Sandry's Book and Homeland

[alobear]

Sandry's Book (or The Magic in the Weaving) is the first in the Circle series by Tamora Pierce.  I listened to the audio version, which was done in an interesting way.  The author did the narration, but each character's dialogue was done by a different actor, which made it much more engaging than it might have been otherwise.  It's very light fantasy - telling how four mage-born children with nowhere else to go are collected up by a seer and brought together at a special temple, where they will be trained in their gifts.  This book was very much set-up - in fact, I was really surprised when it ended as I thought it was only half way through.  Not a lot happened, apart from the children meeting each other and gradually becoming friends.  I'm assuming more exciting things will happen to them in the other three books in the series, which I do plan to download and add to my audiobook selection.


On the TV front, my dad has been going on about Homeland for months.  I watched the very beginning of the first episode when he first mentioned it and it didn't grab me at all.  Since he didn't stop recommending it, even when I told him I'd tried it and not liked it, I thought perhaps it deserved a second go - and I'm really glad I did!  First time around, I didn't even get to the introduction of Morena Baccarin (I never found her attractive until she cut all her hair off - now she's very sexy!) and Damian Lewis (who has to be one of the best actors around at the moment).  It's fascinating stuff, too - I love the fact that the viewer has no idea whether or not Lewis' character has been turned or not, and things keep happening that are brilliantly ambiguous.  I watched the first six episodes today, the rest of Season One probably won't last long, and I'm downloading Season 2 as I type this.  My only worry is that this kind of plot is very difficult to maintain successfully over several seasons.  We shall see.
 

Comments

[prunesquallormd]

The audiobook of His Dark Materials is like that: Pullman as narrator, with voice actors for the characters. It works really well.

I've never read any Tamora Pierce but I follow her LJ and she has a lot of good things to say (very socially aware/left leaning). It makes me want to read her books :)

[alobear]

I couldn't get into the His Dark Materials books - I read the first one but didn't carry on. The stage show was amazing, though - so perhaps the audiobooks might be worth a try.

As for Tamora Pierce, what I've experienced so far is rather lacking in depth. I've heard her Beka Cooper series is really good, though, so perhaps Terrier (the first in that series) might be a place to start.

Dave and I have had a conversation about writing vs writer several times. He always gives the example of Orson Scott Card - excellent book (Ender's Games) but utterly batshit politics. Should what you know about an author in real life affect whether or not you want to read their work or support them by buying their books?

I always give the example of Neil Gaiman - from reading his blog and seeing interviews, he seems like an awesome guy. I really want to like his books, but they just don't do it for me!

[prunesquallormd]

I love His Dark Materials more than life XD
If you couldn't get on with the books but like the story from seeing the show then I'd definitely recommend the audiobooks.

If I like an author as a person then I'll certainly be inclined to give their books a chance but it won't necessarily mean I'll actually read on if the books don't grab me.
On the other hand, if I know that a writer is obnoxious in some way, that does make me not want to let their writing into my brain. It's as if I think I'll catch their nasty ideas by reading their books. It's slightly irrational, but there it is.
I've not read Ender's Game purely because I know that OSC is a ranting homophobic loony, even though I've been told more than once that it's excellent.

Neil Gaiman seems really lovely, and I love his books too, which is nice :)