lilyoftheval5

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Books, Books, Book, Books, Booooooks.......

I have been remiss, to not post about an important issue to me.
Books published by Baen.
Remiss!!! (Thanks for the kick in the behind thehibiscus.)

There is a number of my favourite authors that are published by Baen, but that's not the reason I'm so fond of them. It's the Free Books and E-Books available long before the first print. Chapter Samples for all books, Interviews, advance Schedule of publication....
http://www.baen.com/

I was reading one of Lois McMaster Bujold books in 'Vorkosigan Series'. For some reason I went to check something up on the publisher site, and a new world opened up to me.
However, the greatest thing was the discovery of a new author - David Weber. Here I'll recommend two of his series which have free books available on Baen. These are the first:

SF - 'Honor Harrington Series'
http://www.webscription.net/p-304-on-basilisk-station.aspx
It's a story of one amazing woman whose exceptionallity is balanced, and brought in the realm of realism, by her humanity. If you know and love Miles Vorkosigan, you'll adore Honor. And vice-versa. If, for some reason, you don't read this genre, it's time to give it another try.

Fantasy - 'War God Series'
http://www.webscription.net/p-297-oath-of-swords.aspx
Frankly, I read this series first. On accident mostly. I was doing something I warmly and strongly recommend you do too - browsing through available books in the Library, reading summaries and a chapter or two. For reasons I truly haven't been able to figure out, the first few paragraph of this book seduced me utterly. (I was later hesitant to even start reading HH, thinking it couldn't possible be this good - but I did, eventually. There was no chance it could be anything but equally good - you'll understand if you ever read both series and think about them for a few minutes.)
Bahzell Bahnakson is truly an unlikely hero; but just like courage is not the absence of fear, so do true heroes never look for heroic deeds.

Browse through the Free Library. There are many good stories waiting for you there.
If you haven't, give a chance to these series, they are well worth it.
As for the Bujold's 'Vorkosigan Saga', you did read that, right? *raises an eyebrow*

mood:

hopeful

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Monday, February 18th, 2008

Book recommendation

Watched the movie yesterday, realized that I haven't read the books since high school, decided to go to the library today and reread the whole series.

It was a 20 year old movie called 'The Clan of the Cave Bear'. It's a movie adaptation of the equally named book, first in the series written by Jean M. Auel.
Series is called 'Earth's Children' and is one the most heart-touching sagas I have ever read. The story is situated in a prehistoric time when Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens shared the Earth. It's a story about what makes us people and what shapes us into what we become.

I'll leave a couple of links at the end of the post, so I won't bore you with many more details, but I'll say a few things.
A girl, woman is at the center point. A remarkable female that shapes the future of human race as we now it. There is a romance, a true, plausible romance. There are politics, religion, economy issues, prejudice......
When I thought about our ancestors in those times, I just pictured a cave and a group of messily dressed people grunting around a fire. Auel made them real.

To those of you who have read it, I hope you enjoyed it at least as half as much as I did.
To those of you who haven't read it yet, a few random tips, which I really hope won't turn you off.
Sex is very much present in the books, if it squeaks you, just skip those parts; don't miss the whole experience because of it. It is a natural part of our life after all.
The second book is a bit long-winded at the beginning, there are lot of scenery descriptions and we keep waiting for the two main characters to meet. I admit, i skipped most of those parts.
The first book has a rape scene or two. I usually wouldn't read those type of books, but this is an integral part of the plot on many levels and is something that makes a lot of sense in those circumstances.

Just, go read the damn books.... Truth to be told, I don't know how to convince any one of you!!

( The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) )

( The Clan of the Cave Bear, 1980 )

( Jean M. Auel )

( Earth's Children )

mood:

hopeful

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Monday, December 17th, 2007

Book recommendation

I read a lot. Should have started earlier with this sort of recs.

Right now I'm reading an interesting book, first in the series, written by John Maddox Roberts.
He's not a new author globally, but this is the first book of his that is translated on my native language.

"The SPQR" is a historical mystery that offers a very fascinating insight into the daily life of Roman Empire. It follows one lowly officer, a Commissioner, who investigates crimes in his part of the Rome.

I recommend it to anyone who likes historical novels, and also anyone who likes an occasional detective story. If you are true lovers of the genre, I doubt you would have missed it by now.

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