Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Question for the avid readers here

I haven't read Eragon. I also haven't read any Dragonlance. I'm really not that well-read. I still have books by authors I love that I haven't made time for, which is insane, since I have tons of free time.

Excellent thread. Thank you for the wonderful recommendations.

Mrs. Tuttle and I both read quite a bit, but mostly modern mystery fiction. With both books and TV, I am conscious and unapologetic that I mostly seek escape and whimsy rather than weight. Having long ago rejected academia as vocation, I read for pleasure rather than work.

Since it had been so long for me, I went back and re-read the Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) and John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee) books. Loved 'em again.

I thought Eragon was a truly horrible movie.

Like Jack, I long ago learned that - as long as I have a book - I can be content practically anywhere with or without other people. As is attributed to Groucho Marx - "Outside a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."

Amen, to that Tom. Give me a good story, with easily recognizable good guys and bad guys, and a happy ending every time. I've got enough "reality" in my daily life. Sports aside, my entertainment choices are firmly, and unabashedly rooted in escapism.

As one who, in his misguided youth, used.....ahem.... other substances to escape reality , I would say to any who might consider that path, a good book will do a better job, and is much less harmful.


I cannot bear that John D. MacDonald is gone and there will be no more Travis McGee books. I enjoy Robert B. Parker's books (he is the absolute master of witty dialog), but Spencer, as much as I appreciate him, will never replace McGhee in my heart.


LOL! Grouch was one smart fella and, speaking of masters, was the master of the non sequitur .

Yeah, but I've seen colors come out of speakers..... never out of books!

I guess you've never been to a good old-fashioned book burning.

I played that infocom game, too, but my typos kept starting interstallar wars.

I didn’t even see this thread….

I tend to read quite a bit. There’s usually two or thee books open that I’m reading. I have so many that I want to read that I get into one book, find another and start reading it and so on. I don’t usually re-read books, but I am currently re-reading one and that’s “the Flanders Panel” by Arturo Perez. Excellent book. I read that one about ten years ago and saw it at a friends house the other night, so I borrowed it and started reading it again. A very clever murder mystery that spans five hundred years that is based on Chess. It’s rich with history too. It’s just too clever and unique to give much of a description. http://www.perez-reverte.com/FlandersPanel/description.asp

Two other books I liked enough to re-read are “Shogun” and “The Stand”. I also like to read Poe’s short stories. Don’t much care for his poems, but his stories are great reads when I’m in a dark mood.

For the people who were reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, here's a press release on the final book:

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Tor Books announced today that novelist Brandon Sanderson has been chosen to finish writing the final novel in Robert Jordan's bestselling Wheel of Time fantasy series. Jordan--described by some as Tolkien's heir--died Sept. 16 from a rare blood disease. The new novel, A Memory of Light, will be the 12th and final book in the fantasy series which has sold more than 14 million copies in North America and more than 30 million copies worldwide. The last four books in the series were all #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Harriet Popham Rigney, Jordan's widow and editor, chose Sanderson to complete A Memory of Light--which Jordan worked on almost daily for the last few months of his life--and will edit it. Rigney said some scenes from the book were completed by Jordan before his death, and some exist in draft form. "He left copious notes and hours of audio recordings," she said. He also revealed details about the end of the series to close members of his family.

Sanderson, who acknowledged Jordan as an inspiration to him as a writer, has established a loyal fan base as the author of three fantasy novels: Elantris, Mistborn and The Well of Ascension (Tor), as well as a YA novel, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Scholastic Press). Sanderson said, "I'm both extremely excited and daunted by this opportunity. There is only one man who could have done this book the way it deserved to be written, and we lost him in September. However, I promise to do my very best to remain true to Mr. Jordan's vision and produce the book we have all been waiting to read."

http://www.brandonsanderson.com/blog/585/Brandon-to-Finish-Wheel-of-Time

A Memory of Light is scheduled for publication in fall 2009.

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I was just thinking about that series this morning. Thanks for the news, Charles!

Yeah, there was a little reaction blurb from the author of the best sci-fi comic serial out there (http://www.schlockmercenary.com . He indicated that he thought the new writer was a very good choice for the job.