What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?
Moderator: I'm Murrin
- Frostheart Grueburn
- The Gap Into Spam
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Garth Nix utilizes some truly unique ideas in his novels. Even if he does recycle elements every now and then (f. ex. Abhorsen/Seventh Tower series), his dreamlike worlds with their shadow guards and light magic and so on haven't yet ceased amazing me. *inner child making triple cartwheels*
Some of my other YA favorites (undervalued despite clever storytelling and much of the same ingredients that make A Series of Unfortunate Events so noteworthy)
-Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series and Heroes of the Valley
-Charlie Fletcher's Stoneheart trilogy
-Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men, etc.), Bromeliad Trilogy, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and Nation
-Neil Gaiman has a bunch of great YA novels: The Graveyard Book and Coralinee to start with
I didn't really get into the spirit of Artemis Fowl, however. Perhaps too much toilet humor for my liking. :shrug:
Now to write down those new names...
Some of my other YA favorites (undervalued despite clever storytelling and much of the same ingredients that make A Series of Unfortunate Events so noteworthy)
-Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series and Heroes of the Valley
-Charlie Fletcher's Stoneheart trilogy
-Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men, etc.), Bromeliad Trilogy, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and Nation
-Neil Gaiman has a bunch of great YA novels: The Graveyard Book and Coralinee to start with
I didn't really get into the spirit of Artemis Fowl, however. Perhaps too much toilet humor for my liking. :shrug:
Now to write down those new names...
- Spiral Jacobs
- Giantfriend
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Bartimaeus! How could I forget the Bartimaeus trilogy! Most amusing use of footnotes ever.
...although I did hit my head three times on a pebble*
*Three different pebbles. Not the same pebble three times. Just checking. Humans can be so dense sometimes.
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar
https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
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- Linna Heartbooger
- Are you not a sine qua non for a redemption?
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Gap
For me, that's what the Chrons was like... so, yeah, although I say I'm unlikely to do it within the next 20-30 years, if ever... it doesn't mean there wouldn't be good things in there, if I could receive them.Sorus wrote:The Gap is a rollercoaster ride that will wring you dry, and it's a trip I wouldn't have missed for the world.
Yeah... I can sorta see that. I think some books extract certain costs from the reader. But if you've already paid or are in the process of paying most of them... then there you go. :-/Sorus wrote:It does help to be in a certain frame of mind (I was 14 and severely depressed when I first read it, which may not sound ideal, but in a way I found strength in what the characters endured). It can be a bleak journey, but it's ultimately rewarding.
Zorm- aaah... just read your spoilered bit. So I guess it can be "just a matter of perspective."
"People without hope not only don't write novels, but what is more to the point, they don't read them.
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
- Linna Heartbooger
- Are you not a sine qua non for a redemption?
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Hunger Games / YA fiction
Hahah, I'd suspected as much, sarge.sgt.null wrote:linna - you had me at Dystopic future.
wf- I thought there would be someone whose kid was obsessed with "The Hunger Games"!
I often find "coming of age" fiction still has many lessons for me. Much as I'm an adult, many YA books are still able to successfully challenge parts of who I am. But don't assume I'm a representative sample, on this one!
Also, young people can "afford to" be idealistic in certain ways that most people lose as they get older. I don't want to "forget" all of that.
"People without hope not only don't write novels, but what is more to the point, they don't read them.
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
They don't take long looks at anything, because they lack the courage.
The way to despair is to refuse to have any kind of experience, and the novel, of course, is a way to have experience."
-Flannery O'Connor
"In spite of much that militates against quietness there are people who still read books. They are the people who keep me going."
-Elisabeth Elliot, Preface, "A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael"
- Fist and Faith
- Magister Vitae
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Yup. Nasty crap! Although I sorta think he's finally found some peace, after a reeeaaally long time.Spiral Jacobs wrote:Oh man Erikson can be a real bastard! In The Crippled God:That was just harsh.Spoiler
Finally, Mappo finds Icarium again...and is immediately killed without mercy by one of the &@%#^$* Forkrul Assail!
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
- Spiral Jacobs
- Giantfriend
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Finished The Crippled God. What a ride! Satisfying closure for many characters, although there are several loose ends that could have been addressed:
Spoiler
- what happens to (some of) the gods?
- where did Draconus go all of a sudden?
- some Tehol/Bugg interaction
- a bit more exposition on the background planning. Did Cotillion/Shadowthrone really plan everything like this from book one? Everybody just kind of magically knows what to do.
- Karsa Orlong?
- the fat guy in Darujistan (whatsisname), I've never really understood what/who he was (he's not in the last two books at all, but still)
- where did Draconus go all of a sudden?
- some Tehol/Bugg interaction
- a bit more exposition on the background planning. Did Cotillion/Shadowthrone really plan everything like this from book one? Everybody just kind of magically knows what to do.
- Karsa Orlong?
- the fat guy in Darujistan (whatsisname), I've never really understood what/who he was (he's not in the last two books at all, but still)
- stonemaybe
- The Gap Into Spam
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- aliantha
- blueberries on steroids
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Just finished a duology by Patricia Briggs -- Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood. I had a little trouble swallowing the main character's premise -- he'd pretended to be mentally slow in order to avoid having his jealous father kill him -- but once I got past that, the first book was good. And then I couldn't put down the second book.
She also writes an urban fantasy series that's pretty good. The main character is a female Volkswagen mechanic who's a shapeshifting coyote in her spare time.
She also writes an urban fantasy series that's pretty good. The main character is a female Volkswagen mechanic who's a shapeshifting coyote in her spare time.
EZ Board Survivor
"Dreaming isn't good for you unless you do the things it tells you to." -- Three Dog Night (via the GI)
https://www.hearth-myth.com/
- Frostheart Grueburn
- The Gap Into Spam
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- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:47 pm
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Finished Gap #3 and starting on the 4th volume just about right now. Seems to follow SRD's typical curve of development so far: each subsequent part's better than the previous (and in this case, considerably).
Among my moments of jawdroppage:
This quote sounds like it's from the Trilogy, so probably can, sans mildly losing my face, ask if you've read The Ring of Solomon yet?
Among my moments of jawdroppage:
Spoiler
Jumankekka perkele ANGUS HAS A CONSCIENCE??? He's truly starting to REGRET his horrible, sadistic treatment of Morn and actually pities his son?? Talk about character development.
Cambo wrote:Bartimaeus! How could I forget the Bartimaeus trilogy! Most amusing use of footnotes ever.
...although I did hit my head three times on a pebble*
*Three different pebbles. Not the same pebble three times. Just checking. Humans can be so dense sometimes.
This quote sounds like it's from the Trilogy, so probably can, sans mildly losing my face, ask if you've read The Ring of Solomon yet?
Just finished Melanie Rawn's The Diviner. Though the ending was a bit rushed, this could be her best book in quite some time.
Check out the blog for the full review.
Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
Check out the blog for the full review.
Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
- Vraith
- The Gap Into Spam
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Just saw McKillip's "riddlemaster" series in a single volume at library and reading it.
It's strange, 1/2 way through second book...I like the way she writes quite a lot...but not sure how much anything else about it matters. In a way it's like my current sig quotes...I don't necessarily believe or think they're correct, I just like the style.
It's strange, 1/2 way through second book...I like the way she writes quite a lot...but not sure how much anything else about it matters. In a way it's like my current sig quotes...I don't necessarily believe or think they're correct, I just like the style.
[spoiler]Sig-man, Libtard, Stupid piece of shit. change your text color to brown. Mr. Reliable, bullshit-slinging liarFucker-user.[/spoiler]
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
I have not, but I plan to. I got it for my sister for her last birthday, and will ask to borrow it off her when I return the three or so Pratchett books I am currently borrowing.Zorm wrote:This quote sounds like it's from the Trilogy, so probably can, sans mildly losing my face, ask if you've read The Ring of Solomon yet?
That girl reads three times as much as I do, and she's 13. She's a better writer too. I'm so proud.
Oh, and at the moment I'm a little way into A Dark and Hungry God Arises. Read TRS and FK last week.
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar
https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
Chaos and Order.
I'd like to just note that I'd forgotten how much I love Hashi Lebwohl. Not as a person; a little amoral to really like him; but as a character. He is mesmerising.
I'd like to just note that I'd forgotten how much I love Hashi Lebwohl. Not as a person; a little amoral to really like him; but as a character. He is mesmerising.
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar
https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
Heh, your next reply to him in the 'Tank is gonna be funCambo wrote:Chaos and Order.
I'd like to just note that I'd forgotten how much I love Hashi Lebwohl. Not as a person; a little amoral to really like him; but as a character. He is mesmerising.
I downloaded the Gap Series Audiobooks, and have burned the first 4 books to Disk already, I need to give a listen soon. Got a bunch of Doctor Who Audioplays to listen to after I finish Against All Things Ending (Only 1 1/2 Disks left), so, I'm gonna put the Gap in line next after the Doctor Who. I've only read the Series the one time when I first got the books in 1996, so, it's time for another "Re-read"
I Never Fail To Be Astounded By The Things We Do For Promises - Ronnie James Dio (All The Fools Sailed Away)
Remember, everytime you drag someone through the mud, you're down in the mud with them
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
Where are we going...and... WHY are we in a handbasket?
Remember, everytime you drag someone through the mud, you're down in the mud with them
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
Where are we going...and... WHY are we in a handbasket?