Mal ,'Serenity'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
I read one and did not care for it.
Not everything is for everyone, and to be fair, she has a few clunkers (Diplomatic Immunity, Cryoburn, Ethan of Athos imo; and possibly the Sharing Knife novels). But the Vorkosigan novels, at least most of them, are on my "re-read for comfort" shelf. And they translate well to audio--I've listened to The Curse of Chalion on audiobook twice.
Right now, I'm on a (belated) Robin McKinley kick. I read Sunshine over the holidays and enjoyed it quite a bit, although it feels a bit too much like the first book in a series, what with potentially interesting but sketchy world-building.
The next was Beauty, her first take on B&B story back in the 70's. That one was a bit "eh". It was a quick read, but a bit too simple and hewed too close to the original story to make it special. I do have Rose Daughter in my possession -- not sure if it'd be worthwhile reading yet another take on the story from the same author, but the paperback is small enough to pack when I go on a vacation next week, I guess.
She's got another series, right? Sword and the Crown? Wait, Hero and the Crown, I think, is the first book. I have it somewhere at home. Is that one good?
I finished The City and The City last night. Easily my favorite Mieville so far.
She's got another series, right? Sword and the Crown? Wait, Hero and the Crown, I think, is the first book. I have it somewhere at home. Is that one good?
There's two - The Blue Sword, which she wrote first, and The Hero and the Crown, which is about the mythology in The Blue Sword and is set centuries before it.
They're my favourite of all her books, so I say read them!
And they translate well to audio--I've listened to The Curse of Chalion on audiobook twice.
Ooh, perhaps that can be next after A Series of Unfortunate Events. Well, okay, no, the library doesn't have it.
I finished The City and The City last night. Easily my favorite Mieville so far.
That's on my List. It's been long enough since I read Perdido Street Station that I want to reread it and then read the other New Crobuzon books.
I like Beauty much better than Rose Daughter. I like The Blue Sword better than The Hero and the Crown. I love Spindle's End like crazy.
Forgotten Beasts of Eld is one of my most favorite books of all time. That's by McKinley. The Riddle-Master of Hed series was a disappointment to me when I first read it, but when I read it five years later it was immensely satisfying. I had to grow up to appreciate the ending.
re: Vokosigan A Civil Campaign is even funnier after having read most of the previous books, so you understand the underpinnings of the assumptions going on. And Cordelia is one of the most magnificent characters ever. She is every bit the match to Miles' Dad and is rightfully respected.
I don't tend to read a ton of SF/F, but love me some Vorkosigans.
I am definitely a fan of the Chalion books, and being a romance-lover, adored the Cordelia books more than the Miles ones in the Vorkosigan-verse. But I liked the Miles ones too. I am not, however, a big fan of the Sharing Knife ones. I read the first two or three and haven't bothered to seek out if there are more by now.
There's two - The Blue Sword, which she wrote first, and The Hero and the Crown, which is about the mythology in The Blue Sword and is set centuries before it.
Total love, yes!
I love McKinley's older stuff, but didn't much like Spindle's End, and strongly disliked Dragonhaven. I'm a bit 'eh' on Sunshine: I'm bored with vampires.
Forgotten Beasts of Eld is one of my most favorite books of all time. That's by McKinley. The Riddle-Master of Hed series was a disappointment to me when I first read it, but when I read it five years later it was immensely satisfying. I had to grow up to appreciate the ending.
Actually, that's Patricia McKillip, who is by many objective measures a far better writer than McKinley. Their styles aren't very similar: McKillip is far more poetic, and she's never gone back to the fairly-mainstream storytelling she did in the Riddlemaster sequence.
If I had to choose, I'd take McKillip over McKinley, even though I have great fondness for the Damar novels.