Jump to content

vinay87

Member
  • Posts

    699
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by vinay87

  1. I don't mind lagging in the middle of a book, I would expect it with books 400 pages+ but some reviews of the series were saying that 2 or 3 books in a row were completely lagging and nothing happened so they gave up. I am still tempting to give this a go though, I was thinking of the getting the first book in audio to listen to.

    Do that!

    The audiobooks are awesome!

    Really though, the people who say they gave up shouldn't be reading this series in the first place. It's 14 books long, and sure a few things get dragged, but they are required. This is a single book, not separate. Besides, the series is getting an awesome ending. Do give it a go! You can even listen to all the books on audio.

  2. IS THIS SERIES WORTH IT??

     

    I have read so much about WoT and am still undecided about starting it. Nearly everyone says it starts well and then is a let down. Some people say it is even such a let down that they gave up on the whole series?? It is a clearly a big commitment and must therefore need a pretty poor book to put people off. Does it ruin the whole series? Is it worth starting? Is there any a good place to stop early in the series before being let down? can any books be safely skipped?

     

    I haven't read many fantasy series but am looking to get into some more and this keeps coming up. I was really let down with King's Dark Tower which was also quite a commitment in length, don't really want that again. Only you guys can help me out.

     

    IS THIS SERIES WORTH IT??

     

    This series is really worth it. I love it, even though a couple of books were a bit low in the middle.

     

    The series is about to end, something that's been bound to happen for 30 years! I mean, It's been so long since Robert Jordan began The Eye of the World and he's even dead now but the Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills :)

     

    I can't wait for Jan 8th. I'm taking three days off to read the last three books back to back! Just the way RJ would've wanted me to! :)

     

    Damn, this topic makes me teary.

  3. 1. Conn Iggulden - Genghis : Lords of the Bow

    This book follows through with the history of Genghis Khan, and how he comes to China. It's been a month since I finished the book so I don't remember the details but I did enjoy it, if not as much as the first part in the series. I'll read the next part sometime soon.

     

    2. Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind

     

    This book is standard fantasy for teenagers just coming out of Harry Potter fandom. That being said, it is a pretty good book. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I read it last week and I would normally recommend it to anyone who wants something standard. There's nothing different here, Rothfuss is pretty much sticking to the essence of fantasy and isn't going out of his way to risk anything. I have to wonder how this won awards though, there's nothing breakthrough here. In fact, in hindsight, this story reads like Raymond E. Feist's Talon of the Silver Hawk. But yeah, Tal was 10,000 times better than Kvothe as a hero. And Feist's all sorts of bloody awesome to boot.

    I'd have posted a better review if I'd not read/started the second book.

     

     

    3. Patrick Rothfuss - The Wise Man's Fear

     

    This is a classic example of fame going to one's head. It's horrible. The book just drones on and on about Kvothe being awesome, about his being the perfect Gary Stu, about his damned relationship with Denna, his and I kid you not, great than immortal-beings' sexual prowess although he's only 16. Yeesh. There's a 65 page sex scene there. Nothing tasteful either. Sexist, too formulaic and very, very cliched. This is just plain horrible.

    A writer gone to waste.

     

    I'm going to read something different for a while. Science Fiction! I might read the Dune series by Frank Herbert or Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I'm also planning on reading the Horus Heresy series of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

  4. "I will weep no more for the lost, asleep in their water graves. I have no more tears for my youth in the temple of the brindled ox. Life is strong in me and I will not grieve for what was or might have been. Mine is a different path and I must follow where it leads."

    - Taliesin : Pendragon Cycle Book One by Stephen R. Lawhead

  5. Time for a few reviews!

     

    1. Terry Pratchett - Mort

     

    The fifth book in the Discworld series does not disappoint. The beginning of the series was a little slow and never had a hook to it, but this book begins Pratchett's real deal. DEATH, the anthropomorphous personification of Death, is back and this time, he's better than ever. He hires an apprentice, the aptly named Mort, who learns what being the Grim Reaper is all about.

     

    I loved the book and I'm glad this was my first Kindle read. The book moved pretty fast and is far funnier than the previous books, and full of surprise peeks into the Discworld and people readers will recognize. I'm planning on skipping ahead and reading Faust/Eric next.

     

    2. Conn Iggulden - Genghis : The Birth of an Empire / Conqueror : Wolf of the Plains

     

    This is the first book in the Genghis series, a beautiful rendition of the history of Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan, the man who singly united all the Mongol tribes into one nation and whose name became synonymous with the phrase "Scourge of God".

    I haven't read any of Conn Iggulden's books before this but this book is proof that I need to. It was an amazing experience and I have the second book already, only waiting for a slight gap before I begin it. I don't want to rush this ride too fast.

     

    3. Terry Brooks - Sometimes the Magic Works

     

    This is pretty solid writing advice from one of the biggest fantasy writers alive. Brooks is a pretty good writer, and I've read Stephen King's On Writing before, this rates just as good. His writing is amazing and of course so is his advice. Something anyone should read if they want to write or even if they are interested in the writing process themselves. I highly recommend it.

     

    4. Anne Rice - Interview with a Vampire

     

    I loved the movie. Let me start off there. I read this book because of the movie. The book itself honestly drags on in my opinion. It was beautiful, and I'm going to read the next book in the series, especially given that Lestat is all sorts of crazy awesome, but I do think in this one case that the movie was better than the book.

     

    5. J.K. Rowling - Quidditch Through the Ages

     

    This little book is an amusing trip back to Rowling's world and since I sometimes play the Quidditch World Cup PC game, many facts and names in this book made me smile. Well worth a read for a full half hour or so.

     

    I'm picking up Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle next. It begins with Taliesin and is a retelling of the Arthurian Legend.

  6. I used to be such a huge "bibliokleptomaniac" that the nearest bookstore set up surveillance cameras to stop me. I think I stole around 30 books as a kid. Not something I'm proud of, I couldn't afford books and my local library was too small to feed my appetite. I've given away most of those books, and became that shop's best customer. I stopped going there once the shopkeeper who watched me grow and didn't know I was his culprit resigned for better pastures.

  7. Hi Vinay glad you are enjoying the Kindle. Just letting you know my daughter hijacked my kindle some time ago and so I haven't been able to download your book onto it it until I get it back...that's why I haven't given you any feedback yet.

    No problem James :)

     

    I sure am enjoying the Kindle. Still trying to pick up the next book on it though.

  8. Finished three more books on the Kindle :)

    1. Terry Brooks - Sometimes the Magic Works

    2. Anne Rice - Interview With A Vampire

    3. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl

     

    I'm alternating between starting the next book in the Genghis series, a Discworld novel, another Artemis Fowl book, and something standalone and preferably Asimov next. :)

  9. Anybody reading (or thinking of reading) the works of JRR T. about now-ish?

     

    Have just ordered an illustrated LOTR set (inclusive of the Hobbit) and I really think these may be the ones I finally read from beginning to end!

    I have had so many false starts, with this series. Definitely feel drawn to this particular set, though, so it's lookin' promising ...

     

    Absolutely love the films, and am looking forward to the new "Hobbit" movie, too - we can't have enough fantasy in this life! :D

    I really want to order that set myself! Paperback I think. I am going to, as soon as I can afford it, since I've cut down on buying books.

     

    And yes, that set is brilliant. It demands a continuous read :) Also buy a copy of The Complete Tolkien Companion by J. E. A. Tyler :) It is a brilliant book and an absolute necessity for a Tolkien fan.

  10. I've never listened to Justin Beiber. Yay I'm not alone. I may have actually heard him and not known it though. I have almost heard that blasted Baby crap but I shut my ears. :D

    I've never listened to the Beatles. :o :o and thrice Highly recommended. Maybe some day, I'm mostly a Metallica fan :D

    I've never watched Star Trek. I watch the old episodes and wait for the crashes when the set wobbles and they all cling on to the cardboard. I'm going to watch it one day :D

    I've never been to a museum. I do try and avoid cos they give me the jitters but I've been to a few. I do want to though!

    I've never tasted beer (or anything alcoholic except cough syrup) Lord! .. how do you get through Mondays? :DGood home brewed coffee!

    I've never read Twilight. This could be quite a sizeable group :DAmen to pedophilic wolfmen haters!

    I've never ridden a bicycle I have as a kid .. not since .. I have no sense of balance I hated falling :P So I gave up easily. I did learn how to drive a motorbike and a moped though, never got good at that to have a license but hey I can kidnap the occasional hot dame from her unfriendly boyfriend. Save. I mean save!

  11. I remember the first error I've every spotted was the order in which people were resurrected in the Priori Incantatem spell during Harry's tiff with Voldy in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. James came first and then Lilly but it should have been Lily and then James since it reproduced the spells in reverse order. It was corrected in later editions but there you go :P

    I've spotted several typos in the latter Wheel of Time books, the ones by Brandon Sanderson I mean. Typos don't really matter as much though, but in part 6, the Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan himself got Saidar and Saidin mixed up :P

  12.  

     

    Hi Vinay, I have expanded my reading a lot in the last couple of years so I don't think I gave your extract a fair shot, for which I apologise. There was certainly never anything wrong with your writing style anyway. Hmm mythology I am thinking Roger Zelaney suddenly..... I would certainly be interested in reading it and maybe Karsa would too, he reads a lot of fantasy but different authors than I am into.

    wonderful! It's okay that you didn't read it back then, I think it's far better now. All thanks to Giulia's advice about rewrites? Hey is she still around? I'll pop in to Karsa's profile and ask him then. Can I tell him you told me he may be interested? And are you still using your old email id? I'll mail it to you asap if you are!

     

     

    My mum's in Vijayanagar. Am in Goa now - close to Palolem.

     

    And you write fantasy? Wow.

     

    Have you read the Shiva trilogy (by Amish Tripathi), vinay?

    I've heard some mixed reviews about it, and was wondering whether I should pick them up...

    nice! Yeah that area's changed the most! I have cousins there. Yes I have heard of that series and I'm not really interested in trying those books. The writing is apparently very bad and I don't think I could stand that. I'm not exactly religious but the idea is really crazy. It's become sort of this country's go to topic, our mythology I mean. There's so many of these things around that I don't feel like trying any of them. That book became famous only due to the viral marketing gig they pulled with a video. My friends read a lot of fantasy and they abhor the guy's style. I trust their tastes enough to steer clear of it too.

    Yep I write mainly fantasy fiction. I've written two books of which I've polished one enough to consider publication. I'll post a summary here after asking a mod or two and if you like it i'll gladly send it to you.

  13. (sorry about the triple posts but I'm using a very old cell phone to post this.)

    i'm sending it in to agents James. Finshed the second draft in fact and working on the third. Writing the second book too, though the momentum is still lacking. I'm also planning and outlining a Terry Pratchettesque novel on a University for Gods on the side. Got a lot of ideas so I'll see how it turns out.

  14.  

    Ah, nammururavaru! Nice! I guessed Karnataka seeing your name :)

    Dear God that took me by suprise! I'm working in Hosur now though. My parents live in Jayanagar and I go to visit them frequently. Yeah the place has changed for the worse now. Not like it used to be. Where're you now?

  15. Hi Vinay congrats on finishing your book. Is that the one I read an extract of a couple of years back or something completely different? What are you going to do with it now?

    what you read is the prologue I guess. It's 230000 words long now and completely unrecognizable. It's also different from any fantasy I've come across and falls more along the lines of mythology now. You still abstain from reading fantasy? If you or your friends want to read a different take on it, let me know. I didn't 'advertise' it here because I'm not a regular as such and I'm not sure what the rules regarding that are right now.
×
×
  • Create New...