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levite · 06-29-2010, 12:31 AM

First of all, a big hells yeah for Tolkien. I wrote my college thesis on Tolkien, Christianity, and The Silmarillion, and I have loved his work my whole life. I would actually love to add The Silmarillion to the list, as I think it is a much deeper, more complex work than LOTR (though I love LOTR).

I am on the second book right now of the Wheel of Time series, and am enjoying them very much, although I think his dialogue leaves a bit to be desired.

I would add also the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, and Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy.

But, to be frank, IMO, Paolini's Inheritance books are really not so deserving of notice. I mean, it is kind of impressive that he managed to write a novel and get it published when he was only 16 or so, but the work itself is ungodly derivative. And not in the good sense of "he's following in so-and-so's footsteps," but in the sense of "I can take any couple of chapters and dissect precisely what he stole from Tolkien, from Jordan, from McCaffrey, from Star Wars, and so forth." His plot exposition is leaden, his dialogue, wincingly trite, and his character development nearly nonexistent, with occasional bursts of improbable alteration.

BTW,if we're going to include "young adult" fiction, I think much better candidates are Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising quintology, and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles quintology. Both are superbly written, and draw extensively on the classical legendry of the British Isles. Also, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time quintology is a classic, and not to be missed. And the His Dark Materials series by Pullman is also worthy of discussion.

And, I would add the Harry Potter books. They may have suffered from gross overexposure, but each time I reread them I notice that they really are fresh and creative and witty and entertaining. They are plain-out-and-out good books.

06-29-2010, 12:31 AM	#23 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	First of all, a big hells yeah for Tolkien. I wrote my college thesis on Tolkien, Christianity, and The Silmarillion, and I have loved his work my whole life. I would actually love to add The Silmarillion to the list, as I think it is a much deeper, more complex work than LOTR (though I love LOTR). I am on the second book right now of the Wheel of Time series, and am enjoying them very much, although I think his dialogue leaves a bit to be desired. I would add also the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, and Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy. But, to be frank, IMO, Paolini's Inheritance books are really not so deserving of notice. I mean, it is kind of impressive that he managed to write a novel and get it published when he was only 16 or so, but the work itself is ungodly derivative. And not in the good sense of "he's following in so-and-so's footsteps," but in the sense of "I can take any couple of chapters and dissect precisely what he stole from Tolkien, from Jordan, from McCaffrey, from Star Wars, and so forth." His plot exposition is leaden, his dialogue, wincingly trite, and his character development nearly nonexistent, with occasional bursts of improbable alteration. BTW,if we're going to include "young adult" fiction, I think much better candidates are Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising quintology, and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles quintology. Both are superbly written, and draw extensively on the classical legendry of the British Isles. Also, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time quintology is a classic, and not to be missed. And the His Dark Materials series by Pullman is also worthy of discussion. And, I would add the Harry Potter books. They may have suffered from gross overexposure, but each time I reread them I notice that they really are fresh and creative and witty and entertaining. They are plain-out-and-out good books. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)