[jediprankster]

32 days? That ought to be enough time to reread George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords

The fourth one comes out later this year and is called A Feast For Crows

They are very good, but a bit harder to read. They do have a very different feel to them than the Pellinor books.

Maybe I can reread Eragon as well. It was fantastic for a first book from a nineteen year old (I think it was probably written earlier than that though).

[owleye]

yeah eragon is good but i havent heard of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series tell me if it is any good

[Becks]

Yea, I liked Eragon, isnt that the first in a series?

[owleye]

yeah it is

[jediprankster]

yeah eragon is good but i havent heard of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series tell me if it is any good
Well...his wordiness, his pacing, his insane level of detail, the reading level...they are somewhere inbetween Alison Croggon and J.R.R. Tolkein. There is medievil(sp?) warfare on both small and large scale. There is political intrigue on a level that you can't even begin to guess at until it is revealed to you at the end of the third book. The first starts with a brief prologue involving some supernatural baddies called the Others. After that there is little to no mention of magic in the first book. Only comments that magic died out with the dragons and that the few who can do magic can only do what amounts to parlor tricks. It starts slow and builds slowley. It gives you a chance to get to know the characters, of which there are a lot. And then it pulls the rug out from under you feet sending you tumbling down a couple flights of stairs. He manages to keep the suspense up by killing off characters that you both hate and love. You never know if you favorites are going to make through their next page. Over the course of the story, magic is slowely returning and noone knows why. Supernatural threats that most believe to be myth are returning. The son and daughter of an insane, deposed, murdered king are scheming to get their throne back. And all the while there are people behind the scenes manipulating everyone, and getting these feuding houses to go at each other's throats. He writes every chapter from a specific character's point of view so you only know what that character knows, but each chapter is from a different character's point of view. There are a few parts that were difficult for me to read because I just wasn't interested in the character they focused on, but later on you see how the events in each scene have an impact on the overall story. The depictions of brutal warfare and other things are not really for younger readers but I think anyone who can read on this level should give the books a try. The first book is A Game of Thrones and if you're not completely hooked 1/3 of the way in, then you probably never will be, but I think you will at least be interested enough to keep reading. They only get better as they go.

I'm pretty proud of myself. I didn't give any vital, or semi-vital plot points away. Though I will have to warn you again, be prepared for plenty of characters die. Both ones you love and ones you hate.

[Becks]

That sounds nice.... :D :D

[owleye]

wow thats a lot of writing

[jediprankster]

I might also warn you that Martin takes an age and a half to write a book. A Clash of Kings was published February 1999. A Storm of Swords was published november 2000. The next in the series, A Feast of Crows November 8 2005. The first three were around 1000 pages (the first is loaned out so I cant check it) and his publisher asked him to split the fourth in half so it wouldn't be too long. The character viewpoints from one continent will be in this book and the other continent will be placed in the next book, A Dance With Dragons. If you think I write alot, compared to Martin I'm barely noticeable.

[owleye]

u know what i ment

[Kristin]

I found The Gift through my best friend, Natalie. She was doing a book report in Year 11 Literature on it and she kept telling me to read it. I ignored her until half way through year twelve and then burrowed her book. I loffed it and made my mother buy the first two (which apparently were not easy to find) and hence I became a fan.

It's funny now, because Natalie goes to Monash University with a girl called Hannah. And Hannah claims to be friends with Alison's sister. Hurrah for her! I got this freaky SMS of Nat telling me how she "was so in" coz she new someone who new someone who new Alison. Haha! Well ... I'm a pretty good friend to her where these books are concerned! I made a t-shirt for her that has "CADVAN IS SEXY" written on the front in huge block letters. Yes, I am that cool. Hehe.