tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301883702822705992024-02-20T00:44:39.805-08:00JT's BooklistJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730188370282270599.post-48730912077364144072008-01-04T08:15:00.000-08:002008-01-04T08:49:03.698-08:00The Book of Joby - ReviewI wanted to start off the new year with a book review, but I never expected that my first review would require me to reassess my previous post listing my favorite stand alone fantasy books. Surprisingly, Mark J. Ferrari's debut novel "The Book of Joby" did just that. I'd read a few glowing reviews of the book when it first came out, but for some reason I just couldn't get motivated to buy the book and start reading. I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble waiting to be used, though, and when I saw the trade paperback version, I broke down. Initially, I was still concerned with the biblical reference/background, as I'd never read the actual Book of Job but had heard that it wasn't a particularly enjoyable read.<br />A few days of voracious reading later, however, I was stunned. Ferrari takes a concept that I doubted could work and constructs a masterpiece. I haven't decided where on my list of favorites "The Book of Joby" will soon be placed, but it is undoubtedly near the top.<br />The premise of "The Book of Joby" is simple enough: Lucifer despises mankind and bets God that he can make an ordinary person choose to follow the Devil and exploit God's gift of free will. This same bet has taken place throughout history, and Ferrari does a great job of interjecting commentary on prior bet results. Ferrari's writing is wonderful, and the characters of The Creator and Lucifer are brilliantly drawn. While it would be easy to build these two characters in a simply "good/bad" caricature, Ferrari does his very best storytelling when he breaks down the long history of their relationship and the continuous cycle of "bets" they've made regarding mankind. Many of the supporting characters (especially the archangels and Lucifer's minions) are well-developed individuals who drive a great deal of the story as it develops around the protaganist, a young boy named Joby.<br />What was most fascinating to me (and most impressive) was Ferrari's blending of the Bible, the legends of Arthur and Camelot, and the modern world. Ferrari packs so much into the 600+ pages, but it all flows brilliantly and concisely. The perils which are brought down upon young Joby, and eventually upon the adult Joby as well, are dark and depressing. Much like the protagonist, I found myself reacting viscerally and emotionally to the tragic events that bombard him throughout the story, at the same time I found myself uplifted and encouraged by Joby's resilience and the character of his friends and others he meets along his way. In the end, "The Book of Joby" was thoroughly different than anything I've ever read, and its originality is only overshadowed by the poetic prose and shockingly well-developed characters created by Mr. Ferrari. I would never expect a book of this quality from any of my favorite authors, much less an author publishing his first book. Just an incredible literary achievement, and a wonderfully enjoyable book.<br /><strong>Rating: 9/10</strong><br /><strong>Personal Ranking: Top 10 for sure, uncertain as to its final position.</strong>JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730188370282270599.post-88664459889929960622007-12-19T08:36:00.000-08:002007-12-19T08:38:41.214-08:00My favorite Stand-alone fantasy novelsSeeing that Lord of the Rings and other favorites were not listed on the earlier posting, it was fairly obvious that a separate listing of my favorite stand alone novels was also required. Sure, I'd love to plan out an intricately scored and ranked list combining series and stand alones to determine my overall favorites, but that is just too complicated for me to pull off. If this blog gets any momentum, maybe I'll consider it at a future time. For now, here is the latest:<br /><br />25 Favorite Standalone Fantasy Novels<br />1 The Anubis Gates – Tim Powers<br />2 Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien<br />3 The Last Coin – James Blaylock<br />4 American Gods – Neil Gaiman<br />5 The Terror – Dan Simmons<br />6 The Drawing of the Dark – Tim Powers<br />7 Fevre Dream – George R R Martin<br />8 A Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon<br />9 The Stand – Stephen King<br />10 Lions of Al-Rassan – Guy Gavriel Kay<br />11 Morningstar – David Gemmell<br />12 The Paper Grail – James Blaylock<br />13 The Little Country – Charles DeLint<br />14 Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clarke<br />15 The Once & Future King – T.H. White<br />16 Tigana – Guy Gavriel Kay<br />17 Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein<br />18 The Wooden Sea – Jonathan Carroll<br />19 Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman<br />20 Faerie Tale – Raymond Feist<br />21 A Winter’s Tale – Mark Helprin<br />22 Imajica – Clive Barker<br />23 Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson<br />24 The Last Unicorn – Peter Beagle<br />25 Ysabel – Guy Gavriel KayJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730188370282270599.post-5490919190777441302007-12-14T13:33:00.000-08:002007-12-14T13:52:24.921-08:00After Further Review, The Top 50 Fantasy SeriesWell, 24 hours is all it took to garner enough feedback to recognize the incomplete nature of my previous list. First, the top of the list was overly redundant due to the presence of multiple books from a few series. Second, due to my haste to post, there were a few mistakes (although The Anubis Gates really was good enough to be listed twice!) After taking far too much time to analyze my list and my other reading experiences, I've reformulated the list to consist of my favorite 50 series of all time. This doesn't include stand-alone novels, which I will cover in a separate post soon - and before you get outraged, I consider Lord of the Rings to be a single book.....so its not on this list at all. This post was exceedingly difficult to compile, given the incomplete nature of so many series; and how I felt about a few series with only one or two books released so far. I've included some of them in my list despite the fact that I have only a small sampling - based solely on how I feel the series is likely to continue. Given that, there are a few newer series I've listed at the bottom, that may turn out to be great series as well - but its simply too soon for me to tell. Without further ado, the new and improved list (as always, feel free to tell me why I'm wrong):<br /><br />Top Fifty Fantasy/Sci-Fi Series<br />1 A Song of Ice and Fire – George RR Martin<br />2 Malazan Book of the Fallen – Steven Erikson & Ian Cameron Esslemont<br />3 The Dark Tower – Stephen King<br />4 The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone – Greg Keyes<br />5 Memory, Sorrow and Thorn – Tad Williams<br />6 The Farseer Trilogy – Robin Hobb<br />7 Night’s Dawn Trilogy – Peter Hamilton<br />8 The Hyperion Cantos – Dan Simmons<br />9 The Monarchies of God – Paul Kearney<br />10 The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever – Stephen Donaldson<br />11 The Word and The Void – Terry Brooks<br />12 The Coldfire Trilogy – CS Freidman<br />13 Harry Potter – JK Rowling<br />14 Otherland – Tad Williams<br />15 Chung Kuo – David Wingrove<br />16 The Prince of Nothing – R. Scott Bakker<br />17 Demonwars – RA Salvatore<br />18 The Chronicles of Amber – Roger Zelazny<br />19 The Fionavar Tapestry – Guy Gavriel Kay<br />20 Riddle-Master – Patricia McKillip<br />21 The Book of the New Sun – Gene Wolfe<br />22 The Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan<br />23 The Black Company – Glen Cook<br />24 His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman<br />25 The Swan’s War – Sean Russell<br />26 The Tawny Man – Robin Hobb<br />27 Ender Series – Orson Scott Card<br />28 Shannara – Terry Brooks<br />29 Cygnet – Patricia McKillip<br />30 Lyonesse – Jack Vance<br />31 Ilium/Olympos – Dan Simmons<br />32 The Deathgate Cycle – Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman<br />33 The Gentleman Bastards – Scott Lynch<br />34 The Kingkiller Chronicles – Patrick Rothfuss<br />35 The Sword of Shadows – JV Jones<br />36 Drenai Saga – David Gemmell<br />37 Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold<br />38 Discworld – Terry Pratchett<br />39 The First Law – Joe Abercrombie<br />40 Tyrants & Kings – John Marco<br />41 The Ruins of Ambrai – Melanie Rawn<br />42 Deryni – Katherine Kurtz<br />43 The Riftwar Saga – Raymond Feist<br />44 The Book of Words – JV Jones<br />45 The Liveship Traders – Robin Hobb<br />46 The Stones of Power – David Gemmell<br />47 The Symphony of Ages – Elizabeth Haydon<br />48 The Litany of the Long Sun – Gene Wolfe<br />49 Dune – Frank Herbert (& Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson)<br />50 The Earthsea Cycle – Ursula Le Guin<br /><br /><br /><br />Possible Future Entries on the list:<br />1 The Long Price Quartet – Daniel Abraham<br />2 The First Law – Joe Abercrombie<br />3 Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson<br />4 Acacia – David Anthony Durham<br />5 The Godless World – Brian RuckleyJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730188370282270599.post-80913794127899354552007-12-13T09:15:00.001-08:002007-12-14T13:54:15.657-08:00My Favorite BooksOkay, here it is....the not very long anticipated list of my top 60 fantasy books of all time. I'm not arrogant enough to consider this all-encompassing, as there are many fine authors I simply have not had the time to read yet. Also, there are many older works that I have not been able to obtain for a lengthy list of reasons - but I will work to eventually read many of these as well, and create a more fleshed out list of favorites. For now, this is what I have. More lists/updates to follow in the coming weeks.<br /><br />***Edited*****<br />This list has been removed in order to avoid confusion and allow me to rectify some errors. Updated list above and those to follow will be much better.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730188370282270599.post-64975811344272207862007-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:002007-12-13T08:21:06.626-08:00Start of Something??Alright, after much deliberation as to whether or not I can handle the responsibility of posting regularly on this site, or posting anything worthwhile for readers, or actually having readers....I am going to give it a go. <br />My purpose here is to give my own opinions of Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature, with occassional reviews or opinions outside the genre as well. I will post later today or tomorrow with my first real "post" on the blog.....and if anyone reads it, I'm sure they will have opinions about it. I will be posting a list of my favorite series, individual books, characters, stand-alone novels and some other interesting categories. I think anyone who reads this post will disagree with some, if not all, of what I have to say - and that's exactly how I want it. While I look forward to posting book reviews and opinions on new releases, etc.; what I am really hoping to create is a "guide" of some sort to the fantasy and sci-fi fields. No, it won't be an all-encompassing guide, nor will it represent any authority or facts...just my opinions about myriad subjects. Hopefully readers (again, if there are any) will be able to use this simply as a resource when they look for their next book purchase or seek a way to sort through their substantial "to be read" piles taking up space on their bookshelves or floors. <br />When I first started reading fantasy, I was fortunate enough to find the Terry Brooks forum (<a href="http://www.terrybrooks.net/">www.terrybrooks.net</a>) where numerous forum members were kind enough to share their thoughts and opinions on authors and series that were available - and I used this resource every week for four years now. What I hope to provide is a "one stop shop" service similar to this resource for anyone else. I look forward to receiving input, opinions, arguments, and suggestions from anyone out there, and hope to serve fellow genre afficianados through this blog.<br />I'll be back soon.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10696356183673687467noreply@blogger.com1