Book Exchange Corner!
- Thread starter Ithilien
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faeriechylde
New member
Hey, that sounds like a great idea to me. 
Of course, a lot of things depend on taste... I personally am obsessed with fantasy books aimed at middle-school aged kids (don't ask me why, because I'm almost 20!).
One book (in this genre) that I think you shouldn't read is Eragon, unless you are interested in writing this type of story and want to know what NOT to do. I still am trying to figure out how this book became a bestseller...
What are my criticisms? For one thing, it has no plot. It's a sequence of short climaxes with disappointing conclusions. After a while, it gets monotonous (until the end, which is worth reading, but by then I was so tired of the book that I couldn't enjoy it). Secondly, everything in it is a rip-off from something else. The concept of dragon riders comes straight from Anne McCaffrey's books, the species that inhabit the land are straight out of Tolkien, and the young boy who is suddenly thrown into crazy adventures, guided by an old, wise mentor, can be found in way too many tales (Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain come to mind, not to mention Merlin with young Arthur, Dumbledore with Harry Potter, or Obi-Wan with Luke Skywalker!).
There are a couple of things I enjoyed in this book, though. One of them is the werecat. For all I know, he isn't an original idea, either (he kind of reminds me of Salem in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, lol), but his lines are at least witty and amusing to some extent.
Now, if you want to hear what I recommend that you DO read... well, start with The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, or The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. These both have sympathetic characters, semi-original ideas (or else at least parodies on old, worn-out ideas), and a lot of witty humor.
Of course, a lot of things depend on taste... I personally am obsessed with fantasy books aimed at middle-school aged kids (don't ask me why, because I'm almost 20!).
One book (in this genre) that I think you shouldn't read is Eragon, unless you are interested in writing this type of story and want to know what NOT to do. I still am trying to figure out how this book became a bestseller...
What are my criticisms? For one thing, it has no plot. It's a sequence of short climaxes with disappointing conclusions. After a while, it gets monotonous (until the end, which is worth reading, but by then I was so tired of the book that I couldn't enjoy it). Secondly, everything in it is a rip-off from something else. The concept of dragon riders comes straight from Anne McCaffrey's books, the species that inhabit the land are straight out of Tolkien, and the young boy who is suddenly thrown into crazy adventures, guided by an old, wise mentor, can be found in way too many tales (Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain come to mind, not to mention Merlin with young Arthur, Dumbledore with Harry Potter, or Obi-Wan with Luke Skywalker!).
There are a couple of things I enjoyed in this book, though. One of them is the werecat. For all I know, he isn't an original idea, either (he kind of reminds me of Salem in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, lol), but his lines are at least witty and amusing to some extent.
Now, if you want to hear what I recommend that you DO read... well, start with The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, or The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. These both have sympathetic characters, semi-original ideas (or else at least parodies on old, worn-out ideas), and a lot of witty humor.
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Daughter of Eve
New member
I have to disagree with faeriechylde.
I recommend Eragon. I really really enjoyed it. Sure, it's been used before, but the twists were a little different, and you know, it's AWFULLY hard to come up with a completely original idea for fantasay anyways nowadays as so much stuff has been written. I adored the story, and am waiting breathlessly for Eldest to come out.
I also highly recommend The Chronicles of Prydain as well. I love them very much, and the tales are quite good. I got a little impatient in several parts, lol.
Along the same fantasy lines, The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen H. Lawhead is EXCELLENT! Quite possibly, nay, it is definitely, my favourite version of the Aurthurian legends. I love it. I've read Taliesin, Merlin, and Aurthur, and just recently found out about Grail, Pendragon, and the other one. So I'm trying to get my hands on those.
I recommend Eragon. I really really enjoyed it. Sure, it's been used before, but the twists were a little different, and you know, it's AWFULLY hard to come up with a completely original idea for fantasay anyways nowadays as so much stuff has been written. I adored the story, and am waiting breathlessly for Eldest to come out.
I also highly recommend The Chronicles of Prydain as well. I love them very much, and the tales are quite good. I got a little impatient in several parts, lol.
Along the same fantasy lines, The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen H. Lawhead is EXCELLENT! Quite possibly, nay, it is definitely, my favourite version of the Aurthurian legends. I love it. I've read Taliesin, Merlin, and Aurthur, and just recently found out about Grail, Pendragon, and the other one. So I'm trying to get my hands on those.
I second both "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" and "The Chronicles of Prydain"! Also other books by the same authors except "The Boy and the G....n" (I cannot remember the spelling for the life of me... something like Gangoin...only that's not it) by Lloyd Alexander. It's horrible!
All books by J. R. R. Tolkien, of coarse!
Sherwood Smith I have...recomemded before, but I'm going to do it again...she's a good writer, she write's interesting books, and nobody's ever heard of her
.
You can look at reviwes of her books here:http://www.sfsite.com/02a/cro50.htm
and here:http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=2151
They don't do justice to her books, but they give you an idea!~
All books by J. R. R. Tolkien, of coarse!
Sherwood Smith I have...recomemded before, but I'm going to do it again...she's a good writer, she write's interesting books, and nobody's ever heard of her
. You can look at reviwes of her books here:http://www.sfsite.com/02a/cro50.htm
and here:http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=2151
They don't do justice to her books, but they give you an idea!~
Ithilien
New member
Now I shall I continue after I was rudely interrupted by the bell...
I must agree with Faeriechylde on Eragon. The book seems to be more of a scrapbook of various materials and small details drawn from other books. It is boring, typical, and generally, terrible.
The book I would reccomend to all sci-fi fans out there is Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot". Unlike the movie, which is actually drawn from the second novel in the series, the book is a collection of short stories about artificial intelligence, and how strange incidents and loopholes can still occur within the 3 laws every robot is bound to. Excellent book!
I must agree with Faeriechylde on Eragon. The book seems to be more of a scrapbook of various materials and small details drawn from other books. It is boring, typical, and generally, terrible.
The book I would reccomend to all sci-fi fans out there is Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot". Unlike the movie, which is actually drawn from the second novel in the series, the book is a collection of short stories about artificial intelligence, and how strange incidents and loopholes can still occur within the 3 laws every robot is bound to. Excellent book!
P
pacifiquesea
Guest
If you're looking for something outside of the fantasy realm, a fantastic book is Memoirs of a Geisha. It's written by an American but he did extensive research on geisha lifestyles, especially the lifestyles lead before and during WWII. The main character is a girl from a fishing village who becomes a prominent and successful geisha, and it follows her through her whole life.All of the characters are interesting and well developed. This book was not out of my hands from the time I picked it up until the time I finished it. When I finally put it down, I desperately wished for it to be a true story.
Oh i've heard lots about Stephen Lawhead. I want to read the pendragon cycle too. Shoot, i have too much to read these days. AHHHHHHHH
Oh and the fantasy element, there are new ways of implementing it i believe, you have to begin to mix it with other genres i think. Thats sort of what i am doing with my books. So we'll see if it works now, lol.
tg
Oh and the fantasy element, there are new ways of implementing it i believe, you have to begin to mix it with other genres i think. Thats sort of what i am doing with my books. So we'll see if it works now, lol.
tg
Ok, what about terry goodkind? I see his name all over the place, but I have never read him. Also the runelord series, anyone read that? I forget the name of the author of that.
tg
tg
faeriechylde
New member
I agree with you on the Zion Chronicles (though I personally think the Zion Covenant was a much better written series). I haven't read Tamora Pierce, but my sisters have and don't really like her. What is it you like about her books?Sojourner said:
I agree that Terry Pratchett is good, though I've only read one of his books...
Stephen Lawhead is also amazing, though I found the books I read of his (the Celtic Crusades) to be a little dry and wordy. I still enjoyed them immensely, though. Besides, I've heard his Pendragon Cycle is amazing.
Right now I only have time to read for school, so I'm afraid I can't give a whole lot of recommendations. (Unless you want me to recommend Virgil's Aeneid, lol. I just read it for World Lit. It's really good if you get the right translation... I also read Goethe's Faust, which I didn't enjoy quite as much.)
I would dissagree myself; my friend reomended Tamora Pierce, and everybody says that anyone who likes Sherwood Smith will like her, but I think S.S. is much better than T.P., you get a good story without the bad ethics and false gods.Sojourner said:
faeriechylde
New member
I have not read S.S., but I will have to sometime... My sisters had very much that complaint against Tamora Pierce: she seems to glorify a sort of ruthless feministic independence that I would find distasteful. I'm not saying that I always have to agree with all the ethics displayed in a book, but I don't usually enjoy the book if the author makes his or her immoral views too pervasive in the story.Dernhelm said:
I have another series I want to recommend: The White Pine Chronicles by Hilda Stahl. It's a sappy romance series, I admit, but it has some really good historical content. If you ever thought that Michigan history was boring, you should read these books. They'll change your mind. I have read them several times each and I never get tired of them. I think Hilda Stahl is one of the greatest authors of Christian historical novels I know of.
While I'm on the subject of historical novels set in Michigan, I would also recommend The Loon Feather by Iola Fuller. If you are interested at all in books about interaction between Native Americans and white settlers on a personal level in the early 1800s, you should definitely read this book. I've read it several times and like it more every time I read it.
faeriechylde
New member
Hey, Dernhelm, I'm thinking of grabbing a couple of Sherwood Smith books from the library: do you have any specific ones you would recommend?
"Crown Duel" and "Court Duel" probubly have the best writing; her other books "Wren to the Rescue", "Wren's Quest", and "Wren's War" are also very good. If you like them, please e-mail Firebird Books and ask them to pub. more; she has almost 40 books that are unpublished!
I've read a bunch of Stephen Lawhead's books, and I'd certainly recommend The Pendragon Cycle to everyone, but with some caveats:
I think it is a good series, and I especially liked the fact that Lawhead writes as a self-conscious Christian - however, I do not think he is a very good writer. He is not very good at setting up dramatic tension - often his situations end up in anti-climaxes; I didn't care too much for his anachronistic-style of writing: he kept going back and forth in his time periods; Arthur deals with one point in time, but then the next book in the series backtracks - it can get a bit confusing at times, and it destroys any suspense that is built up. For example, I thought that Grail was the best book in the series; however, it was not as good as it could have been because, after having read Arthur (the 3rd book in the series) I KNEW how the ending would work out - obviously Lawhead can't kill off certain characters because we know that they survive.
As much as I enjoyed the Pendragon Cycle I thought it could have been a lot better. Another example: Lawhead sets a situation up early on in the series where there is a conflict between the Druids: there are those druids who want to follow Christianity, and convert, and those druids who want to go back to the old ways of human sacrifice and paganism. This could have been developed into a really neat situation, but we really don't get anything more about this conflict - its almost as if Lawhead decided to drop it as a plot point.
Conclusion: The Pendragon Cycle is worth reading - if for nothing else, its nice to see a book on Arthur that is written from a Christian perspective. However, I wouldn't recommend getting any of Lawhead's other books - for the most part, I thought they were pretty borring.
I think it is a good series, and I especially liked the fact that Lawhead writes as a self-conscious Christian - however, I do not think he is a very good writer. He is not very good at setting up dramatic tension - often his situations end up in anti-climaxes; I didn't care too much for his anachronistic-style of writing: he kept going back and forth in his time periods; Arthur deals with one point in time, but then the next book in the series backtracks - it can get a bit confusing at times, and it destroys any suspense that is built up. For example, I thought that Grail was the best book in the series; however, it was not as good as it could have been because, after having read Arthur (the 3rd book in the series) I KNEW how the ending would work out - obviously Lawhead can't kill off certain characters because we know that they survive.
As much as I enjoyed the Pendragon Cycle I thought it could have been a lot better. Another example: Lawhead sets a situation up early on in the series where there is a conflict between the Druids: there are those druids who want to follow Christianity, and convert, and those druids who want to go back to the old ways of human sacrifice and paganism. This could have been developed into a really neat situation, but we really don't get anything more about this conflict - its almost as if Lawhead decided to drop it as a plot point.
Conclusion: The Pendragon Cycle is worth reading - if for nothing else, its nice to see a book on Arthur that is written from a Christian perspective. However, I wouldn't recommend getting any of Lawhead's other books - for the most part, I thought they were pretty borring.
GrayCloak
New member
True Chappy, but I will give Lawhead hats off on the fact that he knows his Welsh mythology. The first book in the series 'Taliesin' has parts which are so similar to the original legend of Taliesin that they could have been copied and pasted. Not to slam the author, but I thought that alot of his work was reminiscent of Mary Stewart's 'Merlin Trilogy' which was published a good deal before the first of the 'Pendragon Cycle'.
Personally I thought the 'Merlin Trilogy' was a much better series of books then the 'Pendragon Cycle' but I would still recommend Lawhead's Arthur books, if nothing else for the Merlin character in them who was, to me, the perfect portrayal of the 'druid' councilor.
And just my two cents, but I think everyone who likes King Arthur should read Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory.
Personally I thought the 'Merlin Trilogy' was a much better series of books then the 'Pendragon Cycle' but I would still recommend Lawhead's Arthur books, if nothing else for the Merlin character in them who was, to me, the perfect portrayal of the 'druid' councilor.
And just my two cents, but I think everyone who likes King Arthur should read Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory.
DryadofLanternWaste
New member
On the topic of Lawhead has anyone read his Song of Albion Trilogy? They're pretty interesting though they start off dreadfully slow and end with kind of a what not fair/couldn't you come up with something better. I think the only charcter I truly appreciated was Tegid.
anyway moving on.
Another author I liked, though the writing style is simplistic, is Robert Don Hughes, he's pretty original, though mostly out of print. His Pelmen Trilogy offers more promise and doesn't fulfill it and is in that light saddening. Still, I would recommend them. His two prequels: The Forging of the Dragon and the Faithful Traitor are better.
Madeline L'Engle is good for elementary/middle school first time around, I didn't find them as good the second time. Someone mentioned before anything Tolkien: I agree.
The order I would recommend is LotR, Sil, UT, Lays of Beleriand (If you like poetry). I personally disliked the Hobbit. *throws up hands to block angry Hobbit Lovers mob*
Screwtape letters, Space Trilogy, anything Lewis...
If I think of anything else I'll post it.
anyway moving on.
Another author I liked, though the writing style is simplistic, is Robert Don Hughes, he's pretty original, though mostly out of print. His Pelmen Trilogy offers more promise and doesn't fulfill it and is in that light saddening. Still, I would recommend them. His two prequels: The Forging of the Dragon and the Faithful Traitor are better.
Madeline L'Engle is good for elementary/middle school first time around, I didn't find them as good the second time. Someone mentioned before anything Tolkien: I agree.
The order I would recommend is LotR, Sil, UT, Lays of Beleriand (If you like poetry). I personally disliked the Hobbit. *throws up hands to block angry Hobbit Lovers mob*
Screwtape letters, Space Trilogy, anything Lewis...
If I think of anything else I'll post it.
faeriechylde
New member
Thanks, Dernhelm, I'll check those out.
Dryad: Watch out! I'm the Angry Hobbit Lover! Haha, just kidding. I do love The Hobbit, but I won't beat you up...
I disagree with you on Madeleine L'Engle, too. She has written some books in which nothing supernatural (at least overtly) ever happens, and I find those to be so boring I could barely read them the first time, not to mention "the second time around," as you put it. However, I think her time/space travel books are amazing works of art, especially Many Waters and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I have read those several times and never get tired of them. I think they have some deep thoughts in them that few elementary/middle-schoolers could fathom, so I would be wary of giving them up utterly after that age.
Dryad: Watch out! I'm the Angry Hobbit Lover! Haha, just kidding. I do love The Hobbit, but I won't beat you up...
I disagree with you on Madeleine L'Engle, too. She has written some books in which nothing supernatural (at least overtly) ever happens, and I find those to be so boring I could barely read them the first time, not to mention "the second time around," as you put it. However, I think her time/space travel books are amazing works of art, especially Many Waters and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I have read those several times and never get tired of them. I think they have some deep thoughts in them that few elementary/middle-schoolers could fathom, so I would be wary of giving them up utterly after that age.
Ithilien
New member
I highly recommend the book the Neverending Story. In my opinion, it is the best fantasy ever writtn. It is about ever reader's dream of being magically transported to the world in the text. It is beautifully written and has a dreamy quality. It is definately my favourite book of all times.