Author Topic: Fantasy Literature Poll - Group L  (Read 10969 times)

Ocicat

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on: July 29, 2010, 07:15:31 PM
In the shadow of the EP flash contest, the Fantasy Lit poll continues!  This is the last week for the first round of groups, next week we'll have a tiebreaker.  And last week added three more ties into the mix: Dark Tower, Dragonlance, and Wheel of Time all tied for second place.  Stardust came in first, because Gaiman can't loose in this poll.  Apparently.

This week we have the oldest Arthur variant still existent, a modern noir wizard, a somewhat less noir detective, a voodoo practicing Blackbeard, a nine fingered barbarian, a psychic sub-race and two books involving lions - only one of which features a wardrobe. 



Fenrix

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Reply #1 on: July 29, 2010, 07:55:26 PM
I'm going to throw a predicition out for Dirk Gently in the lead, as this group seems to favor absurdism. I don't expect C S Lewis to make it to second place, as children's lit has fared poorly in previous rounds.

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Ocicat

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Reply #2 on: July 29, 2010, 08:10:18 PM
I don't expect C S Lewis to make it to second place, as children's lit has fared poorly in previous rounds.

Ya, it was a shame seeing some of the greats of children's lit get knocked out in this poll.  Golden Compass, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Earthsea, Harry Potter, Watership Down, Last Unicorn, Coraline, and Graveyard Book - all knocked out.  Oh wait, no.  Those all advanced.

Nope, don't see it.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2010, 11:31:05 PM by Ocicat »



Fenrix

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Reply #3 on: July 29, 2010, 10:25:19 PM
I don't expect C S Lewis to make it to second place, as children's lit has fared poorly in previous rounds.

Ya, it was a shame seeing some of the greats of classic lit get knocked out in this poll.  Golden Compass, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Earthsea, Harry Potter, Watership Down, Last Unicorn, Coraline, and Graveyard Book - all knocked out.  Oh wait, no.  Those all advanced.

Nope, don't see it.

The three that stick out for me were The Wizard of Oz, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Children's lit may be doing better that my perception, since the loss of those three hurt.

For me, Alice in Wonderland falls more into absurdism than in children's lit. But with that in mind, The Phantom Tollboth should have performed better. It's been a while since I cracked open Watership Down, but I remember it being rather dense. Maybe we're disagreeing on the line between Children and Young Adult.

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DKT

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Reply #4 on: July 29, 2010, 10:27:17 PM
I don't know - I'm really hoping Narnia makes it past this round. It's as much a classic to me as LotR.


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Reply #5 on: July 29, 2010, 11:15:36 PM
I'm glad Le Morte D'Arthur is doing well so far, I don't think it's the very best version of myth, but it is one hell of lot of source material, and it is a very odd thing to try to imagine fantasy as a genre without the influence of Le Morte stretching across the centuries.


(And Ocicat, er, I'm really not sure Graveyard book or Coraline should really be stuck in classic lit genre just yet, though I suspect you actually meant to type children's lit.)

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Ocicat

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Reply #6 on: July 29, 2010, 11:31:32 PM
(And Ocicat, er, I'm really not sure Graveyard book or Coraline should really be stuck in classic lit genre just yet, though I suspect you actually meant to type children's lit.)

And so I did.  Now corrected.



kibitzer

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Reply #7 on: July 30, 2010, 08:44:25 AM
Stardust came in first, because Gaiman can't loose in this poll.  Apparently.

With apologies for being picky, it's "lose" not "loose".


kibitzer

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Reply #8 on: July 30, 2010, 08:46:04 AM
Well, glad I'm not the only one to vote for the Deryni series!  I can't recommend it highly enough. Katherine Kurtz is about as ruthless with her characters as George R R Martin. Seriously, great stuff.


Anarkey

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Reply #9 on: July 30, 2010, 11:55:30 AM
Well, glad I'm not the only one to vote for the Deryni series!  I can't recommend it highly enough. Katherine Kurtz is about as ruthless with her characters as George R R Martin. Seriously, great stuff.

You know I had both those series recommended to me just as avidly as you just recommended them.  Accordingly, I gave them both a good try.  Neither of them quite worked for me.

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DKT

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Reply #10 on: July 30, 2010, 03:17:00 PM
Who's reading Abercrombie? I've heard he's dark, twisted, action-packed fun. But geez, Best Served Cold is mammoth (and hugely intimidating).


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Reply #11 on: July 30, 2010, 06:38:22 PM
Who's reading Abercrombie? I've heard he's dark, twisted, action-packed fun. But geez, Best Served Cold is mammoth (and hugely intimidating).

It was a fun series, and very gleefully dark.  My biggest complaint with it was that I saw the "Big Twist" from about a third of the way through the first book and assumed that the ACTUAL surprise would be to invert that, but then the end comes and it's the twist I saw and I'm like, "Oh.  Was that supposed to be shocking?"

The characters are tremendous fun.  Glokta is one of my favorite characters ever.



kibitzer

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Reply #12 on: July 30, 2010, 11:51:59 PM
You know I had both those series recommended to me just as avidly as you just recommended them.  Accordingly, I gave them both a good try.  Neither of them quite worked for me.

And fair enough, too. As we demonstrate over and over on these very boards, opinions and tastes vary widely and wildly.


Ocicat

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Reply #13 on: August 02, 2010, 07:50:04 AM
I've gone on about how much I like Tim Powers before, but can I just say that On Stranger Tides is the perfect fantasy pirate novel?  It's got voodoo, undead skeletons, the fountain of youth, and Blackbeard being a crazy-ass mother-fucker.  It's my favorite of Powers' works, and as you'd expect from him well grounded in actual history, while still providing a really kick-ass pirate adventure story.

What the writers of the Pirates of the Caribbean film really wanted to do was an adaptation of this novel.  Ask them, they'll tell you.  They borrowed heavily from it in both tone and some details.  In fact, Disney has now optioned the rights for the book, and is making it into the fourth movie.  Look for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides next summer. 

But read the book first.



DKT

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Reply #14 on: August 02, 2010, 05:57:00 PM
I'm reading On Stranger Tides right now.  Just started, but I'm already very, very excited.  (And yeah, I wanted to make sure I read it before the movie came out next summer... ;) )


CryptoMe

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Reply #15 on: August 11, 2010, 04:59:06 PM
Well, glad I'm not the only one to vote for the Deryni series!  I can't recommend it highly enough. Katherine Kurtz is about as ruthless with her characters as George R R Martin. Seriously, great stuff.

Ahhh, so you were the other voter for the Deryni series. I really enjoyed that one. Yes, Katherine Kurtz is ruthless with her characters, but what really drew me in is what she does after she kills them off.   ;)



Wit Amidst Folly

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Reply #16 on: August 18, 2010, 04:53:30 AM
Who's reading Abercrombie? I've heard he's dark, twisted, action-packed fun. But geez, Best Served Cold is mammoth (and hugely intimidating).

...and well worth it.  I am listening to the audiobook version of Best Served Cold.  (a mere one credit from audible for 27 hours of good wholesome entertainment)  After listening to about half of this book I have ordered his trilogy from SFBC and am anxiously awaiting his next book The Heroes.  If you like Steve Erikson or Glen Cook (Black Company at least) you will love Abercrombie.



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Reply #17 on: August 19, 2010, 02:59:59 AM
...and well worth it.  I am listening to the audiobook version of Best Served Cold

"Best Served Cold" felt very much like a sophomore slump to me.  It was a lot of the same characters with their color palettes swapped out, and several threads that just kind of wandered off and got lost somewhere along the way.  I think it was trying too hard to recapture the flair of the original story.



Wit Amidst Folly

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Reply #18 on: August 19, 2010, 04:33:20 AM
"Best Served Cold" felt very much like a sophomore slump to me.  It was a lot of the same characters with their color palettes swapped out, and several threads that just kind of wandered off and got lost somewhere along the way.  I think it was trying too hard to recapture the flair of the original story.

Well, I can't speak to that yet as BSC is the first Abercrombie I've read (other than the fine short story in the Swords and Dark Magic anthology).  All I can say is if this is a slump then the First Law books can't get here soon enough.  Wonderfully dark and twisted stuff.  As far as the threads that wander off and die, I am not finished with it so I will keep my eyes (ears?) peeled.



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Reply #19 on: August 19, 2010, 04:48:38 AM
If I'd read it first, I'd have liked it a lot better.  As it was, I kind of went, "Okay, there's the new Character A, the new Character B, the new Character C with a little D mixed in..." 



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Reply #20 on: August 19, 2010, 06:53:28 PM
If I'd read it first, I'd have liked it a lot better.  As it was, I kind of went, "Okay, there's the new Character A, the new Character B, the new Character C with a little D mixed in..." 

I had friends telling me I needed to read the First Law trilogy for years, but never got around to picking them up.  I ended up reading Best Served Cold first, then went back and devoured the trilogy.  It was interesting seeing a bunch of the names and events referred to in Best Served Cold -- I think I about fell out of my chair when Vitari was introduced.  I keep meaning to go back and re-read Best Served Cold again, to see how it holds up now that I've read the first three.