Kevin's Watch

Dragonlily wrote:DOLPHINS comes before MASTERHARPER.

Correction. DOLPHINS was written before MASTERHARPER. MASTERHARPER begins earlier in time, and DOLPHINS runs later in time. There is some overlap.

Finished rereading SASSINAK, will start THE DEATH OF SLEEP next.

I'm actually reading White Gold Wielder. Yes, I know I'm slow, but I've finished like... five of the longest chapters today. Dumb school enforced reading genres.

After I'm done, I'm intending on rereading Patricia McKillip's The Riddle-Master. For those who haven't read it, I _highly_ recommend it.

Then I'm on to a whole bunch of Camelot/Arthur/Guinevere/Canterbury Tales type books. I'm actually pretty excited.

I realised about a quarter way in that it was actually a second series, but I'd never heard of any of them. Weird coincidence Syl? Or synchronicity in action?

Still, enjoyed it enough that I'll look for the others. A little opinion review in the book says that as long as you remember that Saberhagen is a romantic, and likes a happy ending, you'll be all right.

It wasn't spectacular, but still made for a nice, easy and fun read.

--Avatar

I've been dipping into Carol Mack's Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. It's a lot of fun--she divvies up fairies & "demons" into habitat, gives a description, lore (a common story featuring the particular creature), and then, amusingly, suggestions on how to evade, outwit, or defeat them.

My favorite so far is the kappa, which sounded familiar until I read that it's actually a Japanese water sprite with a basin-like head. The basin contains a small pool of slighly viscous liquid, which is the source of its power. The kappa is a very courteous water fairy, so to defeat it, all you have to do is keeping bowing at it. It'll bow back, and if you can get it to bow low enough, all its power will spill out of its head!

I've heard of the kappa before! A long time ago...

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure it was in an Arthur the Aardvark book/tv show.

I think they made it look like a turtle.

Malinda, are you going to read "Runes"?????

I am almost done reading "The Exorcist." I am also reading "Investigating the Unexplained."

Started re-reading House of Chains. Will read The Healthy Dead as soon as I'm done.

I've just begun Richard K. Morgan's Market Forces. Social and economic science fiction, in which corporate executives finance small third-world country's wars and rise through the ranks by dueling in souped up cars.

Not as crazy as it sounds - Morgan is a good writer.

I've just begun Richard K. Morgan's Market Forces. Social and economic science fiction, in which corporate executives finance small third-world country's wars and rise through the ranks by dueling in souped up cars.

Not as crazy as it sounds - Morgan is a good writer.

He is a exceptional writer IMHO, I am eagerly awaiting his new offering Woken Furies, which should be here soon

About 50 pages left to go on Ship of Destiny, then I'm going to start reading Latro In The Mist.

I'm not reading fantasy or sci-fi right now, but a thriller; Dean R Koontz The Face. And it's very very good.

I agree; 'The Face' is excellent!

Over the last decade or so, Koontz has progressed from a Stephen King-wannabe to one of the most original voices in contemporay thriller/fantasy.

And yes, would definitely classify it as Fantasy.... or at least, supernatural thriller...or thrilling fantasy... um, fantastical speculative fiction?

Whatever... it rocks!

Hmm, although I have enjoyed many Koontz books, (and admittedly not read his latest ones), I've always found him to be a rather formulaic writer.

You need only read the back cover to predict how it ends, and it always ends happily. I much prefer King. That said, I probably own about 15 Koontz books anyway, so I'm not exactly opposed to it, although it's been a long time since I've re-read any of them.

--A

Avatar wrote:Hmm, although I have enjoyed many Koontz books, (and admittedly not read his latest ones), I've always found him to be a rather formulaic writer.

You need only read the back cover to predict how it ends, and it always ends happily. I much prefer King. That said, I probably own about 15 Koontz books anyway, so I'm not exactly opposed to it, although it's been a long time since I've re-read any of them.

--A

Heh...gotta agree with you there. I like a lot of his older books like Watchers and Lightning, but I gave up on his newer stuff a while back. Seems like there's always the love story thrown in with whatever plot he comes up with. Not to mention, the "good guys" are never ugly or even average-looking, it seems.

I can't stand that. When everyone looks fabulous. I also can't stand a whole lot of the descriptions of main female characters in a lot of fiction, because it reads like (Oh, I'm re-reading Runes right now, so I'm not totally off topic)

"She had what men called a good figure, with full breasts, slim hips, and no unnecessary weight"

This is like... the stock description of a female character in fantasy. I was actually a little sad to read it in Runes. Dear god, save us from the possibility of a female character with a bit of 'unnecessary weight'...
especially that 'what men called'. That seems to be in there almost every time.

That's true of sooooo many writers, though. One thing I love about Donaldson is that his "good guys" come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and ages.

You have a great hero who is overweight and gray haired in the Tor, the courage in the older High Lord Prothall, and women of a variety of ages and abilities (not just the young hotties and/or uber-bitch sorceresses and/or headstrong and spoiled princesses found in sooooo much fantasy...)

EDIT: Looks like Jem and I responded simultaneously. The first line of my post refers back to Encryptic's post on the last page. He said:

Not to mention, the "good guys" are never ugly or even average-looking, it seems.

Ah! ha

Encryptic wrote:About 50 pages left to go on Ship of Destiny, then I'm going to start reading Latro In The Mist.

Hope you like LATRO as much as I did, Encryptic.

Gah, my Amazon order bounced, looks like I need to get some money into that account. Still busy with House of Chains, so The Healthy Dead can wait. Temporary monetary problems may mean I also have to put off reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.