Re: The book thread

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:15 am

Thelos wrote:
Ragaresh wrote:

Indeed, you should try to read books in their intented laguage, things might seem different due to the translations. A few years back i stopped reading in Finnish unless it's from a Finnish author.

Well that's fine and all but you shouldn't let this prevent you from reading the greats from world Literature in a language utterly alien to you. I'm not going to learn Spanish just so I can read Don Quixote, thank you very much.

Just to clarify i ment in english books in english mainly. =)

by **Amaryl** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:19 am

So last year I read a Cthulhu omnibus from the 60s, since I was generally curious what all the crazy hype was about. And I have to say, The Call was definately an interresting Novella, albiet for its contemporary value as a book written in the 20s. and insightful into the author. like his constant references to "mongrel" for bushmen or Half-blacks.

but besides from "Call" I rather found the rest "Meh" so maybe some of you guys can explain to me the specific Charm of the Mythos.

by **Lexgrad** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:28 am

It is Fashionable and we must all follow get the edgy underground pop reference or lose internet points. Incidently just google the words, no one has read it.

Eep better turn off my withering scorn mode!

by **Thelos** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:37 am

And to double clarify, the only langauges in which I can read are Dutch, English and German, and maaaaaaaybe French if I use a dictionairy. It has to be simple French though, like Le petit prince

by **Lexgrad** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:44 am

Le Petit mort?

by **Eowale** Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:05 pm

Le baguette up le ass. *Nods*

by **Thelos** Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:09 pm

Ironicly I think "Baguette" is actually a female word. Pretty sure.

by **Rmuffn** Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:14 pm

Merde..

by **Grufftoof** Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:03 pm

I'll check at home Amaryl.

As for Cthulhu...

Lovecraft was a pretty (if not completely) terrible writer. Some interesting ideas. But quite terrible.

The whole mythos has interest for being different (radically so at the time) and being so expansive.

You want to read more try The King in Yellow. Much better than most Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror and The Thing on the Doorstep I have soft spots for.

Soft spots with tentacles and undulating maws.

by **Muzjhath** Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:06 pm

Started reading Strangre in a Strangeland today, after had it lying on my bedside table for a few months.
Still need to finish Consider Phlebas, got stuck at one point in it. Sad since I was enjoing it.

by **Amaryl** Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:29 pm

grufftoof wrote:I'll check at home Amaryl.

As for Cthulhu...

Lovecraft was a pretty (if not completely) terrible writer. Some interesting ideas. But quite terrible.

The whole mythos has interest for being different (radically so at the time) and being so expansive.

You want to read more try The King in Yellow. Much better than most Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror and The Thing on the Doorstep I have soft spots for.

Soft spots with tentacles and undulating maws.

Thanks, Gruff Smile

Though I've had my curiousity for Lovecraft or the mythos sated already since reading that omnibus. Though I do find it an interesting backstory with the Wierd-Tales magazine and the fact that the mythos is one Big Creative Commons project, where every writer could add their own work in that universe. And it holds some value as an example for people interested in Copyrights and their ramifications. But as far as entertaining reading material, "Meh" was my opinion on it. so i'll hold off on more Smile

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:37 pm

Speaking about Terry Pratchett's discworld series. Anyone unable to think the turtle in WoW is a "ripoff" from discworld? Razz

by **Thelos** Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:46 pm

Ragaresh wrote:Speaking about Terry Pratchett's discworld series. Anyone unable to think the turtle in WoW is a "ripoff" from discworld?

What turtle? ( in WoW)

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:55 pm

Thelos wrote:
Ragaresh wrote:Speaking about Terry Pratchett's discworld series. Anyone unable to think the turtle in WoW is a "ripoff" from discworld?

What turtle? ( in WoW)

Well it's not there yet, but "soon".

by **Thelos** Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:58 pm

The Pandaren starting area, you mean? The island on the back of a turtle?

If that's the case, then;

Dont be absurd. Islands on the back of turtles have been a staple of Asian (and other) mythologies since the dawning of...Well, stories. Its a truly ancient trope. Might as well call it a rip off of that island on the back of a turtle from the finale of the Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'd be just as justified to.

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:07 pm

Thelos wrote:The Pandaren starting area, you mean? The island on the back of a turtle?

If that's the case, then;

Dont be absurd. Islands on the back of turtles have been a staple of Asian (and other) mythologies since the dawning of...Well, stories. Its a truly ancient trope. Might as well call it a rip off of that island on the back of a turtle from the finale of the Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'd be just as justified to.

My knowlodge is limited on turtle culture therefore i wasnt absurd at the time, thanks to my ignorance! But having read discworld and it having the whole world on a turtle could not make me think of the starting area. And i added quotations as not to seem so serious, or literal. =)

Anyway back to topic, Wheel of Time series anyone, can anyone tell me if it gets better after the 7-9 books?

by **Amaryl** Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:28 pm

Brandon Sanderson manages to not be bogged down in the Tea Drinking Habits of every single Aes Sedai.

The last trilogy, out of which two have come out regarding Tarmon Gaidon, have been pretty good.

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:36 pm

Thank god, after the "beginning" books i got kind of boring-ish, now i might just continue onwards with the rest of the ...13 or so books. Actually i have to start from the beginning, i've forgotten a lot.

by **Muzjhath** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:12 pm

Well, The Wheel of Time is one of the three-four by far most overrated fantasy series out there. Enjoyable, yes. Great, no.

But yes, at book 11 it takes a turn for the better, and Sanderson writes Jordan better than he did for the last ten years of his career in the latest two books. While you know, advancing the story at the same time.

By the way, anyone else here who's read the Kingkiller Cronnicle? (Or well the two books so far released).

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:23 pm

Muzjhath wrote:Well, The Wheel of Time is one of the three-four by far most overrated fantasy series out there. Enjoyable, yes. Great, no.

But yes, at book 11 it takes a turn for the better, and Sanderson writes Jordan better than he did for the last ten years of his career in the latest two books. While you know, advancing the story at the same time.

Did you count "New Spring" as book 1? Some people say it's not the actual first book, just the prequel or something. (propably liked it the most, weirdly enough)

Also, im definately looking for a new series if not Wheel of Time, same setting basicly. I liked LOTR (the books ofc), Jordan's Belgariad. The more books the better, i hate when a series end, but i don't want to choose a series because of their lenght, i want them to be good aswell. And the story interesting and slow.. hard to explain, but my examples should give a good direction to what im looking for. Smile

Pl0x i need fantasy books for inspiration for RP, i haven't read anything in ahwile and my roleplay is crappier than ever.

by **Muzjhath** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:27 pm

Jordan's Belgariad? Don't you mean Eddings?

So far the Kingkiller Cronnicles have been fantastic, two books out of supposedly three released.
If you want a biiig series that's fantastic, The Malazan Book of the Fallen. But it is considerably darker and more gritty than both WoT and LotR.
A song of Ice and Fire is a good read, fantastic intrigues and plots. Even if opinions about which books are the best vary a lot. Also darker than those you mentioned.
(To set some example, had Frodo or Rand lived in the two later series, the would both have been dead before leaving their home regions).

by **Guldujenu** Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:33 pm

Muzjhath wrote:Jordan's Belgariad? Don't you mean Eddings?

So far the Kingkiller Cronnicles have been fantastic, two books out of supposedly three released.
If you want a biiig series that's fantastic, The Malazan Book of the Fallen. But it is considerably darker and more gritty than both WoT and LotR.
A song of Ice and Fire is a good read, fantastic intrigues and plots. Even if opinions about which books are the best vary a lot. Also darker than those you mentioned.
(To set some example, had Frodo or Rand lived in the two later series, the would both have been dead before leaving their home regions).

Lol, whoops, sorry i've been up for ahwile (my crazy work shifts). Also, darker and gritty is no problem! A song of ice and fire sounds so damn familiar, i think my brother might have it in Finnish.

Also i just remembered, i loved Stephen Kings books (the one's i've read). But i haven't read Dark Tower, any good, if anyone's read the series? O_o

Edit: Darker fantasy books somehow make me more intriugued, if it gives me a bigger impact in my reading experience, im all game!

by **Amaryl** Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:24 am

Muzjhath wrote:Well, The Wheel of Time is one of the three-four by far most overrated fantasy series out there. Enjoyable, yes. Great, no.

So, why do you call it "By Far Most Overrated"? Mind, I don't think its a great series either, but going around claiming its "overrated" just because you don't like it as much as others, seems a bit stingy? Heck, I dislike LOTR with a passion, but i'm not going around calling it overrated just because of that.

by **Eowale** Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:42 am

There's one book I havn't read that people claim is great.
Lord of the Flies. Yay or nay?

by **Muzjhath** Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:45 am

I call it that because I find the langauge with which it is written to be quite standard, nothing great. The plot is all in all rather simple. Big, yes, extremely deep, no. Just having a few hundred characters doesn't make something amazing. When I've reread it I've never noticed the small magic threads of buildup that's everywhere in for example GRRMs SoIaF (using it as an example).
Yes, many characters come again in different ways but there is mostly no hint of it the first time they appear.
Then it comes to the fact that from book 7/8 until 10 over half the books feel like filler (true, he's far from alone in getting lost in big works, it is quite easy).
There is also the minor petpeeve I have about the timeline in the books, since I can't get it to work in my head nowhere that not more time has passed between book one and book thirteen.

I could write a longer and deeper post. But I'd need to skimthrough some of the books for detail (I'm far to lazy and have better things to do rght now), and it'd involve quite a few spoilers.
Also, back when I was 15/16 I saw the books as awesome amazing fantastic things. So it's not like I read them with a bad frame of mind. I just came to a realisation after reading authers with better control of the langauge as well as better structured epic plots.

PS, LOTR only deserves about half the hype it gets. It didn't become the "mainstream" fantasy backing until late seventies early eghties for people who actually wrote the genre. Before that older Sword and Sorcery works (For example Conan) was far more proniminent for author inspiration.

by Sponsored content