May 25, 2007
The Symposium
I told you yesterday that the nice Lady Joana and I didn’t have much in common. I also mentioned that I was only just getting to know her, and I’m glad I’ve continued to do that. I’ve learned through exploring The Symposium that we have more in common than I knew. We both seem to have an insatiable thirst to read, and will read rubbish if good books aren’t available. I think Joana also shares my unfortunate inability to put a book down unfinished, even when it’s deplorably written, as she’s managed to write some scathing reviews of books that she found poorly written and without merit.
I’m a fan of well-written vampire and supernatural creature books and Joana has reviewed a few with enough skill to let me know that I need to look them up. I’m especially fond of series books within that genre, and take great enjoyment in watching characters develop and mature as events unfold in their ongoing stories. I’ll be looking out for the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison, with which I’ve not previously been acquainted. Joana has found these books to be populated with intriguing characters having complex relationships that draw the readers into their lives. I especially appreciated the comparison to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series because I, too, have been annoyed at Hamilton’s habit of not tying up loose ends in succeeding stories. Joana and I both understand and appreciate that even books based entirely on fantasy need realism and continuity to hold their readers. I expect to find that in Harrison’s books. Mahalo, Joana, for steering me towards them.
There’s some amazingly good children’s and young adult literature being produced these days. I’m a little sad for readers who fail to recognize this and deprive themselves of some really great reading experiences. I discovered Cornelia Funke a couple of years ago and was enthralled with her Inkheart and The Thief Lord. I’m therefore inclined to want to be skeptical of Joana’s less-than-stellar impression of Dragon Rider, but only because I want Ms. Funke to have continued with the exemplary writing she exhibited in earlier works. Joana’s reviews seem to be well-balanced and content-based rather than swaying to personal expectations, so I’ll try to follow her example and keep an open mind with this one.
I’ve only spent an hour or so nibbling at the delectables offered at The Symposium. I’m liking what I’ve found so far and highly recommend that discerning readers take a look at what Joana has to say. She’s an astute pragmatist when it comes to dissecting and rating the books she’s delved into and I think you’ll respect her views and come away with a few new titles scribbled on your wish list.
[tags]books and literature, book reviews, book blogs[/tags]
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May 25th, 2007 at 6:34 pm, Joana Says:
I’m glad you enjoyed browsing TS! I recently did a little reorganizing on it so I’ve slacked in my reviews. Oops.
Mm, Dragon Rider was a fun read, but like I mentioned it was disappointing that star of the book, the dragon rider, Ben didn’t play much of a pivotal role really. Then Firedrake the dragon didn’t get fleshed out much either. Still a good and fun read, but sort of like cotten candy. Sweet but not filling.
LKH, woohboy, I used to call her my favorite author but after the way her ABH series took such a down turn with Cerulean Sins and Incubus Dreams being the last nail in the coffin (bad pun) I have a hard time picking up her books now. I confess to having stopped buying them ^^; I either swap ‘em or borrow them. Did you ever try reading her Meredith Gentry series? It’s better in the sense that you expected it to go along that route but given that those characters seem to be too close to the ABVH characters personality wise she seems to just keep making the same mistakes over and over - in triplicate.
You will definately like Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series though, it’s what ABVH used to be and could have been.
May 26th, 2007 at 9:18 pm, skeet Says:
I thoroughly enjoyed your site Joana, but it’s got so much substance to it that I had to select small bits for review. I’ll just have to digest the rest over time.
LKH was in my top three faves for quite a while. She started losing me with Obsidian Butterfly. So much gratuitous violence, blood & guts. Those parts were so over the top as to totally distract me from the story itself. I’m in a bookswap group and will probably still read her … wait, let me check … yes, I have the Laughing Corpse here, which I haven’t read yet. And would you believe - I have Dragon Rider & didn’t even know I had it, lol! Too many books to keep up with!
I’m currently reading Mary Janice Davidson’s Undead and Unreturnable. I like silly/supernatural sometimes for a break from the heavy stuff. I’m also a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series and of Christopher Moore’s brand of humor/vampires. Well, anything by Christopher Moore, really. Absolutely my favorite writer.
I really need to get my book site going.