Kevin's Watch

Russell failed to pull me in, but hopefully you'll have better luck.

I'm starting The Briar King myself - I dropped it when it first came out, and now I'm wondering why. I'm certainly enjoying it so far. I liked Keyes' Age of Unreason tetralogy, so it wasn't "first time author jitters."

Maybe I was just in a lousy mood.

I was going back and forth between The Briar King and Russell, but Donaldson's and Hobbs' blurb pulled me in.

I've had many experiences where i started reading a book and then either returned it to the library or the store, later to pick them up and love them?

Would you believe the two most infamous of these are The Hobbit and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone??

I've learned, finally, never to judge something based on the first paragraph or first two pages.

That said, I read the first page of Shadowmarch while sitting in my car waiting to exit the parking lot, then turned back around and returned it. No regrets there. It sounded ridiculous, and the reviews on Amazon seem to agree.

Hi guys!

Time Warner Books sent me this book as part of the same package which contained Kitty and the Midnight Hour. And since I rather enjoyed that novel, I elected to give Kim Wilkins' Giants of the Frost a shot. The book will be released soon, so what the heck. And again, I was rewarded with a very interesting and enjoyable read.

I truly had no expectations regarding this novel. I had never heard of the author, to tell the truth.

The worldbuilding is particularly interesting. There is a rich blend of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore that is at times fascinating.

Well-written, well-paced for the most part, Giants of the Frost is a fine novel. If you are looking for something a little different, give this Kim Wilkins offering a chance.

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Avatar wrote:Snow Crash is excellent Encryptic

Just finished it yesterday and really enjoyed it, as much as I did his other work I've read recently.

burgs wrote:I was going back and forth between The Briar King and Russell, but Donaldson's and Hobbs' blurb pulled me in.

I've had many experiences where i started reading a book and then either returned it to the library or the store, later to pick them up and love them?

Would you believe the two most infamous of these are The Hobbit and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone??

I've learned, finally, never to judge something based on the first paragraph or first two pages.

That said, I read the first page of Shadowmarch while sitting in my car waiting to exit the parking lot, then turned back around and returned it. No regrets there. It sounded ridiculous, and the reviews on Amazon seem to agree.

Forgive me, but I saw your comments here on the aforementioned authors/books and figured I'd throw my two cents in...

Russell is one of my personal favorites, but "The Swans' War" trilogy isn't his best work, IMHO. Don't let that discourage you though, as I'd still consider it head and shoulders above a good deal of stuff in the genre.

If you like this trilogy, definitely check out his "River Into Darkness" and "Moontide and Magic Rise" books. Fantastic stuff.

"The Briar King" by Keyes is pretty good as well. Good start to another series. I believe the third book is due out in April if I'm not mistaken.

Finally: I can't blame you for taking "Shadowmarch" back. I started reading it myself a while back and got about 100 pages into it before I gave up. It reads way too much like a re-tread of "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn". I was really bummed, as I loved MS&T and was looking forward to another epic series from Williams....

I rank MS&T in the top 5 high/heroic fantasies of all time. It's an amazing achievement. I was so excited that Williams was turning back to fantasy. Maybe Overland (?? did i get that right) was good, but it didn't pull me in. I couldn't get through the first five or six chapters.

But his faerie nonsense really turned me off. And, as you said, and many reviewers on Amazon have said (and have been agreed with) it seems to be a retread of MS&T.

It's a pity. MS&T sits up there with the best of them.

I suppose the same could be said of SRD....

MN was great, but it isn't top five material. He'd hate to hear that though, as he never wanted to be "the guy who wrote the Covenant books". I don't blame him - but it was his (IMHO) best creation. I enjoyed the Gap series, but came close to suicide while reading it. I've never read a series with more physical and psychological rape. It was, at least, unnerving.

I can't say I was able to get into "Otherland" either. The concept was certainly intriguing but for whatever reason the bit I did read didn't grab me.

Still, it's been a few years (and Williams has finished the series) so I think I'll probably give it another go to see if my thoughts have changed at all.

Just bought four books to finish during the remainder of my Dec. break:

Starship Troopers, by Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein
The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K. Dick

Not sure if I'll continue my Heinlein voyage, but I know for a fact that I'm gonna pick up Dick's Ubik.

Lord Foul wrote:Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein

Please do me the kindness of reading this first.

Crytsal Rain by Tobias Buckell and Summer Isle by Ian R. Macleod

LFB - re-reading

Close to page 200 in Zindell's Black Jade (yes I'm taking forever)

Comparitive reading speeds (slow category):

Stephen R. Donaldson^
danlo^
kevinswatch>

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin.

caamora wrote:A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin.

I'll be starting that this weekend.

I'm about to start Daughter of Regals in about 10 mintues.

Spring wrote:I'm about to start Daughter of Regals in about 10 mintues.

Are you done yet?







*nyuk nyuk*

Read "Melusine" by Sarah Monette over the past week. Excellent book and a very impressive debut.

Now I'm reading Umberto Eco's "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana". It's regular fiction, but very good so far.

Now I'm reading Umberto Eco's "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana". It's regular fiction, but very good so far.

I read this a couple of weeks ago maybe the best book I read this year - and no Umberto Eco is regular fiction!

Ainulindale wrote:

Now I'm reading Umberto Eco's "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana". It's regular fiction, but very good so far.

I read this a couple of weeks ago maybe the best book I read this year - and no Umberto Eco is regular fiction!

Poor choice of words on my part. I should've said it's a non-fantasy read and not "regular fiction".

Fist and Faith wrote:

Spring wrote:I'm about to start Daughter of Regals in about 10 mintues.

Are you done yet?







*nyuk nyuk*

I'm only up to page 66. I have not had the chance to do much reading.