Yeah, I sometimes am able to coax my wife into reading something I liked. So far it’s been Ender’s Game, because of the movie. Also, Inferno by Dan Brown, because of the movie (ps. The movie sucked).
Is there an online college class or anything? Sometimes local colleges will offer classes on pop culture things
I got my husband to read the Mistborn books, and the first trilogy of the Robin Hobb books. I think he also read some more of the Ender’s universe books beyond Ender’s Game. We also read Dune together, and the Mars trilogy. And I read all his Michael Crichton books. But he won’t touch WOT. He tried to read the first book and didn’t like it. He gives up easily on books, and does not like to read the same thing for long periods. For me, the longer the series the better!
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Oh, the time has passed for that. I finished that series years ago, and it’s so complicated there’s no way I would be able to remember the details well enough for a class. And for as much as I read, I read really slowly. Not sure I could re-read that whole series in a semester.
Yeah, I’ve taken classes where we discuss stuff like this. Creative writing, literature type classes. It was fun. We read a lot of classics though. The Great Gatsby was loaded with symbolism and allusion.
I absolutely hated the Great Gatsby when we read it in high school. I often thought my teacher was making too much out of things, seeing symbolism where there was just story. I wrote a poem about hooking up with a guy and then him leaving to take a pass and have a cigarette, and showed it to her. She made up all kinds if metaphors and deeper meanings. It was really just about a guy pissing and smoking a cigarette after a hookup.
Terry Brooks launched much of the fantasy we read today. I reread Sword of Shannara two months ago and it was NOT good. Elfstones however is still one of my all time favorites. He definately gets better as he matures.
I’m absolutely loving WOT again. I’m like @Ninetales Amanda were the longer the book or series the better. But I have to love it. Tried Gardens of the Moon and couldn’t do it. I’ve tried a bunch that I just didn’t love. I can be picky(ish).
Dune I couldn’t get into. I’m not a fan of omniscient POV. That was my biggest problem with Sword of Shannara this second time. Even first person has to be very well done.
LOVED The Foundation books, but another one I tried to read while in some shitty spot in my addiction. Let’s just assume this goes for most things I read. But this one was especially difficult in that place as I’m sure anyone who has read it can imagine it.
Ummmm… Oh! Name of the Wind was AMAZING! But he’s taking about as long as Martin is to put out the last book.
I couldn’t get into Game of Thrones because of the format. I would fall in love with the character the chapter was about then get frustrated that it would be 400 pages till we got back there.
Anything else? I’m sure there is.
I’m definately going to give Robin Hobb another go, probably as soon as I’m done with WOT. I have the first 3 still. And I don’t remember who said it but She is a She. 
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I don’t know how much you care about having strong women in your fantasy, but I do. WOT has plenty. I will warn you that the first 3 Robin Hobb books do not. However, the second trilogy the Ships books) does, and so does the fourth set (the Dragon books). It also has one character throughout the entire series that is non-gender conforming. I’m not even sure what the right gender term or pronoun would be for him/her in our world.
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Oh yeah, I remember that! That was awesome! Overall I love strong women character’s, but I can read any strong character. I was very surprised that she didn’t write female characters much in those first books. Glad to hear that changes.
I today forgot about Min when I started rereading WOT. She’s one of my all time favorites. Amberle in Elfstones of Shannara is very close to my favorite, along with Phedre from the Kushiel series. I named my tortoise shell Phedre.
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In WOT, Aviendha is my favorite. She’s not so girly. But I really love the Aiel.
But the absolute best female characters, in terms of strength, are in the Juliette Marilier series that starts with Daughter of the Forest. Have you read those? Completely different type of fantasy.
I hated Game of Thrones because it seemed kind of like taking all my least favorite parts of WOT (the politics and wars) and making a series out of it. I also agree with you that it took way too long to get back to a character’s story. That happens in WOT too though. Perrin’s story was my favorite part, and it would take ages to get back to him sometimes. And then there was the damned book that ended with you thinking that Mat died, then the next book didn’t even start with Mat’s story!! I don’t remember which book that was though. Have you finished the entire series at least once?
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No. Got through Winters Heart and waited for Crossroads. Even bought it. But I couldn’t remember half of what happened so I never ended up reading it.
Yes, that’s why I ended up reading the first 8 multiple times. Every time a new one came out, I had to read the whole thing again just so I wouldn’t be lost. It is just so complicated. I love that about it, but it does mean you can’t stop reading them once you start. I’m jealous of everyone that waited until it was finished to read it. Of course, that does mean I know the first 8 books really well.
Haha, I bet. I considered reading them all again back then, but I was in the honeymoon phase with reading so I just couldn’t bringn myself to reread 9 books when there were so many new books out there.
I think this is happening again with Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. I read book 1 without knowing it was the first of a series (it was the only one at the time), and was so confused when it ended with nothing at all resolved. Then WOR came out. I went back and read WOK, the WOR. Now there’s a third, and I will once again have to go back to the beginning because I have no memory. If there are going to be a dozen books, I might wait, because I’m recognizing this pattern haha.
It’s going to be ten, but split into two, five book parts. I liked Oathbringer, but I didn’t love it. I definately loved parts of it, especially the last 350+ pages. He really ramps up the last third of his books really well. I’m certainly not going to say it was crap, but I have issues with the way the characters develop, the things they end up being able to do. It turns into a very small amount of campy superhero type stuff. But still pretty good. Also, I’ve noticed his books seem to follow the same structure, almost like some of it is cut and paste. Good cut and paste, but still.
But please do read it because I’ve got to talk to someone about it!
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Oh, don’t worry, I will read it. Right now I have to decide on format. I have WOK in paperback, and WOR in my Kindle library. So I’m torn which way to buy it. But my tablet is kind of not working right now, and I want a Kindle, but I’m waiting on a milestone to buy one. But I’m excited to have someone to talk to about it once I’ve read it!
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Wait until black Friday. Kindles are ridiculously cheap.
I go to treat patients for 3 hours and come back to a dozen or so notifications. I always hate that, because there’s so much I want to comment on and things I would have liked to say in the convo, but the moment is passed.
Anyway, I loved WOT. I also read it all the way through without stopping. Not going to start a series that’s not finished again. Maybe I’ll go back and read some smaller things first. My friend just started RA Salvatore’s Drizzt book anthology. There’s over 15 books there. I had read one of those books in the series out of order. It was good. I understood some of it.
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Go ahead and respond to anything we’ve said in the thread! I don’t know about Megan, but I would be happy return to previous discussions.
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That’s alright! More discussions to be had! Has anyone read The Inheritance Cycle? Not quite High Fantasy, but closer to it than teen fantasy.
Also, did you answer my question on your opinion of Harry Potter?
I don’t remember a question about Harry Potter, sorry! Must have missed that. I LOVED the Harry Potter books. So good! So dark toward the end, not necessarily little kid material.
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