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For those who like the mix between Fantasy and Sci/Fi, here's a good one for you. The Ring of Five Dragons is the first book in a series (trilogy?) The Pearl, written by Eric Van Lustbader. The second book is just out in hardcover, published by TOR, and is called The Veil of a Thousand Years.

There's technology, magic, betrayal, romance, political intrigues and much more. I'm almost finished with the first book, and I really loved it. The only thing I didn't like, is that Lustbader has created this race of alien conquerors with a peculiar language, and the names he uses are a bit difficult to pronounce and read. For example: Tuskugggun, okummmun, etc. When it'd been a while since I read one of these words, I would wonder what it refered to... I don't like these kind of interruptions. Otherwise, it's a good read.

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I adore Lustbader... haven't read his new series only the very old stuff... so i will atke your advice and go buy these tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip and hey welcome to the Heartwood.

Steve

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Authors can learn so much from paying attention to readers and what they're saying. I haven't read the book you mention, Manon, but coming up with clever names and new languages is all very well but if it stops the words flowing for the reader, that's dangerous and it makes the reader feel inadequate as they stumble over the tricky stuff.

It will be interesting to see how Soldier gets on with it. Let us know, Steve.

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Greetings and salutations Manon welcome to the board. I will be interested in seeing what Lustbaders new series is like. I liked his Ninja books and thought the first sunset warrior book showed promise but couldn't get into the later books........

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You've got that right, Soldier! I didn't entirely learnt it by reading, though. Going to the movies helped me too! "> Let's say that I refined it 90% by reading, and the movies helped in 90% for developing my ear and comprehension. Some of the first books I read are a blur in my memory... I'll have to get back to them!

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wow!

Learnig a launguage by purely reading it... I take my hat off to you.

You are a very interesting person and extremely well read.

Fiona attracts the best people doesn't she?

Well plus ca change plus c'est le meme chose.

Bon Voyage

Steve

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Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! ">

It's the first book I read from him, and I picked it up for three reasons: one, it was published by TOR, who in my opinion publishes good quality; two, the art cover appealed to me - Keith Parkinson is a favorite of mine; three, because it was described as so well written that the scenes would just come alive for you - as if it were a movie. I was curious about that particular critique, so I gave it a try.

You do have a point about the language, Fiona. I absorbed most of my English vocabulary (I'm French spoken, for those who don't know "> ) by reading, and I would carefully read each and every word in my head, making sure that I pronunced it correctly. That makes for a slow reading! It's only recently that I picked up my pace, and it's a hard habit to break. Languages like Lustbader's don't help me at all! I slow down to that crawl trying to understand what he's writing and making sense of who's who - because the language also extends to character names (Rekkk, Olmmm, etc). There are so many books to read, I need to speed up my reading!

Edited by: Manon at: 8/16/02 5:57:16 am