[Alayna]

• Name or User Name
Alayna Samson :]] Hii!!
• Interests/Hobbies
I am absolutely obsessed with music and reading.. my favorite music is so scattered.. I love hardcore and folk and bluegrass and blues and jazz and southern rock. It's really rather confusing... reading.. I mainly like fantasy books. Yep.
• Have you read The Door Within Trilogy or not?
I've read The Door Within and I'm halfway through Rise of the Wyrm Lord.. my best friend's little brother knew that I liked fantasy novels.. cause he saw me reading Brisingr and he was like, "ALAYNA!! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS SERIES!!! It's just as good as any other fantasy series.. except, the author is a Christian and you can SO tell, it's awesome." I was out of books to read, so I was like.. "Hey! Why not?" And uh.. I love it! So much. He just gave them to me on Friday night......and it's Sunday night.. haha.
• Have you read Isle of Swords or not?
I just found out about it tonight!! BUUUUT I will be getting them as soon as I finish TDW series!
• Your "Gateway" book--ie, the fantasy book that ushered you into a love for the fantasy genre.
When I was in first grade (WAAAY too long ago, man I'm getting old) I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.. and that's where it kind of started.. but a few years ago I started reading Harry Potter.. and it kind of snowballed from there!! :]
• Anything else you want to share.
I'm really friendly and I really like meeting new people.. so message me or something. :]]

[PeterWilliam]

I can't believe it took me this long to find this sub-forum. I actually was looking into novels/series by Batson as a result of taking up a recommendation to browse Jefferson Scott's website (Where the Map Ends). As a result I picked up two books by Leathel Grody and was looking through some more when I saw a name I recognized from sffworld: Wayne Batson. I came back here and, yep, in the authors sub-forum. I've been hoping to write fantasy fiction for a long time and only recently (past 3-4 years) started reading it again in the hopes of picking up useful tips while staying away from ideas that have already been well developed elsewhere. Much to my chagrin, the entire genre seems to have been dominated by the "gritty realism" trend. Whatever happened to a truly inspiring story characterized only by it's grandeur? Well, anyway, its good to finally find an entire group of folks involved in the genre and using it to reflect the one true greatness.

Maran 'athâ'
Pete :)

[Wayne Batson]

Hello Wayne Batson! Huge fan of all things fantasy, and I greatly enjoy your books! (I can't wait to read Isle of Fire!)
What I like to do:
read all sorts of books, fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, (I enjoy the Alex Rider Adventures) and write poems, think about writing my own book, and study biblical history!
I've read all your books so far!
my gateway book was the The Lord of the Rings, which I read before the Hobbit. after that, I started reading everything fantasy!
layta!

Warrior Jake,
Defender of the Truth,
and a servant of the Everlasting King!

Hi, Warrior Jake

Sorry I took so long to get back to this forum. Thanks for popping in. We definitely share a love for LOTR. Glad to hear you liked the Door Within books! Thanks for reading them.

Never alone.

-WtB

[Wayne Batson]

[B]• Have you read The Door Within Trilogy or not?
I've read The Door Within and I'm halfway through Rise of the Wyrm Lord.. my best friend's little brother knew that I liked fantasy novels.. cause he saw me reading Brisingr and he was like, "ALAYNA!! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS SERIES!!! It's just as good as any other fantasy series.. except, the author is a Christian and you can SO tell, it's awesome." I was out of books to read, so I was like.. "Hey! Why not?" And uh.. I love it! So much. He just gave them to me on Friday night......and it's Sunday night.. haha.
]]

HI, Alayna

Again, I apologize for not visiting this forum enough. I've been immersed in a new writing project, as well as, the Christmas season. I'm glad you like the books so far. Hope they give you at least a week of entertainment. LOL

Never alone.

-WtB

[Wayne Batson]

I can't believe it took me this long to find this sub-forum. I actually was looking into novels/series by Batson as a result of taking up a recommendation to browse Jefferson Scott's website (Where the Map Ends). As a result I picked up two books by Leathel Grody and was looking through some more when I saw a name I recognized from sffworld: Wayne Batson. I came back here and, yep, in the authors sub-forum. I've been hoping to write fantasy fiction for a long time and only recently (past 3-4 years) started reading it again in the hopes of picking up useful tips while staying away from ideas that have already been well developed elsewhere. Much to my chagrin, the entire genre seems to have been dominated by the "gritty realism" trend. Whatever happened to a truly inspiring story characterized only by it's grandeur? Well, anyway, its good to finally find an entire group of folks involved in the genre and using it to reflect the one true greatness.

Maran 'athâ'
Pete :)

Hey, Pete

I know what you mean. A lot of the new fantasy being churned out for adults is borderline horror/porn/fantasy. Seriously, who needs that? There's enough of that stuff elsewhere. I don't need it mixed into my entertainment. There's actually a growing group of traditional/epic/heroic fantasy writers; some are Christian themed, other maybe not as much but still very worthy writers. Allison Croggon and Tad Williams are two trustworthy authors here at SFFW.

If you're looking for YA fiction, check out: Christopher Hopper, Donita K. Paul, LB Graham, Bryan Davis, Jonathan Rogers, Eric Reinhold, Chris and Alan Miller, Patrick Carman, Barkley Briggs, and Jenny Nimmo.

Never alone.

WtB

[PeterWilliam]

Thanks a lot. While I've nothing against YA, I'm more into a seriously themed story like Lord of The Rings or Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I'm definitely not down with the porn/gore factor, but also I prefer a lyrical, poetic or evocative storyline/writing style. Any recommendations based on the two works listed above?

Maran 'athâ'
Pete

post submission edit: actually picked up Pellinor series with Christmas gift card from work
WOOT!

[Wayne Batson]

Thanks a lot. While I've nothing against YA, I'm more into a seriously themed story like Lord of The Rings or Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I'm definitely not down with the porn/gore factor, but also I prefer a lyrical, poetic or evocative storyline/writing style. Any recommendations based on the two works listed above?

Maran 'athâ'
Pete

post submission edit: actually picked up Pellinor series with Christmas gift card from work
WOOT!

LB Graham's Binding of the Blade series is very Tolkienesque in its scope and majesty. It's not really YA any more than Tolkien's work. ;-)