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Posted Apr 15, 2001 by aGirlCalledBen
Hello Huw
Just to apologise again for the topic-drift in the Tolkein thread, and to ask you something which you answer on your page already - namely what books you do like - and also to find out why.
Anyway - the Tolkein question is a good one, and surprisingly free from flame wars. Thanks for asking the question.
All the best
a drifter called Ben
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Posted Apr 15, 2001 by Huw (ACE)
That's quite alright mate 
Sorry if I seemed a bit harsh, but I hate it when a thread goes off-topic. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today.
As for why I like those books, well, I like the way Clarke tends to distance himself from subplots and complicated inter-character relationships. His books are a lot like documentaries, if you see what I mean. I like Asimov because he is the godfather of robotics (did you know that he actually coined the term?) and as far as I have seen is unparalelled in his field.
In fantasy, I love Weis and Hickman because of the Dragonlance books. For me they're a kind of intelligent fantasy-lite. What I mean is the books never go too deep or get too complex, but still manage to be fantastically entertaining. Also, I really, really love their insistence on keeping both good and evil in their world and pointing out that you need both. I also quite like Feist because of the unique magic 'system' he uses in his books.
How about you then? What do you like, bookwise? Actually, I'm glad you've started this conversation here - it's exactly what I was hoping for when I updated my personal space 
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Posted Apr 15, 2001 by aGirlCalledBen
Books... how long have you got?
Pratchett - "Small Gods" transcends the genre; Le Guin - "Earthsea" though I dont beleive her theology and a lot of her other stuff is too political for me.
I am currently reading "Northern Lights" and "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman, as I mentioned in the thread; they are nominally children's books, but very compelling (even if LotR is mentioned on the cover!) Loved Harry Potter, too. (Sorry).
I am about to re-read "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller. I love Tom Wolfe, particularly "The Right Stuff"
I read a lot of girlie books like "Bridget Jones" and "Lucy Sullivan", and I have a book of women's sexual fantasies by Nancy Friday on the go at the moment too.
Literature - Love Trollop and Jane Austin, never managed Dickens. I thought "Emma Bovary" was basically a bloke's wet dream and stopped about 20% in; likewise "Anna Karennina" though I did make it over half way through that.
Thrillers - I have read every Dick Francis, most of them twice. Love Raymond Chandler. Find Patricia Cornwelll too graphically sadistic. Will read an Agatha Christie only if I am ill.
I rate Asimov, Clarke, Leibowitz and Wyndham for their ideas, but think that they are lousy at writing about people.
Just read "Dangerous Parking" by Stuart Browne, which is about a cool film producer with bladder cancer, which is an incredibly uncool disease. Very funny, but when you get to the end it says that it was Stuart Browne's first novel, and he died in 1999. Arrrgh.
Like I said - how long have you got....!
I am going to keep my eyes peeled for Weis now, because a couple of people mentioned him in the Tolkein thread.
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Posted Apr 15, 2001 by Huw (ACE)
Actually, Margaret Weis is a girl! She wrote the Dragonlance books with her (male) friend Tracy Hickman, and I cannot recommend them enough. If you're going to read Dragonlance, though, you MUST read in this order -
Dragonlance Chronicles
-Dragons of Autumn Twilight
-Dragons of Winter Night
-Dragons of Spring Dawning
Dragonlance Legends
-Time of the Twins
-War of the Twins
-Test of the Twins
Dragons of Summer Flame (standalone book, but follows on from the above)
Then any others 
I'll post some more later, but I'm pretty busy right now. Later, matey!
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Posted Apr 16, 2001 by aGirlCalledBen
Thanks for giving me the order of the Dragonlance. Looks like I have a shopping list, what with that and the JRRT.
atb
agcB
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Posted Apr 16, 2001 by Huw (ACE)
Yeah, but the first six books can be bought as two these days, and not too expensively (is that a word?) either.
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Posted Apr 16, 2001 by aGirlCalledBen
Brill
I'll let you know what I think
agcB
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