I finally had a chance to read this! Also thanks for doing this!
Fantasy usually delivers the world building aspect - and if it doesn't, come on, why are you even writing fantasy?
That made me laugh XD But, yeah, it's true XD
It's really interesting to read this! A lot of what you said is what I would have suspected. Jeez, dude, you are going to end up talking me into reading Pride and Prejudice with the way you talk about it. Although I don't see it on my classics shelf so can I borrow it from you when I get to that point?
Also, I have to agree about the movies fights. It's kind of annoying. And, sadly, it's true about Terry Goodkind. By the way, were you the one who told me he's started writing Richard and Kahlan again?
The Omen Machine -
Here's the excerpt:
Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room.
Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn’t actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens.
The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing.
The first time I read that first sentence it was like someone had thrown a number of randomly generated words together and it made no sense to me -- after that, I realized what it was trying to say and my next thought was that the person who write this summary really needed to consider editing it to make more sense because that was terribly written-- and my third thought which came immediately after that was, "...oh, damn. This is an excerpt straight from the book, isn't it?"
siiiigh.
And yet, I know I'm going to read it because I liked Richard and Kahlan enough back in the day, and his first two books were so amazing, that I always have this niggling hope that the next book he writes will reflect what he did so well in the beginning in some manner. What I think is the biggest shame with TG is that his first two books were brilliantly done with the changing character narratives.. he had it down to an art with staying with a subplot just long enough to get a person addicted and forget about what was previously happening to stopping on a cliffhanger and throwing the reader into the middle of another plot, to the point that I had a hell of a time ever putting the damn book down. I wish so much that he'd been able to stick to that.
Sometimes (oftentimes), I think the worst thing that can happen to an author is they become famous, and thus expected to start cranking out the books in a hit series on too quick of a schedule for them to compensate the speed with their originality.
I haven't read Wise Man's Fear yet but at the very least, Patrick Rothfuss is someone who I have high hopes won't fall into that trap and so far have the impression he hasn't. But he's sadly a minority, it seems.
You should read Pride and Prejudice! The writing might put you off at first, but it is very conversational for its era, and I personally love the way it is written.
Also, if I get to talk with you in excited Ais-speak when you are excited about Pride and Prejudice, I may expire with giddyness.
Also, that Goodkind quote - wow. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air Really? And what, exactly, is that like? I have very rarely seen otherworldly collections of spectral shapes. Actually, never seen either spectral shapes or an otherworldly collection. ALSO - aren't they actually a otherworldly collection of spectral shapes? So that would be like me saying "Like a man walking down the street, I walked down the street." ARGH. Damn, I think - I think a part of my brain just died.
There is just too much good fantasy out there to waste my time. I wish there was more in the sword and sorcery realm - that seem particularly susceptible to authors just cranking out books. But I just have to look at de Lint - a book every one or two years, with some of the same side characters and main characters as the other Newford books, but with a story completely different, distinct, and satisfying. Show me a sword and sorcery series that does that, and I'll - well, read it.
To be fair, I don't know for certain whether that was a quote straight from the book but..... yeah, it probably was. I found it on Amazon in the review section.
It does make it seem like TG's writing has gone downhill even more, which is SUPER UNFORTUNATE ARGH.
It's true that there's a lot of other stuff out there to look at instead... I don't know yet if I'll even bother reading the thing or whether I'll just read a synopsis of it later.
Who else is any good aside from de Lint?
Also, sword and sorcery-- wouldn't the Tamir Trilogy somewhat fall under that category?
Fantasy usually delivers the world building aspect - and if it doesn't, come on, why are you even writing fantasy?
That made me laugh XD But, yeah, it's true XD
It's really interesting to read this! A lot of what you said is what I would have suspected. Jeez, dude, you are going to end up talking me into reading Pride and Prejudice with the way you talk about it. Although I don't see it on my classics shelf so can I borrow it from you when I get to that point?
Also, I have to agree about the movies fights. It's kind of annoying. And, sadly, it's true about Terry Goodkind. By the way, were you the one who told me he's started writing Richard and Kahlan again?
The Omen Machine -
Here's the excerpt:
Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room.
Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn’t actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens.
The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing.
The first time I read that first sentence it was like someone had thrown a number of randomly generated words together and it made no sense to me -- after that, I realized what it was trying to say and my next thought was that the person who write this summary really needed to consider editing it to make more sense because that was terribly written-- and my third thought which came immediately after that was, "...oh, damn. This is an excerpt straight from the book, isn't it?"
siiiigh.
And yet, I know I'm going to read it because I liked Richard and Kahlan enough back in the day, and his first two books were so amazing, that I always have this niggling hope that the next book he writes will reflect what he did so well in the beginning in some manner. What I think is the biggest shame with TG is that his first two books were brilliantly done with the changing character narratives.. he had it down to an art with staying with a subplot just long enough to get a person addicted and forget about what was previously happening to stopping on a cliffhanger and throwing the reader into the middle of another plot, to the point that I had a hell of a time ever putting the damn book down. I wish so much that he'd been able to stick to that.
Sometimes (oftentimes), I think the worst thing that can happen to an author is they become famous, and thus expected to start cranking out the books in a hit series on too quick of a schedule for them to compensate the speed with their originality.
I haven't read Wise Man's Fear yet but at the very least, Patrick Rothfuss is someone who I have high hopes won't fall into that trap and so far have the impression he hasn't. But he's sadly a minority, it seems.
Reply
Also, if I get to talk with you in excited Ais-speak when you are excited about Pride and Prejudice, I may expire with giddyness.
Also, that Goodkind quote - wow.
Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air
Really? And what, exactly, is that like? I have very rarely seen otherworldly collections of spectral shapes. Actually, never seen either spectral shapes or an otherworldly collection. ALSO - aren't they actually a otherworldly collection of spectral shapes? So that would be like me saying "Like a man walking down the street, I walked down the street." ARGH. Damn, I think - I think a part of my brain just died.
There is just too much good fantasy out there to waste my time. I wish there was more in the sword and sorcery realm - that seem particularly susceptible to authors just cranking out books. But I just have to look at de Lint - a book every one or two years, with some of the same side characters and main characters as the other Newford books, but with a story completely different, distinct, and satisfying. Show me a sword and sorcery series that does that, and I'll - well, read it.
Reply
It does make it seem like TG's writing has gone downhill even more, which is SUPER UNFORTUNATE ARGH.
It's true that there's a lot of other stuff out there to look at instead... I don't know yet if I'll even bother reading the thing or whether I'll just read a synopsis of it later.
Who else is any good aside from de Lint?
Also, sword and sorcery-- wouldn't the Tamir Trilogy somewhat fall under that category?
Reply
Leave a comment