Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Kirtai]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Have to hurry and finish it, since I have the eARC of the new Lois McMaster Bujold on my Kindle -- Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and I really want to read it.

I just finished reading Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. It's excellent, I really liked it

[orlok]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Finished reading First Shift - Legacy. It answered the major question that the first 5 stories left unanswered. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to more stories in this series.

Still not available here .

Currently consoling myself with the John Rain series by Barry Eisler.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CRussel

[...] I have the eARC of the new Lois McMaster Bujold on my Kindle -- Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and I really want to read it.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've now finished "The Fellowship of the Ring".

And I'm now nearly through "The Two Towers". A nice leisurely re-read. Faramir's a much nobler character in the book, as are his men.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I'm now nearly through "The Two Towers". A nice leisurely re-read. Faramir's a much nobler character in the book, as are his men.

I felt the same way about Faramir in the movie vs the book. I was not certain whether it might be my own imagination/interpretation of the character, so I am pleased to see another that feels the same way.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by BlueSky77

I just finished reading Jubal Sackett by Louis L'Amour yesterday. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in action/adventure and history.

Today I started another L'Amour book called The Sackett Land. So far it's great. Any other Louis L'Amour fans out there?

____________________
No trees were harmed in the sending of this message;
however, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

I have been reading Louis L'Amour since I was a young child many years ago. I have read them all multiple times and continue to read them to this day.
Jubal Sackett is the fourth, in The Sackett's Series in Chronological Order. He is the son of Barnabas Sackett, the protagonist in Sackett's Land. To The Far Blue Lands is also about Barnabas Sackett. Then The warrior's Path is next and follows two of Barnebas's other sons.
My favorite Louis L'Amour book is The Walking Drum. This is not a western. It is set in Europe and The Middle East, in the 12Th Century.
He wrote 105 books so enjoy. I did and still do.
Apache

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I'm now nearly through "The Two Towers". A nice leisurely re-read. Faramir's a much nobler character in the book, as are his men.

Faramir's change is the thing that bugged my wife and I about the movies the most.

[shootingMaNs]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

...Just got a paperback copy of Harman Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever. Those who follow Star Trek will recognize this episode as a fan favorite (it certainly is my favorite episode of the original series). Even though the episode won a Hugo as well as the 1966-67 Writers Guild of America Award for best teleplay, Ellison has to this day complained bitterly about the way Gene Roddenberry "eviscerated" his original vision. This book presents the original script as the author intended it to be filmed.

I bought this at B&N a few weeks ago. I always wondered what Roddenberry changed that ticked Ellison off. I'm reading it as soon as I'm done with "The Count of Monte Cristo."

[xg4bx]

Further:Beyond the Threshold by Chris Roberson

"Humankind is spread across three thousand light years in a myriad of worlds and habitats known as the Human Entelechy. Linked by a network of wormholes with Earth at its center, it is the world Captain RJ Stone awakens to after a twelve-thousand-year cryogenic suspension.

Stone soon finds himself commanding the maiden voyage of the first spacecraft to break the light speed barrier: the FTL Further. In search of extraterrestrial intelligence, the landing party explores a distant pulsar only to be taken prisoner by the bloodthirsty Iron Mass, a religious sect exiled from the Entelechy millennia before. Now Stone and his crew must escape while they try to solve the riddle of the planet’s network of stone towers that may be proof of the intelligence they’ve come to find."

the description doesn't do the book justice. its fairly lighthearted and humorous (so far). great book if you like 'travelogue' sci-fi.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I'm now nearly through "The Two Towers". A nice leisurely re-read. Faramir's a much nobler character in the book, as are his men.

And now onto The Return of the King. A blundering plot-spoiler of a title if ever there was one!

I do have to apologise a little to the film. I thought they got something wrong about Shelob, but it was an acceptable interpretation - I had forgotten that detail.

But their treatment of Sam is very hard to forgive.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now onto The Return of the King. A blundering plot-spoiler of a title if ever there was one!

I do have to apologise a little to the film. I thought they got something wrong about Shelob, but it was an acceptable interpretation - I had forgotten that detail.

But their treatment of Sam is very hard to forgive.

What specifically about Sam did you dislike in the films, Paul?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What specifically about Sam did you dislike in the films, Paul?

Spoiler:

When climbing the stairs up to Cirith Ungol, Sam turns back and leaves Frodo alone with Gollum, even though he knows that Gollum intends to harm Frodo. Only after having his nose rubbed in how Gollum has tricked Frodo does he reconsider, and start climbing again.

In the book, Sam only ever leaves Frodo when he's convinced that Frodo is dead, and even then it's to carry on the quest.

And then theres the Treebeard and the Ents. And Gimli's reduction to comic relief. And Theoden's reluctance to go to war. And Aragorn's doubts and uncertainties about just about everything. And... the list goes on of characters they've changed and (generally) diminished.

The films have some marvellous visuals. But the adaption is not a good one.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Spoiler:

When climbing the stairs up to Cirith Ungol, Sam turns back and leaves Frodo alone with Gollum, even though he knows that Gollum intends to harm Frodo. Only after having his nose rubbed in how Gollum has tricked Frodo does he reconsider, and start climbing again.

In the book, Sam only ever leaves Frodo when he's convinced that Frodo is dead, and even then it's to carry on the quest.

And then theres the Treebeard and the Ents. And Gimli's reduction to comic relief. And Theoden's reluctance to go to war. And Aragorn's doubts and uncertainties about just about everything. And... the list goes on of characters they've changed and (generally) diminished.

The films have some marvellous visuals. But the adaption is not a good one.

I think I'd have to agree...especially since the only things I've seemed to have taken away from the films are:

1. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful!! I've never wanted to visit New Zealand as much as after watching the movies.
2. Orlando Bloom as Legolas, was ....HOT!!
3. Did I mention how gorgeous it is in New Zealand .
4. The special effects, scenes, costumes, make-up and sets were fantastic.
5. Legolas!!!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Spoiler:

When climbing the stairs up to Cirith Ungol, Sam turns back and leaves Frodo alone with Gollum, even though he knows that Gollum intends to harm Frodo. Only after having his nose rubbed in how Gollum has tricked Frodo does he reconsider, and start climbing again.

In the book, Sam only ever leaves Frodo when he's convinced that Frodo is dead, and even then it's to carry on the quest.

And then theres the Treebeard and the Ents. And Gimli's reduction to comic relief. And Theoden's reluctance to go to war. And Aragorn's doubts and uncertainties about just about everything. And... the list goes on of characters they've changed and (generally) diminished.

The films have some marvellous visuals. But the adaption is not a good one.

I can't argue with any of the points that you raise - they are all valid - but I still feel personally that the films (particularly the Extended Editions) are an extremely fine rendering of what would be an almost impossible book to precisely reproduce faithfully on film. One of the issues in particular is the highly non-linear time sequence of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", with multiple plot-lines, and the reader reading one narrative, then switching to another viewpoint and jumping back in time, to eventually catch up with, or go forward from, the previous plotline. By necessity, time in the film versions had to be "linearised", and this removes a lot of the tension.

Spoiler:

A classic example of this is when "The Mouth of Sauron" rides out from the Black Gate of Mordor, and throws Bilbo's armour on the ground in front of Gandalf and Aragorn. In the book, we'd left Bilbo a captive of the Orcs, but in the film we already know that he escaped, thus entirely removing the tension of that scene in the film.

Criticisms aside, though, I think the films are wonderful, and perhaps unlikely to be surpassed in my lifetime.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can't argue with any of the points that you raise - they are all valid - but I still feel personally that the films (particularly the Extended Editions) are an extremely fine rendering of what would be an almost impossible book to precisely reproduce faithfully on film. One of the issues in particular is the highly non-linear time sequence of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", with multiple plot-lines, and the reader reading one narrative, then switching to another viewpoint and jumping back in time, to eventually catch up with, or go forward from, the previous plotline. By necessity, time in the film versions had to be "linearised", and this removes a lot of the tension.

Spoiler:

A classic example of this is when "The Mouth of Sauron" rides out from the Black Gate of Mordor, and throws Bilbo's armour on the ground in front of Gandalf and Aragorn. In the book, we'd left Bilbo a captive of the Orcs, but in the film we already know that he escaped, thus entirely removing the tension of that scene in the film.

Criticisms aside, though, I think the films are wonderful, and perhaps unlikely to be surpassed in my lifetime.

I agree, though I know you meant Fro do, not Bilbo. :-) the one thing I minded was Arwen, not Fro do confronting the Ringwraiths but I didn't mind her having a larger role. Her nonexistence in the books was a weakness because she is kind of important, the link between Elves and Men. Oh, the stupid skull surfing scene could have been nixed for more Faramir and Eowyn.

[covingtoncat73]

I am reading The Unwritten an excellent comic/graphic novel about fiction controlling reality. I'm hooked.