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Korodzik Since: Jan, 2001
#226: Feb 7th 2011 at 7:31:46 AM

So, I nominate Pierre Dubois' La grande encyclopédie des lutins.

It is a look at gnomes, dwarves, elves, sprites and miscelleaneous assorted fey creatures, mainly from France, but from other regions of the world too.

Rather than a dry ethnological text, it is basically a tome of beautiful Tolkienesque narratives about the little creatures (in what Wikipedia would call "in-universe style"), written with heartwarming prose — and, what's important, illustrated masterfully.

He's written other books about mythological creatures too, but I don't think any of them were even released in Poland. ;(

StrangeDwarf Since: Oct, 2010
#227: Mar 25th 2011 at 2:36:58 PM

The murderess. http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/greece/papadiaa.htm

It's a greek book about a serial killer. The titular character is an old woman who spends most of the book killing young girls (in particular) and in the end manages to come off sympathetically. A mixture of Freudian Excuse, implied mental instability, Redemption Equals Death, awesome writing, and the fact that she actually had a reasoning for the killings, albeit a sick and distorted one. The end is a Tear Jerker.

A light summer read, especially recommended for younger children.

edited 25th Mar '11 2:37:51 PM by StrangeDwarf

"Why don't you write books people can read?"-Nora Joyce, to her husband James
FreezairForALimitedTime Responsible adult from Planet Claire Since: Jan, 2001
Responsible adult
#228: Mar 27th 2011 at 8:19:06 PM

I'd like to officially note The Magic Thief here. I was quite surprised when I saw that it had a works page, although not the longest one. It ended up being one of the best YA fantasies I've read in ages, for a number of reasons.

The real thing that makes these books stand out is the characters. The main character is a great first-person narrator, since he actually has some character to him, unlike other blah protagonists. His mentor, Nevery, is full of wonderfully blended emotions, and makes you really want to get inside his head. And it really says a lot about the author's skills that Benet—a character who speaks maybe once a chapter, if that—ends up being just as fantastically characterized as the rest of the cast. He manages to do Real Men Wear Pink in a way that feels completely natural to him, and effective without going over-the-top in that "oh ho ho, look at this big bodyguard knitting" way. No; he just sits by the fire and knits, and when the protagonist decided to run away because he believes that I Have Failed You, Benet just quietly walks up to him, hands him the sweater, says something concice like "be careful," and walks away. It's pretty awesome.

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada
caroklim honest narcissist from in bed Since: May, 2011
honest narcissist
#229: May 7th 2011 at 11:28:57 PM

The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly. Distaff Counterpart Down the Rabbit Hole meets Grimm's Fairy Tales, plus a hell of an Oedipus Complex, a bad case of Envy, and World War II. Roughly.

edited 7th May '11 11:29:31 PM by caroklim

I like my coffee black just like my metal.
wuggles (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#230: May 8th 2011 at 5:36:25 PM

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. It's a really good fantasy based on Nigerian culture and folklore. I feel like it's different than the usual fantasy with a pretty white girl. I made both of those wiki links, by the way.

lolacat Dead? You thought wrong from Vancouver Island Since: Mar, 2011
Dead? You thought wrong
#231: May 12th 2011 at 7:56:01 AM

Journey To The River Sea.

Seeing all these piss ant tropers trying to talk tough makes me laugh. If Matrix were here, he'd laugh too.
Levanah Since: Jan, 2011
#232: Jun 16th 2011 at 4:56:52 PM

Has anyone heard of an author named Sean Stewart? In particular, his book Passion Play was really an amazing read for me. It's hard to find outside of libraries, but the writing is beautiful and complex, the protagonist feels extraordinarily real and multidimensional, and he has an interesting take on a dystopia where the religious right takes over, sort of like a milder, more gender-equal version of The Handmaid's Tale with some near-future advanced tech, although it's really more about the characters and their moral/spiritual dilemmas. The ending really moved me. His other books such as Galveston and Mockingbird are really good too, although they fall more into the Urban Fantasy category. Mockingbird is my other favorite by this author, and it's actually the complete opposite of Passion Play, sort of a lighthearted magical realist family story.

MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#233: Jun 16th 2011 at 4:57:16 PM

lolacat: Fucking liar.

I've heard of it.

And her other books are better.

Read my stories!
lolacat Dead? You thought wrong from Vancouver Island Since: Mar, 2011
Dead? You thought wrong
#234: Jul 5th 2011 at 11:45:59 AM

[up] They are? I'll have to check them out.

Seeing all these piss ant tropers trying to talk tough makes me laugh. If Matrix were here, he'd laugh too.
DomaDoma Three-Puppet Saluter Since: Jan, 2001
Three-Puppet Saluter
#235: Jul 5th 2011 at 2:14:29 PM

Firestar. If you ever wanted humanity to go into space as a routine kind of thing, you must read that book. If not the whole series.

Hail Martin Septim!
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#236: Jul 5th 2011 at 6:17:21 PM

Well, I liked them better, personally. Which Witch and Dial-A-Ghost are my personal favorites.

Read my stories!
LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#237: Jul 6th 2011 at 3:15:13 PM

@Doma: The Michael Flynn book? I thought it was pretty fantastic.

edited 6th Jul '11 3:15:32 PM by LuckyRevenant

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
DomaDoma Three-Puppet Saluter Since: Jan, 2001
Three-Puppet Saluter
#238: Jul 7th 2011 at 6:06:56 AM

Someone else has heard of it! =D

Hail Martin Septim!
Junfez Harlot from Boston Since: Jun, 2011
Harlot
#239: Jul 7th 2011 at 7:42:12 AM

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler.(AKA Lemony Snicket.) It's fun, and has a total Mind Screw at the end, which makes you reread it and look at several passages differently.

At the end of the game, both the king and pawn go back in the same box.
ThirdPoliceman Nocturnal Strangeness from Ireland Since: Jul, 2011
Nocturnal Strangeness
#240: Jul 7th 2011 at 1:56:06 PM

Most of the books I read tend to be ones no one else but I have heard of. Which is a shame, considering how much more original they are than the maionstrwam shit people read today. I cannot think of any right now though.

http://manbehindthecurtain.ie
spasticgecko Dat Troper from Maryland Since: Oct, 2011
Dat Troper
#241: Aug 2nd 2011 at 4:58:00 AM

The Dark Reflections trilogy, starting with The Water Mirror. It's not the best writing out there, but it's not bad at all and I enjoy it enough that it's amongst my favorites.

chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#242: Aug 2nd 2011 at 8:58:41 AM

Trial By Journal. Unappreciated scrapebook-style novel.

CommanderObvious intellectual rapist from Unmei no Itaru Basho Since: Jul, 2011
intellectual rapist
#243: Aug 2nd 2011 at 8:59:08 AM

Naomi
better than Lolita in perversion

This level of trolling is reasonable for Commander Obvious. What do you think of this, everyone?
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#244: Aug 2nd 2011 at 1:14:58 PM

Everybody knows Norse mythology, but nobody knows what I'm talking about when I mention the Poetic Edda, the book whence most of the myths came.

edited 3rd Aug '11 5:14:25 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
DomaDoma Three-Puppet Saluter Since: Jan, 2001
Three-Puppet Saluter
#245: Aug 2nd 2011 at 2:04:29 PM

[up] "Whence" means "from which." You don't need one "from" there, much less two.

Hail Martin Septim!
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#246: Aug 3rd 2011 at 5:14:07 PM

Thanks for that. Something about "from whence" sounded wrong, but I wasn't sure what it was.

You'd think that I out of all people would have been able to catch that!

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
MrShine Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#247: Aug 3rd 2011 at 5:19:55 PM

Save where thou art not, though I feel thou art,
Within the gentle closure of my breast,
From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part;
And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear,
For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear.

edited 3rd Aug '11 5:20:07 PM by MrShine

annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#248: Aug 3rd 2011 at 5:29:09 PM

c.1300, whennes, with adverbial genitive -s, from O.E. hwanone, related to hwænne (see when).

The fact that it is [originally] a genitive form would explain the "from" being built in.

EDIT:

USAGE Strictly speaking, whence means ‘from what place,’ as in : whence did you come? Thus, the preposition from in : from whence did you come? is redundant and its use is considered incorrect by some. The use with from is very common, though, and has been used by reputable writers since the 14th century. It is now broadly accepted in standard English.

Oxford is the ultimate and final authority on everything to do with the English language except the definition of rape and by extension most other words of which double standards warp the general understanding.

edited 3rd Aug '11 5:32:08 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
KachinoOkimane A Homebody... from Tebis Apartments Since: Aug, 2010
A Homebody...
#249: Aug 6th 2011 at 6:16:43 PM

I'm finally returning to this thread to say: Chilld 44, and its sequel, The Secret Speech.

2 of many books that I cannot describe without massive spoilers.

p.s. That's how I know I'm reading a good book. I cannot describe it at all without somehow spoiling it...

edited 7th Aug '11 11:27:48 AM by KachinoOkimane

Searching for The Source Of All Heart Ache
Bananaquit Since: Jan, 2001
#250: Aug 8th 2011 at 10:08:38 PM

I’d say Bruce Fergusson’s books (The Shadow of His Wings and The Mace of Souls) but since I discovered them from a couple of people gushing about them on Usenet, I can’t. They definitely need more love, though.


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