"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:480f8c42$1@news.povray.org...
>
> OK, very weird thing: All of the books you just meantioned are in my
> mum's bookshelf. [Even though nobody in this household has ever read
them.]

They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

> I'm talking about the local public library. ;-)

I've never seen students at my local library. Most of the people I see there
are twice my age or more.

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>> OK, very weird thing: All of the books you just meantioned are in my
>> mum's bookshelf. [Even though nobody in this household has ever read
>> them.]
> 
> They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
> it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

Actually, I was thinking if anything I'm likely to try reading the Harry 
Potter books [which are also reputed to be well-written]. I know a 
person who is a very big HP addict. Apparently she "resents" me having 
an opinion about the films when I haven't read the books. (Er, hello? 
It's a story, not a religion...)

>> I'm talking about the local public library. ;-)
> 
> I've never seen students at my local library. Most of the people I see there
> are twice my age or more.

Oh, those are there too, but there usually in the "Computing" section. 
(I'm usually in the Mathematics section. The Computing section contains 
nothing of interest - unless you *wanted* to learn how to upgrade your 
PC beyond 640 KB of RAM? I gather this used to be difficult in some way...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Gail Shaw wrote:

> They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book. Technically
> it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.

Actually, I recall a number of people urging me to read The Hobbit. 
After a chapter or two I was bored stupid. Watching paint dry would have 
been more fun.

Oddly, the LotR films are really quite good. I don't know how they 
managed to get so much excitement out of such a dull series of books...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:16:45 +0200, Gail Shaw wrote:

> Let's see, in the last week and a half, I've reread Daughter of the
> Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire (by Raymond E
> Feist and Janny Wurts) and 3/4 reread Magician (Raymond E Feist)

I need to reread those again - have you read Fairie Tale?  Very well 
written, but also quite scary (particularly if you have kids the age of 
the kids in the book).  I think that one is one of Feist's best.

Jim

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On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:37:40 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> Gail Shaw wrote:
> 
>> They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book.
>> Technically it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite
>> well.
> 
> Actually, I recall a number of people urging me to read The Hobbit.
> After a chapter or two I was bored stupid. Watching paint dry would have
> been more fun.
> 
> Oddly, the LotR films are really quite good. I don't know how they
> managed to get so much excitement out of such a dull series of books...

Well, I found the books to be good, but they are heavy on exposition.  It 
translated to films well, I think, because instead of exposition on what 
the mountains looked like, we just had a picture to look at.  The scouts 
did very well, I thought, in scouting locations that evoked the images of 
the books.

I hope they do get the Hobbit film(s) made.

Jim

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Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> The scouts 
> did very well, I thought, in scouting locations that evoked the images of 
> the books.

  Yes. Especially the place for Edoras was a superb find. (Only some
buildings were added with CGI, all the rest is real scenery.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:59:50 -0400, Warp wrote:

> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> The scouts
>> did very well, I thought, in scouting locations that evoked the images
>> of the books.
> 
>   Yes. Especially the place for Edoras was a superb find. (Only some
> buildings were added with CGI, all the rest is real scenery.)

Yes, I thought that was one of the most outstanding locations they had.

Jim

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Actually, I recall a number of people urging me to read The Hobbit. 
> After a chapter or two I was bored stupid. Watching paint dry would have 
> been more fun.
> 
> Oddly, the LotR films are really quite good. I don't know how they 
> managed to get so much excitement out of such a dull series of books...
> 

I feel that the style of The Hobbit is a little different from that of 
the LotR books. I still prefer the LotR even after reading each many 
times...

I actually I had to read The Hobbit at school and I did not like it at 
all (as nearly everything I had to read at school actually ;-) ). Only 
some years later I stumbled by accident on The Two Towers somewhere in 
the basement, and got caught immediately... To the point of digging out 
the other two volumes :-)

I read The Hobbit again later, and even now I enjoy it mostly for the 
connections with the rest of Tolkien's books, not really on its own. So 
don't judge the whole series based on The Hobbit, in my opinion...

-- 
Vincent

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"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
news:480f9338$1@news.povray.org...
> On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:16:45 +0200, Gail Shaw wrote:
>
> > Let's see, in the last week and a half, I've reread Daughter of the
> > Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire (by Raymond E
> > Feist and Janny Wurts) and 3/4 reread Magician (Raymond E Feist)
>
> I need to reread those again - have you read Fairie Tale?  Very well
> written, but also quite scary (particularly if you have kids the age of
> the kids in the book).  I think that one is one of Feist's best.

No. I have a friend threatening to lend me the book. So far she hasn't made
good on the threat.
Note to self - raid the bookshelf next time I visit.

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"Orchid XP v8" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:480f8ff1$1@news.povray.org...
> Gail Shaw wrote:
>
> > They're good. Read Magician. Seriously. It's an excellent book.
Technically
> > it's the first of a trilogy, but it stands alone quite well.
>
> Actually, I recall a number of people urging me to read The Hobbit.
> After a chapter or two I was bored stupid. Watching paint dry would have
> been more fun.

Tolkien's writings are expansive. Lots of details, lots of words. Some
people enjoy that, some don't.
Give the Lord of the Rings a try. You may enjoy it more than the Hobbit (I
do), but you may not. Do not even try reading the Silmarillion. It reads
like a history text book.

I love the Lord of the Rings story, but I struggle to read the second book
in The Two Towers.

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