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Recommend-A-Book
Malific:
--- Quote from: relic2279 on January 18, 2009, 06:31:42 PM ---
--- Quote from: Malific on January 18, 2009, 05:43:21 PM ---There are not as many 'main characters' so you actually end up caring much more deeply about the people involved.
--- End quote ---
You call Jordan long winded, yet he has too many main characters. Little bit of hypocrisy?
--- End quote ---
No, not hypocrisy, to me I spend so much time reading about other characters being developed that I get distanced from the ones he's already introduced. It got to the point that I would want to skip whole sections here and there because I no longer cared what was happening to those characters and wanted to see more about the people who were that particular book's focus.
Case in point, I've read all the novels in WoT right now (I Enjoy the Series Very Much) and quite frankly don't give a rats behind about what Rand is up to any more. Since he is supposed to be THE main character, I find this to be a failing of the author's not mine.
Also longwinded may be an opinion, but it's still true. When an entire book is several hundred pages long, only covers about 2 1/2 days and almost nothing actually happens in that time.. That's long winded.. It felt like a Naruto/Bleach filler episode.
The Thread name is "Recommend-A-Book" It's pretty safe to assume that EVERY SINGLE POST in this thread is an opinion, I see no reason to state things in a manor of "this is my opinion" given these circumstances. You were able to figure it out with no problem, I should think everyone else is able to as well.
Besides I was using the exact phrase "The Sword of Truth Series is better than the Wheel of Time series because:" To negate Mr. Politician's idea. Which is why it was preceded by "I'm not a George Bush supporter."
And where's your bit including the politician's post as an opinion? He didn't even recommend a book... WTF is up with that?
Recommendations for this post:
The Book of Words Series by J. V. Jones, about a young boy who works in a castle kitchen. The castle "scholar" hires him to copy books BECAUSE the boy can't read. While copying them he ends up learning to read and keeps it a secret from his 'master'. So he ends up learning much more than he should about what the scholar is really up to. Leading into adventures as fantasy novels often tend to do.
The Baker's Boy
A Man Betrayed
Master and Fool
Unsubv:
I am a huge Neal Stephenson fan and bought his new book "Anathem" in HC as soon as it came out and it was boring.
I swear half the huge book is a 500 page description of a mathematician convention.
I even loved the Quicksilver series which was a bit long winded at times but this one was interminable.
I loved Cryptonomicon and Zodiac and SnowCrash ,they are fantastic but it is like the man is in terrible
need of an editor.
Anything else by him is worth reading and the ones I mentioned are must reads but the new one I would skip.
Ixarku:
--- Quote from: Malific on January 18, 2009, 05:43:21 PM ---The enter saga of "Recluse" Novels by L. E. Modesitt Jr.
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I read the first couple of books in this series probably around 10 years ago. I don't think I can truly put into words how much I hated them. I thought that the writing was horribly simplistic and the material unoriginal. I recall that the books were written in present tense (some parts in first person, some in third, IIRC), and that alone made me want to dig out parts of my brain through my nose with a broken spork. Not that I'm trashing on anybody's tastes -- we all like different stuff, and that's perfectly fine. It's just that I think that present tense is a poor stylistic choice for a novel, and I felt that it made the flow of story awkward. I was honestly amazed that those books were ever published. But maybe I missed something... were they aimed at a younger audience instead of adults?
I recommend anything by Michelle West / Michelle Sagara. Her "Cast In" series has excellent, relatively quick pacing, well-detailed characters, and a lot of good dramatic tension. The story is something like a cross between a crime drama and a fantasy novel. Her "Sun Sword" books (and the two prequels) are more serious, heavier fare, but also well worth the read.
I give Michelle Sagara props for being able to admit at the beginning of Book 5 of the Sun Sword that the story had gotten out of control, and that she was going to have to wrap it up in two books (5 & 6) instead of just one. Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, while being skilled writers, exemplify (to me anyway) the verbosity of a lot of the newer generation of fantasy authors, so it was refreshing to actually see an author admit to that failing, and actually do something about it.
Malific:
--- Quote from: Ixarku on January 24, 2009, 11:04:15 PM ---I recall that the books were written in present tense (some parts in first person, some in third, IIRC)
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The First two books are written in first person, past tense. These are the books about Lerris, and are written as Lerris would tell them. I think maybe 3 chapters are third person because those chapters are about something when Lerris was not there. I don't recall any present tense, though it being first person gives much more immediacy to the text. I personally like this style of writing because it brings you closer to the character. Doing a novel in first person from several people's perspectives would be a disaster. But a good novels first person about a single person.. it just feels more compelling to me. Again it just makes you care more about a character when everything you witness happens through his eyes.
The rest of the series is Third person, but I've always felt that the Books on Lerris were the best.
*ponders* Okay let's think of something no one else has put up.
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Definitely a youngster book. I read it back in middle school, but it always just stuck with me. It's about a group of teenagers that wake up in this.. place. Just a giant building, but all it has in it are Stairs. No floors, they can see walls, but the stairs never get close enough to them to touch, and they can't seem to get high or low enough to find the ceiling or floor. It's short read, but interesting. Think something along the lines of the "Cube" movies but without the death and destruction, just the psychological end of it.
Ixarku:
--- Quote from: Malific on January 25, 2009, 07:44:07 AM ---
The First two books are written in first person, past tense. These are the books about Lerris, and are written as Lerris would tell them. I think maybe 3 chapters are third person because those chapters are about something when Lerris was not there. I don't recall any present tense, though it being first person gives much more immediacy to the text. I personally like this style of writing because it brings you closer to the character. Doing a novel in first person from several people's perspectives would be a disaster. But a good novels first person about a single person.. it just feels more compelling to me. Again it just makes you care more about a character when everything you witness happens through his eyes.
The rest of the series is Third person, but I've always felt that the Books on Lerris were the best.
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I think it was around 10 years ago when I first read those books, so I could certainly be getting some details mixed up. I don't have them anymore, but I found a review on Amazon that mentioned that "The Towers of Sunset" was written in present tense. That's probably what I'm remembering. I don't have a problem at all with first person perspective -- it does convey a better sense of intimacy with the main character -- it's just the choice of present tense is bewildering. A few other reviewers also commented about Modesitt's overuse of onomatopoeia. That had me chuckling, as I had forgotten about his use of sound effects!
Another recommendation: John C Wright's "The Golden Age" and "The Chronicles of Chaos" series. I thought these books were brilliantly imaginative and well-written. I haven't checked out his "Everness" books yet, but I probably will at some point.
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