Karsa Orlong
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Posts posted by Karsa Orlong
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Happy reading in 2014, Michelle
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I bought 11 this afternoon.
Mwahahahaha!
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It is!
It looks prettier when it's bigger, but for some reason it's really tiny. Try clicking on it
I've never seen that cover art for Midnight Falcon in the shops before, lucky you
American Gods is on my TBR list and I have heard great things about it, Ocean is a nice story but not his best. I'd recommend Neverwhere and Stardust
Yeah, Neverwhere and Stardust are decent. I thought American Gods was rubbish, though
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Happy reading in 2014, Tim
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Thanks a lot! I edited it and it worked.
I thought you said it was pretty?
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Is that not a good thing?
No, cos there'll never be any more after that
Steve!?! .. you are spending for the rest of us
Nearly everybody else is saying 'no book buying/spending/licking/drooling over books this year' and you are just shovelling them into your basket Yeah, but everybody else is in denial, I'm just being realistic
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Anyone know how to get around not being able to post an image? I tried posting it with a picture of the book cover but it came up saying "that image extension is not allowed on this community". It's a pretty cover, too.
When you're posting, click on 'More reply options' then you should get the 'Attach files' buttons beneath the posting box, click 'choose file', select your image and click 'attach this file'. Then place the cursor in the post where you want the image to appear and click 'Add to post'
I knew you'd like the Abraham in the end
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Congratulations on your new purchases! The Gemmell look awesome.
How close are you to having a complete collection?I've only got three left to get, I think
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I always get scared when I read this - please don't hate me if you don't like it!
Of course not!
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# 1
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
1958 - Voyage Classics hardback - 858 pages
From Amazon:
T.H. White’s masterful retelling of the Arthurian legend is an abiding classic. Here all five volumes that make up the story are published together in a single volume, as White himself always wished.
Here is King Arthur and his shining Camelot, beasts who talk and men who fly; knights, wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad; the masterpiece of fantasy by which all others are judged.
Thoughts:
I think they're over-selling it a bit with that last line
Anyhoo, this was a Christmas present, and it's a big old hardback, so I thought I should read it straight away, while I'm on leave. It contains the following five volumes: The Sword in the Stone, The Witch in the Wood, The Ill-Made Knight, The Candle in the Wind and The Book of Merlyn. All five were written in the late 30s/early 40s, but The Candle in the Wind was only published in 1958, as part of the collected edition, and The Book of Merlyn wasn't published until the 70s. T. H. White studied Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and his love for and knowledge of that work shines through. So does his love of cricket, which is often used as a comparison for jousting and such. In fact, because Merlyn is living backwards through time, a lot of more modern references creep in. They can be a bit disconcerting at first if you're not expecting them - which I wasn't - but by and large it works.
The Sword in the Stone tells the story of a young boy called Wart and his tutor, Merlyn. Why Wart? Well, it's the closest nickname they could come up with to the abbreviation of his real name. In this story, Merlyn teaches the young Arthur various lessons that will help him down the line, and encourages him to think about what he's learning. This invariably involves magicking the boy into the form of a variety of animals and experiencing life form their points of view. This story is the one most obviously written for children, and it is a lot of fun without getting too preachy.
The Witch in the Wood (aka The Queen of Air and Darkness), tells of Gawaine and his brothers Agravaine, Gaheris and Gareth, and their mother, Morgause, and of Arthur's first tentative steps as King, of his desire to use Might for Right, and of the beginnings of the Round Table. This one starts to get darker and more serious in tone, although there are some nice comedic moments involving King Pellinore and Sir Grummore, who also featured in the first book. It's interesting that, after this, the books become far more serious, dark, and tragic in tone, and the humour largely drops away. The ending of this part is truly doom-laden and brilliantly done.
The Ill-Made Knight is all about Lancelot and Guenever, starting when Lancelot is a boy. This is a very different Lancelot to the one I am used to from various other portrayals. He is not the handsome character that I've come to expect. Rather, he is ugly, and something inside him is broken. For years he trains to become a knight at Arthur's Round Table, and also to become the greatest knight in the world. You know what happens next. This is the longest volume but it never drags. It's a gripping version of the tale, beautifully written.
The Candle in the Wind is further about Lancelot, Guenever and Arthur, but now Mordred - Arthur's illegitimate son - comes to the fore, and a right piece of work he is. Here the hope and friendship of the previous volumes gives way to despair and tragedy, and I thought it was an absolutely superb piece of writing, and would have been quite happy for the book to end here.
But unfortunately it all then goes a little bit . . . pants. The Book of Merlyn was originally omitted from the collected version, and I wish it still was. There is no plot to it, very little character, and it's only reason to exist seems to me to have been for White to vent his spleen about how to put an end to war. This involves Arthur sitting in a room with Merlyn and all the animals from The Sword in the Stone, whilst Merlyn spouts endless pages of philosophy. It even includes two long sections from the first book, repeated word for word. I suppose you have to take into account when it was written, with World War II ongoing, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the book, in my opinion, and I could've done without it. Here, White's modern-day references go overboard, even referring to a copy of his own notes that Merlyn has somehow got hold of. It's only in the last 10 to 15 pages that it really had anything to interest me but, even then, I wish the novel had ended at the close of the previous volume, cos I hated this.
Individually, I would score the books like this:
The Sword in the Stone 7/10
The Witch in the Wood 8/10
The Ill-Made Knight 9/10
The Candle in the Wind 9/10
The Book of Merlyn 2/10
That last book has dragged the score down in the end, but, overall, it's a fantastic read for anyone interested in Arthurian legend. The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind are superb pieces of writing, with brilliant characters, and full of tensions brought about by the knowledge of what will inevitably happen, which is a neat trick if an author can pull it off well, which White definitely does. Just give the last book a miss.
Overall score: 7/10
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I don't know why they kept showing a Jubilee Line train when you can't get from St James Park to Westminster on that line
And even if you could, it wasn't a platform at Westminster, cos they have platform doors And then they climbed into the tube car and it changed from a Jubilee Line one on the outside to a District Line one on the inside But apart from that I loved it
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I wish you many happy reading adventures in 2014, I look forward to reading your reviews.
Happy new year.
Thanks Devi
So I went up to the big Waterstone's at Piccadilly today, and then along to Hatchards. I went because I wanted to get David Gemmell's Morningstar. And I did get it . . . among others.
And there might be another one in the post, too
That's my book buying done for the next six monthsweeksdaysours -
Uh Oh , Steve !
I feel a bit like I did in my younger years ,when I went to the skating rink. One person falls, then the rest of us did . Kinda like Dominoes .
If you've already begun buying , who will the next Domino be ? I bet I'll be one of them before the day is out .
Does this make me a trend setter?
Well there's a first Happy Reading this year Steve.
Thanks Chrissy, and right back atcha
Who said that ?!
Happy New Year Steve !
Happy New Year, Sarah!
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Oh, and Steve read the Chabon book, so I got it `cos he seemed to really like it.
Yeah, it's brilliant - but I only got it because frankie recommended it or, rather, put it on her challenge list for me
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You spend far too much time in alternative dimensions Steve..
Yes, and I currently seem to be stuck in one where Amazon keep selling me books for 99p!
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The 2014 purchases have started, mostly thanks to Amazon's Kindle deals
Dead Beat (Dresden Files Book 7) by Jim Butcher
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (been keeping an eye out for this one in the sales cos of Michelle's review last year
)Gordianus the Finder Books 1 - 4 omnibus by Steven Saylor (I've already read two of these, but it seemed silly not to get it for the other two when the omnibus was only £1.09!), so the two books added to Mount Doom are:
House of the Vestals
A Gladiator Dies Only Once
These two in an omnibus for £1.99:
Beyond Hades (Prometheus Wars Book 1) by Luke Romyn
Slaves of Valhalla (Prometheus Wars Book 2) by Luke Romyn
Never heard of them or him, but thought I'd take a punt for that price.
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Happy New Year Steve!
My challenge on this thread is not to buy half the books you review
That's okay, I wouldn't buy them either
Happy New Year to you too, Tim
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Happy reading with your TBR in 2014
Thanks Marie, you too!
Because for some reason, I'm more perceptive in 2014 than I was in 2013.
It happens!Must be the Finnish air
Jack Vance, then, perhaps?
You've got the wrong thread
You are so transparent...
Well I have been experimenting with invisibility, to be fair
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Ah, but I`m thinking ` buy lots today, then it won`t count as `books bought in 2014`...
But that doesn't mean I haven't been buying books this morning I hope you have a fine reading year, Steve
Thankee!!
(Hm. You have the 2013 challenge list, but not the 2012 challenge list. Does that mean you are not going to look into the 2012 books, but will want to read some more off the 2013 one? Eh? If I put some Danielle Steel on the 2012 list, would that entice you to add it on the post...?)
How come you didn't notice that last year?
And no, it wouldn't . . . (Oi! And JS&MN has mysteriously disappeared from under Slaughterhouse Five! Tut tut.
)Has it?
Hope you have a great reading year Steve!
Thankee!
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Wolf Hall is 99p in today's Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon
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There was the standard amount of city carnage you see in the cinema these days, but ask yourself, if Richard Donner could have had Chris Revees and Terrance Stamp knock the stuffing out of a city at the same time as each other, he would have done, wouldn't he?
No.
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Happy reading in 2014, Julie
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Also, last year...well, almost last year, still almost 6 hours to go for us...I snagged a beautiful copy of The Iliad...translated by Stephen Mitchell (new translation). Autographed, from Powells. It's gorgeous.
Oh awesome! I read the Fagles translation, but I've coveted this one. I read a fair bit of it and it is a brilliant translation
I saw his translation of The Odyssey has also recently been published Happy reading in 2014, Kate
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That's a few of us have said we're not setting ourselves any targets this year - wonder what it was about 2013 that put us off them?
Have a fabulous 2014, chalie, reading and otherwise
ETA: Nora Roberts books for 99p on Kindle in today's Daily Deal
Laura's Fantasy Reviews 2014
in Past Book Logs
Posted
You must be going for the record number of books with an axe on the cover
HBO dropped it a while ago, but it might still get made elsewhere