Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
I read Eddings' Belgariad with pleasure. I plowed grimly through the Mallorean. Folks back then were talking about how much they loved the Belgariad, and wished it would go on forever. By the time I finished the Mallorean, I felt like it had. The authorial strings were too evident in the Mallorean, as Eddings very carefully maneuvered his characters through every place on his world. The whole thing wound up feeling like paint-by-numbers fantasy. On the plus side, Eddings had likable characters and a flair for dialog. On the minus side, he had one cast of characters and one story to tell, and subsequent series were the same series with the names changed and the serial numbers filed off.
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Uh huh. I loved the Belgariad as a teen. Then I read the Mallorean and thought, "Huh? Same supporting characters? What the hell?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Anthony is one of the best in the field at taking an idea and running with it, and there are earlier works I recommend. Unfortunately, he's one of the worst at knowing when to stop, and can run series into, and under the ground. The sterling example is the Xanth series. The first book, _A Spell for Chameleon_, was charming. The next couple were at least readable. Beyond that, the books became excuses for bad puns, long past originality or nything particular to say. AAnthony has discovered he can make a lot of money turning out Xanth retreads. I admire his motive: he's using the money to buy virgin land around him in Florida and keep it virgin and undeveloped, but I can't read the resulting work.
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I quite enjoy the Xanth series for what it is - utter silly fluff. And I have a certain respect for an author who'll happily admit to writing fluff/pulp in order to bring in the cash. Hey, I write boring-as-batshit manuals, which are inflicted on relative innocents, to bring in a paycheck. I'd rather write Xanth novels *grin*
Quote:
Originally Posted by CathalMagus
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
(snip)
Does anyone know what his fantasy is like? I shudder to think, and I ain't gonna give him a third chance. (Thankfully I'd only borrowed the books of his I read, so I could return them at no cost to me and with an opportunity to chastise the lender - who had seemingly given them to me as a kind of prank!)
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I quite enjoyed his Spellsong Cycle books, and hence bought a couple of his other books - in the Saga of Recluce series. ERK. Somehow he managed to keep enough action in the Spellsong books to keep me involved, even with the moral dilemmas and whinings about men... but the Recluce ones are best used as insomnia cures - good smack round the head with one will knock anyone out
