I like books...

Post by **CoopCommando** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:05 am

Well, after the first book, the character growth (what little there was) stopped completely. If anything, Richard and all the other characters just get dumber and dumber. This phenomena is all too common and is quite depressing, because it means that the author is losing touch with the characters and is just writing to fill up space IMO.

How many people have read Eragon? I'm really wanting to read the second one but i don't remember when it is supposed to come out. The one thing i like about Eragon is that despite forced changes to the characters, they don't change who they are. They're still the same person as they were before, but just a little less ignorant/innocent, which i like.

Post by **Kabol** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:47 pm

Well, after the first book, the character growth (what little there was) stopped completely. If anything, Richard and all the other characters just get dumber and dumber. This phenomena is all too common and is quite depressing, because it means that the author is losing touch with the characters and is just writing to fill up space IMO.

How many people have read Eragon? I'm really wanting to read the second one but i don't remember when it is supposed to come out. The one thing i like about Eragon is that despite forced changes to the characters, they don't change who they are. They're still the same person as they were before, but just a little less ignorant/innocent, which i like.

This is why George R. R. Martin has written pretty much the best trilogy I have ever read. Well, except that his characters do change who they are over time. He could royally fuck the story up in his remaining books and this will still be true.

Similarly, Robert Jordan's first 5 books of WoT are really, really good. Then the characters turn to utter shit and it becomes a contest of how many tragic ironies can he draw between each character's relation with the opposite sex. I could still go back a re-read the first five books though.

Post by **GraaceAndWill** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:43 pm

Sword of Truth isn't all THAT bad... but yeah the first 3 were by far the best. Although, Pillars of Creation was actually a wonderful book out of that series IMO, added a new character and gave a ton of character development for her, you could pick that book out of the rest and read it and seriously hardly miss a beat so long as you read like the first 3 so you knew whom Richard etc were. I'll pick up Chainfire here shortly... one of my problems with any series is that if I liked it, I'm going to want to finish it... no matter how horrid some of the books may be.

For the record the wizard's name is Zedd.

Wheel of Time I'm trying my best to grind though... I'm ready for book 9 or 10... either way it almost makes me want to gouge my eyes out... the first 3 were good, 4 & 5 were almost as good... after that... it's generally sucked more ass than a horny prison bitch.

I like most anything Mercedes Lackey has put out. I love Valdemar... it's a good unique spin on the entire fantasy genre IMO.

Terry Brooks is continuing the Shannara series... I THINK that High Druid series will be the end of it... but not 100% sure... The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara was good... High Druid I've not decided my stance on yet.

agrymnbrother · Post by **agrymnbrother** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:51 am

Has anyone ever read any of Neil Gaiman's stuff? American Gods and Neverwhere were both excellent. Gaiman's work in the comic industry is enjoyable as well. Everyone that says comic books are not literary works should read the Sandman.

Post by **Gilmore** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:54 am

I absolutely loved Neverwhere. It was lent to me by a friend after one of the Cthulhu games that he was storyteller for used the concept of us slowly disappearing from society as we learned more about the dark arts. Very very good book,and I've been meaning to borrow more of his stuff from my friend's collection.

Post by **Zaklu** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:04 pm

Kinda a dead topic, but the Nightside series by Simon R. Green are also very good. It's kinda like a detecive novel with a Cthulhu-ish bent. Basically, there is a solid square kilometer (who knows for sure? It's been reputed to grow as needed) inside London that is the most twisted place in the world. The best way to describe it is a dimensional crossroads. The whole series is excellent. I can lend any of the books to anyone as needed if you want to read them (don't have time for them anyways. Damn summer reading *grumble*)

Post by **Payndar Circusdorf** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:06 pm

Zaklu wrote: Basically, there is a solid square kilometer (who knows for sure? It's been reputed to grow as needed) inside London that is the most twisted place in the world.

Must be in the East End.

Post by **Zaklu** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:36 pm

Actually, they reveal it's real location. China town.

Post by **Payndar Circusdorf** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:40 pm

That is about a block away. I consider that close enough, and probably a feint.

Post by **SKoRPioN** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:14 pm

Some of my favorite books of all time include:
Stephen King: It, The Stand, Pet Cemetery
Isaac Asimov: Foundation Series
Michael Chriton: Congo, Timeline, Andromeda Strain
Dan Brown: Angels and Demons, The DiVinci Code (must read stuff here)
Tom Clancy: Red Storm Rising (amazing book)

Tons of other shit I can't think of. Personally though, I really dig Horror, Sci Fi and Thriller novels the best. Although the occasional comedy, like Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy is good as well.

Vengnce · Post by **Vengnce** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:57 pm

Faith of the Fallen is one of the best books I have ever read (Sword of Truth).

Post by **GraaceAndWill** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:11 pm

Vengnce wrote:Faith of the Fallen is one of the best books I have ever read (Sword of Truth).

/agree

Chainfire was a lot better than I expected. Chainfire + Phantom (unreleased yet) + untitled are supposedly to be the trilogy to end the Sword of Truth series... This series while good by and large, has some books that just kinda fall flat or just outright preach to the reader over and over and over... and he tends to go back and give most everything a once-over in every book... "this person did that back when...blah blah"

Post by **CoopCommando** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:07 pm

I like the first Sword of Truth book... the 2nd one was alright... and the 3rd one was just bad. The characters stopped changing except that they got continually stupider.

Post by **GraaceAndWill** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:38 pm

Funny you should mention that, I came to start disliking the core characters and liking everyone else... Nicci, Cara, Adie, Nathan, Jensen...