Zadie Smith on the death of the novel.
I write about my love of books, once more!
The wonderful Tamora Pierce sums up her year in books.
Terry Pratchett talks about his latest book, Unseen Academicals
Speaking of, there's a really good review of Nation by Sir Terry, which I highly recommend everyone reads if they haven't already, and if you have, read it again!
Showing posts with label Tamora Pierce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tamora Pierce. Show all posts
Monday, 4 January 2010
Friday, 16 October 2009
Music to read books by...
Certain books are inextricably linked for me to certain songs or artists. Others require silence to really be able to come alive in my head. I play music all the time, whatever I'm doing, and since quite often, that's reading, the two have become intertwined. Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant quartet is linked to Alanis Morissette's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie album, because that was what I was listening to (a lot) when I first discovered Pierce's heroine Alanna (and yes I have noticed the similarity in the names, no that is not why I was listening to that album).
But other books are better without a soundtrack, I tend to read crime novels (such as Agatha Christie's Poirot books-see previous posts-) late at night when I should be sleeping. I prefer these in the silence of the night, maybe because it enhances the mystery, I don't really know.
What books have a personal soundtrack for you and which books are better read without the addition of music?
But other books are better without a soundtrack, I tend to read crime novels (such as Agatha Christie's Poirot books-see previous posts-) late at night when I should be sleeping. I prefer these in the silence of the night, maybe because it enhances the mystery, I don't really know.
What books have a personal soundtrack for you and which books are better read without the addition of music?
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Tamora Pierce
Tamora Pierce writes fantasy novels set in lands where knights still ride by and people fight with swords and sorcery. However there is a twist, the heroes are girls! In worlds dominated by men, these teenage (and sometimes younger/older) girls have to find out what their gifts are and where they fit in. Her books divide into two distinct universes, Tortall and the Circle-verse. Tortall is a medieval kingdom where the eldest sons become knights of the realm, until Alanna of Trebond decides she wants to be a knight and swaps places with her brother Thom who goes off to train as a sorceror. She has to keep her real identity a secret and only the family man-at-arms who accompanies her knows the truth, at least to start with! Alanna's story comprises the Lioness Rampant quartet, Pierce's first series, and Alanna crops up again in The Immortals quartet and The Protector of the Small quartet as well as in the two books concerning her own daughter, Trickster's Choice & Trickster's Queen. Not all of the books are set entirely in Tortall, they move around it's neighbours too, allowing the characters to interact with a variety of people, some of the fun comes from working out which country the fictional ones are most alike! The latest Tortall books are set 200 years before Alanna sets out to win her shield and concern a very different life to that of the nobility, Beka Cooper is a member of the Provost's Guard (a sort of medieval police force) who learns to use her unique skills to bring down criminals and write wrongs in Terrier and Bloodhound, the third in the series is hopefully due out in the next year or so.
The Circle-verse is a different place, with very different characters. Instead of one central protagonist, this series of 10 books (and counting) revolve around 4 young people and their burgeoning magical gifts. Briar is a street rat destined for the cells, Daja and outcast whose people blame her for the deaths of her family, Triss has been passed around her family because they're afraid of the strange things that happen when she loses her temper and Sandry is a lady from one of the most powerful families around but just wants to spend her time sewing. Together these four have the power to halt earthquakes, bind winds and save those they love. They just have to learn to work together, and their teachers at Winding Circle temple will attempt to show them how.
All of her books are great slices of fantastical fiction with heart. They're perfect for a teenager struggling to find her place in the world and who needs to know she can rescue herself, she doesn't need to wait for a prince!
Check out www.tamora-pierce.com or her livejournal http://tammypierce.livejournal.com for more info.
The Circle-verse is a different place, with very different characters. Instead of one central protagonist, this series of 10 books (and counting) revolve around 4 young people and their burgeoning magical gifts. Briar is a street rat destined for the cells, Daja and outcast whose people blame her for the deaths of her family, Triss has been passed around her family because they're afraid of the strange things that happen when she loses her temper and Sandry is a lady from one of the most powerful families around but just wants to spend her time sewing. Together these four have the power to halt earthquakes, bind winds and save those they love. They just have to learn to work together, and their teachers at Winding Circle temple will attempt to show them how.
All of her books are great slices of fantastical fiction with heart. They're perfect for a teenager struggling to find her place in the world and who needs to know she can rescue herself, she doesn't need to wait for a prince!
Check out www.tamora-pierce.com or her livejournal http://tammypierce.livejournal.com for more info.
Friday, 1 May 2009
Why I read what I read...
Different people read different things for various reasons. Some people only read a certain genre, like crime or history, some people only read non-fiction or biography. I tend to read pretty much anything, although there are some writers, and some genres that I stay away from, generally because I don't like the subject matter or the writer leaves me cold. If it doesn't hold my interest I can't read it, so I don't.
Having said that, even within a genre I read a lot of (like fantasy or historical fiction) there are some authors and books I go out of my way to avoid. There are also some classic novels I can't stand even though other people adore them (Jane Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, Hardy).
So, it all boils down to personal preference. I love certain fantasy novels/writers (for example) because of their writing style, content, humour, and mostly their ability to draw me in and keep me reading, and if there's a series, to make me want to read more. I've read every Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, because even though they're not exactly sequential, they are so funny, and so clever that I can't wait to read another one. I had to ban myself from reading his books in public as they make me laugh so much, and there's very few writers who can do that to me. Yet some people have probably never read one of his books and have no inclination to.
For me it's Harry Potter, I find them boring, derivative and just frankly, weak. Nothing about them appeals. I did try, I read the first few, but when I realised I could read one of the really thick ones in an hour and a half, I decided not to bother anymore. When I'm really enjoying a book I linger over it, and try to resist finishing it too fast, as with the latest Tamora Pierce, I read it in more or less one sitting, but I tried to pace myself, to wring every tiny bit of good writing, of the fantasy world she created. Potter just doesn't hold me in it's spell in any way.
I know lots of other people adore Potter, but a lot of people would think the same of some of the books I hold dear, Potter's popularity is encouraged by a really good publicity machine, not all writers get that lucky, but perhaps they are the ones people treasure more, the writers and novels we think we have discovered for ourselves, and that only we love. That is one of the reasons I read, perhaps the most important reason, the books themselves and the place they can end up occupying in my heart.
Having said that, even within a genre I read a lot of (like fantasy or historical fiction) there are some authors and books I go out of my way to avoid. There are also some classic novels I can't stand even though other people adore them (Jane Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, Hardy).
So, it all boils down to personal preference. I love certain fantasy novels/writers (for example) because of their writing style, content, humour, and mostly their ability to draw me in and keep me reading, and if there's a series, to make me want to read more. I've read every Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, because even though they're not exactly sequential, they are so funny, and so clever that I can't wait to read another one. I had to ban myself from reading his books in public as they make me laugh so much, and there's very few writers who can do that to me. Yet some people have probably never read one of his books and have no inclination to.
For me it's Harry Potter, I find them boring, derivative and just frankly, weak. Nothing about them appeals. I did try, I read the first few, but when I realised I could read one of the really thick ones in an hour and a half, I decided not to bother anymore. When I'm really enjoying a book I linger over it, and try to resist finishing it too fast, as with the latest Tamora Pierce, I read it in more or less one sitting, but I tried to pace myself, to wring every tiny bit of good writing, of the fantasy world she created. Potter just doesn't hold me in it's spell in any way.
I know lots of other people adore Potter, but a lot of people would think the same of some of the books I hold dear, Potter's popularity is encouraged by a really good publicity machine, not all writers get that lucky, but perhaps they are the ones people treasure more, the writers and novels we think we have discovered for ourselves, and that only we love. That is one of the reasons I read, perhaps the most important reason, the books themselves and the place they can end up occupying in my heart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
