MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2203 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Four and Twenty Blackbirds by dennis-+AT+-jmf.org.ph 2) Re: Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Megan.E.Daggett-+AT+-Dartmouth.EDU (Megan E. Daggett) 3) Re: Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Amy Trujillo 4) Tiger Burning Bright by Adrienne 5) Worst Book by Paustinnew-+AT+-aol.com 6) Re: Worst Book by "David H. Tiffany" 7) Re: Worst Book by MDennis460-+AT+-aol.com 8) Re: Worst Book by "Jenny" 9) Re: Worst Book by Paustinnew-+AT+-aol.com 10) Re: IMNSHO.... ;-) by "Jenny H." 11) ML: On the Movie Thing by "Tanya Evans" 12) ML list Friendship Ring by Niki ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 09:19:12 +0000 From: dennis-+AT+-jmf.org.ph To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Four and Twenty Blackbirds Message-ID: Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, Does it matter what order you read the Bardic Voices books? I just received a copy of Four and Twenty Blackbirds and I was wondering if would spoil anything if I just went ahead and read it even though I've read nothing else in the series. I couldn't tell from the blurb on the back if the books were in any way sequential. Please respond quickly. It's burning a hole on my bookshelf and the suspense is killing me. As of this moment, I would want to be either Kethry or Jennifer Talldeer if I am adhering to gender, or...Alberich, I think, if we can pick cross gender. Runewind ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 2000 11:27:44 EST From: Megan.E.Daggett-+AT+-Dartmouth.EDU (Megan E. Daggett) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Four and Twenty Blackbirds Message-ID: <28675039-+AT+-vixen.Dartmouth.EDU> --- dennis-+AT+-jmf.org.ph wrote: Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, Does it matter what order you read the Bardic Voices books? I just received a copy of Four and Twenty Blackbirds and I was wondering if would spoil anything if I just went ahead and read it even though I've read nothing else in the series. I couldn't tell from the blurb on the back if the books were in any way sequential. Please respond quickly. It's burning a hole on my bookshelf and the suspense is killing me. --- end of quote --- There are a few spoilers in 4 & 20 for the other books. I'd recommend reading them in order, but the spoilers are fairly minor ones, the sort of thing that tells you how certain characters ultimately end up, without giving you a clue how they got there. For me that's not enough to spoil the suspense, but that's the sort of thing that varies from person to person. -wyvern -- wyvern-+AT+-darmtouth.edu http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mdaggett/ "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny..." -- Isaac Asimov ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 10:38:13 -0600 From: Amy Trujillo To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Four and Twenty Blackbirds Message-ID: <389468F5.6A30B378-+AT+-southwind.net> Heyla everyone, runewind wrote: > Forgive me if this question has been asked before but, Does it > matter what order you read the Bardic Voices books? I just received > a copy of Four and Twenty Blackbirds and I was wondering if would > spoil anything if I just went ahead and read it even though I've read > nothing else in the series. I couldn't tell from the blurb on the > back if the books were in any way sequential. > Please respond quickly. It's burning a hole on my bookshelf and the > suspense is killing me. I think with that book in particular you could get away with reading it without having read the other four bardic series books. The books are kind of sequential but you won't loose any big plot points if you read them out of order. Actually all of those are pretty much stand alone since each deals with a seperate set of main characters. Some of the characters are mentioned by others or make brief appearances but not to the point that it would get confusing. 4&20 in particular is stand alone since it really is more a of mystery novel and doesn't deal with the free bards as much as the other three books. Hope that helps. Key lime pie sheep to everyone Amy Ferret Friend Lady of All Things Missing, Especially Socks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 11:44:32 -0600 From: Adrienne To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Tiger Burning Bright Message-ID: <4.2.2.20000130113731.00c6dea0-+AT+-pop3.tconl.com> > Oh, I just checked out "Tiger Burning Bright" from my library and >didn't get past like the first few chapters. can some1 tell me does it >get better?? Cuz if it dont i think that it is a lot worse then i'm IIRC, it does have a slow start with character building, but the action does get better. It is very much a character book and not so much an action book, although there is plenty of action. This has me think of something else: I am re-reading the Velgarth stories and am now in the Winds trilogy. The first time I read it, I didn't like it much, but I kept going this time because having read farther to stop after BTS almost feels like I'm missing the ending. Anyway, I'm liking Winds a lot more. But it is definitely not as action-packed as BTS and filled with intrigue as AoQ. I think that Misty may be trying more character books than action books, but I haven't read more than through the first in the Owl series, so I could be wrong. Adrienne Priestess of OOPS WebWatcher of the Mistic Circle OOUH Champion of Eldan, Daren, and Savil ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 14:21:58 EST From: Paustinnew-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Worst Book Message-ID: <2d.9f0737.25c5e956-+AT+-aol.com> Tiger Burning Bright is definitely one of the worst Misty books. I didn't even check it out from the library after looking through it. Don't know if this has been done before, but what, in your opinion, is the worst Misty book? I think some of the Chrome Circle books fit in there -- I think she was trying to write too much, too fast, and didn't take the time to ensure the quality that's generally the hallmark of her books. Pam, who goes by Map ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 12:07:59 -0800 (PST) From: "David H. Tiffany" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Worst Book Message-ID: On Sun, 30 Jan 2000 Paustinnew-+AT+-aol.com wrote: > Tiger Burning Bright is definitely one of the worst Misty books. I didn't > even check it out from the library after looking through it. If you haven't read it how do you know its so bad? I rather liked it. > Don't know if this has been done before, but what, in your opinion, is the > worst Misty book? Of the ones I've read, probably "If I Pay Thee Not In Gold." The story just never jelled for me, and the ending didn't seem much of a resolution. Of course I should mention that "Lark & Wren" so failed to impress me that I haven't picked up any of the other books in that series. Davit D Hiffany, God of Typos ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 15:38:52 EST From: MDennis460-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Worst Book Message-ID: this is only my opinion....but tiger burning bright isn't her best, but it's not her worst her worst through no fault of her own was if i pay the not in gold ... written with piers Anthony. i used to like piers Anthony until he got fixated on the dictionary of puns, and stuck in the xanth world.( i enjoyed the first few installments, but wearied of the constant puns and seeming neverending plot overdramatization. in other words i got tired of the series and quit reading it about novel 6 or 7. i don't know or particularly care what it is up to now. (if you are a piers Anthony lover, please remember i have a right to my opinion as you do to yours, and agree to disagree. my opinion on his nonxanth work is that i would read it and then make up my mind... ) their publisher cooked up the idea that they would collaborate. well, in brief, it is a disaster of a book, the two different writing styles war with each other through the whole novel, and it is just a mishmash of adventures and ambushes and wars involving seemingly the whole personae dramatis from bullfinch's mythology. i bought it and read it as i was doing reviews for a misty lackey centered publication, (herald's companion) it was an act of will for me to finish it, and i usually finish things i start. if this is your first misty book, don't let it deter you from reading her others as they are good and at least have a decent though sometimes predictable plot, and engaging characters. tiger burning bright is one of those. i think maybe the reason that she seems to be changing her style is that she is under deadlines and perhaps sometimes cannot do the extensive rewrites she might have done. i read such things said by another author in talking about the fact that the styles differed at different times of the writing career. it was different to write for a living, knowing that you had to produce a certain definite amount of prose in a particular amount of time to in order to meet the deadline to be paid. you have to met this deadline, and perhaps maybe there isn't the time to rewrite and proof work as when misty was writing for the love of the story. (at least, that sounds plausible to me. i know that in my workaday world, i have to figure my goals and prioritize my workload so that i meet all deadlines so that can get paid. i don't know the definite demographics of misty's fans( I'm in my 40's and have enjoyed her work since AOTQ came out, have been a SF/fantasy fan for 35 years, and I've read many authors and continue to do so, as well as different genre of literature) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 15:25:04 -0600 From: "Jenny" To: Subject: Re: Worst Book Message-ID: <001901bf6b68$799a7640$6543c280-+AT+-resnet.tamu.edu> I definitely believe the Diana Tregarde books were the worst she's written. The plot was soooo formulaic, and the characters were not really well fleshed out. Also, the world setting, fantasy in modern day, seemed to be copied almost directly from Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Vampires as lovers, magic, occult involvement, gun toting attitude.......... very similar. Jenny ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hard work pays off tomorrow, but laziness pays off now! > Tiger Burning Bright is definitely one of the worst Misty books. I didn't > even check it out from the library after looking through it. > Don't know if this has been done before, but what, in your opinion, is the > worst Misty book? I think some of the Chrome Circle books fit in there -- I > think she was trying to write too much, too fast, and didn't take the time to > ensure the quality that's generally the hallmark of her books. > Pam, who goes by Map ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 17:43:34 EST From: Paustinnew-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Worst Book Message-ID: <75.13250b5.25c61896-+AT+-aol.com> In a message dated 1/30/00 3:22:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, davidt-+AT+-cet.com writes: << > Tiger Burning Bright is definitely one of the worst Misty books. I didn't > even check it out from the library after looking through it. If you haven't read it how do you know its so bad? I rather liked it. >> I read few the first few pages, and was not interested in going further. Some books are just like that. Others, I have to get through a few chapters before determining whether I like them enough to finish them. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 18:51:09 -0600 (CST) From: "Jenny H." To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: IMNSHO.... ;-) Message-ID: <18009-3894DC7D-14594-+AT+-storefull-247.iap.bryant.webtv.net> attention ppls: brightsong is an idjit! the only excuse i have is that i have a cold and the medicine makes me tired. in the post i just sent, i asked if "tiger burning bright" was any good. what i MEANT to say was "if i pay thee not in gold" so as a result, i totally insulted MZB by confusing her (however unintentionally) with piers anthony. **sigh** okay, i will go back to my corner now! Zhai'helleva! From Brightsong, Keeper of Trivia on All Things Star Wars, and her red-tail Wren. http://community.webtv.net/Brightsong_/award ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 21:34:29 -0500 From: "Tanya Evans" To: Subject: ML: On the Movie Thing Message-ID: <001301bf6aca$8893f840$23040618-+AT+-baycty1.mi.home.com> As for a live action movie... I don't think so, for the reasons already mentioned. Bad Acting choices, special effect disasters... etc. Though I wouldn't mind seeing it done as an anime cartoon. There are a lot of spectacular anime movies. Animators can do wonders with computers and such, and if Misty has her hands in it as producer or assistant director or some such it couldn't be all bad. As for which one I would like to see made into this, I wouldn't care, there all good. - Ellevaranachai Shay'Nara'Val Herald Trainee, but Bard wannabe => Rethwellan by Nature, Chosen by Virtue ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 20:18:19 -0800 From: Niki To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: ML list Friendship Ring Message-ID: <38950D0B.D319EF1C-+AT+-mills.edu> Sorry, I don't have any ObMisty, but I'm concerned about the Ring. Freedom Walker recently asked about this, as did I, but nobody has responded. This lends weight to my recollection that Van was the last person to receive the ring, and Van has unsubscribed. Could one of our esteemed Councillors confirm or deny this? If the ring's been inadvertently taken into perpetual lurkdom, perhaps the Mage of Green Silences can resurrect it? Or has it reached its final resting place? Niki First Bearer of the Friendship Ring ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2203 **********************************