Official Announcement: DAZ terminates agreement to publish HiveWire 3D animals!

[Hornet3d]

When I moved from the children's book section to the adult's book section, I devoured Mysteries and Science Fiction. Like a dozen or so books a week. Since this was late 50s, early 60s, the science fiction was Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clark. Mysteries were dominated by Agatha Christie. Oddly, I don't remember a single mystery writer from that time other than Agatha Christie. Of course, she also annoyed me with her twists. Other Whodunits, I could almost always guess who done it. But not so with Agatha Christie's.

Fantasy was pretty much relegated to the children's book section, and it wasn't until I was in High School that the Lord of the Rings was recommended to me by a teacher. I wonder now just where it was kept in the public library? I didn't encounter the Narnia books either until I was an adult when we purchased the entire set for a nephew ... which I read before wrapping. Again, where on earth had they been stashed?!? Again, the only books I remember from the hundreds I borrowed from the children's section of the public library were L. Frank Baum's OZ series.

Once I discovered "adult" fantasy though ... forget spaceships and alien worlds and mysteries. It was dragons and wizards and witches for me. All the way, baby!

I came to science fiction a little later in my life, it was really a spin of from my interest in space and astronomy. The first series of books I read was Biggles but as become older there was almost always and Agatha Christie book in my hand normally the murder mystery but the hound of death sent me looking for other stories along the same lines. While I loved the Lord of The Rings it was an airport chance buy of 'Azure Bonds' by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb (boredom due to a delayed fight) that introduced me to the Forgotten Realms series of books. It was a rare find and I still have the copy in my collection.

The introduction of the Ebook has changed my reading slightly and I have been reading authors I would probably not have discovered otherwise. I found 'The Progenitor Trilogy' by Dan Worth to be a very well described Science Fiction yarn and equally enjoyable in the fantasy realm was The 'Five Books of Pellinor' by Alison Croggon that reminded me a little of the Lord of the Rings. I think this is one of the benefits of Ebooks in that each of these I was introduced to by the first book being either free or around a $ so I was happy to take a risk that I probably would not have taken in a book shop. I both cases I have be come a fan of the authors buying not only the rest of the saga but other titles as well.

 

[James R.]

When I was a child, there was Star Trek (in syndicated repeats ), then SPACE: 1999, and then Star Wars.

But for a while in the early 80's I was into fantasy. It kind of had its first big discovery by the mainstream at that time (beyond Tolkien). Conan the Barbarian, Dragonslayer, Excalibur, and other movies were popular. Shows like Mr. Merlin on TV. I enjoyed fantasy for a while. My drawing books from that era are full of knights and dragons, etc.

But I kind of fell out of it when I was about 16 and realized my heart belongs to scifi.

I've tried to read LOTR five times since I bought it in one volume when I was 12. Every time I get about halfway through and I'm like "oh dear god not another 25 page song about five thousand years ago"...lol

I'm exaggerating, and of course I have huge respect for Tolkien, but I just can't get through it. Loved The Hobbit, though. Perhaps because it's bite-sized. ...Like hobbitses.

 

[Miss B]

I'm not sure I would've liked reading it all in one volume. I did enjoy reading it in 3 separate volumes, and have to say it was one of the few trilogies where the movies were just about as good as the books. Very often I feel let down when I get around to seeing movies based on best selling books.

I think the only book I ever tried reading (twice), and only got halfway through, was James Michener's Hawaii. The whole first half of the book was about the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, which I found extremely boring.

 

[James R.]

I'm not sure I would've liked reading it all in one volume. I did enjoy reading it in 3 separate volumes, and have to say it was one of the few trilogies where the movies were just about as good as the books. Very often I feel let down when I get around to seeing movies based on best selling books.

I think the only book I ever tried reading (twice), and only got halfway through, was James Michener's Hawaii. The whole first half of the book was about the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, which I found extremely boring.

I tried reading LOTR in smaller bites... nope. Someday I'll try it again.

I think I read 'Space' by Michener. I have a vague recollection of that.

.

 

[Mythocentric]

Ring Geek here! I first read LOTR back in the early 70's and I've re-read it (along with the Hobbit) practically every year or so since!

 

[Willowisp]

You could always try 'Bored of the Rings' instead

Me, I've been a huge fan of Terry Pratchett since I discovered him about 20 years ago. His stories just got better and better as the characters developed - and quite a few of them have some serious stabs towards the modern world as well (racism and sexism in particular)

 

[James R.]

Ring Geek here! I first read LOTR back in the early 70's and I've re-read it (along with the Hobbit) practically every year or so since!

I salute you, sir!

 

[James R.]

You could always try 'Bored of the Rings' instead

LOL

 

[Janet]

My first scifi book was a Wrinkle in Time. I got it in one of those school flyers that they passed out and kids could order books from. Loved that book!

I'm more of an Azimov and Heinlein person. Especially liked The Foundation series and the robots series.

 

[James R.]

One fantasy author whose work I do enjoy is Charles de Lint. Canadian author; writes mostly urban fantasy.

I really like his mix of the magical and the everyday world. He wrote a wonderful short story about a person who sets stray bicycles free at night, the imagery from which has always stayed with me.

 

[Mythocentric]

You could always try 'Bored of the Rings' instead

Me, I've been a huge fan of Terry Pratchett since I discovered him about 20 years ago. His stories just got better and better as the characters developed - and quite a few of them have some serious stabs towards the modern world as well (racism and sexism in particular)

I do believe I've read that book sometime back in the 70's or 80's. However, I must admit I've never got bored of the 'Master'. Yeah to Sir Terry! For me, probably one of the greatest authors this little old country of ours has produced. That's why I have a complete collection of his books, including a signed first edition copy of 'Nation' which is one of my most loved and valued possessions. Like LOTR I do occasionally re-read them, especially the Discworld series and find something new in them every time! It does sadden me though that we'll never find out how Tiffany Aching got on!

I salute you, sir!

Thank ee' Sir! I don't know if that makes me a geek but I will lay claim to being the world tallest hobbit at just under 6 feet. I will also confess to being formerly known as Bilbo Baggins, my nickname from my years as a student. Sad to say, time races on, and these days I'm better known for having more hair on my feet than my head! Eee! That's cruel Mr Frodo. (Especially in winter when I forget my woolly hat!)

 

[xyer0]

What I loved about classic science fiction (Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Dick) was its commentary on current events. I'm not aware of literary science fiction anymore, but I see less of that in large scale science fiction movies.

And Oregon, free-spirited as ever, probably chose textbooks and trained teachers differently from the other 49 states.

 

[Mythocentric]

Hairy Footnote:
For those of you unfamiliar with Tiffany Aching, she was the young lady who, at the age of 8 years, defeated the Fairy Queen by lamping her upside the head with a large iron frying pan and was heading towards becoming the Discworlds most powerful witch! Go read!

 

[Satira Capriccio]

I absolutely loved the Discworld books that I read. But, I also felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books there already were in the series by the time I discovered it. I fully intend one day to read them all from beginning to end.

I read all three Ring books one after the the other, so it may as well have been one huge volume.

I generally skipped through the 25 page songs about five thousand years ago. It is a bit of an annoyance to me when books splatter (sometimes rather generously) all these songs throughout the pages. I love the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain, but it too suffers from song infection.

 

[anikad]

That's is a fair point and very valid but it is amazing how many people just do not accept who won and who lost or just deny certain events took place at all.

Being born in the UK I am well aware of some of terrible things we as a Nation inflicted on the world in the name of the commonwealth and very little of the wealth was common it worked in the favor of the rich in the UK. There are now demands to have buildings renamed and other such things because they were linked to the slave trade. Many do this in the belief it offends others, well the idea that these changes should take place offends me, not because I am proud of our history but because I do not feel we should not forget. If cities made there wealthy through the slave trade why should such facts be air brushed away. If our history shames us, great, perhaps that will stop us doing anything like it again. To forget history is just giving you the chance to act in a similar manner and we could be doomed to making the same mistakes again.

Yes being from the UK with a West Indian mother, we've talked about this. We both agree that in the UK at least, tearing down those statues and building names will just feed into the collective amnesia that is UK knowledge of UK history. Of the truly horrific things we did during the Empire. People say empire was bad like they say the black plague was bad - ancient history that has nothing to do with today. People don't comprehend the full horror of what we did and why countries legitimately hate us. They seem to think that people should get over it. I disagree - I caught one of those Indian partian documentaries - 15 million people displaced, 1 million dead and thousands of women raped - all thanks to how Britain decided to leave and partian India. The people who suffered are still alive. There is so much we don't know and were never taught and will never learn if those statues etc. are removed. They should be contextualised, a plaque with the bad things should be placed next to the good.

And yes I have no idea who Benedict Arnold was - I don't remember being taught any US history.

 

[daywalker03]

Anyone here ever read "The Deed of Paksenairan"? (I just know I've mangled the girl's name, but I don't have the book at hand to be certain of the spelling.)

 

[Terre]

@anikad : Here in the US Benedict Arnold's name is synonymous with "traitor" as he was a general who switched sides during the Revolutionary War. What my husband picked up from living in England for two years as a teen back in the mid 70's was that Arnold had thought that he would be viewed as a hero when he emigrated to England after the war. Instead he was looked down upon by those who knew who he was. They didn't consider him to be a traitor who came to his senses. Instead most viewed him as doubly traitorous. First he turned on the King and then he turned on his fellow rebels.

 

[Terre]

anikad said: "They should be contextualised, a plaque with the bad things should be placed next to the good."
In my opinion that is something that all countries should do. Sadly, in many, all too many people are trying to hide the bad instead of learn from it.

 

[Mythocentric]

I absolutely loved the Discworld books that I read. But, I also felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books there already were in the series by the time I discovered it. I fully intend one day to read them all from beginning to end.

I read all three Ring books one after the other, so it may as well have been one huge volume.

I generally skipped through the 25-page songs about five thousand years ago. It is a bit of an annoyance to me when books splatter (sometimes rather generously) all these songs throughout the pages. I love the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain, but it too suffers from song infection.

I was lucky enough to pick up on the Discworld with The Light Fantastic (2nd book) at our local library so I picked up that and The Colour of Magic. After that, I was firmly hooked and bought them as they were published so it wasn't too painful. Since then I've also collected them on Kindle (to keep the books in good condition afap). As Mr Pratchett himself said, you don't have to read them in any particular order, but if you do it's amazing how many cross-references you can spot, such was his consistency. There are also some superb cross-book scenes (not always his own!), one favourite being when the three witches, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick are drifting along an underground river when Gollum paddles up on a log and informs them that it's his birthday, at which Nanny knocks him senseless with an oar! I would have dearly loved to have seen how Gandalf and Rincewind got on with each other.

Hands up time! I skip past the endless songs too!

 

[Willowisp]

Rincewind and Gandalf would probably get along well - but now I'm imagining a staring contest between Saruman and Vetinari..

Oh yea, and I usually skip those songs as well.. and I only suffered through the Silmaril once.. never again