keeps assuming I'm completely familiar with the life and works of La Fontaine, and Moli&eacute;re, etc. etc., (which I am not).

And he didn't fix the numerous typos.