What Scifi/Fantasy book Are You Just Reading?

[Midge]

Back to good old Perelandra again. I love that book so very much.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Midge

Back to good old Perelandra again. I love that book so very much.

My least favorite of the Space Trilogy- though still good! Too much description and talking about theology- all well in its place, but a trifle didactic.

Two points-

The first- in A.N. Wilson's biography, there's a horrendous scene where Jane Moore's brother collapses on Lewis's floor, being driven insane (by syphillis IIRC- he died shortly after), where he describes what he is feeling in terms remarkably similar to Weston's - sinking down through the skin of life to Hell, begging for more life to postpone it- though Wilson doesn't make the connection.

The second- in "The Problem of Pain" Lewis attempts to justify natural evil by saying it is inherent in our world, using the example of banging into a corner of a table- tables must be hard, corners must be sharp, our bodies need warnings of damage- that led me to wonder if he created Perelandra precisely as a place where there were no hard edges- and no earthquakes, volcanoes, fires etc.

I can't remember- there certainly were natural evils in Malacandra; were there any in Perelandra?

[GrayMouser]

Being largely cut off from science fiction ( small non-English-speaking town, even bookstores in big cities here are crap, shipping costs are horrendous) I was delighted when, asked to take over some classes for the summer, I found an entire shelf of SF. The guy I was substituting for explained they were left behind by some Americans who had been working here.


As it turned out, they were ex-US Air Force/Navy types working as contractors on radar installations at the local Air Force base.

Nice guys- I knew most of them- but unfortunately their taste ran to the "mil-sf" of Jerry Pournelle and his followers, so the blurbs were like

"While the ever-ravaging Grakshnickzzx hordes swallowed system after system, the spineless bureaucrats on Earth tried haplessly to appease them- it took Dreck Dranigan and his battle-hardened crew of space mercenaries to show the only way to negotiate with a Grak was with the business end of a blaster!!!"


Still, got some Larry Niven and Anne McCaffrey out of it, so it's better than nothing

[Earniel]

Recently went on a small book-buying spree on the internet and bought a couple of books from the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. His death earlier this year reminded me that I had one of his books for years and had enjoyed it much but hadn't been able to find any other books of the series. Since then I discovered the internetbook market so I went for it.

I bought and read Martin the Warrior, Mossflower and Salamandastron. I'm loving them as much as I did the first book. I suspect that before the year is out, there will be even more Redwall finding a new home on my bookshelf.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

I just finished reading "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It was very good, highly recommend.

Just finished Book 1; very very good- have to run down to the library for the next two.

Also Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- not so good; the author doesn't really understand the Austen style and instead gives it a modern pop culture feeling.

[EllethValatari]

Originally Posted by cee2lee2

Over this past weekend, I read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. So glad I got all three at once and could read through to the end. Once I started, I didn't want to stop.

Me too! Though I don't know if our weekends coincide . There hasn't been a book since LotR that I literally couldn't set down-if you haven't read them, do before the movie premiere. They are no less than brilliant, and not at all fruity.

[mithrand1r]

Hunger Games and Catching Fire were excellent.

Mockingjay was not too bad. The last third or so of the book felt rushed to me. I did not like the ending. I did not like what happened to some characters.
I also had some trouble imagining what was happening when they were traveling in the capital city.

A more detailed review by me was done at the parchment girl

Originally Posted by EllethValatari

Me too! Though I don't know if our weekends coincide . There hasn't been a book since LotR that I literally couldn't set down-if you haven't read them, do before the movie premiere. They are no less than brilliant, and not at all fruity.

[Acalewia]

I started The Hunger Games this week. It's hard to put down.

[mithrand1r]

Originally Posted by Acalewia

I started The Hunger Games this week. It's hard to put down.

I agree. It was a page turner for me. I finished the trilogy over a weekend.

[GrayMouser]

Finally finished the last two- "Mockingjay" was a bit of a letdown- I agree with Mithrandir that the end was a bit rushed- one of the few series that could have benfited by a longer treatment.

Also, in the first half she seemed a bit whiney and self-centered, considering that there was a war on and what everyone else had been suffering.

Spoiler ( do we have a spoiler function?)












The malevolence of President Coin felt under-motivated. Sure, she wanted to keep power but it could have been developed more- "We suffered more than you guys all these years" or something like that; maybe "fighting the Capital turns you into the Capital".

[Earniel]

Yes, we do have a spoiler code: [spoiler]secrit info[/spoiler]

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Yes, we do have a spoiler code: [spoiler]secrit info[/spoiler]

Hmmm, let me run through that again....

Thanks muchly.

[Varnafindë]

I'm reading "The Hunger Games" now - I'm about half way through the first one, and I like it so far. I need to go to the library to find the other two.

I'm also planning to see the movie when it comes out.

[GrayMouser]

Interesting article about the marketing of "The Hunger Games" before it was even published, showing that 'marketing' is not necessarily a bad word.

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/18/the_...a_blockbuster/

[Varnafindë]

What worried me most about the movie, was that they might make it into a gore-fest and disregard the author's message. But now I've read that the author is heavily involved in the script-writing and even other parts of the production, so now my hopes are up for a good movie.

[Empress_Flynn]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

What worried me most about the movie, was that they might make it into a gore-fest and disregard the author's message. But now I've read that the author is heavily involved in the script-writing and even other parts of the production, so now my hopes are up for a good movie.

Yeah... in terms of the gore represented in the movie.. it was actually mild. (Though maybe I'm just desensitized to gore by now?) Anyway... I thought the amount of gore was appropriate. I had some other issues with the movie, but in general the message was intact!

[Logkhya]

I want to read Dragonlance when I am free

[Mark of Cenla]

I am reading the second book of the Stormlord trilogy by Glenda Larke. It is quite good. Check it out. Peace and goodwill.

[Lalaith]

I'm reading The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling. The style is very different from LotR but I love it nonetheless, the characters and the story are very enthralling.

As a matter of fact I already read the complete series already but the books are very addictive, so I started with book 1 again right after finishing book 6.
I also want to read Flewelling's other series, the Tamir Triad but I can't seem to bring myself to say goodbye to the characters of the Nightrunner Series yet.

[katya]

I recently finished the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. OMG I loved it. It was, in my opinion, very intelligently written, cheesy plot-driven fantasy. Awesome characters, very believable with lots of strong women role models (strong in lots of ways, not just Eowyn-type strength).