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Post by Kirukelgyr on Jun 8, 2004 17:12:36 GMT -5
thank you 'Shana. ^^
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Kishana
Horn Doggie
Kishana Mornai, Advisor to Da Skiv and Historian of the Underlands
Posts: 212
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Post by Kishana on Jun 9, 2004 0:35:58 GMT -5
*grin*
Any time!
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Post by Skiv on Jun 13, 2004 9:25:54 GMT -5
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Kishana
Horn Doggie
Kishana Mornai, Advisor to Da Skiv and Historian of the Underlands
Posts: 212
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Post by Kishana on Jun 13, 2004 17:32:28 GMT -5
*rapid nod*
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Post by Oz on Mar 31, 2005 0:50:52 GMT -5
Ya know, I have found it very hard to find good fantasy nowadays. It is a lot like MA says, it seems like they're just too many Tolkien plots with little changes here and there. And to be perfectly honest, I thought the only thing Tolkien wrote worth reading was The Hobbit.
However, there is one Fantasy series that I have to mention because it is absolutely brilliant. It's called A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The first book in the series is A Game of Thrones.
It's Low Fantasy (meaning no elves, no wizards {at least yet} but it does have some magical elements in it) and has one of the best plots I've ever read. Ever.
For writers that aren't Fantasy, I'll suggest Robert B. Parker and Michael Connelly. (Not sure I spelled that right.) They write Mystery.
The Spenser books written by Robert B. Parker have hands down some of the best dialogue and characters out there. The only problem I have with them is they are very short books. *sighs* Spenser is such a great character it's a shame to only be able to get 200-300 pages of him at a time. The upshot of this though, is there are a whoooooooole lot of books.
I've only read two books of Michael Connelly, but again, a great read, and almost always a really good surprise at the end.
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Post by The Evil Overlordess on Mar 31, 2005 10:51:44 GMT -5
Yay for Oz! I've gotten to hate high fantasy-- there's nothing good in it anymore. I've been meaning to read Martin for a long time.
Octavia E. Butler's 'Parable of the Sower' was an interesting sci-fi novel. I prefer sci-fi that focuses on individual than broad, sweeping, 'let's save the world' stories. It's riddled with grammar erros and typos, but I find myself wondering if those weren't purposeful, as the entire thing is written in first person. It might be meant to convey how the character writes, but I have no idea.
There's a series of 'The Year's Best Fantasy' short stories that I really like. I forget who it's edited by-- I'll have to look it up when I get home.
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Post by Kirukelgyr on Mar 31, 2005 11:47:04 GMT -5
Has anyone read Sabriel, Lireael, or Abhorsen by Garth Nix? They're all really dark, and very inspiring and stuff. I finally bought all three (with my last savings...) and they now occupy a place envied by all other books.
Skellig by David Almond is fantasy-ish, because it has an angel. It's the only book my little brother really loved.
Mick Harte Was Here (can't remember the author) is a very sad book. Once you read it you will never even consider riding a bike without a helmet. never.
The Gamage Cup by Helen Kendall (got her first name wrong, I know) is a very interesting fantasy novel. (s'low fantasy, because elves have really come to annoy me)
Anything by Roald Dahl is good. Especially Esio trot. It's so cute! ^^
As a warning, avoid 'The Woodbyrne Chronicles' at all costs. There are Mary Sues, Gary Stues, TEHEVALE!!!1!!1!!111chicken!!11!, and unforgivable breaches of time zones. It also has enough plot holes to make you want to stab your eyes out.
Has anyone read the book Ella Enchanted by Gail Levine? The movie was utter crap compared to the book. (It was like they had taken the worst fanfiction they could find and made it into a movie)
That's all I can think of off of der bat. ^^
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Post by The Evil Overlordess on Mar 31, 2005 19:54:45 GMT -5
I've read Sabriel, which I liked, though the ending didn't appeal much to me. The last quarter just seemed too rushed.
David Almond wrote a book called Kit's Wilderness, didn't he? I liked that. Bought it at a book fair a few years ago.
I <3 the book of Ella Enchanted. The movie made me spit with hate. As far as I'm concerned, they only share a title.
Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, is a very good book. It's not really plot-based, just a window into the lives of a few people for a while. V'ry interesting.
Some of Roald Dahl's short stories for the older kids are kind of scary... They're in anthologies like Skin and The Umbrella Man. Read them if you get a chance!
Started Catcher in the Rye, partly out of curiosity, partly to irritate future English teachers who'll make me read it later in school. Hah. A very cynical, kind of whiny narrator. He irritates me with the vauge adjectives, but I can't help but like it. Meh.
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Post by Oz on Mar 31, 2005 23:56:02 GMT -5
Good ol' Holden Caulfield.
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Post by Canela on May 5, 2005 23:23:58 GMT -5
I read Life of Pi, recently, and I loved it. It's an original concept (the son of an Indian zookeeper gets stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger), the narrator is very likable, parts of the story are downright creepy, and the ending has a twist thathad me trying to puzzle it out for the next two days.
A very cute story is The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois.
My favorite book, which I've read at least five times every year since I was fifteen, is The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. It's about a woman who's a disgrace to her family because she's 29 years old -this is set in rural Canada in the early 20th century, hence the sexism- and not married. She's tired of her life, she's never been happy, and the only thing she really enjoys is daydreaming about her Blue Castle, an imaginary palace in Spain where she's beautiful and loved by everyone. And then she finds out that she has a heart condition and has less than a year to live. (It's less depressing than it sounds, really.) So she decides that she's not going to let her family dictate her life anymore, and for the first time in her life she starts to do what she wants and say exactly what she thinks. (One scene at a family dinner, among all of her 'proper,' easily offended relatives, is hilarious.)
Ignore the horrible Harlequin Romance-esque cover illustration, it's no indication of how good the book is. TEO refused to believe me for years, and she finally gave in, and she loved it. (The author also wrote the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon books, which some of you might have heard of.)
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Post by Skiv on May 6, 2005 18:04:55 GMT -5
I <3 the book of Ella Enchanted. The movie made me spit with hate. As far as I'm concerned, they only share a title. YISS I LOFFS DAT BOOK!!! EVAL movie. |
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Post by Canela on May 6, 2005 18:21:40 GMT -5
Am I the only one who wanted to smack Holden after reading five pages? The only part in the book that I really liked was when his little sister challanged him to think of one thing he really liked, and he couldn't do it.
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Post by Canela on May 6, 2005 18:38:30 GMT -5
Also.
I know that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie has come out, so I'd like to reccomend the book series of the same name, before the film gets too popular. I've read reviews, and it seems that they've cut out some of the funniest parts and left a shell of the book's hilarity. Anything by Douglas Adams is worth reading.
Sure, I do, my favorite books are The Blue Castle, Jane Eyre, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. I must be something of a freak among BWEers in that I hardly ever read fantasy, anymore.
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Post by Quites on May 7, 2005 17:07:36 GMT -5
Holy.
Freakin.
Crap.
Y'all are so literarily sophisticated it wants to make me cry.
Vivian Van De Velde. (Furball, I can't believe you've read Never Trust a Dead Man. Nobody else I know has even heard of it. It's an awesome book.)
George R.R. Martin. (Great Caesar's Ghost it's awesome
Gail Levine. (The Two Princesses of Bamarre is a much better book than Ella, it's Levine's best but no one knows about it. You should all go to the library and get it now, especially if you liked Ella Enchanted.)
Roald Dahl.
The Twenty-One Balloons.
Life of Pi.
Dealing with Dragons. (I mean, holy crap. You've read Dealing with Dragons. That rocks.)
H2G2.
Dragonlance. (I'm jealous, Skiv. I stopped on the first book of The War of Souls trilogy, because my friend wouldn't lend me the second book, and it just had this enormous, collosal cliffhanger on all five of the major plotlines, and it just killed me. Of course, I don't remember what was going on, now, so I'd have to start over and that would be a major ordeal.)
Les Miserables. (That book blew me away, Shana. I wasn't expecting to like it that much, but then dude. It was awesome. It was fascinating, it told a story that was just as absorbing (or moreso) as any modern novel I've ever read.)
And... me? G&G? I'm flattered, but I don't think so.
But thanks.
OoH! Y'all did admirably, but you missed a lot, too. Anybody ever read any Ken Follett? How about Crichton, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Timeline, that sort of thing.
And Lois Sachar? Please tell me that y'all have read Holes, because it's an absolutely phenomenal book. What about Fulgum? All I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarden? (The whole book, not just the one essay. There's a lot more than just what they put on those little posters.)
And this is probably a shot in the dark, but has anybody ever read Conn Iggulden's Julius Caesar series? Historical fiction with lots of Roman legions killing stuff. Good stuff.
...yeah, I think I'm done.
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Post by Skiv on May 7, 2005 17:20:58 GMT -5
Which DL book did you need Ahrar? I might have it.
And yes, The Two Princesses book was wicked awesome.
H2G2? Wot?
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Look at the lovely leaf Oz brought me!!
