Sharon Shinn

Oi, this is the first time I start a thread on this forum . . . *excited* :p

Sharon Shinn's name turned up recently in another tread and I started to wonder again: has there ever been a discussion about her works?

As far as I was able to find out searching the forum: no.

So now, did you read her books? Do you like them? If so, why? Or why not?

(Hey Rachel, go on, ramble about 'Wrapt in Crystel' :D )

And yes, I read all of her books and enjoyed them all - even so that does not mean that I consider every one of it to be really good . . . but let's first see what others have to say.

:)

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Originally posted by Nimea
Oi, this is the first time I start a thread on this forum . . . *excited* :p

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Congratulations and what took so long!

Anyway, I read Archangel when it first came out in mass market paperback. At the time, I thought it was pretty good. An interesting blend of Religous themes with Technology in a mock-medieival/renassaince period. My only gripe is that it bordered on romance a bit. Thinking about it I could see people who have enjoyed Jacqueline Carey's work enjoying this.

A friend let me borrow it based on our common enjoyment of Carl Sagan's Contact which had similar themes, though explored in different ways.

I am a very shy person.

And you got me there, I am one of those people that enjoyed Jacqueline Carey's book(s). Only the sex and violence in those books is much higher and not necessarily to everyone's liking . . .

The theme is even more explored in the following books, although I liked the first one most.
What I liked about Archangel was the way music was an important part and especially how Shinn described the singing - for me that was very intense.

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Originally posted by Nimea
(Hey Rachel, go on, ramble about 'Wrapt in Crystel' :D )

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Well ... if you insist ... ;)

I'm really picky about what books I read, and a lot of people probably think that my tastes are strange. I will get one thing straight before any misconceptions arise; I like my books to have a dash of romance, but not so much that the romance becomes the entire book.

In Wrapt in Crystal I had hoped to find a good story, interesting characters, and a nice romance like in "Summers", but instead I find a totally unlikeable, flat, undeveloped, main character; and a convoluted plot dealing with intergalactic murders and weird religious sects. Apparently there is some religious figure called "Ava", I could not figure out if this is their god or if Ava is some machine floating around in the sky.

Probably the thing I disliked most about the book was the characters. As I stated before, I didn't like the main character, and the others weren't much better. A character would pop up and hang around with him for awhile, then totally be forgotten. All of the girls in the books seemed to be very similar.

I didn't really like the romance(s) either. The guy has sex with at least two different women throughout the book, and it's not the kind of sex that I like. I can do without the "he made love to her on the golden beach sands under the watchful eyes of Ava and any other god who wished to see" and then "he" going off and trysting with a bunch of other women kind of thing.


Now like I said, I have weird opinions, and you may be reading my post and saying, "Huh? That sounds like a great book/That's no reason not to like a book!" but ... I didn't like it. The half of it I can't even put into words.
--Rachel

Now for the positive Sharon Shinn post. :D

I love Summers at Castle Auburn. I think I stumbled onto the title while browsing on Amazon, and checked it out of the library the next time I went. I got so involved in the story and the characters that I stayed up all night reading it. I can't even really describe why I like it so much ... I just do. It made me scream in frustration (for the characters), cry, laugh, and go "awww". Plus, I liked Bryan's murder. ;)
--Rachel

Have read only 1 book of Shinn, and that one I liked: "Archangel".

Though it was science-fiction, I like the twist of angels and deity in the story. Kinda like Zelazney's "Lord of Light" or Brust's book (forgot the title, about God and angels). Yeah, I also liked the romance aspect. :o (Better than SOT romance anyway.)

So Rachel, if you liked "Summers", maybe you'll liked "Archangel". :)

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Plus, I liked Bryan's murder.

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... Or maybe not. :D

Ah....Archangel....yes I've read this one. I didn't recognise the author at first but now I know who you're talking about.

I enjoyed this one too. As I've said before, I do like a bit of romance sprinkled in with my fantasy, so this appealed to me. For me, it was an original concept - the religious connections, angels etc, so was a very entertaining read.

I'll have to read Archangel. :) It looks quite appealing; especially the main female protagonist's name. ;)
--Rachel

Anyone read 'The Shape-Changer's Wife'? I had to search for it long and hard (in Germany this book is already out-of-print, just like Archangel. :( And back then I was not yet reading in English so much.) and I think this absolutely was worth it!

About 'Wrapt in Crystal': wow, my brain starts to have blind spots. I used to really have a good memory about stories and story details - not anymore.
I totally forgot that he had sex with another woman as well . . . darn, with whom and when? Please tell me! I don't have my books here, so I can't look it up.

And I rather liked 'Wrapt in Crystal', not like Archangel or Shape-Changer's Wife or Summers at Castle Auburn, yet more than 'Heart of Gold' or 'Jenna Starborn'.
I found the religious concept in this book very interesting and I liked the main character exploring the two different sects and his own feelings about faith.

About 'Jenna Starborn': I would like to know someone's opinion who first read 'Jane Eyre' and then 'Jenna Starborn' - well, I at least bought Jane and will read the classic once I got the time.
Anyone who knows what I am writing about? ;)
This year seems to be a time of exploring fantasy/scifi books that make you want to read old classics . . .

:)

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Originally posted by Nimea
I totally forgot that he had sex with another woman as well . . . darn, with whom and when? Please tell me! I don't have my books here, so I can't look it up.

About 'Jenna Starborn': I would like to know someone's opinion who first read 'Jane Eyre' and then 'Jenna Starborn' - well, I at least bought Jane and will read the classic once I got the time.
Anyone who knows what I am writing about? ;)

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I have to admit that I've forgotten the names. :o Laura of course, towards the end of the book, before she runs off. In the middle he does it with that other chick, after he confessed some stuff to her and she was comforting him ... I'll have to look it up, I have my copy upstairs.

I haven't gotten around to reading Jenna Starborn yet, although Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books of all time. I had it on hold when it was first released, but then someone forgot to give me the message when it came in, so I didn't get it, and since then I just keep forgetting to put my name back on the hold list. :rolleyes:
--Rachel

I have only read Summers at Castle Auburn and although it was a fun, light read, it was way too predictable in many areas. So, it was ok, but it didn't make me rush out and try her other books. Perhaps I will give her work another try...

I really like books that are "fun and light", so reading it did make me want to go run out and give her other books a try. ;)
--Rachel

I've read Archangel, Jovah's Angel, and The Alleluia Files. I enjoyed all three of them, but the third one less so, because it was done away from the angel culture.

I have Heart of Gold, but have not read it yet.

Susan

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Originally posted by Rachel
I really like books that are "fun and light", so reading it did make me want to go run out and give her other books a try. ;)
--Rachel

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I do too, and while 'Summers' was fun, it didn't stike a chord with me. Oh well. :-) I recently read Rebecca Lickiss' 'Never After', which I actually enjoyed a lot more than 'Summers'. I will try Shinn again, but I have a huge stack of books already bought and waiting to be read.

I read Lickiss' Eccentric Circles and didn't enjoy it very much ... it was certainly light and at times had the potential of being fun, but a lot of the time I was just annoyed by it. :lol:
--Rachel