I'm...maybe 'happy' isn't the best word, but 'relieved' perhaps that I'm not the only person to feel that way. I read all these book reviews in my Fantasy magazine and they end up turning me off most of the time--like all that's 'in' right now is intricate worldbuilding/scenery or spiderweb-tangled plots and a plethora of characters I'd need a database to keep straight. ;) Oh well. Best of luck!
Now I've got that stuck in my head too, thanks. ;)
Exactly. Pretty scenery is nice, but it is famously hard to write a book with a lake sunset as its protagonist. And I agree that there seems to be some odd focus on highly convoluted plots lately. I don't -mind- stretching my brain to follow along with intrigues and interminable lists of characters (it was certainly worth it with the 'Empire' trilogy), but only if I think it's a side-effect of a good story and not a device in place of a good story. :P
(I'd say something about Robert Jordan here, but de mortuiis nil nisi bonum and that :/)
[wolf-shaped 'ly nudges a copy of The Etched City forward with nose] /\/\/\/
[goes back and returns pushing a copy of Salamander, having finally remembered what steampunk last made her go 'eee'] \/\/\/\/
[returning human-shaped and in warm clothing]...I've taken to staying down the 'alternate fantasy' end of the pool with regards to newer stuff: at the very least you get a heap of shiny. I do much prefer characters that one can connect with...I think this is what gives me my enduring love for the first two books of the Gormenghast trilogy (everyone's completely bugfairy-loo, but where else will you find a sympathetically/naturally-presented auspergic girl with an ambiguous and twisted relationship to a brilliant young psychopath?) and why I'll put up with annoying 'romance' from authors that can keep it light where it needs to be.
It's on my list of "everyone should read..." but 'tis mighty! Yes!
I'm afraid I either haven't come across any of that yet, or I can't tell...
Everyone in Gormenghast is weird, but that's presented as normal-for-Gormenghast - I'm not sure one'd even recognise Asperger's in Lady Fuschia unless one knew someone with/had it. She's just presented as her, illogics and borderline idiot-savant-ness included. Peake does write at an almost Aspergic level of detail himself, though, so you can't try and rush through the books - it's like scuba diving in golden syrup: annoying if you want to get somewhere, beautiful if one just goes with the flow, and a unique experience. I know of no other book that gives me the Gormenghast feeling, it's almost a smell...
Oh, me too. I've hardly touched any non-children's fantasy for years. Then when I moved in here I suddenly got my interest in fantasy back. There's a lot of rubbish out there, but there's also a lot of what I think of as likeable fantasy - not too demanding, but fun with likeable characters rather than angst-bunnies.
I liked The Summoner, though I'm not sure why. Mindless and comfortable, and I liked Tris, who manages to work with ghosts without hating himself. HDM starts well and then gets overly didactic. I like Glenda Larke at the moment for populist fantasy - nice politics with a Roman base rather than the usual Disney medieval splodge.
*nods gloomily* That's all I want, really. Likeable characters. They can build their floating tower of magical glass as high as they like if it's inhabited by a whiny git - I don't wanna read it.
I picked up The Summoner because I missed Garth Nix and thought the thread of that looked rather similar ... how incredibly encouraging to hear about the 'not hating himself' part (the next self-hating protagonist to arrive on my plate will leave it in pieces, I swear). Shame about Dark Materials though - allegory drives me up the wall. Might read it last.
Hmm, and I haven't seen any books by a Glenda Larke in stores here, but I'll keep an eye out!
Oh, I'll definitely give him a try, but I really do hope the allegory's very low-key. I'm completely allergic. Whether the underlying theme's pro- or anti-Christian belief system, I just don't like being beaten over the head with someone else's polemic when I'm trying to play with dragons. CS Lewis ticks me off for exactly the same reason - I just can't read those books any more without my hackles rising ...
With fantasy nowadays, the biggest problem is finding the good stories and there's so, so much that just isn't really worth the effort. (I should know, half my reading list is still fantasy.) I enjoyed Lamora, though I've yet to get around to the second book in the series.
My leap of faith recently has been C.S Friedman's Feast of Souls, if you're curious. If the rest of the book is anything like the prologue, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
I'd say the majority of it isn't worth the effort, which is just mind-boggling to me. There have always been lemons in the bookstore, yes - even when I was a hungry young tadpole chewing through six books a month, I often spat out rubbish - but these days it just seems like a phenomenally large proportion of the corpus isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
Ooh, and that's two for enjoying Locke Lamora so far. Fingers crossed :D
I can't recall if you're one of the GRR Martin fans, but Song of Ice and Fire is definitely high on the 'realism' scale. I particularly like his habit of killing off characters all the time so you know no one's ever safe. xD
Also, Guy Gavriel Kay's Last Light of the Sun was quite good... I'll have to check out the rest of his stuff now. Historical fantasy, sort of.
I'd cll them more alternate-past. Last Light... is on my floor/to read list, thank you for the encouragement. While I have my big head stuck in your conversation, I gave Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan to a friend who doesn't read that much fantasy and it made her cry, so I'd highlight that one, especially if you're into the Crusades/the ballad of El Cid. Steer well clear of his earlier work, though, except for the amusement value.
I picked up a Guy Gavriel Kay novel from a bargain bin once and quickly came to understand WHY it was in the bargain bin. I assume that was one of his early ones. ;D
Yeah, that would probably be part of the Fionovar Tapestry. Little fledgie Kay trying rather too hard to be Tolkien and failing misrerably, but with such gems of bad literature as Silvercloak's Appearing Horses and Maugrim The Partially Invisible And Terminally Dim Evil Overlord...it's a running joke between Shanra and I that EOs that pathetic deserve a swift thwack and defeat with a rolled-up newspaper. [read the first two for the entertainment value, wasn't bothered enough to read the third]
On the theme of Crusades, De Moissac's been noisier than usual (not hard, since that's silent, and he's not allowed to talk for most of the day anyway) so maybe, just maybe, I'll get some of his story done/up between chunks of dissertation. [loudly in the Templar's direction] It would be very useful. [picks the closest thing he has to a crusading icon]
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Now I've got that stuck in my head too, thanks. ;)
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(I'd say something about Robert Jordan here, but de mortuiis nil nisi bonum and that :/)
*wanders off singing and twirling lasso*
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[goes back and returns pushing a copy of Salamander, having finally remembered what steampunk last made her go 'eee'] \/\/\/\/
[returning human-shaped and in warm clothing]...I've taken to staying down the 'alternate fantasy' end of the pool with regards to newer stuff: at the very least you get a heap of shiny. I do much prefer characters that one can connect with...I think this is what gives me my enduring love for the first two books of the Gormenghast trilogy (everyone's completely bugfairy-loo, but where else will you find a sympathetically/naturally-presented auspergic girl with an ambiguous and twisted relationship to a brilliant young psychopath?) and why I'll put up with annoying 'romance' from authors that can keep it light where it needs to be.
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I'm afraid I either haven't come across any of that yet, or I can't tell...
Everyone in Gormenghast is weird, but that's presented as normal-for-Gormenghast - I'm not sure one'd even recognise Asperger's in Lady Fuschia unless one knew someone with/had it. She's just presented as her, illogics and borderline idiot-savant-ness included. Peake does write at an almost Aspergic level of detail himself, though, so you can't try and rush through the books - it's like scuba diving in golden syrup: annoying if you want to get somewhere, beautiful if one just goes with the flow, and a unique experience. I know of no other book that gives me the Gormenghast feeling, it's almost a smell...
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I liked The Summoner, though I'm not sure why. Mindless and comfortable, and I liked Tris, who manages to work with ghosts without hating himself. HDM starts well and then gets overly didactic. I like Glenda Larke at the moment for populist fantasy - nice politics with a Roman base rather than the usual Disney medieval splodge.
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I picked up The Summoner because I missed Garth Nix and thought the thread of that looked rather similar ... how incredibly encouraging to hear about the 'not hating himself' part (the next self-hating protagonist to arrive on my plate will leave it in pieces, I swear). Shame about Dark Materials though - allegory drives me up the wall. Might read it last.
Hmm, and I haven't seen any books by a Glenda Larke in stores here, but I'll keep an eye out!
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Alternate worlds sounds spiffy :D
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My leap of faith recently has been C.S Friedman's Feast of Souls, if you're curious. If the rest of the book is anything like the prologue, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
I've been spoiled by you lot, though. ^-~
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Ooh, and that's two for enjoying Locke Lamora so far. Fingers crossed :D
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Also, Guy Gavriel Kay's Last Light of the Sun was quite good... I'll have to check out the rest of his stuff now. Historical fantasy, sort of.
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Mmm, Crusades.
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On the theme of Crusades, De Moissac's been noisier than usual (not hard, since that's silent, and he's not allowed to talk for most of the day anyway) so maybe, just maybe, I'll get some of his story done/up between chunks of dissertation. [loudly in the Templar's direction] It would be very useful. [picks the closest thing he has to a crusading icon]
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