How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?

Jayne ,'The Message'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

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."


Steph L. - Jun 15, 2012 10:45:25 am PDT #19168 of 28342
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine

I just want him to get to book 5 so I can flail at him about Remnant!Tanith, which I am still NOT OVER.

The 7th book is released in the UK August 30, BTW. Only 2 1/2 months!


-t - Jun 15, 2012 10:54:05 am PDT #19169 of 28342
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Oh, very good! I had completely lost track of when the next one was coming out.


Connie Neil - Jun 15, 2012 12:09:19 pm PDT #19170 of 28342
brillig

All of the Skullduggery books at my library are always checked out. I guess I should just put my name on the list like everyone else.

Also, I just ran into a book that I couldn't bear to continue, and it's very odd. It's by Mercedes Lackey, who I normally like, and an author by the name of Roberta Gellis, and it's set in Tudor England with the Fair Folk influencing who will rule after Henry. I figured I'd eat this up happily, but I'm finding it nigh on unreadable and I'm not sure why. I think there's too much explanation that feels like internal dialogue--or monologue, and the parts that have characters actually interacting with each other are too short and don't seem to say anything.

This doesn't feel like something written by writers--at least one of them--with a few decades experience at writing. It's called This Scepter'd Isle.

Then I picked up "The Sorceress and the Cygnet" by Patricia McKillip and remembered why she's such a stunning writer. In two pages there were evocative character moments and a description of a culture that made sense. She's so good.


Consuela - Jun 15, 2012 5:33:42 pm PDT #19171 of 28342
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Roberta Gellis is a romance novelist who has very good research into medieval life, but I wouldn't say her prose or pacing is very good.


Connie Neil - Jun 15, 2012 7:09:24 pm PDT #19172 of 28342
brillig

Huh. So I guess Roberta is handling the historical elements and Mercedes is handling the elves. The only problem with the McKillip is that it's all beautiful but perhaps could be a little quicker in the plot.


DavidS - Jun 16, 2012 8:17:37 am PDT #19173 of 28342
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Hey, not only is today Bloomsday but my friend Kim notes that Ulysses is now in the public domain.


Polter-Cow - Jun 16, 2012 7:31:32 pm PDT #19174 of 28342
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

Okay, now I have experienced my first major GRRM character death. By MOLTEN GOLD WTF.


Rayne - Jun 16, 2012 7:48:06 pm PDT #19175 of 28342
"Oh no! Has falling sky liquid once again caused you the sadness?" -Starfire

Hehe. Tip of the iceberg! Enjoy!

I just realized I will probably never have a reading year like 2011 again. I discovered and devoured A Song of Ice and Fire, and Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. Other standouts were "The Night Circus", "The Book Thief" and my very first Pratchett "Wee Free Men".

I love that feature on Goodreads that allows you to see what books you read by year!


Polter-Cow - Jun 16, 2012 7:56:29 pm PDT #19176 of 28342
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

That is a pretty great reading year, indeed!


Hil R. - Jun 16, 2012 8:01:31 pm PDT #19177 of 28342
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Yeah, that one was intense, but there's way more to come. People in these books die in all sorts of interesting ways. (I'm about a quarter of the way through A Dance With Dragons now.)