The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Yes,I think Tolkien may have wanted LOTR as one book.

there are two german hardcover editions of LOTR with all annexes and maps, both in a Red Book look. Unfortunately the newer one is no longer Carroux-translated but done by Krege. (who IMHO took far TOO MUCH liberties and over-modernized it)

[ownedbycats]

A "don't worry, this fanfiction hasn't been abandoned!"-type author's note on the last chapter of a fanfiction that hasn't been updated in a decade. Well, one can always hope!

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I think so, unless the series plot arc is in addition to the novels working stand-alone.

I used to read a lot of fantasy when young, and aside of Tolkien nobody ever managed to keep it up for a long time. It was for this reason alone that I completely abandoned that genre. I read A Song of Fire up to A Feast for Crows, then I dumped it with vigour after Martin went full cliffhanger happy at the end of it. It left such a bad impression on me that I never bothered with TV series. I still fondly remember reading first two books of the series, though, and I just love to reread Tolkien every year or two.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackm8

I used to read a lot of fantasy when young, and aside of Tolkien nobody ever managed to keep it up for a long time. It was for this reason alone that I completely abandoned that genre. I read A Song of Fire up to A Feast for Crows, then I dumped it with vigour after Martin went full cliffhanger happy at the end of it. It left such a bad impression on me that I never bothered with TV series. I still fondly remember reading first two books of the series, though, and I just love to reread Tolkien every year or two.

There are plenty of finished series in fantasy. Ofc if you don't want to read any series ever again, fantasy may not be for you.

I'm not that bothered by unfinished series. Fantasy has always been my favorite genre since childhood and this has never changed.

I too used to reread Tolkien a lot, but the last time I did it was 20 years ago. The reason is simple, there are many other fantasy series (yes, finished) I find just as enjoyable.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jackm8

I used to read a lot of fantasy when young, and aside of Tolkien nobody ever managed to keep it up for a long time. It was for this reason alone that I completely abandoned that genre. I read A Song of Fire up to A Feast for Crows, then I dumped it with vigour after Martin went full cliffhanger happy at the end of it. It left such a bad impression on me that I never bothered with TV series. I still fondly remember reading first two books of the series, though, and I just love to reread Tolkien every year or two.

Well, whoosie-whatsits, the guy that everybody went bat**** about ripping off Tolkien...uh...dammit, oh, BROOKS, Terry Brooks, shannara. he sure went on and on for a while.

There are some others. I would have to scratch ye olden noggin.

Hith

[Quoth]

I got tired of Shannara, otoh, I thought the short books in the Magic Kingdom series were far better.

[DNSB]

For humour, there was Demetrious Polychron who wrote a fanfic prequel to The Lord of the Rings and then tried to sue claiming that his copyright was infringed upon by The Rings of Power TV series.

Copyright claim against Tolkien estate backfires on Lord of the Rings fanfiction author

[jackm8]

It's not unfinished bit that's bothering me, it's degraded quality over time. I quit on GRRM before his last book, Robert Jordan after the fourth, and Sanderson somewhere in the first quarter of his first book that I picked. Prachett doesn't fit into this category, his novels are just set into the same world, he doesn't bother making it all coherent and grand. He'll go from straight comedy to a parody of his favourite movies at will, and his books just work. JK Rowling's Potter series is another example of the former. Last two books are lost with her trying to fit all the random characters of the previous into a coherent ending, and the magic was gone.
I guess the point, as it was discussed before, is that some novels just work, simply because they were written as a full work. When author spends decades writing about the same work, his outlook changes, his plots get diverged, and the quality subsequently plummets.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For humour, there was Demetrious Polychron who wrote a fanfic prequel to The Lord of the Rings and then tried to sue claiming that his copyright was infringed upon by The Rings of Power TV series.

Copyright claim against Tolkien estate backfires on Lord of the Rings fanfiction author

My friend, who's a Tolkien nerd: "I guess he was a fool of a Took!"

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by jackm8

I guess the point, as it was discussed before, is that some novels just work, simply because they were written as a full work. When author spends decades writing about the same work, his outlook changes, his plots get diverged, and the quality subsequently plummets.

Of course, but as I said, there are plenty of fantasy authors who don't spend decades on the same series; they finish one series and write others not necessarily set in the same world. Another thing is, books are very much a matter of taste. You read Harry Potter in its entirety, but quit Sanderson almost immediately - for me it was vice versa. I quit Harry Potter after the first book and have never been tempted to read the rest, while I've read several Sanderson books and liked them.

That I don't like some authors and their works has never been a reason for me to give up on the genre as a whole. There are books and authors in every genre I read that I've disliked, often well-known and loved by many other people. We all have our preferences and tastes, of course. I just find it strange to quit reading the genre I previously loved because I happened to read some authors I didn't like.

You could always pick a finished trilogy or tetralogy instead of multi-volume epics. There are lots of those in fantasy.

[ownedbycats]

Misrated fanfics. According to AO3 guidelines, fics with detailed scenes of an adult nature should be rated as Explicit. I just finished a Mature-rated fic with multiple detailed scenes of that nature. Argh.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Misrated fanfics. According to AO3 guidelines, fics with detailed scenes of an adult nature should be rated as Explicit. I just finished a Mature-rated fic with multiple detailed scenes of that nature. Argh.

I actually actively dislike ratings, content warnings and such. They often give away too much of the story. But then I don't mind sex scenes, they don't bother me. I don't mind the lack of them either. It just doesn't matter to me if there are sex scenes in the book/movie or not.

[ownedbycats]

Well, there is the "not rated" and "chose not to use warnings" options.

I've come across fics with no ratings/warnings, no tags, and no description. It feels a bit like Russian roulette opening those.

[Sirtel]

Yesterday I started to read The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin. I bought the book from Google Play 4 years ago. The publisher is Hachette UK.

So I reach Chapter Six and see the chapter title... wtf? I've attached a screenshot.

[ownedbycats]

OCR error?

I'm currently reading a book from an Simon & Schuster imprint where every em-dash has gone missing and the words just run together wherever they're supposed to appear.