Kevin's Watch

Duchess you could start reading HBP online at dda.mail15.com/ if you don't want to wait.

Beorn is a little upset, and is anxious for me to finish HBP so we can discuss it. An online friend who has finished it told me she is thinking of not allowing her younger kids to read it alone, and that she may make a a read aloud book for them, so that they're all together towards the end.

Not so sure I'm anxious to find out why she feels that way.

There's been rumors swirling around for months that there will be a major death in this one...perhaps that is what has your friend conerned? My children have been very careful not to spoil me, other than letting me know how Harry did on his OWLS (and I asked for that) so I do not know yet whether or not the rumors are true...

Since I'm not going to read HBP, I checked out a load of spoilers on another forum. Much quicker than trawling through the damn thing

Can anyone remind me what an Imperious Curse is? I snuck in and read the first chapter, but I don't want to go back and reread PHOENIX to find out.

(Self discipline goeth before a fall.)

If I remember correctly, an Imperious Curse gives you the control of another person's body and will. They will do what you order them to do, even if they are screaming on the inside about it.

I think it is one of the unforgivable curses...

So that's what Cheney's doing to Bush! AHA!

I do remember the taboo part, I just couldn't remember what it did. Thanks!

*brings dinner to the desk and tries to go back to MISTS OF AVALON*

Started The Gods in Anger by Adrian Cole.

This is book four (the last) in the Omara Cycle, which I've been trying to complete for at least a dozen years. I found it by pure stroke of luck, having been dragged to a flea market by the GF yesterday.

Perusing the tables of Scf-Fi/Fantasy, I found nothing I was willing to spend money on, but as I was leaving, I decided to ask the guy if what was on display was all they had in the genre. He directed my to a crate hidden under one of the tables, where I finally found the final installment of this quartet.

Don't know if anybody is familiar with these, (Book One is titled A Place Amongst The Fallen) but they're damn good, and deceptively simple at first.

For those who pay attention to such things, Roger Zelanzy called it "A fine fantasy," and the actual lead character, (as opposed to the apparent leads), Simon Wargallow reminds me of nobody so much as Roland of Gilead from the DT series.

They're damn good. And I'm thrilled to finally have the last one. Every single volume has been picked up in just this way, randomly coming across it in some second-hand shop or stall at intervals of several years. Definitely worth a read.

--Avatar

After starting and giving up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (got about a third of the way through and lost interest), decided to give it another go.

Very, very glad I did.

Finished MISTS OF AVALON. It was a very, very long journey for Morgaine to learn what she needed to learn, and some very hard clues were given. But she finally got there.

Taking HALF-BLOOD PRINCE in my backpack as I go out to run errands. Chapter 2, here I come.

Finished HBP on Saturday and am now catching my breath before plunging into something else. Eldest Daughter has a job at a bookstore downtown this summer -- she volunteered to work during the midnight release party, so we got our books first thing. While she finished her shift, I sat down in one of the store's comfy chairs and started reading right away, then continued at home -- but I didn't stay up *all* night....

Menolly, HBP is a little more violent than the earlier books, plus Harry & Co. are growing up and so are a little more interested in dating than, perhaps, a tween (or younger) would be. There's no sex, but there's a fair amount of making out. And, yeah, somebody dies. The ending is really sad.

aliantha wrote:Menolly, HBP is a little more violent than the earlier books, plus Harry & Co. are growing up and so are a little more interested in dating than, perhaps, a tween (or younger) would be. There's no sex, but there's a fair amount of making out. And, yeah, somebody dies. The ending is really sad.

Thanks aliantha! I finished HBP on Sunday myself, and have started discussing it (in spoiler font) over on Booktopia.

I'm most of the way through "The Isle of Battle" (the second book of Sean Russell's Swans' War trilogy). I'm enjoying it so far, but his editor needs to be fired. I've seen at least 8-10 obvious spelling/grammar errors in the first book (The One Kingdom) and this book combined. Not that this detracts from my enjoyment of the book, but it is surprising that they let this go to print.

If the third book is this bad, I'm tempted to write a nasty letter to the publisher.

I'm on "A Storm Of Swords" now.

Pretty soon you'll join the frenzied ASOIAF addicts dying for A Feast For Crows--at least you won't have to wait as long as we have.

I went through withdrawal and came out clean. A FEAST FOR CROWS can take its time.

Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright - who is jsut a terrific Fantasy and Sf writer.

dANdeLION wrote:I'm on "A Storm Of Swords" now.

I'm half way through A Game Of Thrones now, cant believe how good this is.

It will only get better and better. ASOIAF ROCKS!!!!

With only one exception, I have truly enjoyed everything I have read by GRRM. Dying of the Light is a fascinating science fiction novel about loss and death set upon a dying world. Fevre Dream is a story of vampires and true friendship, trust and freedom, set on riverboats on the Mississippi in the Old South. Tuff Voyaging is a science fiction novel that asks questions about the powers and responibilities of having God-like powers...GRRM also has some great short fiction. The only novel of his that I have not cared for is The Armageddin Rag...

Right now I am on the middle book of Robin Hobb's Liveship Trader Trilogy, Mad Ship. Many of the characters are very interesting, especially a pirate captain named Kennit, who is a selfish slimeball, but somehow seems to do the right things for the wrong reasons and is thought to be a great hero due to this. The Live Ships themselves, sentient ships bound by blood and mental/emotional link to certain family lines, are a great concept. One of them just got pissed off at a galley from an enemy country and pretty much took it out all by herself with her own hands (the figureheads of the Live Ships are carved in huge human form. The faces move, the arms move...they talk).

I've finished The Warrior-Prophet, and today I'll be starting No Present Like Time by Steph Swainston.