Greetings to the community, and a request
Sep. 20th, 2006 08:23 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
nj-librarian.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
queensthiefLooks like you have a lot of interesting discussions going on here! I especially appreciate the close analysis of the books -- you sure have a lot of insight!
I discovered The Books less than a month ago, thanks to a very favorable review article by Orson Scott Card. I am now thoroughly addicted and will buy a copy of anything Megan Whalen Turner ever writes in the future. (And will make whatever library I work at buy at least one, too.) These are some of the best books I have ever read, period. As soon as I finished, I went back through and reread in order to catch all the subtleties that I missed the first time. The writing is simply unbelievable. These people are not real, but they should be.
About myself, just in case anyone is interested: 34 years old, youth services librarian, married, have a child aged -.111, plus some dogs. Obsessions include quality children's literature esp. fantasy, the new Battlestar Galactica series, Jeopardy!, Russian history, and hedgehogs.
Now, could I ask a favor of you? Could you tell me how I can get a copy of the MWT short story about Gen that was published in Disney magazine? Some of the threads here had a link to it, but it's not there any more. If somebody could help me get hold of a copy, that person would have my gratitude.
Thanks and best wishes,
nj_librarian
I discovered The Books less than a month ago, thanks to a very favorable review article by Orson Scott Card. I am now thoroughly addicted and will buy a copy of anything Megan Whalen Turner ever writes in the future. (And will make whatever library I work at buy at least one, too.) These are some of the best books I have ever read, period. As soon as I finished, I went back through and reread in order to catch all the subtleties that I missed the first time. The writing is simply unbelievable. These people are not real, but they should be.
About myself, just in case anyone is interested: 34 years old, youth services librarian, married, have a child aged -.111, plus some dogs. Obsessions include quality children's literature esp. fantasy, the new Battlestar Galactica series, Jeopardy!, Russian history, and hedgehogs.
Now, could I ask a favor of you? Could you tell me how I can get a copy of the MWT short story about Gen that was published in Disney magazine? Some of the threads here had a link to it, but it's not there any more. If somebody could help me get hold of a copy, that person would have my gratitude.
Thanks and best wishes,
nj_librarian
Disney Story
Date: 9/21/06 01:17 am (UTC)I can e-mail it to you. My e-mail address is listed in my profile - send me a note, and I'll send the story to you.
Re: Disney Story
Date: 9/21/06 01:30 pm (UTC)Re: Disney Story
Date: 9/24/06 12:39 am (UTC)*in best Picard imitation*: You . . . have our gratitude.
no subject
Date: 9/21/06 02:04 am (UTC)Favorite of the books? Favorite lines?
-.111??
no subject
Date: 9/21/06 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/21/06 02:54 am (UTC)And I'm seconding the review request. ^_^
Welcome to the Court!
icon love
Date: 9/21/06 03:32 am (UTC)Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 03:55 am (UTC)'cause it's totally worth mentioning. You know, if I hadn't mentioned that CHECKERS IS MY GODDESS AND I LOVE HER FOREVER FOR NOT ONLY UNDERSTANDING BUT SUPPORTING MY STRANGE FIXATION WITH COSTIS which really isn't that strange at all, I just have strange ways of expressing it. :-b
I LOVE YOU CHECKERS!
And I could totally, TOTALLY see Jennifer Ehle as Eddis. That's perfect.
Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 07:43 am (UTC)emerald ;)
Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 02:25 pm (UTC)I didn't imply it!
...
"jade_sabre: so Sophos jumps up and runs to Eddis who...loves him? doesn't love him? doesn't realize her feelings until he lays a huge kiss on her, and when the kiss breaks she can ask "How'd you learn to kiss like that?
jade_sabre: I thought you've been living with bears."
jade_sabre: and Sophos can go "..."
emerald: hahahahahahahahaha. He practised on bears?
emerald: ew
jade_sabre: I didn't say that. We don't even have to finish that conversation. Someone can jump in with a pressing problem, and the reader will be left to wonder if it was the bears or not."
see? I didn't imply anything. I just threw the question out there.
Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 03:50 pm (UTC)emerald ;)
Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 06:59 pm (UTC)okay, okay, that's not actually what I meant, but I refuse to take the downfall for making Sophos kiss bears. YOU'RE the one that said it, not me. :-bGragus was also a mistake, but it was a perfect one, so I'll take the
blamecredit for that.Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 12:24 pm (UTC)Re: icon love
Date: 9/21/06 02:23 pm (UTC)Give it a day and I won't need the bold letters anymore, either. ^_^
no subject
Date: 9/21/06 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/21/06 07:41 am (UTC)emerald ;)
no subject
Date: 9/21/06 10:24 am (UTC)review of Attolia by Orson Scott Card, part 1
Date: 9/21/06 01:06 pm (UTC)________________________
It's a really bad idea to start a trilogy with the second volume. But I was traveling and desperate for something good to read. The bookstore didn't have the first volume; the third volume was only out in hardcover, and why spring for that when you don't even know if you like the series yet? So I bought volume two.
The author is Megan Whalen Turner. The first volume is The Thief. The third volume is The King of Attolia. And the book I read is The Queen of Attolia. The titles notwithstanding, all three books are mainly about the thief, though he's no ordinary cutpurse or burglar. This young adult fantasy is set in an ancient Greek land where one of the kingdoms has a semi-hereditary office called "the Queen's (or King's) Thief." He's a one-man intelligence service, creeping into other kings' palaces and eavesdropping, stealing documents, or (occasionally) conducting "diplomacy with prejudice" -- i.e., assassination.
This is a world with little magic, and what there is comes from the workings of the gods. They are not the familiar gods of Greek mythology, just as none of these little kingdoms corresponds with any real city-state of ancient Greece. The Thief is named Eugenides, which is the same name as the god of thieves whom he serves. He is downright pious about it -- but in the process of the story he begins to have good reasons that the very gods he serves have come to hate him. He is caught by an enemy and, in the traditional (but rarely used) punishment for thieves, his right hand is cut off. And that's only the beginning of his troubles. By the end of the fascinating, compelling story, he has a very long list of complaints against the gods.
In fact, because I read this just before rereading C.S. Lewis's finest novel, Till We Have Faces, it seemed obvious to me that Turner has to be familiar with Lewis's work, which is also set in an imaginary kingdom in the vicinity of ancient Greece, with imaginary gods, and with a main character who has a long list of complaints against the gods who have, she believes, used her ill.
It might be coincidence. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that Turner's novel is, for me at least, even more emotionally effective than Lewis's, if only because the writing is less distant and we rather like the main character better.
Turner's handling of personal politics and diplomacy in an era when kingdoms were very small is as accurate as I think a modern writer can achieve. More to the point, she creates intriguing characters who grow more important to us as they become more complex. Sometimes she seems to cheat a little, withholding from us information that is perfectly well known to the main characters. But in fact she's quite careful not to use the viewpoint of the character who knows the secret during the time she's keeping the secret from us. It's a deft juggling act, but she pulls it off with flair.
Needless to say, I'll be reading The Thief and The King of Attolia as soon as I can lay hands on copies of them. Still, I'm happy to report that you don't have to have read the first book to understand -- and enjoy -- the second. For me, Turner joins the very small pantheon of strong, realistic fantasy writers who are making of this genre something very fine indeed.
----------------------
Re: review of Attolia by Orson Scott Card, part 2
Date: 9/21/06 01:07 pm (UTC)------------
Since writing the above, I bought and read King of Attolia. It is, if anything, even better.
Though the same characters continue from the previous story, this is a different kind of book. The magical element in this "fantasy" is very, very slight. Instead, this is a Graustark novel -- a story set in an imaginary kingdom -- and it focuses on political intrigue, threatened assassination, trust, and personal relationships.
Another thing this book isn't is "young adult." Yes, a couple of main characters are young -- but in an era when they could already function in adult roles. And I wonder if this book might be too sophisticated for a lot of young readers. Not because of sex, for the book shows none, but because Turner writes about small-kingdom politics at a very high level.
But then, there is no place in our society where personal politics is carried on with more ruthlessness and intensity than junior high school. No matter how much childish behavior you find in Congress or university faculties, image-building, character-assassination, and jockeying for position reach their peak among seventh and eighth graders. So this novel may be exactly right for that age group.
It's also an adult book, however -- an unusually entertaining and intelligent one -- and I recommend it highly. Give the gross-out thrillers a break and pick up something that will actually exercise your brain and leave you feeling rather good about being human.
--------------
(end of review)
Re: review of Attolia by Orson Scott Card, part 2
Date: 9/21/06 03:47 pm (UTC)Re: review of Attolia by Orson Scott Card, part 2
Date: 9/21/06 05:38 pm (UTC)-- nj_librarian
Re: review of Attolia by Orson Scott Card, part 2
Date: 9/22/06 02:38 am (UTC)What a great synopsis of Jr High! Thanks for posting the review.
Russian history
Date: 9/21/06 01:17 pm (UTC)willow_41z, you got it. :-)
And I have too many favorite scenes to list.
Re: Russian history
Date: 9/21/06 02:33 pm (UTC)I'm thinking about minoring in Russian, maybe with emphasis on Russian lit. ^_^
Re: Russian history
Date: 9/21/06 05:50 pm (UTC)I translated freelance for a while, but got sick of translating letters to and from mail-order brides. So I got a job in a bookstore, discovered that I loved children's literature, went to library school for another master's, and here I am. (bows).
Re: Russian history
Date: 9/21/06 07:04 pm (UTC)My heart, however, wants me to double major in English and Philosophy, double minor in Theology and Russian, go on to grad school, then write a dissertation, and end up working for the Vatican in Rome, and teach.
...Hey, I could end up working for the VATICAN. That's something I hadn't thought of until right this instant. hm...
*her parents are probably smacking themselves in the forehead right this instant*
Anyway...I had a teacher who knew a mail-order bride. Said it was pretty much awful. That would be interesting, though, for a little while--I can see why you'd stop. And hey, who doesn't love kids' books? ^_^
no subject
Date: 9/21/06 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/22/06 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 10/4/06 03:42 pm (UTC)It's still fantastic, mind you.