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Post by Clint Johnston on Aug 3, 2010 5:31:38 GMT 1
Am presently discovering Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series.
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Post by Mister Buch on Aug 3, 2010 23:18:07 GMT 1
I only read the first Discworld book, The Colour of Magic, but I could never get into it. This was years ago, but I tried re-reading this year and got bored pretty quickly. I dunno why - I must be the only fan of British humour or fantasy who doesn't care for the series.
Which one/s are you reading / have you read Clint?
--
On Knight's advice, I'm about halfway into Heir to the Empire now. So far, I'm absolutely entralled by it. Wonderful book and completely in the style of the original films: more than any other SW spin-off I've seen, including the prequels.
I'm looking forward to the other two books. Today I bought 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'. I'm no comic book afficionado, but I've read a handful and I hear this one is supposed to be a big, big deal. Also, I'm old Frank Miller is supposed to be some kind of visionary, but I only know him from a handful of movies I hated. I'm hoping I'll be able to see what's so special about him here.
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Post by Mr. Glow on Aug 4, 2010 0:39:07 GMT 1
That's the one with Old Batman, isn't it? I've heard Frank Miller wrote some quite good stuff before he went crazy and did All Star 'Goddamn' Batman and Robin.
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Post by Clint Johnston on Aug 4, 2010 1:07:59 GMT 1
I actually happened on to the series by accident. I was looking for a read, and found a later one entitled "Night Watch" that is about a captain of the guards who gets thrown back in time, and end up having to save himself. It was amusing. I liked the protagonist, so I ordered a few other discworld books that featured him.
Yeah, Color of magic didn't look that great, so I disobeyed my "read the series in order" rule.
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Post by Battlechantress on Aug 4, 2010 1:34:49 GMT 1
Yeah, only read "The Colour of Magic" if you're a Pratchett devotee. His early books aren't the best in the series. Start off with "Jingo" and "Interesting Times". You may like "Small Gods" too.
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Post by ommadawn on Aug 4, 2010 1:35:34 GMT 1
I've bitten the bullet and am still working my way through a re-read of the Wheel of Time books. I haven't read the earlier ones in a decade or so, so I'm actually enjoying it so far (I'm halfway through book three, The Dragon Reborn so far, and going strong!)
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Post by Clint Johnston on Aug 4, 2010 4:01:59 GMT 1
If anyone is looking, I highly recommend Brent Weeks "The Way of Shadows" series. Super well written. Almost George R.R. Martin in quality. I just re-read them before that Discworld book.
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Post by Nemonus on Aug 4, 2010 7:44:32 GMT 1
I loved Discworld--I started with the YA books, "Wee Free Men" in particular. I also liked "Equal Rites" a lot. The first two, however, didn't feel the same as the rest of the series at all. I have no particular desire to read them in order because he doesn't get into his stride for a while, but I do believe he's brilliant.
Anybody read the "Sword of Shadows" series by J.V. Jones? That's my favourite high fantasy (after LotR of course.)
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Post by Knightfall on Aug 4, 2010 22:23:43 GMT 1
If anyone is looking, I highly recommend Brent Weeks "The Way of Shadows" series. Super well written. Almost George R.R. Martin in quality. I just re-read them before that Discworld book. I loved the series, but what almost killed the books for me were all of the needless plotlines that really had no business being there. He'd introduce a new character every few chapters and then, in some cases, never use them again. It got annoying real quick. But I've actually talked to Brent Weeks a couple times, and he is really, really nice. Nice enough that I'll likely buy any book he puts out from now on. Speaking of that, his new book "The Black Prism" is coming out later this month. Heeeeee. xD
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Post by Battlechantress on Aug 4, 2010 22:26:44 GMT 1
Yeah, Terry Goodkind irked me with the "Here's a minor character that I'll flesh out in great detail, but oh look! They're dead/never to be seen again" scenes more than once. What really killed it for me with regards to his books though, was this: WHO THE $*%( WAS RUNNING THE KINGDOM EVERY TIME RICHARD AND KAHLAN TOOK OFF?!?! *cough* Excuse me. I apologize. I just wanted to get that out of my system.
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Post by jklinders on Aug 4, 2010 22:34:01 GMT 1
Yeah, Terry Goodkind irked me with the "Here's a minor character that I'll flesh out in great detail, but oh look! They're dead/never to be seen again" scenes more than once. What really killed it for me with regards to his books though, was this: WHO THE $*%( WAS RUNNING THE KINGDOM EVERY TIME RICHARD AND KAHLAN TOOK OFF?!?! *cough* Excuse me. I apologize. I just wanted to get that out of my system. That's OK, I bailed on Goodkind once it became inescapably blatant that he was just using his books to flog his hero Ayn Rand's objectivism. It took entirely too long for it to sink in. Stephen King had a really bad habit of expanding greatly on characters you would only see in one chapter. The Dark tower series was some of his best work because there were so few characters his blathering about them endlessly actually worked for that reason.
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Post by Battlechantress on Aug 4, 2010 23:27:50 GMT 1
And why, WHY is it that fantasy authors (not just Goodkind) tend to feel a pressing need to throw a hundred titles and abilities on their main characters? I get that the main hero shouldn't just be a good shot and a great lover and buddy, fine. But good gravy, "Lord O Unpronounceable Name With the Ungodly Good Looks is a war wizard, king, bearer of some holy artifact (which isn't all that handy half of the frigging time), talks to animals who talk back at him, a telepath, and is the being mentioned in some whacked prophecy from a thousand years ago. Oh yeah, he's also a perfect boyfriend and never loses his temper without good cause. He'd even get a good driver discount if he ever owned a motor vehicle!" Yeeeahh. Might be why I don't even try reading most high fantasy books anymore.
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Post by jklinders on Aug 4, 2010 23:50:36 GMT 1
Stay far far away from R A Salvatore then. Every one of his main characters is a pen and paper role players wet dream in terms of their abilities. Kinda good to read once on a stormy night when the power is out, but I otherwise outgrew that type of stuff when I was still in my teens.
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Post by Knightfall on Aug 5, 2010 1:48:05 GMT 1
Awww, I love R. A. Salvatore. I admit, it's been a good four years since I read the Icewind Dale trilogy, but no book I've read since then has been able to appropriately capture the "friends on an adventure" feel that his books have. My tastes might have moved on, but I still look upon the scene where Bruenor Battlehammer creates Aegis-fang to be one of the best things I've ever read.
Some of the more decent fantasy novels that have been released are "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch and "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. They're both pretty unique fantasy books from what I've read (haven't finished Lamora yet). If you want a book that's just...out there, then "Heroes Die" by Matthew Stover is good. He tends to get caught up in a lot of exposition (which annoys the hell out of me), but it really is one of the more unique books I've read in a long time.
A lot of people who have almost given up on fantasy have ended up really liking those, so perhaps your hope will be restored. xD
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Post by jklinders on Aug 5, 2010 1:57:29 GMT 1
I liked him a bit back in the day too. But you have to admit that he is deathly afraid of letting his heroes trip every now and again. And I agree the forging of Aegis Fang was epic and roused a lot of cool images.
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