Addicted!

[rune]

How bad is your addiction This is when we confess to how indulgent we are with our reading

I thought a good way to do this was to list your favourite series that you have either got all the books for or the series is still ongoing and you're trying to get the next book (loosing sleep wondering what comes next)

When you're adding your list just see how scary it gets when it gets longer and longer It will be a good indication just how addicted you are.

Here's mine -

Anita Blake
Dresden Files
Harry Potter
New Crobuzon
Orces First Blood
Prosperos Children
Spellsinger
Symphony of Ages
Tales of the Otori
The Barimaeus Trilogy
The Black Magician Trilogy
The Braided Path
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
The Last Rune
The Magic Kingdom of Landover
The Runelords
The Sword,The Ring and the Chalice
The Tears of Artamon
Tir Alainn
Banned and the Bannished
Dark Elf Trilogy
Deverry Series
His Dark Material Trilogy
Isavalta Trilogy
Keeper Chronicles
Lord of the Rings
Prowlers
Riftwar Saga
Shannara
Sword of Truth
The Black Jewels
The Chaos Gate
The Cleric Quintet
The Farseer Trilogy
The Tawny Man
The View From the Mirror
The Word
Time Master Trilogy
Voyage of Jerle Shannara
Abarat
The Keys to the Kingdom
Tamir the Great
Women of the Underworld
The Chronicles of Magravandias

Yep, I can safely say I've got a serious addiction and need therapy

The really shocking thing I realised was these are the series I either have, or collecting. What about all the standalones not to mention the about of books I've tried that I didnt like

 

[Mark Robson]

Rune,

The Bartimeaus Trilogy - is this any good? I've seen it around the houses and often been intrigued enough to pick it up, but I've never got around to buying any yet. The first one is 'The Amulet of Samarkand' isn't it?

Oh, yes, and I forgot to say - yes you need therapy!

 

[rune]

Rune,

The Bartimeaus Trilogy - is this any good? I've seen it around the houses and often been intrigued enough to pick it up, but I've never got around to buying any yet. The first one is 'The Amulet of Samarkand' isn't it?

Oh, yes, and I forgot to say - yes you need therapy!

I'm waiting for the 2nd book to come, got it on order. However I can say the first book was a pleasant surprise. Much more mature than I thought it would be and quite amusing at times.
Bartimeaus is a demon that is summond by a young wizard. The demon is the star of the book, he gets into lots of trouble and is so funny at times Some have compared it to the Harry Potter books, I suppose there are some similarities but personally I think they are quite different types of storyline.

You're right I'm hopelessly addicted to fantasy novels and they say by recognising your addiction you can stop it. Never works for me though
The big question is though are you the same

 

[Mark Robson]

Oh yes! But I don't have my library in front of me to call up all the numerous series that I've read over the years! I can remember the obvious ones though:

LOTR + anything by Tolkien.
The Thomas Covenant Chronicles.
The Saga of the Exiles.
The Dark Tower.
Dragonriders of Pern.
Crystal Singer Trilogy.
Tower and Hive.
Just about everything else McCaffrey has written!
The Deed of Paksenarrion + prequels.
Series by MK Wren - can't remember the series title - Shadow of the Swan, House of Woolf etc
Louise Cooper - Nemesis etc + Initiate, Novice and Master.
Several of the Dragonlance series.
The Lensman Series. (7 books)
The D'Alembert Series. (10 books)
The Skylark Series.
The Wheel of Time.
The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium, The Tamuli and all the other Eddings stuff.
John Norman - The Gor Series ( I stopped at about number 23)
The Dumarest Saga - EC Tubb (Again I stopped at about number 24)
The Dark Magician Series.
The Assassin Series + The Liveship Traders - R Hobb
Dark Materials Trilogy
Artemis Foul - Great light reading!
Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen - Nix
Sword Dancer, Sword Maker etc
The Earthsea Quartet.
Ring of Allaire etc can't remember the author right now.
Trilogy that finished with Harper in the Wind - as above.
Dune Series.
Battlefield Earth.
The Foundation Trilogy plus add ons.
Ursurak.
The Battle Circle Trilogy.
The Xanth series (up to about number 10 or 11)
Elizabeth Moon - Sporting Chance, Winning Colours etc.
The complete book of swords - Saberhagen
The Shannara Series + Magic Kingdom for sale, Sold etc.
Lots by Tom Holt - Expecting someone taller, etc
Lots by Robert Heinlen
And many, many, many more!

 

[dwndrgn]

And who wrote this Bartimeous or whatever trilogy? Now I'm curious...I love demons who don't act like your stereotypical demons...anyone ever read Aspirin's Myth series?

 

[rune]

I've just recently (this year) discovered Louise Cooper Have you read a lot of her series and which would you say is the best one?


I've got Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen on order, just recently discovered Garth Nix this year too

Who wrote the Dark Magician Series?

 

[Mark Robson]

Sorry, that should have read Black Magician - Trudi Canavan, whom you've already discovered. Louise Cooper, I've just read the one trilogy and the first 4 of the Nemesis, Troika etc. I can't remember the name of the trilogy, but I do remember that it was very good. I last read it a long time ago.

Have you read The Deed of Paksenarrion Series by Elizabeth Moon? If you want a really well written, complex and well thought out story - this gets my vote. The first is called Sheepfarmer's Daughter, followed by Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold. There are two prequels as well, but I didn't find these so readable. One was called Liar's Oath and the other I cannot recall right now.

I could add a whole host of other series to the list if I were at home, but it's difficult to picture my bookcases as I've not really read a huge amount recently. Other authors that I've read that spring to mind are Poul Anderson, Andre Norton, Katherine Kerr, Hugh Cook, Douglas Adams (of course!), Tad Williams, Marion Zimmer Bradley to name but a few. I'm trying to remember who wrote Master of the Five Magics and Secret of the Sixth Magic, but they were good as well.

 

[rune]

Sounds like you're someone who's widely read There are so many author's I have tried, I have started a thread here called authors info and I put the names of authors there I'm trying to get feedback on

Do you ever try more recent authors?

 

[Mark Robson]

Well, Trudi Canavan is recent. I'm currently reading Kushiel's Dart - Jacqueline Carey, who I imagine is fairly recent. Garth Nix has not been around that long. GP Taylor - Shadowmancer and Wormwood is new. The series that sprang to mind were those more memorable ones. I don't only read fantasy though. I like reading thrillers and adventure stories from other fields. James Patterson, Desmond Bagley, Alistair McClean, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, Wilbur Smith and a whole load of others.

 

[mzarynn]

I love Wilbur Smith's River God series. Unfortunatley I don't own any of the books.

Series that I do own.

Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Earth Sea
Sevenwaters Trilogy -Juliet Marillier
Left Behind -end of the world series
The Sovereign Stone Trilogy -Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman
Red Wall -belong to my husband


Not a very big list compared to Rune and Mark. I've been visiting the library for Dragons of Pern and the Outlander Series but have not bought any of the books....yet.

 

[rune]

I love Wilbur Smith's River God series. Unfortunatley I don't own any of the books.

Series that I do own.

Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Earth Sea
Sevenwaters Trilogy -Juliet Marillier
Left Behind -end of the world series
The Sovereign Stone Trilogy -Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman
Red Wall -belong to my husband


Not a very big list compared to Rune and Mark. I've been visiting the library for Dragons of Pern and the Outlander Series but have not bought any of the books....yet.

There's plenty of time for you to develope your addiction

 

[Mark Robson]

And who wrote this Bartimeous or whatever trilogy? Now I'm curious...I love demons who don't act like your stereotypical demons...anyone ever read Aspirin's Myth series?

Written by Jonathan Stroud, Dwndrgn.

Incidentally, you haven't come across a copy of Santiago in your library have you? I can't remember who wrote it, but I remember really enjoying it. The story was sort of a space western, with gun slinging bounty hunters who tracked villains across the galaxy. The chief villain was Santiago and there was a sort of race going on between two bounty hunters, The Nightingale and Angel, who were out to take his bounty. There were some great colourful characters in this including a gun slinging, whisky drinking reverend, who saw his role in life as dealing out the justice of God from the barrels of his pistols! It was a great light read, with a couple of very surprising twists at the end. I distinctly remember uttering aloud 'You can't do that!' when I reached the last page! I was genuinely upset with the author for some time afterwards, but I was young and impressionable.

 

[Esioul]

My fave books/series (although I don't often read series:

Non SF:

Anna Karennina ~ Leo Tolstory
Persuasion ~ Jane Austen
The Bell ~ Iris Murdoch
The Catcher in the Rye ~ J D Salinger
Catch 22 ~ Joseph Heller
Sherlock Holmes stories ~ Arthur Conon Doyle
Wuthering Heights ~ Emily Bronte
Waverly ~ Sir Walter Scott

SF

Grass ~ Sheri S. Tepper
The Handmaid's Tale ~ Margaret Atwood
Narnia ~ C S Lewis
The Hobbit ~ Tolkein
The Cosmic Trilogy ~ C S Lewis
The Day of the Triffids ~ John Wyndem
1984 ~ George Orwell
Brave New World ~ Aldous Huxley
Crestomanci series ~ Diana Wynne Jones
Magid series ~ Diana Wynne Jones
The Faded Sun ~ C J Cherryh
Fortress series ~ C J Cherryh
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ~ Philip K. Dick


These are just the ones I could think of off-hand, anyway.

 

[wmp3662]

Mine includes:

Gordon Dickson - Dorsai series. Tactics of Mistake my favorite.
Tolkein LOTR and Silmarillion - first fantasy book I read was the Hobbit. Sound familiar?
Riddle Master trilogy by McKillip.
Dragon Riders of Pern
Sword of Shannara trilogy
Asimov's Foundation trilogy
Star Trek TV series books by GR
And many more - too many to name.

I also read alot of history. Way too numerous to list.

Am a big Sherlock Holmes buff - have all of the Granada TV DVDs.

Currently working on an alternate history book set after Lincoln's assasination.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I don't really read too many series - the one I have the most books from are the Doctor Who novelisations (can you say 'Terrance Dicks'? ). Other series I have read and own: The Lord of the Rings, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, a couple of Eddings' earlier series, most of the Narnia books. The only ongoing series I'm following is Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen.


Nevertheless, I can safely say I'm a total book addict. There's the amount I read - I usually finish a book a week, and maybe another one (or two) over the weekend and spend easily about 20% of my income on books.

It's worth speculating that I ought to read less and write more. But then I'd start turking...

 

[rune]

If I have a run of good books I can get through a book a week. If I have a batch of difficult, long winded, detailed books I can struggle to complete one a month

 

[Mark Robson]

I know what you mean, Rune. I read a book called 'Evil in the Eyes' last week. It wasn't bad considering it had been written by a young lad of 13-14! I read it in about 3 and a half hours and wrote him a critique. I think he'll be an effective writer when he's a bit older. I finished off 'Wormwood' as well, but was not hugely enamoured. Then I read 'The High Lord'. Three books in 5 days - it was the first time I'd done that since I was in school.

Kushiel's Dart is going to take a while, I think. The detail is immense and I'm already confused by the mass of names. I'm enjoying it though.

 

[captaintripps]

Has anyone dipped their toes in in the fabulous world of Clive Barker?
Specifically, Everville; Weaveworld; The Great And Secret Show and, best of all for me, Imajica.

I'd have to say that, apart from the usual suspects such as Tolkein, Mr Barker is the writer who has had the greatest impact on myself.

I believe the greatest attribute any writer can posses is a unique 'voice'. You know, where you read three or four sentences and can immediately identify whose written 'em.

Like I say, a rare gift indeed, but this fella has it in spades.

 

[Esioul]

Yes- 'voice' is something I find hard to define/explain, but it is vitally important. Iv'e read many books which I couldn't really criticise-no grammar problems or plot holes etc, the right balance of description/dialogue/action, however they just didn't have a unique voice, it seemed.

My fave book, Anna Karennina (By Leo Tolstoy) grabbed me straight away with the line which I think is now rather famous, which goes something like, 'All happy familes are alike, but all unhappy families are unhappy in different ways'.

 

[rune]

Yes- 'voice' is something I find hard to define/explain, but it is vitally important. Iv'e read many books which I couldn't really criticise-no grammar problems or plot holes etc, the right balance of description/dialogue/action, however they just didn't have a unique voice, it seemed.

Perhaps this is the reason why I can't get away with some authors. I can't complain about the story as such but somehow I can't seem to feel connected to to the characters and the feel of the story. Could it be that I havent been able to link with their voice. Could this be another way of saying Style. I find Mieville as a distinctive style but on an easier note so does Jim Butcher which is as different to Mieville as you can get but he does have a distinctive style which I love

Thanks Esioul you may just have answered a puzzle for me