Is anyone disappointed in Runes?

[danlo]

Why don't you ask SRD via the GI where that article is?

[kevinswatch]

Hey now, for the record, I'm not saying anything just to kick SRD or say he sucks now as a writer. Like Ard was saying, he's still the best writer that I know of.

I'm just saying it how it is. Runes bored the hell out of me. Heh.

I'm still looking forward to the next book, and I still have faith that SRD will somehow tie all of this together. (Hopefully. Heh.)-jay

[alanm]

so by the looks of it there is doubt amongst others re ROTE.

[Usivius]

not from me...!

[Farm Ur-Ted]

It scratched my itch.

[danlo]

I'm just saying it how it is. Runes bored the hell out of me. Heh.

Hey! If I read any book at the pace of one page per day it would probably bore the hell out of me too!

[dlbpharmd]

Danlo's got a point, Jay.

[High Lord Tolkien]

If it wasn't so boring he would have read it faster.

[danlo]

And the winner is...

[Zarathustra]

"Going back to the 'Covenant' series has affected me in both negative and positive ways. On one side, I don't feel that I can actually compete with my younger self. The energy of language and imagination that I had 20 and 25 years ago doesn't exist for me any more. On the other, I do believe that I have something new to offer.”

Energy of language. That's what's missing to me.

Goddamn. That's a powerful quote. I'm not kidding when I say that makes me want to cry. No--scrap that. It makes me want to publish my own book before I become this distant from the originating spark which led me to write it in the first place. Time's a bitch.

[kevinswatch]

Extra points for HLT, negative points for Danlo.

-jay

[burgs]

I raced through ROTE and read it in about 10 hours or so. I drank protein drinks and water to sustain me.

Like you, dlbpharmd, I'm much older than when I first read TC, and was more likely to be awed and amazed then than now. Heck, I thought The Sword of Shannara was one of the best fantasy novels ever written. (With age brings wisdom, thankfully).

But I am much more intellectually engaged in the work than I was before. So where perhaps the sense of awe and "magic" is gone, it's replaced by the intellectual engagement. Not to mention the immense satisfaction of reading and responding to posts on this website.

[A Gunslinger]

I raced through ROTE and read it in about 10 hours or so. I drank protein drinks and water to sustain me.

Like you, dlbpharmd, I'm much older than when I first read TC, and was more likely to be awed and amazed then than now. Heck, I thought The Sword of Shannara was one of the best fantasy novels ever written. (With age brings wisdom, thankfully).

But I am much more intellectually engaged in the work than I was before. So where perhaps the sense of awe and "magic" is gone, it's replaced by the intellectual engagement. Not to mention the immense satisfaction of reading and responding to posts on this website.

How perfectly summed up. I never fell for the Shannara stuff. Semed too much like the novelization of the Saturday morning D & D cartoon. Urk!

[burgs]

It makes me want to publish my own book before I become this distant from the originating spark which led me to write it in the first place. Time's a bitch.

No kidding! I've scrapped so many manuscripts it's disgusting. But I don't believe that the magic of the written word, or the magic of a story, has ever left me. I continue to be awed by books - Harry Potter is a good example. I'm sure that I'll come close to wetting myself when I race home from the bookstore to read final book, and (this is all embarassing to admit) will likely cry when I put it down, leaving that world behind forever. *Sigh* A big sap, yes, but the "originating spark" is there, and likely will always be there.

[dlbpharmd]

I raced through ROTE and read it in about 10 hours or so. I drank protein drinks and water to sustain me.

Like you, dlbpharmd, I'm much older than when I first read TC, and was more likely to be awed and amazed then than now. Heck, I thought The Sword of Shannara was one of the best fantasy novels ever written. (With age brings wisdom, thankfully).

But I am much more intellectually engaged in the work than I was before. So where perhaps the sense of awe and "magic" is gone, it's replaced by the intellectual engagement. Not to mention the immense satisfaction of reading and responding to posts on this website.

How perfectly summed up. I never fell for the Shannara stuff. Semed too much like the novelization of the Saturday morning D & D cartoon. Urk!

Good analogy, but remember, that Saturday morning D&D cartoon rocked in its time!

[Foamfollower1013]

I was rather disappointed by Runes. I agree with the people who've said that Runes just doesn't have the same emotional power that I've come to expect from TCTC. It was the first book in the series that I had trouble getting through not because it was so emotionally wrenching, but because I was just plain bored.

I'm hoping that the reason this book didn't grab me as the others did is that it's from Linden's perspective. I can't stand that woman. She doesn't provoke the same agonizing mix of love and frustration that Covenant does; she just plain annoys me. Covenant really was my reason for reading the series in the first place - the main thing that kept me reading throughout the First and Second Chronicles, despite the unbearably awful things that kept happening, was my love for the story's protagonist. Covenant drove me nuts, but I stuck with him because I loved him anyway. But I don't have the same kind of love for Linden, so the awful things are just awful. There's nothing in this book to alleviate the awfulness.

I'm still holding out hope that the next book will be better, though.

Spoiler

Because Covenant will be back!

~Foamy~

[dlbpharmd]

Hey Foamy, ever heard of THOOLAH?

[Foamfollower1013]

Yup. I'm a proud member.

[The Laughing Man]

[burgs]

I wonder how many MEN hate Linden, as opposed to women.

Let's find out.