8 posts tagged “fantasy”
I didn't include the volumes from which I read smattering of short stories here and there, but those are great for when I'm feeling attention span-challenged.
I can't believe April's already wrapped up and it's May already. That means it's time for the Kentucky Derby, dinner outside, and my birthday. I'll hit the quarter-century mark in the middle of the month, and it is my considered opinion that this would be an excellent opportunity for anyone who was waiting for an excuse to buy me lots of Guinness and chocolate to do so.
Edited 6 APR 09, when I remembered that I had also reread Interesting Times in March. That's what I get for not recording books as I finished them.
Those four books did not encompass all of the reading I did in February, but the rest consisted of snatches here and there of books that aren't necessarily meant to be read straight through (mostly religion texts). Still, I'm hoping March will find me in a stronger reading mood.
As something new for 2009, I am using Vox to keep track of the books I read throughout the year (or at least until I get bored with the idea or distracted by something shiny). January's total is all fiction, mostly rereads, and mostly within one C.J. Cherryh series.
Book: Show us a book you started reading but never finished.
If you could write like one fiction author, who would it be?
Submitted by Marilyn.
I want my voice to be my own, but I wouldn't mind absorbing some of the world-building talent of C.J. Cherryh or Frank Herbert. Each managed to create a fleshed-out, convincing universe (or several), and while I might not care to live on Arrakis or gallivant around Alliance-Union space, I feel as if I could. I get the impression that things are going on behind the scenes, outside of the main sweep of the plot, and that is what makes the works of these authors so immersive. Their worlds work.
In which fictional world/universe/land/city would you most like to live?
Submitted by glenn is the new chuck.
In spite of all its flaws and the fact that the books themselves no longer hold the magic for me they once did (the rather mediocre writing gets in the way), Anne McCaffrey's Pern remains the imaginary world I have spent the most mental time in. If someone offered me the chance to pop over to the third rock from Rukbat and stand on the Hatching Ground sands in hopes of Impressing a dragon who would be my telepathic lifemate, I'd jump at it.
When I was younger, one of my vague hopes about the afterlife was that we would all be given the chance to spend some time in our most beloved fictional universes. That probably says a lot about the degree to which science fiction and fantasy sculpted me.
What do you collect?
I collect dragons. When I was in fifth grade, I began to read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series and thus kindled a life-long fascination with dragons of all kinds. In high school, I quickly found friends who loved Pern as much as I did, one of whom introduced me to the MU*ing -- text-based roleplaying games in which I could create a character and immerse myself in a world where lucky young people could telepathically bond with a dragon who would become their best friend, confidant, and life partner. The idea of the perfect companion, a being who always understands you and loves you immediately and unconditionally (and who happens to be an immense flying, fire-breathing, world-saving dragon), is immensely appealing to adolescents, I believe. The notion is compelling even into adulthood, which is why I think I retain a fondness for the Pern books even now that I've realized that Anne McCaffrey isn't a particularly great writer. The wonder of the world she built and the story she told, though, was enough to make up for any lack of finesse with the writer's craft.
Most of the dragons in my collection have been gifts from friends and family who knew about my
Sundown's approaching -- Shabbat shalom, everyone.
