The Books Thread

boozeman

boozeman

30 Years And Counting...
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I am so buying the Shining sequel that comes out in September.
 
Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy is a must read for any Fantasy reader. I don't think I have ever seen anyone deconstruct and twist an archetype like this series. I will never view Gandolph in a Tolkien'ien light again. The man flat out destroyed the image Tolkien created and twisted it, but you dont even realize it happened.

I guess I am not making sense, but he basically take the Tolkien quest, fills it with fantasy archetypes borrowed from others, gives it some GRRM grit, and lulls you into thinking he is just using the archetypes rather than twisting them.

The first book is the weakest, but it is well worth the read. Book three's destruction of Gandolph was a literary masterpiece. An acomplishment I don't think I have ever sever seen before.
 
I'll try to check out First Law if I ever finish The Wheel of Time series. Chugging along on book 6 out of...I don't even know.
 
Is wheel of time worth the investment in 14 large books?

Would it be worth my time to just read one so I get a feel for the the writer,sorta the Harry potter treatment? (on a side note, does that series get better or is it merely a marketing masterpiece aimed at tweens and illiterates?
 
jeebs said:
Is wheel of time worth the investment in 14 large books?

Would it be worth my time to just read one so I get a feel for the the writer,sorta the Harry potter treatment? (on a side note, does that series get better or is it merely a marketing masterpiece aimed at tweens and illiterates?
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The first 5 are good IMO. I hear the quality wanes sometime after book 8. The sexuality in it isn't what I'd call mature, but I don't think it is a series for tweens, and definitely not illiterates.
 
Book 6 is definitely a snoozefest. Tried to give the series another shot but couldn't make it through 6
 
BipolarFan said:
The first 5 are good IMO. I hear the quality wanes sometime after book 8. The sexuality in it isn't what I'd call mature, but I don't think it is a series for tweens, and definitely not illiterates.
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Edit: to be clear I was insulting Harry Potter, not wheel of time.


I guess i just found her writing to be pedestrian and her ideas recycled. It just seemed way to much of using classic themes and adding nothing to them. Way to "meh" for my tastes.

She deserves to be published, but one of the most prolific writers of all time? What am I missing?
 
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The writing level of the Harry Potter series actually increases in each book which was kinda cool. They were fun stories, but no, she doesn't deserve to be the richest writer ever
 
dallen said:
The writing level of the Harry Potter series actually increases in each book which was kinda cool. They were fun stories, but no, she doesn't deserve to be the richest writer ever
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Why not? She created something that made millions. She probably doesn't deserve being ranked as one of the great literary writers but that's the way it goes sometime. There is the wealth of the Rockerfellers and the greater wealth of Bill Gates.
 
The Potter books are good. The story matures a great deal as you go on. Plus she's a hell of a lot better writer than other people who have made millions writing like the Twilight author.
 
I am glad to hear her writing improves, because after her first book I was appalled that this is what passes for a must read in America.
 
jeebs said:
I am glad to hear her writing improves, because after her first book I was appalled that this is what passes for a must read in America.
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It's a kids book because it's about a bunch of 6 year olds. But as the story progresses and the characters age, the writing matures as well. Starting around book 4 they go from a good story to well written, IMO.
 
Deuce said:
It's a kids book because it's about a bunch of 6 year olds..
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that is no excuse. The golden compass was extremely well written, and no one could argue that the Hobbit was intended for adults but its writing is world class.

But as the story progresses and the characters age, the writing matures as well. Starting around book 4 they go from a good story to well written, IMO
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Makes sense to me. Though I did get the impression from the movies that she wandered in her later books and retcon-ed meaning into her earlier ones to make them a united story. But I only half watched the movies, out of order, when hbo was playing them, so I hardly have and informed opinion.
 
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I read the potter books. They weren't the worst but they were nothing special. My current favorite series going right now is the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The first two are not bad and the series really takes off from 3 on. There's 15 books in the series and counting.
 
Clay_Allison said:
I read the potter books. They weren't the worst but they were nothing special. My current favorite series going right now is the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The first two are not bad and the series really takes off from 3 on. There's 15 books in the series and counting.
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That was made into an underrated series on syfy that no one watched and was cancelled after one or two seasons.
 
Deuce said:
The Potter books are good. The story matures a great deal as you go on. Plus she's a hell of a lot better writer than other people who have made millions writing like the Twilight author.
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Definitely agree
 
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