"Just sitting here watching our barren lives pass us by...

[lettered]

Oh, look, a cockroach."

Can we do that thing where you give me a subject and I list TOP 5? Please? Because I'm bored, and needs should definitely be met. As long as it doesn't require ointments the next day.

Comments

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad you're a GGK fan! Have you ever been to his web site (www.brightweavings.com)? The forum used to be great and sometimes he'd join in on discussions. Did you know they're making a movie of The Lions of Al-Rassan? That one's my favorite--so I'm anxious, but also excited.

Robin McKinley is excellent. Her first novel, "Beauty", is a retelling of beauty and the beast. It's kind of young adult oriented, but I still read it all the time. She's done several other retellings of fairytales. "Deerskin" is much more adult. The icon I usually use (the one in this post) is from the cover of that novel.

She has also done two fantasy (adventure oriented, instead of fairytale oriented) novels (set in one world), which are also young adult oriented. I recommend "The Blue Sword" if that's where you want to start. The other "Hero and the Crown" won the Newberry, but I don't think it's as good.

Most recently, McKinley wrote a book called "Sunshine," which deals with vampires and a sort of Buffyesque heroine. I did not enjoy it very much (as I have not enjoyed any of her latest novels), but I have been told since it has many nods to Buffy which I didn't notice because I read it before I'd ever watched the shows.

Jennifer Roberson writes bad fantasy. I do not recommend it. However, her tale of Robin Hood, called Lady of the Forrest, is really, really entertaining. It's a historical romance, which might be just up your alley from what I understand you to be currently writing. It has a sequel, called Lady of Sherwood, which is not as good (interestingly, Robin McKinley has also written a novel about the Robin Hood legend, called Outlaws of Sherwood, which I don't think is as great as some of her works). She's written another historical romance set in Scotland, but I also don't think it's as good.

Mostly I just like Lady of the Forrest. It reads as easily as a romance novel but seems pretty historically accurate and deals with a few weighty concepts without getting incredibly thinky. I think a lot of people on our mutual flists would enjoy it (one day I'm going to do a post about both of these authors for that reason.)

Thank you for sounding so interested. I'm going to stop rambling now ;o)

[violaclaire.livejournal.com]

Sorry for multiple postings--there was bad coding.

I'm stopping into ramble cause . . . Robin McKinley

I think Robin McKinley's style varies a lot from book to book, and lately it's been a lot more purple-prose-y than it used to be (especially in Rose Daughter and The Outlaws of Sherwood). Which I like, but it can be dense and difficult to get through.

As for The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, I think that a great deal depends on the order in which you read them. Most people I know that read THatC first liked that one better, and vice versa for TBS. I believe Robin McKinley meant for TBS to be read first, but either works. (Read THatC first. Like it better.)

[violaclaire.livejournal.com]

. . . And there's still bad coding. But now it's not as bad.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Well, I read TBS first, so I can't disprove your theory. But I really cannot imagine myself like HatC better. There are very specific things about TBS that just . . . hit my kinks. It's a perfect fantasy adventure for me. HatC is alright, but it just doesn't do for me what TBS does.

What I'm having trouble with in her later novels is how convoluted the plots are. The writing is more sophisticated in some ways, but I have not like the characters and stories as much. I don't think she's as adept at building complex worlds and ideas as she is at simple straightforward story-telling. Imo. But then again, I love Beauty and pretty much hate Rose Daughter.

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

Didn't know about the website, or the movie. That's fabulous! I love that book, but then, I love most of his books. I'm not as fond of his first literary effort, the Finovar series, but even there, you can see the potential he has. Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan are just achingly beautiful work. I have three more of his books on my shelf that I haven't been able to get to, because of too much else on my plate right now, but I dearly, dearly love his style, which kind of defines "lyrical" for me.

If you like his works, have you tried George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, which starts with A Game of Thrones? I also used to adore Tanith Lee, and can't recommend Night's Master the first book in her Flat Earth series, enough. It's an erotic, adults only, Arabian Nights for adults. She wrote a lot of novels I loved in the 70's and 80's, but I kind of lost track of her in the 90's, when she started going in a direction with one series that I couldn't quite get into. That said, I understand she's coming out with a sequel to one of my favorite books by her, The Silver Metal Lover which will be called something like Metallic Love which I'll have to read on princple.

Thanks for the details about the other books. I"ll have to check them out.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Agree about Fionavar. I'm guessing the other three on your shelf are the Sarantium Mosaic and his latest, Last Light of Heaven (or something). They aren't as good as Tigana and Lions (esp LLoH), but they're alright.

Thanks for the heads up on Martin and Tanith Lee. I've heard of them both, and have been meaning to read Lee forever. Night's Master sounds particularly interesting--thank you!

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

Yep. Those are the ones on my shelf. And, Lee at her best is extraordinary. If you only read one book she's written, it should by Night's Master because I don't think she's ever been better, though arguably, she has often been just as good.

And while I haven't gotten into a lot of Martin's work, the Game of Thrones hooked me, my spouse and our child on the series.

In the sciene fiction/fantasy genres, have you ever read Roger Zelazny? What about Glen Cook?

In Historical Romance, have you read Roberta Gellis and as you are a Jane Austen fan, have you read Georgette Heyer?

So many books, so little time...

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for all the recs. No, I haven't read any of the authors you mention--I've been turned of of sci fi/fantasy for quite a while, as it began to seem like there was nothing good left to read. I think I just got lazy in my hunt for good authors, so I'll definitely check out your recs.

On the historical front, I have been meaning to read Georgette Heyer . . . and I'll check out Gellis. Thanks again!