I’ve had a couple of people tell me in the last year that to be a true fantasy fan you must have read Tolkien. However, I strongly disagree with this view, seeing it as genre gatekeeping. I’m curious what others think.
It seems that many new readers these days discover the written fantasy genre after first enjoying fantasy films and TV shows, isekai anime, graphic novels, or YA books and then start exploring fantasy novels. As such, the first fantasy novels they’re likely to read are more often the Witcher series, GRRM, and similar instead of Tolkien.
I know my kids love the fantasy genre and discovered it through YA books and anime. But when they tried to read Tolkien they found his stories didn’t appeal to them. I hope one day they’ll go back and give Tolkien another try. But if they don’t that’s also okay. B/c hey, they still love the fantasy genre!
And please note I’m not disputing Tolkien’s influence on the fantasy genre. …
Been seeing this a lot in comments from other threads. This thread isn’t for discussing that content from those threads, but this specific thing.
I see a lot of people say they don’t even know what “good” prose means, or they complain that it gets in the way and give bad examples of extremely purple prose. Or they fall back on the whole “window pane” analogy. (which is, IMO, an inaccurate analogy.)
I can’t speak for everyone but when I think, or talk about, good prose, I mean this:
The text and narrative has a voice that adds flavor, immersion, feeling, atmosphere. There are clever turns of phrase, ways of showing emotion, or implying without stating it. When things are stated, the text does so boldly, so that it leaves an impression on you. All the while, using language that’s simple enough that it moves fast, but also has enough color to leave an impression on you.
IE:
Prose is not a window pane, of any kind. …
So, I just picked up the Mage Errant series because it seemed like fun, and I just finished the first book, and it was pretty fun - as well as being painfully realistic in its depiction of what it feels like to be on the recieving end of bullying, and of a character with what seems to be social anxiety disorder (that time where Hugh locks himself up in his room for days cos he’s worried his friend is mad at him? Been there, done that.) Like, it’s a book that genuinely gave me the warm fuzzies in a big way lol.
So cos I enjoyed it, I went to check out some of the reviews for the later books to see if they were as good. And lo and behold - 90% of people were complaining about a character being ‘unnecessarily’ gay in a later book (which I haven’t read yet, so no spoilers!)
I just don’t understand though, why people think there needs to be a ‘reason’ for a character to be gay. That’s like me saying ‘I don’t understand why …
Just a quick reminder that I will be doing an AMA today! A new US edition of Wizard of the Pigeons, my 1980’s urban fantasy set in Seattle, is now available from Grim Oak Press. Cover and interior illustrations are by Tommy Arnold. I’m looking forward to talking about urban fantasy, how much Seattle has changed since I wrote this story, the hazards of reissuing a book that is now 35 years old, and anything else you want to chat about. Ask Me Anything!
The last few days I feel like I’ve seen a ton of I read X amount of books this year and the numbers seem super high. I feel like I read a good amount I did 20 this year mostly due to COVID. Usually I read 10-15 books a year and I keep thinking how are y’all hitting these crazy high numbers. I feel like even if I devoted all my free time to reading there is no way I hit those numbers so I’m just curious at how y’all do it.
I qualify as a Constant Reader. I’ve read (almost) every Stephen King novel, novella, short story, and non-fiction under his name - I’m missing the Gwendy works, the book about the 2004 Red Sox season, and when he puts out a short story as a part of a multi-author anthology.
What I have come across is people voicing their opinion about how “Classic King” is better than “Sober King.” They can’t stand works like Insomnia, Cell, the Bill Hodges Trilogy, etc. I think it would be easier to think of King’s career as smaller careers instead of one big omnibus, which has been done for other artists, usually musicians.
For example, Aerosmith had a successful career in the ‘70s - early ‘80s, and had a separate career starting with their RUN-DMC collaboration remaking “Walk This Way.” AC/DC is broken up into the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson eras by fans. Most of this is done so that fans of the artist can explain what they …
Part of my New Years resolution is to read more. I continually set this goal for myself but never follow through as I find I get bored pretty easily and need to switch my focus. Because of this, it’s been hard for me to get through a book entirely.
On January 1st, I picked up one of the books I got for Christmas. As usual, I started to lose focus and put it down but the thought of reading was stuck in my head so I opened up GoodReads and the Books app on my phone to find some new ones that interested me. What ended up happening is I downloaded a couple e-books and started reading. When I got bored I switched to the other. Later on I picked up that first book. Since then I’ve found that by continuously switching between a few books, I am more engaged and interested in what I’m reading. I do the same with social media, constantly switching back and forth between a few apps all day. Now I’m doing it with books.
I’ve already finished a couple, getting close on a few more, and best of …
Finished Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed.
2 of the finest books i’ve ever read.
Currently reading Lathe of Heaven.
What should I read next of hers? Or another similar author?
I love the long form thinking experiments, the complete alien cultures and the beautiful way she writes.
Any suggestions welcome - thank you
Tor has collected 24 works of short fiction that they published in 2020 into a single volume available for free at Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, B&N NOOK, Kobo, and eBooks.com.
Tor’s announcement page claims worldwide availability.
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SOME OF THE BEST FROM TOR.COM 2020 EDITION includes the following stories:
Ursula K. Le Guin begins the foreword to her non-fiction collection Words Are My Matter as follows:
I seldom have as much pleasure in reading nonfiction as I do in a poem or a story. I can admire a well-made essay, but I’d rather follow a narrative than a thought, and the more abstract the thought the less I comprehend it. Philosophy inhabits my mind only as parables, and logic never enters it at all. Yet my grasp of syntax, which seems to me the logic of a language, is excellent. So I imagine that this limitation in my thinking is related to my abysmal mathematical incompetence, my inability to play chess or even checkers, perhaps my incomprehension of key in music. There seems to be a firewall in my mind against ideas expressed in numbers and graphs rather than words, or in abstract words such as Sin or Creativity. I just don’t understand. And incomprehension is boredom. So the nonfiction I read is mostly narrative—biography, history, travel, and science in its descriptive aspect: …
Just a quick one on David Weber ref Covid.
Looks like he is improving but not out of the woods.
I see reviews like this all the time when I’m searching for a new book, and they are infuriating. Some pearl-clutching jerk leaves a 1-star review because the book contains violence, or sex, or curse words. Those reviews have a real effect on sales and these people are actively harming an author’s business just because they take issue with the content.
It’s like going to a fancy restaurant where a talented chef creates an amazing dish, but you leave the restaurant a bad review because that dish contained tomatoes.
Reviews should be based on the quality of the writing, the plot, and so on. It is fine if the book has content that you don’t like, such as violence—just don’t read it. But don’t leave a bad review just because it isn’t “for you.” If you absolutely must let other people know that the book contains some element you don’t like, then leave at least a 3 or 4-star review so you aren’t hurting the book’s …