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Vinay's Book Log for 2012


vinay87

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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?

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(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.

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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.

 

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.

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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?

 

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...

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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.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

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. :)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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  • 1 month later...

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.

Edited by vinay87
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