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#881 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#882 |
Deadnight Chanter
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If it broke of its own accord (like if you haven't danced a jig on it or did not flush it in the toilet or something very obviously damaging to it), more likely than not amazon will replace it free of charge (apart from shipping expenses I believe)
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Egroeg Ihkhsal - Would you believe in the love at first sight? - Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time! |
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#883 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#884 |
Curmudgeonly Wordwraith
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Ensconced in curmudgeonly pursuits
Posts: 2,506
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No hidden aganda at all, in fact, the object is very overt: to flood the market with their product (as well as underpricing their units), and thus crush the competition.
In the immortal words of Duncan McLeod, "There can be only one!"
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And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision. |
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#885 |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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No need to buy a new Kindle even if you did flush it down the khazi (and why would you do that, unless you were reading Breaking Dawn?) - you can simply download the necessary app for free, to use on your computer, smartphone or spanky android tablet.
Now there is nothing to stop everyone from downloading fantastic and witty new books, eh?
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Gordon's alive!
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#886 | |
Deadnight Chanter
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Quote:
![]() As for Amazon's generosity - they always used to be like that. I remember back in 2000 or maybe 2001, one of my orders was late (like, couple of months, maybe three) - so I figured it was lost for good and wrote about it. The replacement was sent to me free of charge - but that's not the point of the story - actually it so happened that original shipment turned up in a couple of months more - so I ended with two sets of identical books for half price. I wrote to Amazon yet again to inform them about it asking for the way of returning extra - the answer was - please do keep it for we value our customers etc etc. Apart from being impressed, I had much less trouble in my birthday gift selection process for my friends that year ![]() Edit: And to keep up the pretense of at least trying to stay on topic - currently rereading Harry Potter with said piece of equipment ![]()
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Egroeg Ihkhsal - Would you believe in the love at first sight? - Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time! Last edited by HerenIstarion; 02-08-2012 at 06:16 PM. |
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#887 |
Shady She-Penguin
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: In a far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 8,093
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Personally, I love (most of) Robin Hobb's books because of her superb storytelling and the books' huge "awwww-ing potential". I can see that the slowish everyday life and emotional zigzag of the main character could annoy somebody but I like it - maybe because I feel for the main character and can sympathise with him. Maybe it's an age thing? I first read the books as a teenager and I have had a soft spot for them ever since although I don't relate with Fitz so much anymore. I also like the way Hobb picks the most ridiculous clichés and turns them into something captivating, and I find the characters very likable. Some of them seem a little flat, yes, but I'm blaming it on the narrator's subjectivity as it's just the main character speaking. Maybe that's one more reason I like the Farseer series and the subsequent Tawny Man trilogy so much - they have a likeable and complicated enough first person narrator which is (a little sadly) quite rare in epic fantasy.
Nerwen and others - if you're bored of fantasy literature just recycling the same old ideas, I would suggest authors like Neil Gaiman and China Miéville, or maybe even the crazy Hal Duncan. None of it is traditional "high fantasy" though. Last year I didn't read maybe as much fantasy as I normally do, but I did for example finally read some stuff I had been meaning to read for years, such as Lord Dunsany's King of the Elf-land's Daughter, Frank Herbert's Dune (which I would classify as science fiction, though) and The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern/ William Goldman. They were all definitely worth reading, but had their weak points too. I also acquainted myself with aforementioned China Miéville and Kage Baker, a humoristic fantasy author, whose style left me a little confused. Of course, I also read more of one of my definite favourites, Guy Gavriel Kay, and was amazed again (just how can someone write in such a beautiful and epic manner?), and reread George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. He's now been promoted to be included in the list of my favourite authors. ![]() Lastly, I read two collections of "short" stories by supposed masters of the fantasy genre, named Legends and Legends II and edited by Robert Silverberg. Based on what I read there, I'd like to ask a question: are Orson Scott Card and Terry Goodkind worth a closer acquaintance? I quite liked their stories in these collections.
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Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris
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#888 |
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 435
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I asume the Orson Scott Card story you are referring to is The Grinning Man and that therfore you are asking if it is worth persuing his Alvin Maker series (his Ender's game stuff is quite different). I'd say yes, they are a very well written series (just bear in mind that there is still one more book to go, but Card has been slow to write that one) besides the books (Seventh Son, Red Prophet, Prentice Alvin, Alvin Journeyman, Heartfire, and The Crystal City) there's one more short story "Yazoo Queen" (you can find that in the Swords and Sorcery anthology) and "Prentice Alvin and the No Good Plow" which is a long epic poem that outlined the whole plot of the series before Card wrote the books (and therfore has clues about what is going to happen in the last book")
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#889 | |
Shady She-Penguin
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: In a far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 8,093
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Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris
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#890 | |
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 435
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Oh and one piece of advice for going through the series, do not even TRY to work out what the actual date is, you are just going to go crazy. You're going to meet a lot of historical people through the series, but thier life stories are so different, and history has gone such a different that trying to pin down a date is nearly impossible (I've always guessed sometime between 1820 and 1860, but that is just my guess) |
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#891 | |
Deadnight Chanter
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Anyway, I hope it was not a total waste of money (as I've got all 5 Kindle editions, again, IIRC, maybe it's four, can't remember whether book 5 was already out by then) and one day, someday, I will turn back to the series and read them and, hopefully, enjoy them Maybe I was just in no mood for it first time, but it seemed to lack certain knack for me. Though I definitely abstained from watching the movie so far, saving my judgement till I finally get over books (if I do read them after all)
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Egroeg Ihkhsal - Would you believe in the love at first sight? - Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time! |
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#892 | ||
Shady She-Penguin
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: In a far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 8,093
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And yes, Martin is using the over-used connection with wolves, but while the family Stark whose sigil is the direwolf might seem like the central one in the beginning, it eventually spreads out so that they are just one family among others, there are wolves and dragons and lions and fish and eagles and roses and krakens and suns and stags and who knows what kind of epic sigils with the great houses of the kingdoms, and you're not rooting just for the wolf family anymore - or at least that's what happened to most people I know who read the books. I warmly recommend Martin's novels to everybody who doesn't mind the huge scale of it or the ugly realism (war happens so people die - even major characters, and people are beaten, raped, robbed, tortured, abused, some freeze to death, innocents are slaughtered and so on). Martin writes really well, his characters grow to unforeseen dimensions and picking favourites or taking sides becomes almost impossible as the saga goes on and the writer is always one step ahead of you so you keep picking up your jaw from the floor. Furthermore, the sort of realism I mentioned - even in all its ugliness - is really refreshing in the fantasy genre, and the world is interesting and carefully constructed. /end rant ![]() ps. Quote:
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Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris
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#893 |
Newly Deceased
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Mainly just A Song of Ice and Fire, big fan of George RR Martin.
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All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost. The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
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#894 | |
Memento Mori
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Past The Point Of No Return
Posts: 1,117
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I've also read the Patrick Rothfuss novels mentioned earlier and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Estelyn, for what it's worth, I've read all of the Shadowmarch Chronicles. I enjoyed the first two but after my favourite (and in my opinion) the most promising character was killed off, I lost interest a bit. The ending of the final book was also a bit of a trial. Like the ending of the RotK movie it just seemed to go on and on and on... I actually enjoyed Tad Williams' earlier series 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' much more. I've recently discovered China Mieville. His books are 'fantasy but not as we know it,' so to speak. Definitely weird and thought provoking. His 'The City and The City' made my brain hurt but was a terrific read for all that!
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"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." |
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#895 |
Wight
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Behind you . . . . BOO!
Posts: 222
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Hmmmn. I'm always looking for new authors to read, but I rarely get the chance to buy new books (even on the lovely, wonderful, spectacular Kindle), and nearly as rarely to *gasp* visit the library. This means, of course, that I have a great big list of works I would like to read, but a considerably smaller list of ones I actually have read.
I've read the first book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin, but not been terribly impressed. I don't dislike it, and think I might have been kept off of it for too long by a comment somewhere (I believe I was linked to it from this very site) that greatly exaggerated, to my mind, the quantity and graphicness (?) of the . . . ugly realism, as Thinlomien puts it? In other words, I really should get the second book, and would recommend the bit of it I know to anybody who is interested in some highly morally grey fiction. I'm rather impressed by "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, which I'm currently rereading (rather less so by the sequel, sadly, but that's another subject) - I like the main character a lot, and it's one of the few books I've read that actually manages to put me in a state of suspense as to the outcome. |
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#896 | ||
Woman of Secret Shadow
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells
Posts: 4,511
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Before that, I acquainted myself with Embassytown which is his most recent novel, and I really liked it. While Miéville's Bas-Lag novels have steampunk as a common element, Embassytown is good ol' science fiction. Quote:
I've also reread Jeff VanderMeer's short story collection The Secret Life, and it was a disappointment given that he was one of my favourite writers as a teenager. Now his (sometimes experimental) style didn't sit well with me at all, and I found most of the stories boring and pointless. I still like his Veniss Underground novel, though.
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He bit me, and I was not gentle. |
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#897 | |
Memento Mori
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Past The Point Of No Return
Posts: 1,117
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I'll look out for 'Embassytown' and 'Iron Council', thanks for the recommendations. ![]() In an earlier post someone mentioned Joe Abercrombie's 'First Law' series. I loved those, Inquisitor Glokta is one of my favourite characters in a novel....ever! The other stand alone novels set in the same world: 'Best Served Cold' and 'The Heroes' are also very good. He's writing another at the moment....when he can tear himself away from Skyrim; according to his blog!
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"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." |
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#898 |
Psyche of Prince Immortal
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I just finished the fourth book of A Song of Fire and Ice, and as much as I was dreading the fourth book (Because of Hookbill telling me of it). I don't venture into fantasy books that often, being the only other series I have read was Tolkien and Raymond E. Feist.
I absolutely love the series for its realism, and curse the lack of the 5th book anywhere. So I figure when I am in England this summer I will have to pick up a copy.
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Love doesn't blow up and get killed.
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#899 | ||
Woman of Secret Shadow
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells
Posts: 4,511
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Also, don't forget to check out The Scar - it's very good too! I intend to read the Abercrombie series when I have the time (or rather, when I feel like it, because I always have time for reading), but now I have some Gene Wolfe, Sandman comics, and Hungarian folktales on their way from the library. Quote:
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He bit me, and I was not gentle. |
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#900 | |
Psyche of Prince Immortal
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Love doesn't blow up and get killed.
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#901 |
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 435
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I saw someone reading a copy on the train 3-4 weeks ago, so it is presumably avaiable somewhere. And it looked like a normal run book, not an advance galley copy.
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#902 |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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Does anyone else absolutely love The Weirdstone of Brisingamen?
Well, davem pointed this out to me earlier. The trilogy is due to be completed this August. I'll be outside the bookshop at 9am for this one, I'm very excited. I don't agree with Phillip Pullman that Alan Garner is 'better than Tolkien' because he's simply a very different kettle of fish. However, he is comparable to CS Lewis and trumps him on all accounts. Since I first read the Weirdstone as a child, I've thought of Alderly Edge as a magical place, rather than the exclusive haunt of Man U footballers. And the passage with the tunnel is so vivid I even have dreams about that now. Anyone else love it?
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Gordon's alive!
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#903 |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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A Dance with Dragons is in the local bookstore here. However, with the recent popularity, it costs ridiculous money. And, all the library copies are out (with a line up of about 15 people - which is more than I've seen for HP when it came out). I'm waiting for all the excitement to go down to get a copy.
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#904 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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Anyone around here read 'The Hunger Games'? I'm not sure if it's fantasy, but I've been hearing a lot about it, and to be truthful I'm a little sceptical. I mean, girl and boy chosen to kill other children in a dystopian world where adults rule? Let me guess: the girl and the guy will be prolific, and the girl will end up being some kind of 'leader', and she'll never do anything wrong with intent, because she's only ever forced to do bad things, and she and the guy will have some kind of forced romance...
I think I'd better stop. The number of flat protagonists these days are kind of getting to my head. ![]()
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#905 | |
Memento Mori
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Past The Point Of No Return
Posts: 1,117
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Thank you so much for the link...I'm unbelievably excited!!
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"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." |
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#906 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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I'm reading Weirdstone again now, spurred by the news. My copy is very well read (in the front, it says I bought it in Skipton in 1984 ![]() There was also something on the Wikipedia entry about his love of language and the local Cheshire dialect (apparently it's possible to read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the original, if you know the Cheshire dialect - which is interesting as the 'Green Chapel' isn't very far away). And a lot of the places mentioned are still very much there, such as 'Llyn-dhu' and Radnor Mere, and of course The Wizard pub. It's also chiming with a lot of the language and stories of the North West that I picked up as a child. This is a fantastic book. I love it even more than ever. ![]()
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Gordon's alive!
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#907 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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I've read three-quarters of it since this afternoon, and it's pretty good. There's vivid scene-setting, the characters aren't flat and predictable at all, and the narrator isn't a 'Mary Sue' but has some definite failings and flaws. The whole concept of people forced to fight to the death has now been done a few times, but it still works. It also makes you feel a bit angry/disgusted, which is always a plus point with dystopian stories. Not finished it yet though, and I've read more than enough novels with poor endings lately, so I shall see.... ![]() I wonder - could you call dystopian SF 'fantasy'? Where does one stop and another begin? EDIT - finished it now, and even though it was basically Battle Royale for younger readers, it was a decent book. Not sure I want to read the sequels, as I thought it was well rounded off, but I'm sure there would be plenty of things to discuss about it, and I can easily see this one creeping into school reading lists at some point.
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Gordon's alive!
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#908 |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nebraska, United States
Posts: 6
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I feel rather daring and frisky replying to this post, but sci fi and fantasy are two of my three favorite fictional genres.
I got through A Feast of Crows or whatever the title was of Martin's 4th book before I finally gave up on the series. While he's created an in-depth, original universe, it just wasn't enough for me. I personally look for characters I can cheer for when I read, and the ones left by the end of the 4th book were either rotten or Too Stupid To Live and I really didn't care about any of them any more. I do understand the appeal of such an epic work, and the heraldry and family history is fascinating. I guess I just prefer a less sprawling, more focused style. On to a cheerier subject -- writers I like, lol! Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon and the Sword and Sorceress anthologies she edited are enjoyable. I also like Orson Scott Card, both his sci fi and his fantasy. Cherryh's Fortress series is on my TBR list, and after reading some of this thread, so is Patrick Rothfuss. I also enjoyed my daughter's Percy Jackson books. ![]() |
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#909 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#910 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#911 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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![]() That was Weirdstone...but then I realised you're talking Hunger Games! ![]() Well I got mine at the supermarket for £3! Brand new! So try there while it's still a bestseller. It's also a quick read.
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Gordon's alive!
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#912 |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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I got a copy from the library... FINALLY!
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#913 |
Memento Mori
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Past The Point Of No Return
Posts: 1,117
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Finished 'Perdido Street Station' at the weekend. After a bit of a slow start I actually enjoyed it very much.
Presently reading Gareth Roberts' novelisation of the Doctor Who lost tale 'Shada' from the original script by the great Douglas Adams. It's a bit of a silly romp but as a long time Who fan I'm finding it a lot of fun. Besides, it's the fourth Doctor and Romana so what's not to like!
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"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." Last edited by Eruanna; 04-10-2012 at 01:00 PM. |
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#914 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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*cries* I want a local library!
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#915 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#916 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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I decided to get the others in the series because I was curious to see what happened, and I've just the final one to finish now. I've been quite pleased with the series really. Too often dystopian novels have no sense of humanity or are so bleak you feel depressed for months afterwards, but not so with these.
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Gordon's alive!
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#917 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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![]() I was looking at some reviews on Amazon, and they said that the series actually lacked humanity, and that the characters appeared somewhat flat and inconsistent with their own personalities. That itself was enough to turn me off again, though the book is lying in my basket...
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#918 | |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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The concept it's based around is inhumane of course, but that's the story, how people react to and deal with an inhumane situation.
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Gordon's alive!
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#919 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion
Posts: 551
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I *did* buy a book called Duncton Wood - it had some pretty fantastic reviews, and I'm curious to see how it turns out. An epic fantasy with moles as protagonists - intriguing. ![]()
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"Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?" – Tom Bombadil |
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#920 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Skyrim, again.
Posts: 820
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As kludgy as the Wheel of Time got between books 7 and 10, it really picked up towards the end. Now the last book has a release date set for next January and I'm actually excited for it.
Brian Sanderson's done one hell of a job on the last two, and I have every confidence in his ability to finish this one strongly.
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Werewolves vs. Fishmen. The battle of the century. |
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