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Post by Mink - The Original on Apr 29, 2010 9:01:09 GMT -5
The show is basically Hercules meets Xena without a sense of humor, and it's only loosely based on the books, since Goodkind said that a lot of the original storyline doesn't work episodically. But I admit that Tabrett Bethell in leather certainly doesn't upset me. I'm waiting (like everyone else) for Dance with Dragons and the next installment of Stephen R. Donaldson's Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Against All Things Ending is SUPPOSED to be out in October.
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Post by FullFrontalBuddha on Apr 29, 2010 9:07:24 GMT -5
No sense of humor? Sounds dull. Eye candy, even in sci-fi, is meaningless to me if the show sucks. I never read SRD's Thomas Covenant books. Don't know why, since I was a huge fantasy fan in the 80s. It's got a little sense of fun to it, but it's definitely not as blatantly campy and silly as Hercules and Xena were. The Covenant books are excellent, Smaug. I think that you'd enjoy them immensely. He's a great anti-hero jerkface and the characters and environs of The Land are beautifully written and portrayed. The first chapter of the new book is available on Donaldson's site. www.stephenrdonaldson.com/28167391AATEChapter1.pdf
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Post by Mink - The Original on Apr 29, 2010 9:15:30 GMT -5
I think the Covenant books are some of the best fantasy novels ever written, for those two reasons that you identified Buddha; the anti-heroic protagonist, hopefully leading the reader to deconstruct the genre and consider what it means and then his detailed portrayal of The Land and its "system".
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Smaug
My breath, death!
Posts: 19,004
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Post by Smaug on Apr 29, 2010 9:58:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the recommendation, guys. I will add those books to my kaboodle list and keep an eye out for them at yard sales and flea markets.
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Post by Buzz on Apr 29, 2010 11:28:54 GMT -5
I just bought Children of Hurin. I know the story from The Silmarillion, and hope there's more story there that was left out. I also still have The Road, that my wife just finished (she gets sad whenever I ask how the book was), and Under the Dome. I'm currently re-reading LOTR, so I'm set for the summer. And I just sent myself an email reminder home to check out the Covenant books. By the time I finish with what's already waiting, I'd have forgotten all about them.
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Post by FullFrontalBuddha on Apr 29, 2010 12:06:12 GMT -5
Children of Hurin was OK. That and Lost Tales didn't really do much for me, although I give Christopher Tolkien credit for the studied and literary approach to his father's works and the origins of the stories, as well as all the effort he put into assembling the chronology in the best sequential order that he was able to. And there are some interesting bits, but not much in the way of 'new' material that really expands upon the existing work.
That being said, I'm glad that I read them, but I doubt that I'll feel compelled to read them again. If I'm reading a fictional narrative, I generally don't want to have to take notes while doing so.
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Smaug
My breath, death!
Posts: 19,004
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Post by Smaug on Apr 29, 2010 13:34:05 GMT -5
That's why I keep a spreadsheet and also put books on my kaboodle list- more for to remember than for gift ideas, though they are still that.
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Smaug
My breath, death!
Posts: 19,004
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Post by Smaug on Apr 29, 2010 13:35:17 GMT -5
lol. I was so into notes and maps and family trees with LOTR and the Silmarillion and the History of Middle Earth series.
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Post by dunc on Apr 29, 2010 14:05:01 GMT -5
this thread got nerdy fast
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Smaug
My breath, death!
Posts: 19,004
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Post by Smaug on Apr 29, 2010 14:23:05 GMT -5
it's a book thread, dunc. what the flying sheep's arse else is it supposed to be?
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