[Book Reviews] Long overdue!

[thewronghands]

Comments

[madrun]

*shakes head in amazement*

I can't believe you liked that Elizabeth Bear series!!!! I have loved everything else I have ever read of hers but I just couldn't get into that one... maybe because I started with the second book?

[thewronghands]

I hated "Undertow", but I liked this one. Starting with the second book, though, it will make a whole lot of less sense. If you ever feel like giving it another go, read "Blood and Iron" first. You'll start out actually caring about Matthew Magus rather than being "wtf emo kid".

[helen99]

> I finally managed to read a version of the Boudica story without being mad for the
> next week

I understand the sentiment. There are some stories that shouldn't be messed with, and Boudica is one of those.

[thewronghands]

I have another three versions on my wishlist, but I can only take one every few months. Otherwise, AAAGH GET THE ROMANS, a couple thousand years too late. [grin]

[wire_mother]

"Much like "Titanic", you know what has to happen at the end, and you can see it coming a million miles away, but it can still be a bit wrenching when it does."

i actually prefer this sort of thing to a completely unpredictable plot. the latter can easily destroy my interest, whereas the former keeps me interested through wanting to see how things come to pass. i also read the last paragraph or two of novels right after reading the first chapter or so.

[wire_mother]

also, i was not actually aware that Bradley had written sequels to Mists of Avalon, or that others had gotten in on her Arthurian vision.

[lwood]

To clarify:

MZB wrote Mists, although dpaxson, as her sister-in-law, watched it grow and gave a lot of emotional support.

After it, MZB had a stroke, and the next proposed book, The Forest House, showed it. So, Diana stepped in to make it make sense when MZB was no longr able to do so.

The other books in the Avalon series were increasingly written by Diana, although for publicity reasons the publishers didn't credit her on the front cover until after Marion's death.

None of them are sequels--they're all prequels, going back to Ancestors of Avalon, which ties Avalon in with Marion's earlier Atlantis books, Web of Light and Web of Darkness.

Hope that helps!

-- Lorrie

[thewronghands]

She lost me at Atlantis (everyone does, too many dreadful pickup attempts by Sensitive New Age Guys in my past for me to even try reading anything about it), but I enjoyed this one.

[semper_augustus]

"Much like "Titanic", you know what has to happen at the end, and you can see it coming a million miles away, but it can still be a bit wrenching when it does." Much like Oedipus. In fact I would argue the tragedy is heightened thereby.

Also, a recommendation: Empires of Trust by Thomas F. Madden. It is a quick read, a comparison of American history with that of the Roman Republic. And the author is an ancient/medieval historian who has done modern history research, not a modern historian who has done ancient history research.

[thewronghands]

Oh, that sounds great! Thank you!

[stolen_tea]

I've got a book by Draeger and Smith, "Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts", which takes a similarly big-picture view. And is also a bit dated, being from 1969, but I don't recall anything *too* wince-worthy, given when it came out.

I found it quite useful in providing a general background on the martial arts, given my mongrel heritage. But it doesn't go into detail on techniques, and touches on training methods only as part of its description.

[thewronghands]

Yeah, he's written a bunch. There's a set on Shaolin that I was tempted by, even though I know nothing about Shaolin.

I have a VERY difficult time learning martial arts from a book. I've tried and tried. Philosophy and pointers, sometimes, but not technique from scratch.

[stolen_tea]

I completely agree with the bit about learning from books. They're also useful for form references, especially if they have large amounts of white space for taking notes in. :) But for techniques from scratch, I doubt any book would be as useful as 5 minutes of back-and-forth with a master.