R.A. Salvatore is one of those authors that does a disservice to the rest of the real writers out there. He writes popcorn fantasy over and over. If you want to read shallow fantasy that offers about as much nutrition as a McDonald's cheeseburger, then R.A. Salvatore's works are exactly what you need. For the rest of you who value your time, read something else.
I was just wondering what do you think? Is this a fair and accurate list?Goodkind's book quality go like this:
first book -- readable
books 2 - 3 -- less readable
books 4 - 6 -- even less readable
books 7 - 9 -- oh my god, my eyes are bleeding
books 10 - 12 -- thank god the series is done. Oh but wait, he's signed up for MORE novels
Yes, this is album cover art, but I thought it was awesome. Weezer's next CD, titled Hurley just has a picture of the Lost actor, Jorge Garcia. Classic. Who doesn't love Hurley?
GiveawaysSavaged by the K’Chain Nah’Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods – if her own troops don’t kill her first.
Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.
In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.
Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.
Now the books have spread from my table. They're on my couch as well. Some have even made it as far as my bedroom. THEY WATCH ME WHILE I SLEEP. Soon they will consume me.
Edi's Book Lighthouse is holding his first giveaway of The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. Edi only speaks highly of George Mann and the more I hear the better.
In probably my favorite book review of the week, Larry at Of Blog of the Fallen reviews Terry Goodkind's The Law of Nines and shares somewhat our very own Alec's view:Do I really need a full closing paragraph to denote just how poor of a novel The Law of Nines is? It is a barely readable, poorly-rendered take on a thriller whose take on mirror worlds makes John Twelve Hawks' stories read like Shakespeare for characterizations and Flaubert for mastery of prose. It fails in the creation of a plausible story, its characterizations are so shallow and stretched as to make a Mills & Boon character seem complex by comparison. It is perhaps the worst novel that I have read in years, with the possible exception of Eye of Argon and at least that novel had some (unintentional) entertaining elements to it. Needless to say, avoid at all costs, unless you just want to read it for masochistic reasons.And that's the news...at least to me.
Congratulations to Karen F. from VA on winning a copy of Bright of the Sky, by Kay Kenyon. Hope the book convinces you never to read any Kenyon, ever!
In an electrifying new direction, he brings all his skills to bear on the most exciting and stunningly original thriller of the year.To a certain extent, my criticism is overstated, having read the book as someone with intimate knowledge of the Sword of Truth. Brian, on the official Terry Goodkind forums, offers some wise words spoken by Mr. Goodkind during a private gathering in Vegas last month:
I'll reiterate what Terry said at the gathering: he said that The Law Of Nines is Alex and Jax's story. It is not Richard and Kahlan's or Zedd's. As such, it really doesn't matter at all where Jax is from - that's not the point of the story. The only reason Jax comes from Sword of Truth land is because Terry wanted to pay tribute to his fans, who would understand the dozens of inside jokes that relate the story's text to Terry's previous work. There is enjoyment in that, in being on the inside of the joke, such as when Alex checks to make sure that his Glock is clear in its holster or how Alex has gray eyes. Those are fun little details.To be fair, I did get a chuckle out of Alex checking his holster, but drawing a dagger across his forearm before battle went a little too far for my tastes; the joke seemed to be on me for buying the hardcover. Generally, I was left expecting Richard Rahl to pop out from a magical time vortex and give Alex some cryptic insight into the future - and for that matter, the past as well.
I am an Objectivist. Let me say right here, though, that my books are not intended to explain, advance, or promote Objectivism. My intent with my novels is simply to tell a good story. My Objectivist beliefs, however, guide what I think is a good story and how I tell it, just as every writer, whether they realize it or not, is guided by their philosophy.
Check out my review of The Law of Nines.the infliction of intense pain to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure.The word torture comes from the Latin torquēre, to twist. Already form this we get a presage of the use of torture in SF/F. By reducing reality to it most fundamental components, pleasure and pain, life and death, authors are able to drawn in the clearest detail the basic building blocs and motivations of their characters.
How many times had Achamian survived the Wall of Torment in Dagliash? How many times had he bolted from the anguish of his sleep, weeping because his wrists were free, because no nails pierced his arms? In the ways of torture, the Scarlet Spires were mere understudies compared with the Consult.The passage not only underlines Achamian's relationship to his magic through Seswatha, but further underscores the brutality of the Schoolman's nightly dreams. Achamian, more so than ever before in the trilogy, is uniquely defined by his suffering, his nightly torture at the mercy of his magical heritage. In contradistinction the reader finds Esmenet, the only point of hope and love in Achamian's life and instantly understands Kellhus' 'theft' of her love to be the deepest betrayal Achamian has even know, thereby justifying his twenty year obsession with Kellhus in the following trilogy.
No. Achamian wasn’t strong.
For all their merciless cunning, what the Scarlet Magi never understood was that they plied two men, not one. Hanging naked from the chains, his face slack against shoulder and chest, Achamian could see the foremost of his diffuse shadows fan across the mosaic floor. And no matter how violent the agonies that shuddered through him, the shadow remained firm, untouched. It whispered to him, whether he wailed or gagged . . .
Whatever they do, I remain untouched. The heart of a great tree never burns. The heart of a great tree never burns.
Two men, like a circle and its shadow.
The torture, the Cants of Compulsion, the narcotics—everything had failed because there were two men for them to compel, and the one, Seswatha, stood far outside the circle of the present. Whatever the affliction, no matter how obscene, his shadow whispered, But I’ve suffered more . . .
, by Terry Goodkind follows the trials and tribulation of Richard Cipher through countless adventures. This is one of my favorite series hands down. The general philosophical underpinnings of the Sword of Truth series do tend to scare me a bit but are ultimately justified in the context of the world the Mr. Goodkind created. Think of a world completely overtaken by an abysmal failure of pseudo communism in which the apparatchik rule all and mankind sullenly accepts its well deserved suffering. The only solution is brutal honesty with a good backing of military might, and Richard has more than enough to go around.