Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Discussion/Appreciation Anyone..??

[Mimzy]

lmao *weeps with you*

[Ukko]

*adds another "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" to the mix*

I weep for humanity.



*has little typewriters fly around head*

*Types on them*


Anyone here familiar with David Wolverton/Farland's Runelords series of books?

[VampyreWraith]

*Types on them*


Anyone here familiar with David Wolverton/Farland's Runelords series of books?

I started reading brotherhood of the wolf years ago but i never got around to finishing it because something else i wanted to read more came out shortly after i started reading it, i also bought 2 other runelord books. I have intentions of reading them i just havent gotten around to it. from what i remember of of brotherhood it was pretty good. Did you read them all? Are they good?

[Krichton]

I don't understand how anyone can love something poorly written

Anyway, I'm reading A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray now, which is far more interesting.

But who determines what is poorly written? People can have very arbitrary ideas of what makes a good book or good character. If you ask a person why they feel such and such character is bad, sometimes you'll get what appears to be an intelligent analysis of why they feel that way and when you ask them who they feel are better written they'll say edward, bella, etc. Those are just made up examples, but the ones I've been given aren't much better and sometimes they're worse. It's always an eye opener.

^apparently Tolkien originally didn't like the Narnia series because he thought C.S. Lewis was oversimplifying his mythology or something Yep, that man was obsessed with detail.

Well duh, they were written for children. Of course they're simple J.R.R.

They are okay. the Narnia books are nice. I like Alexander Llyod's Taran Wanderer series better.

You mean the book of words books? ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.......

I keep trying to read those but every time I borrow Sabriel from the library, I never finish it >_< It's on my books to read list for the summer This time I WILL FINISH ALL 3.

This book has won a ton of awards and is probably as popular with readers as Harry Potter, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the boringest books I've ever read. The plot is not only incredibly simplistic in it's storytelling, but boring and filled with dull and uninteresting characters that do not appear to even have any depth to them. It's basically about getting from point A to point B. Good luck trying to finish the book. I tried listening to it on audio and still couldn't finish.

The most annoying thing I find about this series is, while it is a series, Terry Goodkind pretends you're a new reader for each book. I've lost count of how many times he explains what a Confessor is, I know what they are and why they typically can't "love" a man!

I'm at a stand still on book 5, thinking of just reading a detailed recap and skipping ahead!

Book 5 is very frustrating as is book 7 and 8. Book 6 is awesome and 9-11 are very good.

[Mimzy]

But who determines what is poorly written? People can have very arbitrary ideas of what makes a good book or good character. If you ask a person why they feel such and such character is bad, sometimes you'll get what appears to be an intelligent analysis of why they feel that way and when you ask them who they feel are better written they'll say edward, bella, etc. Those are just made up examples, but the ones I've been given aren't much better and sometimes they're worse. It's always an eye opener.



Well duh, they were written for children. Of course they're simple J.R.R.





This book has won a ton of awards and is probably as popular with readers as Harry Potter, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the boringest books I've ever read. The plot is not only incredibly simplistic in it's storytelling, but boring and filled with dull and uninteresting characters that do not appear to even have any depth to them. It's basically about getting from point A to point B. Good luck trying to finish the book. I tried listening to it on audio and still couldn't finish.

1) Being a writer myself, I can kind of easily judge if something is not as well-written as it should be. Maybe not that it's "poorly" written, but that it could definitely be better. What makes Meyer's writing...not that great...is not necessarily just her characterization or style, which, I agree, can be viewed very subjectively. But it's also about technical things. A writer can have great style and be awesome at developing characters, but if the technical elements are not well formed, then the entire story can fall apart. Technical elements of writing are the things that you can't really be subjective on--if there's a grammar error, it's going to be a grammar error whether someone likes the story or not.

Also, one of the marks of a good writer is knowing when to include description of certain details and when to omit it due to the fact that the details may be extraneous information. This is the biggest problem with Meyer's writing; she is extremely good at describing things, but she doesn't know when to STOP. She describes each and every single little thing, like Bella going to brush her teeth and putting on her clothes--things that are irrelevant to the plot and don't need to be mentioned. I was surprised that so much of this unnecessary info remained in the book; I'd expect an editor to jump on that kind of thing and immediately insist on deleting all the extra detail. Again, being careful with description and detail is another more technical aspect of writing that is not as easily subjective as the plot itself or the characters. One of the main things I've learned over the years is that if you are writing something, make sure the information you write is relevant to what you are writing about. You may make interesting points here and there, but if they have nothing to do with the topic, then that brings down the quality of your writing and makes it less cohesive.

2) Lol

3) I actually liked what I read of Sabriel a lot. I guess I just like Nix's style--I love his Keys to the Kingdom series.

[VampyreWraith]

has anyone read The Jigsaw Woman by Kim Antieau, I'm re-reading that now, i read it years ago, id forgotten how good i it was. It might not be everyones thing because it has some rather adult material or what not, but its pretty good. Its one of the few books written in first person that i actually like. After I'm finished with that, I'm going tto re-read Wyrms by Orson Scott Card, i found that one again too lol, I remember loving that book, but its been such a long time since i've read it, i feel like a re-read.

[WingedPegasus]

Anyone have Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Treasury?

[Ukko]

I started reading brotherhood of the wolf years ago but i never got around to finishing it because something else i wanted to read more came out shortly after i started reading it, i also bought 2 other runelord books. I have intentions of reading them i just havent gotten around to it. from what i remember of of brotherhood it was pretty good. Did you read them all? Are they good?

I've read Sum Of All Men and Brotherhood Of The Wolf. I liked them both
Havent read Wizard Born yet. My bookshop has books 1,2...4,5,6,7 and so on, but not Wizard born *Pulls out hair* arrrgh. I've requested it now, so it shouldnt be to long.

[VampyreWraith]

I've read Sum Of All Men and Brotherhood Of The Wolf. I liked them both
Havent read Wizard Born yet. My bookshop has books 1,2...4,5,6,7 and so on, but not Wizard born *Pulls out hair* arrrgh. I've requested it now, so it shouldnt be to long.

Cool, i have Brotherhood of the Wolf, Lair of Bones and Wizardborn, I think im missing the second one; or else i might have it on paperback somewhere else not on the same shelf. I'm going to try to read them soon. I was thinking of reading David Drake's Lord of the Isles books first. I've had a few of them for a awhile but never actually got around to reading them. I think i have started one and skimmed through another when i first saw them to see if id like them. i mustve cuz i bought them lol. Has anyone read them, are they good?

[Ukko]

Cool, i have Brotherhood of the Wolf, Lair of Bones and Wizardborn, I think im missing the second one; or else i might have it on paperback somewhere else not on the same shelf. I'm going to try to read them soon. I was thinking of reading David Drake's Lord of the Isles books first. I've had a few of them for a awhile but never actually got around to reading them. I think i have started one and skimmed through another when i first saw them to see if id like them. i mustve cuz i bought them lol. Has anyone read them, are they good?

Brotherhood Of The Wolf is the second one
1.The Sum Of All Men.
2.Brotherhood Of The Wolf
3.Wizard Born
4.Lair Of Bones
5.Sons Of The Oak
6.Worldbinder
7.The Wyrmling Horde
8.Chaosbound

[VampyreWraith]

Ahh thats y i felt like i was missing something lol, for some reason i got it in my head it was the first cuz i think it just says a Runelords novel on the cover of my edition, meanwhile the other says the third and forth books. Then i probably have the first one on paperback somewhere lol

[Alan Wake]

Anyone recommend any good sci-fi books?

I've been looking for something new to read for years now.

[GenieinaZPM]

I haven't read many sci-fi books, but I LOVE fantasy. Terry Brooks is my favorite. I also love Terry Goodkind, Jack Whyte, Guy Gavriel Kay (Tigana is AWESOME - read it maybe 12 times so far and working on it again). Obviously Tolkein as well. And Mary Stewart is pretty good too.

[Iffy]

Anyone recommend any good sci-fi books?

I've been looking for something new to read for years now.

http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Czerneda...tt_aut_sim_1_1
Really enjoyed the Species Imperative series. In The Company of Others was another favorite. The Trade Pact series was good, A Thousand Words for Stranger was the strongest out of the three.

http://www.amazon.com/Anathem-Neal-S...6741091&sr=1-2


Lee's main genre is horror but her forays into science fiction are lovely.

[EvilSpaceAlien]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1632_%28novel%29

I've just ordered 1632 by Eric Flint because I thought it had a really interesting premise. Has anyone else read this book?