The first book is not actually the book that was adapted for the movie. The second book introduces new characters, though everyone eventually comes together.
And I would say if you don't like the first book, you won't like the rest.
I like money better than people. People can so rarely be exchanged for goods and/or services!
Willow ,'Showtime'
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."
Dana - Sep 26, 2007 5:20:29 am PDT #3954 of 28212
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
lisah - Sep 26, 2007 5:23:19 am PDT #3955 of 28212
Punishingly Intricate
And I would say if you don't like the first book, you won't like the rest.
ah, good to know! I was sad that I didn't like it because if I had there'd be a whole bunch of books in the series to enjoy.
Nutty - Sep 26, 2007 5:41:06 am PDT #3956 of 28212
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I think the first book is more in the vein of an Enid Blyton adventure than a match with the rest of the series. It's about plucky children, whereas the rest of the stories are about very serious children.
I mean, there's some overlap, but I definitely think it wasn't till the second novel that Cooper realized where she was going with it.
Dana - Sep 26, 2007 5:47:29 am PDT #3957 of 28212
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
There's certainly much more mythology in the later books, if that's your thing, lisah.
Kate P. - Sep 26, 2007 5:49:15 am PDT #3958 of 28212
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
I know I started with the second one (The Dark is Rising) first, and it wasn't until much later that I even realized that Over Sea, Under Stone was part of the same series. I reread the whole series a few years ago and found them lacking, though I'd adored them as a child, but The Dark is Rising is still compelling and my favorite of the series. You might at least give that one a try, lisah, if you're still interested. I think it's different enough from Over Sea, Under Stone that you might like it. (I find it's best read at midwinter, though, for the full effect.)
Emily - Sep 26, 2007 5:49:26 am PDT #3959 of 28212
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
Oh, is the first one Over Sea, Under Stone? I always forget that.
I might say, give the second one a try, as I remember liking that one much better, but don't beat yourself over the head with it.
ETA: Or, you know, almost exactly WKPS.
lisah - Sep 26, 2007 5:56:29 am PDT #3960 of 28212
Punishingly Intricate
I might say, give the second one a try, as I remember liking that one much better, but don't beat yourself over the head with it.
I might try it then. I'm also wondering if they'd be appropriate to pass on to my voracious reader of a 9-year old niece. She LOVED the HP and Narnia series.
Tom Scola - Sep 26, 2007 6:08:28 am PDT #3961 of 28212
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
This just in: The Borough I live in sucks, and it's stupid of me to try and seek redemption from my traumatic childhood; that's not how real life works.
Maybe I'm taking this a little too personally.
Jessica - Sep 26, 2007 6:22:21 am PDT #3962 of 28212
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
What a whiny piece of crap that article is.
Emily - Sep 26, 2007 6:22:32 am PDT #3963 of 28212
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
Self-righteous sour grapes define their attitude to Gotham.
Wow. Projecting much? Seriously, I'm not a fan of sentimentalism...ism, but he makes happy endings and closure sound like a crime against literature.
The whole thing seems to boil down to "those dirty hippies/bohemians/yuppies/idealists, they wouldn't know an honest day's narrative labor if it hit them in the face!"