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Yay, someone who writes heaps like I do! Your probably more concise then me though, i tend to ramble on a bit. I found The Dark tower series a very painful experience, it had so much potential but post car accident it's just very 'blah'. Currently reading : The Crow by Alison Croggon Third of the Pellinor series.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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Double posting... because apparently no one has read anything. Just finished Tigana by Guy Gavrial Kay, to be honest I didn't find it that fantastic. Some really cool concepts and ideas there, i think had i read it at the time of publishing i would of been more excited but a few of the ideas had been diluted into other peoples works.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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Just finished reading "A March into Darkness" by Robert Newcomb (US writer) awesome, and of course Emissary by the Australian fantasy Queen - Fiona McIntosh - awesome. Have ordered 5 books from Amazon and by the time they arrive in Aust I should have read my thesis.

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Almost about to finish reading Blood and Memory by the fantabulous Mrs MacIntosh. That will no doubt be followed by the final one of that trilogy.

Also currently reading The Killing Dance, by Laurell K Hamilton. I love the first few books in her series, but now they seem to be dragging on unnescesarily with more sex scenes than a pornographic movie. Admitedly the writing is still very good. But I get the impression that the sex scenes are added in for lack of other content. The more I read of her series, the more I start to grow bored of them.

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At twilight, nature is not without loveliness, though perhaps its chief use is to illustrate quotations from the poets.

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I am so with you, Amalyutare.

I really really enjoyed the Anita Blake series until Obsidian Butterfly. The books after that took a severe nose dive for me. I agree with the increased sex scenes buffering a very weak story line. It's such a shame, because the series was a good paranormal crime one until the crime got forgotten for vampire/were-animal-of-the-week politics, which all seems to boil down to sex...

I read the first Meredith Gentry book, and it was the one that made me swear off Laurell Hamilton for good. Fifty pages to describe a walk from a car to a front door, another fifty/sixty pages to describe the walk from the foyer to the elevator. I mean, I could handle that, so long as the delays along the way weren't all the same thing! Then friends tell me that the second book (or third, not sure now) took a hundred pages to get out of the bedroom. REALLY?

I did read on Hamilton's blog a while back that the Anita Blake books are possibly going to reduce the sex content sometime in the future, as Anita learns to control the Arduer (or however it's spelt). Hamilton, as is an author's right, defends the sexual overload as a trial the characters have to overcome. Fair enough, but she has to know that she's lost a lot of loyal readers, yet probably gained numbers back in those who are reading for a naughty thrill...

Welcome, Amalyutare! Hope you keep enjoying Fiona's books. I would say "How could you not?" but as our thoughts about Hamilton show, each to their own...

Cheers, Lisa.

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I haven't actually read the Meridith Gentry books Lisa, but from what I've heard, there too is alot of explicit content. I have LKH's blog sent to my LiveJournal and recently she made a very long, rather childish rant (without paragraphs I might add) defending her books and their contents. I agree with alot of what she said, but I also agree with you in that she's loosing alot of loyal fans and gaining fans who want a cheap thrill.

It's a shame to see this happen. She is an excellent writer and her novels are exciting and captivating, but once you've seen one vampire/were leopard/wolf/rat/snake etc, you've seen them all, and it looses the polish that it began with. This happens all too often with authors who write a long series of novels in the horror genre. The more you write, the bigger the shock factor has to be in order to give your reader something to read that will still grasp their attention. Unfortunately Laurell's Blake series doesn't do that for me any more.

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At twilight, nature is not without loveliness, though perhaps its chief use is to illustrate quotations from the poets.

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Currently rereading the Kushiel's avatar,"" dart and "" choosen by jacqueline carey. I really do love this series I had forgotten how much. Never read the Hamillton books because they looked sort of formulaic. That sounds disappointing though for you guys. The books i've just been reading have sex scenes in them but Carey uses them sparingly and they always have something to give to the plot point. It's not just a sex scene for nothing.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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At the moment I am delving into 'The Well of Lost Plots' by Jasper Fforde which is a wonderful read. Highly recommended, although definately read 'The Eyre Affair' and 'Lost In A Good Book' first because it's a fair bit easier to understand. Good, clever reading with lots of literature in-jokes, particularly the classics.

Good stuff and a nice break from fantasy without actually going too far away from fantasy.

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I've just finished a couple of books by new writer Maria V. Snyder, Poison Study and it's sequel Magic Study. Both are fast paced fantasy adventures following a downtrodden young woman with awakening magical powers. Yelena, the protagonist, is a true survivor, overcoming tremendous odds just to see the next sunrise.  Typical of the genre, the story takes place in a world drawn from our own in a somewhat enlightened medieval era. They were both easy to read and real pageturners.  I know that Poison Study is now available at Dymocks and I highly recommend it.
I've lately gotten into a book every other day mode and am anxiously awaiting my Odalisque ARC I won on ebay. When the trade paperback somes out next month, it'll join the ARC on my bookshelf.
Phil

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Hi everyone, Currently I am re-reading The Ancient Future Series by Traci Harding around darning Pointe Shoes for dancing so I am going slower than I want to! Ailsa

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HAIL the fantasy writer!

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I'v got a heap of Anne McCaffrey books to read (& re-read for some of them), i'm reading dragondrums atm...

I would so luv a firelizard of my own, I luv the world of Pern

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Sorry's not fish! What good is sorry?

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went 2 borders the other week n bought a couple of new books 2 try out.

i got: robin hobb's 'assassin's apprentice' and sara douglass' 'battle axe'. i've never read any books by either author so can't wait 2 start both trilogies! im also currently finishing a re-read of 'trinity'. about half way through 'destiny' ... still my fav series by far!! hehehe

catch

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You'll love both of them Loza. Well you should, your getting into Battleaxe at a good time because Douglass is releasing a new series that very distantly joins that world. oh currently reading Prince of Tides(i think that's it) by Jennifer Fallon.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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oh really? thats awesome! haha i've been wanting 2 buy somethin of sara douglass' for a while .. i really did time that good! thanks 4 the info Melayna

oh u mean jennifer fallon's new book 'the immortal prince'?? i want that book 2! man im gonna have soo much 2 read (like thats a bad thing)

... still finishing re-read of 'destiny' ... and literature teacher gave me some book on Jane Austen to read lol im startin 2 build a pile and i never have book piles!!

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I keep doing that, yeah it's the immortal prince apart of the Tide lords series... (why do i keep getting them mixed up?). I just finished it yesterday. It's really good, it's got typical traits of a Fallon book; ie. snappy dialogue, strong characters but I think that it's a much smoother read then her earlier work. She's definately improving as a writer. If your going to read the new series... the first being the serpent bride I think... you'd be best off reading the Axis triology and the wayfarers redemption triology first (in the USA both are shoved under the one banner of the wayferers redemption i think all six books), then you should also read threshhold and beyond the hanging wall. The new series is a tie in of all the worlds. Austin is fun, you should read her.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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Currently reading "Blood" by Tony Shillitoe. This is another of those books that I bought on someone's reccomendation, tried it, said "crap", and put it on my bookshelf, condemning it to collect dust forever more. Well, just recently itr just so happened that I needed something to read during my breaks at work, and I happened to spot this one on my bookshelf. Remembering my earlier experience of it, I decided to give it another go. Boy, am I glad I did. I'm not even halfway through, but I get grumpy everytime my break ends and I have to put it down. What a cracker! I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read it, but this is superb. Also, I couldn't let the earlier comments re the Anita Blake series pass without comment. I've read some of the series (some ten or eleven books, I think), and I've loved every book in it's own right. Yes, the later books contain a lot of sex scenes, but it isn't like they're without a reason .... they really ARE part of the challenge that Anita and co must learn to control and overcome. I have to say as well, that much of what draws me in is the same thing which bores others - the politics, whether it be of the were-animal or vampire nature. It fascinates me to read what will bring Belle Morte down on our heroes, or what a Bolverk's role is in a werewolf pack. From what I've read, it sounds like the latest books follow the same style - I can't wait to catch up with them.

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ok no-one has written on here in ages.. but i might as well let ya all no what im reading at the moment lol. i still havent got to sara douglass and robin hobb!! argh i buy new books and then i dont get 2 read them... you no how much that sucks!!

anyway, my uncle lent me a book called 'the alchemist' by paulo coelho... definately not something i would normally read but my uncle felt that i was at the right age to appreciate it (at my ripe old age of 17 .. hahaha). im half way through it.. not my type of book.. but i can appreciate the points of view it brings forward.

catch  

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Finished "passion" and "freedom" by Tony Shillitoe - the follow-ups to "blood". Sensational. Anyone who loves to read about dragons should read these - although the dragons themselves don't make their main appearance until "freedom", the first two books set the scene. Brilliant. Currently reading book 2 of the Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan - struggling to put it down in my breaks at work. Different from Shillitoe's work in that it focusses more on magic, and not at all on war or dragons, which Shillitoe's main focusses. Still brilliant - just for different reasons.

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Read a bit since i last posted. The empire series by R E Feist and Janny Wurts, put me in a truely machiavellian mood. Been reading some Sarah Zettel, so far she seems ok, though i can see her getting a little repeptive.

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I'm sorry if i'm scary.

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Finally got round to starting the Trinity Trilogy. (Sorry took so long Fiona). I've finished Betrayal and have begun Revenge - great so far and i'm sure great to go! (wow bad wording there)