Jenab
Banned
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2004
- Messages
- 114
I'm one of the people who are expecting a sort of apocalyptic end of the world soon, not from any divine cause (I'm not religious), but from a worldwide collapse of industrial civilization because of a steady diminution in the supply of fossil fuels.
For the past eight years, I've been preparing myself for that apocalypse. I've bought property in the hills of West Virginia. I modified my house for woodstove heating and cooking. I also have a solar cooker, which I plan to use for preserving fruit and nuts. I am growing a fruit and nut orchard, and I have some goats running around the back pasture. Naturally, I also have a stockpile of non-perishable food, tools for gardening and for woodcutting, guns and etc.
But I don't want to be bored while I'm hiding from the starving world beyond my hidden retreat. I have been collecting books, mainly buying through the mail from eBay and Amazon. I haven't counted them up recently, but the total is probably over 1000, most of which I haven't read, and most of the books are fantasy or SF.
I have most of the books by most of the authors mentioned here. But I've had time to read only Jordon's WHEEL OF TIME, Zelanzy's CHRONICLES OF AMBER, Modesitt's SAGA OF RECLUCE, the DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES by Weis & Hickman, and now I'm starting on Feist's RIFTWAR SAGA.
I find that most authors have strengths and weaknesses. Jordon's characterization is superb, but his WOT plot has thickened in much the same way that concrete hardens as it sets. Weis & Hickman plot well, but storytell poorly: the characters are shallow, with insufficient introspection, and the viewpoint bounces around too much. Modesitt avoids both Jordan's mistake and that of Weis & Hickman, but he seems to blunder now and then with place-names (e.g., getting Fairhaven mixed up with Recluce) - a good editor should have fixed this, though.
So if I were to rank these three fountains of literature, I'd put Modesitt first, Jordan second, Weis & Hickman third. And that's how I'll continue with my own ranking, putting each writer in the ranking order he/she seems to deserve.
Of Robin Hobb, I've so far read nothing, although I own copies of the FARSEER, LIVESHIP TRADERS, and TAWNY MAN series, as well as the WINDSINGER series she wrote as Megan Lindstrom. Of George R.R. Martin, I own the Hedge Knight as well as the three published books in the SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. I've read The Hedge Knight - excellent. But I will wait until I've read the text-based stories before issuing an overall rank to the author.
Likewise, it's too soon for me to say how well I like Feist. I must finish at least the RIFTWAR SAGA, then maybe MIDKEMIA, SERPENTWAR, LEGACY, and CONCLAVE OF SHADOWS. I'll read the EMPIRE books, but since he coauthored them with Janny Wurts, I won't use them in ranking Feist. I don't expect even to read the "Murder in LaMut" or "Jimmy the Hand" books, since Feist doesn't even consistently work with the same coauthor for them.
Anyway, it's too soon for me to give a Top Five.
Jerry Abbott
For the past eight years, I've been preparing myself for that apocalypse. I've bought property in the hills of West Virginia. I modified my house for woodstove heating and cooking. I also have a solar cooker, which I plan to use for preserving fruit and nuts. I am growing a fruit and nut orchard, and I have some goats running around the back pasture. Naturally, I also have a stockpile of non-perishable food, tools for gardening and for woodcutting, guns and etc.
But I don't want to be bored while I'm hiding from the starving world beyond my hidden retreat. I have been collecting books, mainly buying through the mail from eBay and Amazon. I haven't counted them up recently, but the total is probably over 1000, most of which I haven't read, and most of the books are fantasy or SF.
I have most of the books by most of the authors mentioned here. But I've had time to read only Jordon's WHEEL OF TIME, Zelanzy's CHRONICLES OF AMBER, Modesitt's SAGA OF RECLUCE, the DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES by Weis & Hickman, and now I'm starting on Feist's RIFTWAR SAGA.
I find that most authors have strengths and weaknesses. Jordon's characterization is superb, but his WOT plot has thickened in much the same way that concrete hardens as it sets. Weis & Hickman plot well, but storytell poorly: the characters are shallow, with insufficient introspection, and the viewpoint bounces around too much. Modesitt avoids both Jordan's mistake and that of Weis & Hickman, but he seems to blunder now and then with place-names (e.g., getting Fairhaven mixed up with Recluce) - a good editor should have fixed this, though.
So if I were to rank these three fountains of literature, I'd put Modesitt first, Jordan second, Weis & Hickman third. And that's how I'll continue with my own ranking, putting each writer in the ranking order he/she seems to deserve.
Of Robin Hobb, I've so far read nothing, although I own copies of the FARSEER, LIVESHIP TRADERS, and TAWNY MAN series, as well as the WINDSINGER series she wrote as Megan Lindstrom. Of George R.R. Martin, I own the Hedge Knight as well as the three published books in the SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. I've read The Hedge Knight - excellent. But I will wait until I've read the text-based stories before issuing an overall rank to the author.
Likewise, it's too soon for me to say how well I like Feist. I must finish at least the RIFTWAR SAGA, then maybe MIDKEMIA, SERPENTWAR, LEGACY, and CONCLAVE OF SHADOWS. I'll read the EMPIRE books, but since he coauthored them with Janny Wurts, I won't use them in ranking Feist. I don't expect even to read the "Murder in LaMut" or "Jimmy the Hand" books, since Feist doesn't even consistently work with the same coauthor for them.
Anyway, it's too soon for me to give a Top Five.
Jerry Abbott
I only noticed it this weekend.
