sanalith | Entries tagged with fantasy

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Susan Cooper (b. 1935)

17 High-Brow, -5 Violent, -21 Experimental and -3 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

Though born in England, Susan Cooper currently lives in the United States. She is most well-known for her The Dark Is Rising sequence, which has received substantial critical acclaim, the second book (also called The Dark Is Rising) in the series winning a Newbury Honor and the fourth book (The Grey King) being awarded the Newbury Medal, one of the world's most prestigious awards for children's literature. The series is one of the finest examples of contemporary fantasy: the kind of fantasy where magic happens in an actually existing place. The Dark Is Rising is set in Britain, where two common themes of fantasy are combined; that of a magic world parallel to ours, which later became so popular with the Harry Potter books and that of ordinary British school-children playing a role in the struggle between Good and Evil, which had earlier been explored by C S Lewis.

Cooper manages to use the idiom of traditional children books to tell a tale of epic proportions, as evil beings from Celtic legends appear on Earth to do battle with the Old Ones, a secret society of people with magic powers. She is also able to combine this rather romantic vision with important messages, the compassion of one of the children being vital to the cause of Good at one point in the story. In Cooper's world, what you think and do matters on a grand scale, a message children and adults alike should take to their hearts.

You are also a lot like Ursula K Le Guin.
If you want some action, try China Miéville.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Lian Hearn.

( Read more... )

This really drives home for me that what I like and what I *want* to like in fantasy books are two totally different things.

If you read the more detailed responses under the cut, they're almost spot on. I'm romantic, traditional, peaceful and...well, high-brow. I guess. But when I went to amazon.com to learn more about Susan Cooper's books, I realized I probably wouldn't like them. The fact that she is compared to Tolkien also made me wary, since (sorry, folks) I've never actually made it through LoTR. *hides* And while I am a fan of Narnia, I don't know if that makes me a fan of C.S. Lewis, with whom she is also compared, because that's all I've ever read by him, and I know he's done a LOT more. So, I went to check out my apparent opposite, Lian Hearn, and guess what she wrote: The Tales of the Ootori series, which I've been meaning to pick up for a while now. Of course, this could be simply coincidence and I might not like her style if it wasn't set in Japan, but the fact remains that the plot didn't turn me off.

Despite all this, I want to like traditional high fantasy. I really do. But I've never been able to stomach it for too long. The closest I've gotten was Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time, but I always get stuck on book seven and that's that. Based on my interests and world view, I should like high fantasy, I really should. I just...don't.

I know, I know. Just more proof that I'm weird >.>

(x-posted to livejournal)

For some reason, this has not been a very good year for me in terms of books. Oh, I’m reading as much as ever – sometimes I feel like I’m reading even more than usual – but the quality of the books I’ve chosen have…not been the best. I’ll take full blame for one of them, as I knew going into it that there was a very large possibility I would dislike it, and I’ll take at least partial responsibility for another. As for the rest…to quote a character from one of my favorite novels, “I am most seriously displeased.”

What follows are the top worst five books I've read this year. They include a lack of plot, a bad plot, horrible editing, a romance book that was not even slightly romantic, and...Twilight.

( Click if you dare! )

(x-posted to livejournal)

Current Mood: blah

Reviews of books from January:

( My Thoughts )

I may be the last person on LJ to see Prince Caspian, but see it I did! There be spoilers under the cut, just in case, but I'll just say that I liked it all right. There were some WTF moments, and some completely unnecessary alterations, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd say they kept things close to the spirit of the book. Plus, Caspian himself was hot.

( I liked Reepicheep the best! )

Yes, yes, I know I'm late, but I generally always am so deal with it! =P

This afternoon,

caithion and I went to the dollar theatre to see Enchanted, and now I can finally say that I know what all the hype was about!

Honestly, I don't think I've laughed that hard at a movie in a looooong time! It was just such a wonderful parody! Without a doubt, my two favorite scenes were the "working song," because you can't beat cockroaches and pigeons cleaning a NYC apartment, and Giselle's dancing and singing in Central Park, explaining how you know when someone loves you. I felt an almost instant connection with Giselle when she came to NY...it's not normal to have a "happily ever after" mentality in our world, and seeing that represented in her was just so wonderful! It made me feel like it was all right for me to keep my own dreams of romance and fairytales alive (as long as I didn't randomly break into song while doing it!) Of course, the songs are going to be stuck in my head for days on end now >.>

All I can say, really, is that it's the first time in a long time that I found cliches to work so well. I could predict almost the entire plot, but that was the entire point! That's what made it so spectacular! And I loved that Nancy ended up with Prince Edward at the end. Her kiss was just awesome. I definitely need to get my mom to watch this. She'd fall in love!

Oh, and the cutting of the curtains and bed sheets to make Giselle's dresses? Completely priceless!

And I am vindicated!! I knew I recognized Nathaniel from somewhere else! Hello Wormtail!!

Warning: This may in fact be the longest post I have ever made. Read at your own risk.

When I was probably around 15, a friend of mine asked me what my favorite movie was. I opened my mouth to reply, and she quickly clarified that I could NOT choose what she considered my silly sci-fi movie series, such as Star Trek and Star Wars. It had to be a stand alone film. I’ll admit that I had to think about this for a while. Eventually, I threw out the name of a movie I loved, but I don’t think I truly believed it was my absolute favorite. It was lovely and haunting and fun, but I was still on my ST and SW kick and really couldn’t believe I would ever come to love anything as much as I did those movies.

The movie I tossed out to her was Labyrinth, and surprisingly enough, I soon discovered that I was right.

( In the beginning )

( Analysis )

( Jareth + Sara = OTP! )

( Conclusion )

"Things are not always what they seem in this place, so you can't take anything for granted."

The second "book" I finished this year is called De Historia et Veritate Unicornis (On the History and Truth of the Unicorn): The Facsimile and Translation of an Original Manuscript. Despite it's huge title, this work is only 64 short pages, pretty much all of which contain extremely large, high-quality images. The basic plot is that the author, Michael Green, was approached by a member of a secret society who preserved records of the unicorn, and even had an original spiral horn. Green was asked to translate the manuscripts and publish them, in the hopes of generating more interest in the magic and wonder that is the unicorn. This is clearly not a rocket science book, but I was truly amazed not only at how believable the text was, but at the true feeling of awe and wonder it inspired in me.

( Review )

So I think I have sufficiently calmed down from reading the new Harry Potter book that I can right at least a semi-coherent review. I think I may go back and re-read it quite soon, just so I can get a better handle on some of the details, but for now I think I just need to sit back and absorb.

Needless to say, there are SPOILERS behind the cut for the entire book.

Got that? SPOILERS!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK AND DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!

Ok, my karma is clear. On we go!

Oh, and be warned...this is long and rambly and...yeah ^^;;

( Good, Bad and Ugly )

*ahem*

So yes, I admit it. I never went to see the fourth Harry Potter movie in the theatre. I was a little busy at the time, and I just never really got the chance. Anyways, it just came out on DVD a few days ago, so I snatched it up and watched it. And, to be honest, my main reaction at the end was....huh.

( Mixed Reviews )

So yesterday, Mike and I and two of our friends went to see Narnia. Yes, I know we're rather behind the times, but we were having a difficult time coordinating schedules, and then we kind of forgot about it, and...yeah. But anyway, we finally saw it.

( What I Thought )

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
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Crystal Moon

It's only forever, not long at all

To coin a phrase...fascinating

Susan Cooper (b. 1935)

What Not to Read

Books Read in January

Prince Caspian

Enchanted!

Meta: Labyrinth

De Historia et Veritate Unicornis

Review of Deathly Hallows

So I'm not the quickest bunny in the bunch

Narnia

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