quote:Originally posted by Invisible Brainiac: And another fan! I gotta agree with ya Peebz - 11 to 13 were awesome, and almost worth the slowing down in books 8 and 10.
Book 6, Dumai's Wells, was epic, but one of my favorite battles still has to be the Cleansing in Book 9. But 11-13 are my fave books because so much happens in them.
Can't wait for 14 - I'll probably get the hardcover when it comes out, because I'll go nuts waiting for the paperback.
ahhh I'm such a fool, I was actually thinking of the CLEANSING battle in fact!!
The Dumais Wells battle is also epic but I was thinking of the Cleansing Battle ... that was when I was exciting they were going to get sh%^ done!
I also enjoyed Birgitte's daring rescue of Elayne ... even thought it was only like one chapter long.[/QB]
Yeah, I loved the Cleansing because - look, something finally happens! And IMO it's always good when we get to see some Aes Sedai in action.
Mat's venture into the Tower of Ghenjei was great too
Basically a call for people to learn about various religions as religion and religious belief permeates and influences the world. According to the author, various studies have found that only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels; most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible; and 10% of Americans believe Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. This despite half of Americans identify as Protestant, a quarter as Catholis, and 10% as Christians of some stripe.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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This book recounts Morrison's development as a creator (and a human being), more or less chronologically. His life story was typical enough, although we can see that his activist father and the difficult conditions of the 1970s and Thatcher's Britain influenced his writing.
I didn't know that he had started out as an artist, as well as a musician.
Morrison's insights into and comments about comics of each era are very interesting. In some cases, it's his own viewpoint; in others, he offers the reader insider, behind-the-scenes information. It made me want to go back and reread the books he mentions.
His writing has reflected his personal mindset at a given time; he was heavily into drugs and drinking, which isn't a big revelation when you read some of his earlier works, like The Invisibles. Then he had a very mystical experience, and we got All-Star Superman....
More gossip would have been fun; Morrison lets out a few tidbits, but he's overall very much the gentleman and no doubt he pulls his punches when it comes to the publishers and his fellow creators. I certainly can't fault him for that.
His description of the Batman TV serials and movies was hilarious, as were some of his encounters at conventions and with fans.
Particularly interesting was his discussion of Iain Spence's Sekhmet Hypothesis (which I had never heard of), which links cycles in popular culture to sunspot cycles. According to Spence, we alternate between punk and hippie culture, to use contemporary terms. Morrison shows how this has played out in comic books, and claims that we are now embarking on a period of hippie culture: interest in the spiritual, peace, long hair, loose clothes,etc. - although he seems to apply the Sekhmet Hypothesis with a grain of salt.
The original content for this book was, according to an interview with Morrison, cut by half. I would really like to read the rest. Still, the 417 pages that did get published were fascinating and thought-provoking.
posted
FC, you've sold me on Supergods. I had been aware of it for a while, but given my extreme ambivalence about Morrison's public image and works, it was always going to be a hard sell.
I still think he's a bit Bowie-esque, often using mystique to sell mediocrity. But like Bowie, he's offered plenty of good ideas (and plenty of bad ones, and plenty of ugly ones -- the killing of Darkstar being the worst offender IMO. Then again, it's the job of the EDITORS to tell him when he's off-base.)
Still, lifting the curtain to reveal the man behind it should make for an interesting read, to say the least.
posted
Re: Dickens- my favorite's BLEAK HOUSE. Which I really need to reread sometime soon. There ought to be a word for the adjustment our 21st century brains have to make before enjoying 18th or 19th century literature. It takes me about 70-80 pages. So worth it once that 'snap' snaps, though.
I've tried WAR AND PEACE a half dozen times and haven't been able to crack that one, though.
Re: Christie-- For those that like her, but have exhausted her body of work, there's an author from New Zealand named Ngaio Marsh who has a similar style. Her main character is Roderick Alleyn. The first two have just become available on Nook. Maybe they're available on Kindle, too?
I just started rereading the Pliocine Exile, a four part series by Julian May. It'd been out of print for awhile, but was also recently made available on Nook.
It's sort of like Terra Nova, in that people from the near-future are traveling to the distant past. In May's book, it's mostly people who are unable to adjust when Earth makes contact with and joins an intergalactic federation kind of deal.
It starts slow, in fact the main characters don't really show up for quite a while. Once they do, though, it's a good sci-fi/fantasy combo. I love when combining the two genres is done successfully.
Before that, I finished OUT OF OZ, the last book in Gregory Maguire's reimagination of the Oz stories. It packed quite a punch, while leaving some perplexing questions open to interpretation. One neat thing the writer did was sprinkle names of songs and lines of songs from WICKED, the musical based on his initial entry in the series, throughout the book as lines of dialogue, or in narration. It's a good thing to read about a writer who appreciates adaptations of his work. In fact, he thought a couple of ideas that the adapters used for the musical version were ones he wished he'd come up with- like the origins of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. You'd have to read other books in the series. This isn't one a reader could start with and comfortably tell what was important or even what was going on, I don't think.
I eagerly await the last WHEEL OF TIME book, as well. That's one I'll definitely download, though.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
I read War and Peace when I was about 20, and it didn't do much for me. It's probably one of those books I should try to re-read.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I'm currently reading The Quantum Prophecy: The Gathering by Michael Carroll, a super-hero novel -- the second of a trilogy -- that shows how fun, exciting, and worthwhile super-heroes can still be (for those of us not interested in DC or Marvel's current offerings).
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Cliche' time: There's a bunch of this year's National Geographics stockpiled in the break room at work. So I've been reading them a lot.
So far, the most interesting piece I've seen is about "Seed Banking" in an attempt to preserve food diversity around the world. The monoculture approach to having everyone everywhere focus on a few breeds of livestock or grain is routinely linked to crisis and famine a la' the Irish Potato Famine of the 19th Century. Reading about Melaku Worede, who's been instrumental in preserving species for the benefit of farmers in his native Ethiopia, has been awesome. I may have to name a planet after him in my fic. Or maybe even a whole solar system.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Well, I finished Supergods, and while I think it's a TREMENDOUS book, it left me more ambivalent about Grant Morrison than ever. But maybe that's the way it should be. Things are never simple with Morrison, literally and figuratively.
The book is at its best in the middle, covering Morrison's beloved Silver Age through the Widescreen era (Authority et al) at the end of the 90s.
The early chapters, covering the Golden Age and the anti-comics panic, seem to rush by, as by the author's own admission, this is well-trod territory.
The later chapters, starting with Morrison's unhappy dance with Marvel at the beginning of the new millenium and ending with Morrison taking over Action Comics, feel somehow compromised, as if Morrison was biting his tongue particularly hard so as not to offend the people involved with the corporation that he currently works for. I just don't buy that he unquestioningly approves of what might be called The Second Dark Age.
Still, there's a lot to recommend this book, as the story of Morrison the working-class hero whose dreams all come true, as a decidedly different kind of self-help book, and as an view-from-the-inside look at pop culture and its synergy with society.
I still believe that Morrison is better at TALKING ABOUT comics than WRITING comics, so I'd certainly be in favor of follow-ups to this book. This could be the start of a whole new branch to his career.
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Lesson learned from Agatha Christie novels:
Usually, if there is a young lady with two potential romantic interests, the love triangle will resolve itself by one of the young men turning out to be a murderer.
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: very much like real life.
-------------------- "Anytime a good book like this is cancelled, I hope another Teen Titan is murdered." --Cobalt
"Anytime an awesome book like S6 is cancelled, I hope EVERY Titan is murdered." --Me
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by cleome45: Cliche' time: There's a bunch of this year's National Geographics stockpiled in the break room at work. So I've been reading them a lot.
So far, the most interesting piece I've seen is about "Seed Banking" in an attempt to preserve food diversity around the world. The monoculture approach to having everyone everywhere focus on a few breeds of livestock or grain is routinely linked to crisis and famine a la' the Irish Potato Famine of the 19th Century. Reading about Melaku Worede, who's been instrumental in preserving species for the benefit of farmers in his native Ethiopia, has been awesome. I may have to name a planet after him in my fic. Or maybe even a whole solar system.
That really was a fantastic article, wasnt it? One of those moments where I felt assured there really are a *few* truly smart people out there thinking ahead and making a difference.
I read it each month. Most months have at least a few good articles (or even pages with interesting facts) and great photographs.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Yeah, Cobie. It's funny that the radicalism of forty or fifty years ago (plant/animal diversity and the acknowledgment that widescale meat production isn't really an efficient way to nourish the globe) is finally being normalized by mainstream mags like NG.
In other news, I've been rereading a volume of Anton Chekhov's early works on my bus rides home. Even though the translation feels spotty and rough in places, it's still great stuff. Seasons have such force in these stories that they're almost characters in and of themselves. Great winter reading, always.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Sherlock Holmes fans should check out The House of Silk, which is a pretty good contemporary attempt to write a Holmes novel.
There's a few bits that are a bit too "let's try to work in this element of the Holmes mythology", but overall it's really enjoyable.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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