Kevin's Watch

i just like being entertained, engaged or made curious. if it is ya or old people books.

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...

Oh man Erikson can be a real bastard! In The Crippled God:

Spoiler

Finally, Mappo finds Icarium again...and is immediately killed without mercy by one of the &@%#^$* Forkrul Assail!

That was just harsh.

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.

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.

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: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.

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. :-/

Zorm- aaah... just read your spoilered bit. So I guess it can be "just a matter of perspective."

sgt.null wrote:linna - you had me at Dystopic future.

Hahah, I'd suspected as much, sarge.

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.

Spiral Jacobs wrote:Oh man Erikson can be a real bastard! In The Crippled God:

Spoiler

Finally, Mappo finds Icarium again...and is immediately killed without mercy by one of the &@%#^$* Forkrul Assail!

That was just harsh.

Yup. Nasty crap! Although I sorta think he's finally found some peace, after a reeeaaally long time.

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)

Just finished House of Chains, and just like Felisin in DG, the Karsa intro wasn't nearly as painful on re-read.

Just fetched the next four down from the attic. Midnight Tides here I come.

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.

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:

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?

Picked Up Iain M Banks Surface Detail at a sale yesterday, so that's what I'm reading now.

--A

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

Currently reading the just published, last volume of the 'Acacia' trilogy by David Anthony Durham, 'The Sacred Band'.

A book I was looking forward to much more than GRRM's latest or Lev Grossman latest...

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.

Cambo 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.

Heh, your next reply to him in the 'Tank is gonna be fun

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 guess I've gone on a Culture jag...started Consider Phlebas now.

--A

After admiring some of Bank's later works, I have gone back and read some earlier ones, like Phlebas and Player. I have to say there's a big difference from the early Culture books to the later ones in terms of his writing skills.