Who else is currently waiting on a book?

[KIrving]

OMG, OMG, just found out that G.G.Kay finished a new book! While no details are known, and release is rumored to be in February 2007, I am starting to wait on this one already! And it actually puts pressure on me to read Sarantine and the Last Light of the Sun.

 

This is wonderful news!

 

Oh, I recommed reading both books in the Sarantine Mosaic. I particularly like the way Kay describes the difficult and beautiful art of mosaic work. I found myself quite immersed in his descriptions of how the glass tiles are made. I also love his delicate, subtle way of depicting court intrigue. IMO, I did not get the feeling that he was writing it with a younger audience in mind.

[Domi]

Oh, yes.... Kay's politics, Kay's characters... mmmgh...

 

Have you tried Bakker? Sorry, 'tis my latest fancy, have to talk about it.

[neriana]

I'd never heard of that book for younger readers, I might have to get that. I like Tigana a lot, but a little of Kay goes a long way for me; he puts WAY too much emphasis on sex in most of his books imo, and a lot of times it feels lugged in there awkwardly. Only truly great writers can write about sex graphically without making it awkward, embarrassing, silly, and/or stupidly violent. Unfortunately nearly every modern writer seemingly feels called upon to make themselves and their audiences ridiculous by sticking graphic sex scenes in their works. Most "R" rated movies do the same thing. It's for adults, so they waste our time with "Adult" material -- which is actually very far from adult.

 

And that is my rant for today .

[KIrving]

Have you tried Bakker? Sorry, 'tis my latest fancy, have to talk about it.

No I haven't. I've been somewhat out of the loop on new novels. What do you recommend of their work?

[Domi]

@Neriana. I actually did not mean sex, lol, I meant religious conflicts, national hatred, propaganda etc. Not that he does not sometimes have the juvenile tendencies, but he at least tries. Al'Rassan is really good that way because there is almost no 'good guys' there. His sex scenes are in dissonance with much of his books, yes, and for me the single lowest point of his writing. Why, I almost dropped Arabonne because of the Prologue which to me felt borrowed from Barbara Delinsky or similar author.

 

@KIrving. Well, Bakker is a beginner, so he only have one series so far: The Prince of Nothing that starts with the Darkness that Came Before and the last book was either just released, or just going to be released... So an easy guy to catch up to.

[neriana]

Domi: I know you didn't mean sex, thinking about Kay's potential if he'd stop making sex so important is what inspired my little rant, not anything you said . I like the political intrigue and emotional force that Kay masters when he's at his best, and the sex stuff totally doesn't fit. Arbonne is really bad that way, and it could have been such an excellent book without it.

[Domi]

I actually think Tigana was worse in the sense that it was taking the story away to unconsequential events. At least in Arabonne, sex, while lamely described, had some sort of relevance to the plot, providing the gorund for the cultural conflict, sort of opening Blaise to Arabonne's ways... In Tigana, that Lady of the Castle's "education" of Devin was out of the left field, and to be honest so were the quests for the secondary characters' girlfirends. While I sort of liked those night battles in the corn fields in Tigana, to me it read like an insert, and a part of a completely different story. These unnecessary irrelevant subplots was why I liked Al'Rassan more than Tigana.

[neriana]

I actually think Tigana was worse in the sense that it was taking the story away to unconsequential events. At least in Arabonne, sex, while lamely described, had some sort of relevance to the plot, providing the gorund for the cultural conflict, sort of opening Blaise to Arabonne's ways... In Tigana, that Lady of the Castle's "education" of Devin was out of the left field, and to be honest so were the quests for the secondary characters' girlfirends. While I sort of liked those night battles in the corn fields in Tigana, to me it read like an insert, and a part of a completely different story. These unnecessary irrelevant subplots was why I liked Al'Rassan more than Tigana.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, the scene with Devin was silly -- both the sex scenes with Devin were silly. Actually, to be honest, I didn't like Devin much at all. I really enjoyed the mythic background of the area, though, and how every province was different, and yet shared a similar cultural background, like the Italian city-states. I loved the Dianora plot, though I wish it could have ended on a different note. She was definitely my favorite character.

 

Who are the secondary characters' girlfriends? One thing I liked about Tigana is that I felt NONE of the characters were secondary at all, and I can't think of any "girlfriend" but Dianora, who was certainly much more than a mere "girlfriend" . I usually find books written in a straight line rather dull.

[Domi]

I meant Elena for... bear with me, Dianorra's brother, can't remember his name, and Alais (again, bear with me, I am horrible with names) for Devin.... I felt it was kind of artificial that each man got provided with a girl in the course of the story. Reminds me Jordan's lame matchmaking efforts.

[neriana]

I actually think Tigana was worse in the sense that it was taking the story away to unconsequential events. At least in Arabonne, sex, while lamely described, had some sort of relevance to the plot, providing the gorund for the cultural conflict, sort of opening Blaise to Arabonne's ways... In Tigana, that Lady of the Castle's "education" of Devin was out of the left field, and to be honest so were the quests for the secondary characters' girlfirends. While I sort of liked those night battles in the corn fields in Tigana, to me it read like an insert, and a part of a completely different story. These unnecessary irrelevant subplots was why I liked Al'Rassan more than Tigana.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dragging women into a book just so all the men in it can have love interests in the end (and vice versa) would be somewhat silly. However, I don't see any of the characters in that way. These women are all very important people in their own right. Romantic entanglements are both natural and common in real life, after all. They are even more common in stressful situations in which there are many people fighting for a common goal. Kay isn't the first author to have many of his characters pair up, and he won't be the last; many of the greatest works, both plays and novels, in the English language, have done the same thing.

 

The dualities of the female/male relationships in Tigana all serve very important symbolic meanings, also. Tigana is rife with analogy, symbolism, and ritual. That's why I like it so much. It's not a mere "all this stuff happened, these people did some stuff, everyone lived or died happily or unhappily ever after, the end." It's a much more ambiguous and rich book than that, one that cannot be pinned down and one which has really stuck with me ever since I first read it.

[Domi]

However, I don't see any of the characters in that way. These women are all very important people in their own right. Romantic entanglements are both natural and common in real life, after all.

 

That was not my impression; I felt that their appearance and related subplots were accidental and sitick out. But, different people read differently.

[Pekka]

Well, Bakker is a beginner, so he only have one series so far: The Prince of Nothing that starts with the Darkness that Came Before and the last book was either just released, or just going to be released... So an easy guy to catch up to.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

But not an easy guy to read! I just finished "The Darkness That Comes Before" - it is an excellent book. Bakker is something entirely different than the "light-weight" fantasy authors a la Salvatore, so I wouldn't recommend his writings to anyone who is not willing to spend some time familiarizing himself with the cosmology. But it's definitely worth the effort.

[Domi]

You know, I was sort of concerned that the world will be very tough to understand from the reviews, but I found that I was easing off into it quite nicely, and the prologue was the only heavy read, when I had to struggle with the book.

[Domi]

A new sample chapter on preview for A Dance With Dragons! Tyrion's fans, rejoyce!

 

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/chapter.html

[Neferit]

I'm waiting for 3rd part of Knights of the Night (previous books were quite interesting with theory what would happen, if Usama bin Ladin win his fight with Europe and America) and for 2nd part of StarCraft (I've read StarCraft 1 - Liberty's Crusade and this book is just wonderful!) oh my... and they just don't get them out