Raven
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Posts posted by Raven
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9 hours ago, Hayley said:
We could always switch to three when we get to The Two Towers?
Okay, we'll stick to four a week for now, so the next chapters up for discussion from tomorrow (or, now, really, if you want too!) are:
4. A Short Cut to Mushrooms
5. A Conspiracy Unmasked
6. The Old Forest
7. In the House of Tom BombadilI'll let someone else go first this time!
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26 minutes ago, Hayley said:
Just before Gandalf puts it into the fire (after they've been talking about the way the ring chose to betray Isildur and Gollum), as Frodo passes it to him 'it felt suddenly heavy, as if either it or Frodo himself was in some way reluctant to give it to Gandalf'. To be honest it could actually be that it's already getting some grip over Frodo, and so Frodo doesn't want to give it away the same way Bilbo didn't, but since we'd just been reading about the way the ring sort of chooses who to go to, that's the way I read it.
Ah, I read that as Frodo being unwilling to give up the ring (or the ring sensing(?) it was going to end up in the fire?)
It's difficult to ascribe motivation to a corrupt wedding ring!
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On 1/17/2022 at 4:52 PM, Goose said:
A Closed and Common Orbit (The Wayfarers Series) – Becky Chambers
(space-opera, sci-fi, found family)
Its very exciting for me to feel like I may have found a favourite author, this is only the second book of Chambers that I have read but I think there is a high possibility she is going to turn into an auto-buy author for me!
A Closed and Common Orbit (ACCO) is the second book in the Wayfarer series. Although this is a series the books don’t follow on from each other in the way a series typically would. This book is set directly after A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and although some of the characters feature in the first book, we are following a completely different story line. This story follows Sidra, a spacecraft AI who has recently been uploaded into an illegal body kit. We accompany Sidra as she tries to navigate the world and get used to opportunities, as well as the limitations this new body gives her. We also get to learn about her companion Pepper and the difficult start she had in life.
As with the first book in the series, ACCO is not particularly plot driven however I feel that enough happens to keep it interesting. The character development is the main focus as well as discovering the alien world the story is set in. I really enjoyed further learning about the universe Chambers has created and getting to explore a new part of it with Sidra. A lot of the world building is done trough conversations between characters which I really liked.
If it wasn’t obvious, I would highly recommend this series, particularly if you are looking for a character driven space opera story. I can wait to read the next one!
Opening line: Lovelace had been in a body for twenty-eight minutes, and it still felt every bit as wrong as it had the second she woke up inside it.
Interesting review!
I've been skirting around Becky Chambers for a while now (her books, not the author - I don't need another restraining order...)
I read her novella To Be Taught, if Fortunate at the beginning of last year - review here:
I enjoyed it enough to have another go at some point, but I'm still waiting for A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet to pop up on Kindle for 99p (annoyingly, all her other novels have in the last 12 months!).
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And aside...
Are people happy with doing four chapters a week, or would you rather do three?
I've realised that some of the chapters in The Two Towers appear to be longer than the ones in Fellowship, how fast do people want to go?
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On 1/19/2022 at 9:02 PM, Hayley said:
why do you think the ring doesn’t want to go to Gandalf?
Did it? I've missed that on two reads of the book!
I've always felt that Gandalf, knowing what he was dealing with, was reluctant to go near the thing least he be seduced by The Ring's power. I've never got the notion that the ring itself was trying to manipulate events - where are you getting that impression from?
I'm be interested to go back and re-read it again!
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The Complete Novels of George Orwell, published by Penguin, are £2.99 on the Kindle today.
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5 hours ago, Madeleine said:
I remember the songs being pretty tedious.
I think I skipped over a lot of them the first time around, but I've been trying to read through them this time as they sometimes contain relevant information (and it's interesting to see what got into the films as well).
5 hours ago, Madeleine said:I agree the Black Riders are very menacing, they scared me in the film, especially that early scene when the hobbits are hiding under a fallen tree, and one comes over and is sniffing for them! Even the horses are threatening.
I actually think they are more creepy in the book!
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Concerning Hobbits (and the other sections in the prologue) are in the wrong place; I personally think they would fit better in the appendix at the end of The Return of the King.
A section on pipeweed really isn't the best way to start off a three-volume story!
I don't know which imprint of the book you are reading, and whether there is an introduction (and whether you read it), but I think Concerning Hobbits is where it is because Tolkien was being asked for more information on Hobbits, after the success of the The Hobbit, and he's basically addressed that literally - you wanted information on Hobbits, here it is! I think another author may have worked that information into body of the book, and got on with the story, rather than having it as a separate section.
I think Fellowship is very much a book that expects you to have read The Hobbit, where - again - I think a different author may have given a bit more thought to someone coming to the book cold (especially when he was writing this book for an adult audience, rather than for children). -
On 1/14/2022 at 1:40 PM, KEV67 said:
I never guessed who the guilty person was when an Agatha Christie was on the telly.
My experience of Christie novels and watching Poirot etc. is that you generally don't have enough information to identify the killer yourself by the end of the story - Christie always arranges it so that the detective either has some special insight or has found out something via an off-page/screen enquiry that is only revealed at the end.
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And we're off!
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Group Reads - Book Club Forum
Closing this thread.
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Right open for discussion!
Warning! This thread - by definition - will contain spoilers if you have not read the books!
Spoiler tags won't be used as they will disrupt the flow of the discussion!
I didn't realise I'd missed the prologue off the list last week, so I will hold A Short Cut to Mushrooms over to next week.
Prologue: Concerning Hobbits
1. A Long-expected Party
2. The Shadow of the Past
3. Three is Company
To get discussion going (From my blog...)
Main thoughts so far:
- Having the book open with a section on the history of Hobbits might be good for people who have read The Hobbit and want to know more about them, but coming to it cold must put a lot of people off the book (I know it put me off the first time I tried to read it). It also has a number of spoilers for what happens later in the book, although I must admit that I never picked up on them first time through.
- It is all a bit twee; similar in tone to the start of The Hobbit. I know it changes as it goes along, and I know the reason why it is like this, but I think the films set the tone far better than the book does (there will probably be on-going comparisons with the films, as I'm quite familiar with them!)
- The lack of urgency when it comes to Frodo leaving the shire feels... wrong - especially when you know what is after him! Gandalf knows Sauron has risen in the east; he knows Sauron knows the ring still exists; he knows Sauron knows someone called Baggins has the ring and where he lives.
"Should I leave now, Gandalf?"
"Nah, I doubt they will be along for a few weeks yet..."
"Can I still have a Birthday Party?"
"Of course!"
*Ruffles Frodo's hair...*
- The Black Riders at first appear to be fairly ordinary, but each time they reappear they become more and more sinister
- I hadn't remembered that Pippin is with Sam and Frodo when they leave Bag End, and that Merry doesn't come into it until later.
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5 hours ago, timebug said:
Raven, like Madeleine I am not taking part in the group read, but will also make the occasional comment as you progress. I have read the book(s) many times and know them 'inside out' as it were, so I feel able to join in without 'joining in' as it were!
No probs!
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2 hours ago, Madeleine said:
Sorry Raven, I'm not taking part in this group read, though I will follow the posts and might make an occasional comment. Enjoy!
No worries!
1 hour ago, Virginia said:Yup! Started reading already!
Hurrah!
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On 1/10/2022 at 2:41 PM, Hayley said:
I was going to borrow the series from my sister but decided I’d like to have one of my own
Sounds like a good plan.
Anyone else taking part?
@virginia @timebug @Madeleine
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I keep forgetting about this, but I did read a few chapters of The Two Towers, last night.
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Hope you've all started!
Tick-tock!
So who is taking part? Sound off below!
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1 hour ago, Hayley said:
. This should be in the debating section 
. Which ones?? I love milk chocolate digestive biscuits. Especially if you take two, place them together with the chocolate side facing in, then dip them in tea so you end up with a melted chocolate middle. Yum. Now I want biscuits...
Mcvities Victoria; got given a box in a Christmas hamper from work. Ordinary biscuits, poor chocolate.
Plain chocolate Hob Nobs are so much better!
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Milk chocolate biscuits are so insipid.
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I locked this last night, but then realised there was nowhere for people to ask questions, so I have unlocked this again in case anyone has some!
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The thread for this group read can be found here:
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - Group Reads - Book Club Forum
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Starting this Saturday (08/01/22) the aim will be for participants to read 4 chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings every week, and to then comment on them as they go along!
Starting with The Fellowship of the Rings, the first four chapters open for discussion from 15/01/22 will be:
1. A Long-expected Party
2. The Shadow of the Past
3. Three is Company
4. A Short Cut to MushroomsDisclaimer! The films might come into this occasionally as well.
This thread will be locked for comment until the 15th.
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Time to take the lead...
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36 minutes ago, Madeleine said:
...this is the British Library Crime Classics offer for Christmas 2021...
Not seen that; is this an offer directly from the British Library?
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Sorry, been a bit rubbish at organising this!
Saturday 8th is okay with me.
What Are You Watching Now? - 2021
in Music / TV / Films
Posted
It has taken a while to get going, but I have been enjoying it and I think episode 4 pulled the different plot threads together quite well (I'm looking forward to this week's episode!).
I think a lot of people were expecting Boba Fett to be all bad-ass, but that would have just been a re-run of The Mandalorian, so I can see why they have gone the way the have, but is it a story that needed telling? This is all working to a very big long-term objective, though, that is going to cover all of the Disney+ Star Wars series they are making, so we'll just have to wait and see how it all fits together.
Due to being housebound with COVID I finished The Clone Wars last week. Overall it's very hit and miss, but the last four episodes were very good. Onto Rebels now, and nearly at the end of season one. Seems to be aimed at a younger age group than The Clone Wars, but I think the individual stories are generally better!