Bona Fide: Weekly Roundup #34

Hello and welcome to a new issue of my Roundup, which will be a bit different than previous ones. Three things prevented me from spending as much time as usual on research. I took the pleasure to answer 19 questions for an interview. More information will be delivered soon.... I have been captured by The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. But the most annoying obstacle has been an infection of the middle ear (left ear). The constant pain has forced me to take pain killers because I couldn't concentrate on anything. Oh, and the antibiotics make me tired. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading the following snippets...

Books

It makes me even more sick when I can't read because of the pain and nauseating medication. Therefore, I'm still not finished with The Angels's Game (2009) [US][UK] by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It is a good book, but I feel that The Shadow of the Wind [US][UK] is better by far - more 'magic' moments. Maybe my expectations were too high. I'm still not sure whether to follow my summer reading list or not. I think my next read will depend on my mood.

Maps

Two months ago I wrote about Fantasy Maps. During one of my last web rambles I stumbled over Need help getting around the Seven Kingdoms? . You don't know the Seven Kingdoms? Ever have heard of A Song of Ice and Fire? Then I must tell you that you have missed an extraordinary fantasy series. Go immediately to the closest book store and buy A Game of Thrones [US] [UK] by George R.R. Martin, which is the first book. You won't regret it. And now back to maps. Read the mentioned post and follow the links. The map of Westeros which you see at the right side of this text - click on pic to enlarge- is a masterly peace of map art created by the Cartographer's Guild member 'Tear'. And when you finish enjoying this map then I have one more mouth-watering link for you.Watch and sink into Unusual and Marvelous Maps.

Blogosphere

Do you know the most commonly seen element appearing on fantasy books published in 2008 ? I know since I read The Chart of Fantasy Art. I don't bewray (archaic English for disclose) it, but I can promise that it is neither dragons or tattoos.

On 12th of August The New Yorker published Seven Essentials Fantasy Reads: Going to second Base. I think you know what happened next: Posts on book blogs. You find comments and alternative lists. I must admit that I didn't find the time in the past days to work on my own list, but I will try to post it in the next Roundup. Until then you have the opportunity to read An Aside The New Yorker's seven essential Fantasy reads by Aidan and Aidan's article: My Seven Essential Second-step Fantasies. Mark Charan Newton, the author of Nights of Villjamur [US] [UK] posted his own list. The post by Adam differs from the others. He commented on the list by using fantasy subgenres. Fantasy in the New Yorker!?! is Pat's answer. It seems Gav didn't like the list at all. James commented on every book. The longest post header and a really different list has been delivered by Jeff: A fantasy list for those who don't want to stop at second base, but who'd rather hit a grand slam and then score continuously or something !

Movies

This week I will show you two trailers. The first one I found over at BCS Reviews. The second one I searched for on my own. These are the trailers to Avatar (December 2009) and Delgo (December 2008). It seems there are parallels between the two movies. For detailed information please read: The 7 Eeriest Parallels Between Avatar and Delgo. Maybe some of you have seen Delgo and can tell more about it. And enjoy the trailers:

Avatar - Theatrical Trailer



Quotes

I didn't even need to think on a subject for quotes this week: E A R S

"We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less"
Diogenes

"One of my theories is that men love with their eyes; women love with their ears.”
Zsa Zsa Gabor

"What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our mouths”
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg