Comments on: Studies in Setting

By: brenda

brenda — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:09:54 +0000

It’s a really nicely done set of vampire books by Barb and J.C. Hendee, two quiet school teachers who used to live in the midwest. That is, until they started hitting the bestseller lists.
I don’t even normally like vampire books (maybe that’s not true - but there’s been a glut of them and the whole sub-genre feels written out of new ideas, although this book has some).

By: stevent

stevent — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:16:45 +0000

yes, I had to learn and get used to the fact that no character is ever safe with Martin. What is the Noble Dead series?

By: brenda

brenda — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:16:05 +0000

No. I bought A World Without End, but I’m still in A Storm of Swords (same book you’re on) and looking forward the A Feast for Crows. And then I’m going on to pick the Noble Dead series back up and finish those. Too many books and too little time!
Yes, I like the subtle magic, too. I love the hooks and most of the pacing and that the characters grow and the heroes make mistakes and sometimes they even die…

By: stevent

stevent — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:58:45 +0000

I own both Pillars of the Earth and A Game of Thrones. I loved both these books. You’re right about Follett in his setting. I thought the setting was well done, the historical details were for the most part accurate, but his greater strengths are definitely his characters and storytelling ability. Martin also does a fabulous job with characters. In my opinion, he’s one of the best. His story does tend to drag at times with description of setting and lengthy exposition, but his world is vivid and seemingly real, with subtle uses of magic, and I really like that. I’m currently caught up to Book 3 on Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, still need to read Book 4. And I just finished reading A World Without End a few months back. A good read but no where near the caliber of Pillars. Have you read that one yet?