Has anyone read the Left Behind series? By Tim LaHayne and Jerry B. Jenkins?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*shudder*
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Nope. No one has.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
This comes up every few years here, yes. They're generally viewed as unreadable.
I liked the first couple of books but became offended after a while. It was clear the authors were just in it for the money as they dragged the story out longer and longer. I found myself wishing God would just wipe it all out and start a nice zoo instead.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
This comes up every few years here, yes. They're generally viewed as unreadable.
I liked the first couple of books but became offended after a while. It was clear the authors were just in it for the money as they dragged the story out longer and longer. I found myself wishing God would just wipe it all out and start a nice zoo instead.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
I've yet to hear anything positive about it.
[ June 12, 2006, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: Bella Bee ]
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Jeesh, it comes up every few years here. By the response you've already gotten, you can probably guess that they're largely viewed here as being unreadable.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
<shrug> Haven't read them. They continue to sell, so I guess someone must like 'em. I'd hope even evangelical christians aren't so desperate for something that presents their worldview they'd completely forgive shoddy writing.
Posted by Jeesh (Member # 9163) on :
My brother had some of the books, I thought I'd ask about them. But :shrug:
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
No. I tried reading the comic adaptation, once. Gave up in disgust.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
So there I was in need of a book, and only a few minutes until my flight was to take off. I grabbed what looked like to be an interesting SCI FI book about a large portion of the world's population vanishing, and don't look too closely. When I got to the part about the Orthodox in Israel converting at the wailing wall, I had to switch over to the in-flight magazine.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
If you want a book that covers the whole End of Days thing, and you want it written well and not dragged out over a dozen volumes, I recommend Carol Balizet's The Last Seven Years. Obviously, since it's not my religion, I can't vouch for the accuracy, but it ticked me off a couple of times, which is probably a decent recommendation right there. <grin>
I've had my copy since it was out in the bookstores in the early '80s, and I've probably read it half a dozen times. Give LaHaye a pass and try this instead.
Posted by Jeesh (Member # 9163) on :
I'll find it.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I left those behind when I moved to my new place.
I apologize, I couldn't let it go unsaid.
Posted by airmanfour (Member # 6111) on :
I agree with jeniwren completely. Those two are on my list of people to punch in the ear if ever I run into them. Right above those My Super Sweet 16 chicks. I have one nasty right hook.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I must be insane. I liked the series and own them all. But I do not read them for the religious aspects, I see them solely as a very long epic and don't get into the various moral/ethical/theist issues. In fact, my train book right now is The Regime, the first of the pre-Rapture novels that are being put out now.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: I must be insane.
Apparently.
Posted by Robin Kaczmarczyk (Member # 9067) on :
I'm very curious by this series. I have seen a few of the films, and certainly, i find them stimulating.
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
Oh Goody! I am not the only one who liked the books! I didn't think they were great literature or anything but I enjoyed them. My husband actually came to Christ because of those books so they are especially meaningful to us. I think the point was to reach people who were not being ministered to in church and these books breached that gap. Jeesh, my advice is read one or two of them and if you hate it, don't bother with the rest.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
quote:If you want a book that covers the whole End of Days thing, and you want it written well and not dragged out over a dozen volumes, I recommend Carol Balizet's The Last Seven Years.
For a nice and accurate account of the End of Days, you can't do better than Good Omens.
[ June 13, 2006, 12:52 AM: Message edited by: MrSquicky ]
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester:
quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: I must be insane.
Apparently.
I have the first book in the series. I may read the whole thing at some point. I mean, I made it through all 10 books of Mission Earth. This can't possibly be that much worse.
Right?
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
Had anyone heard that they're making a computer game based on the series? A real-time strategy game, no less.
Hello, weirdness.
quote:No. I tried reading the comic adaptation, once. Gave up in disgust.
Yeah, I skimmed it in a library once. About the point I realized the villains were <sinister demonic voice> atheist scientists!!</sinister demonic voice> I realized I probably wasn't quiiiite the target audience.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
... frankly, I felt that it wouldve been a good thing for the universe if the Voltar Conferedacy got invaded by even stronger aliens.
Posted by Bean Counter (Member # 6001) on :
It was painful to wade all the way to book three, one more "event" that perfectly conformed to the predicted chronology of the church the book was written to sell to made throw away the book in disgust, it was so smug...
Just once if they would have had an even take place in an unpredicted fashion...
Well that would not save it but oh well.
It was as bad as any thing I have seen in print. and I read less then a fourth of it.
BC
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
quote:Just once if they would have had an even take place in an unpredicted fashion...
Yes, but unfortunately that's probably not what the target audience would want to see. If they believed that every single word of the Bible is true, then everything has to happen just as it says. So you could actually save your money and just read the relevant part of the Bible instead. It's probably better written, too. After all, I think we know how it ends. Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I believe in all honesty that unless we are so stupid as to press the big red button it will never happen. Why? Because even if God could destory the world hundreds of millions o people would undoubtably die with no hope and everything we worked for in the last 50,000 years would be destroyed.
That is when I say "I quit" and walk away from such madness.
Posted by Bean Counter (Member # 6001) on :
It is not that it represents a literal interpretation of the Bible, it follows the formula that has been 'extracted' by the evangelical Christians that comb through coded letters in the Bible and believe they cracked a code that was conveying meaningful information eighteen centuries ago. It is painful to see them pat themselves on the back over and over for being the only ones who where right...
BC
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
C.S. Lewis J.R.R. Tolkien.
There. Now that the obvious are out of the way. If you want to read some decent Christian fiction, pick up some Stephen R. Lawhead. While not the most amazing author to grace the page, he writes a good page-turner. His best known work is the Pendragon Cycle (Arthurian legends). I, personally, enjoy the Song of Albion and Dragon King books.
Another favourite from my childhood is John White's Tower of Geborah series. I have no idea how it would stack up today as I haven't read it in years, but I remember really liking it. It was the first book to keep me up all night.
Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
I listened to the Left Behind books on tape in my car. I could forgive them the ulta-literalist interpretation of Revelation. I could forgive them their attempt to convert me to be Born Again. I could not fogive the way they had to recap Every. Single. Thing. that had happened in the previous books before going on to the new stuff. I don't remember which book I got to, but by the time I had listened to 4 tapes without anything new happening, I gave up and took it back to the library.
Posted by Robin Kaczmarczyk (Member # 9067) on :
Ofcourse, if you want a recepy for Armageddon, why, Get the Cookbook!
Posted by Celaeno (Member # 8562) on :
You can add me to the list of people who label them "unreadable."
A few years ago I picked up the first one and stopped about forty pages shy of the end. I have no interest in finishing. Nothing made me care about the characters.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
IMO, Mission Earth was much worse.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
The scariest part of the series is that the author is behind several Christian conservative politicians. He is trying to swing US policy, mostly foriegn policy, not to a Christian agenda, but to a specific sub-group of Christian--the END OF DAYS Christian agenda.
The strong conservative support for Isreal is not because of the strong Jewish American lobby. Its because once they get all the silly Arabs out of the Holy Land, God's Old Testament promise of returning Jerusalem to the Jews will have been granted. With that off his plate God then can move on to the Rapture.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Wow. Just... wow.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Yes, wow says it all.
----
I read them all, and beyond about book two-three I wouldn't say I enjoyed it.
But I'm no quitter.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Well, that's somewhat of a biased book review, eh?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: Yes, wow says it all.
----
I read them all, and beyond about book two-three I wouldn't say I enjoyed it.
But I'm no quitter.
That's pretty much how I felt about Mission Earth. I think I'll read the Left Behind series. The closest we have to such a thing is Murderer in the Mikdash, by Gidon Rothstein. It's a mild thriller that takes place in Israel not long after the Messiah shows up. It's a fascinating picture of what a transitional period might look like. Not quite as exciting as the whole Armageddon shtick, but interesting anyway.
Posted by Jeesh (Member # 9163) on :
Hmmm...
I noticed two series. One about the kids. Has anyone read those?
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
I think it takes place during the same events as Left Behind, but is aimed at young readers.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: I read them all, and beyond about book two-three I wouldn't say I enjoyed it.
But I'm no quitter.
I could say the same thing about "Dune".
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Me too.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Good golly, JT. I'll bet you read all the way to the end of "The Silmarillion", too.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Has anyone read all of the Left Behind, Dune, and Mission Earth series? I think I would call for an intervention if one of my friends confessed to reading all 3 series through.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
"Hello. My name is Tante, and I'm a compulsive reader."
"Hi, Tante!"
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Never read Mission Earth, nor The Silmarillion.
But only because I never started them. If I started them, I would have been honorbound to finish them.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Haha.
But in a group like that you'd need a 144 step program. Or would that only fuel the obsession?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Morbo: Has anyone read all of the Left Behind, Dune, and Mission Earth series? I think I would call for an intervention if one of my friends confessed to reading all 3 series through.
Dune and Mission Earth, yes. And the first ten books of the Children of the Lion series (it gets really dumb after the Exodus). I actually recommend them. They follow the families of the biblical patriarchs and a family of armorers (the eponymous Children of the Lion) from Abraham (in the first book) through the Exodus. The remaining 8 or so books take it up to David, I think, but they didn't hold my interest.
1. Children of the Lion 2. The Shepherd Kings 3. Vengeance of the Lion 4. The Lion in Egypt 5. The Golden Pharaoh 6. Lord of the Nile 7. The Prophecy 8. Sword of Glory 9. The Deliverer 10. The Exodus
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I think trying to read The Wheel of Time is enough literary masochism for one lifetime.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
Having barely gotten through the first Left Behind book, I would say if you're looking for a somewhat better written book that is closer to a Catholic end-times-y fiction book, try "Pierced By a Sword" it's an interesting read, and didnt offend my senses too much in higschool.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
I was unable to get more than a centimeter or so into the first Wheel of Time book. That's how they're measured, right? Or is it by the inch?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: I was unable to get more than a centimeter or so into the first Wheel of Time book. That's how they're measured, right? Or is it by the inch?
true story.
I read most of the first chapter and I was crushed under the collective weight of the lore. I just can't remember names that are completely made up, its just too hard for me to keep track of people/places/things in fantasy novels for that reason ALONE.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Dune compared to Left Behind, Wheel of Time and Mothereffing Mission GoshDarn Earth?!
Are you people sick or something?
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
<cough. sniffle, sniffle. ahCHOO!!>
Maybe a little under the weather.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Fair enough, PC. I wouldn't really compare Dune to the others, except in sheer bulk. And I actually read the House Atreides/Harkonnen/Corrina trilogy, too. And I'll probably read the Butlerian Jihad/etc books when I get a chance.
I actually like some of Herbert's other stuff better than the Dune books. The White Plague, and the one about the cheese (which I'm completely blanking on right now).
[Edit: The Santaroga Barrier.]
[ June 13, 2006, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: starLisa ]
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Not Dune. But the later books were practically unreadable.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
My favorite was actually God Emperor of Dune.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Lisa, you not only march to your own drummer, you have your own little percussion section going there, with finger-cymbals, tambourines, cowbells, and a triangle.
Bless your heart.
(just sayin')
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Percussion section, meet STOMP! the musical. Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: Not Dune. But the later books were practically unreadable.
<melodrama> We can't be friends anymore.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I like all the real Dune books. You know, the ones written by Frank, not by his son and Kevin J. Anderson (who has the dubious honor of screwing up two of my favorite series).
I do think Children and Messiah were a step below the others, but it was all good.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
So the thread has now moved on to the merits of Dune, and we have left behind Left Behind?
Just as well.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Yes, just as well.
One thing that bothers me about the whole Left Behind nonsense is people who think every Christian views the end time the way Tim LaHaye does. Um....no. We're not all dispensationalists.
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
Goodness, I'm almost wanting to go out and read Left Behind, if only to see what you all found so utterly repulsive about it.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Never read any of the Left Behind series. Never read any of Mission Earth. Started Silmarillion several times (but I have read most of the appendices in LOTR, does that count for compulsiveness/nerdiness?).
Dune--now I don't even remember. I'm pretty sure I've read through God Emperor of Dune, but I don't think I liked that one and quit there. But now I have to admit I'm tempted to read Heretics and Chapterhouse, which of course would mean I'd have to re-read the first four since I don't really remember them.
And on a related note, about a month ago I watched an hour or two of Children of Dune on the SF channel. It was pretty good, I thought, true to the mood of the books and the plot points I remember, but since I didn't want to stay up till 4 that morning I went to bed and didn't watch the whole thing. I heard the first TV Dune was nowhere near as good. And I'm sure there's been a thread on the series so don't sue me for posting w/o doing a search first!
AND . . . as long as I'm really rambling here about SF/Fantasy series . . . I've read the first two books in Song of Ice and Fire but am debating stopping there for now until the whole series is published, because I just hate having to wait after becoming addicted! I mean (switching gears), what if something happened to J.K. Rowling and she couldn't write book 7? And Mr. Martin has three more books to write--heaven forbid I should get even more involved w/ those characters and the series came to an abrupt halt! Yes, I'm neurotic.
Anyway . . . my decision never to read either Left Behind or Mission Earth has been confirmed. Thank you.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
quote:Originally posted by Morbo: Has anyone read all of the Left Behind, Dune, and Mission Earth series? I think I would call for an intervention if one of my friends confessed to reading all 3 series through.
:::raising hand sheepishly::: In fact, not only have I read them all, I own them all.
quote:Originally posted by StarLisa: I have the first book in the series. I may read the whole thing at some point. I mean, I made it through all 10 books of Mission Earth. This can't possibly be that much worse.
If you survived Mission Earth, you can absolutely survive Left Behind. At least as works of fiction...
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: In fact, not only have I read them all, I own them all.
You should get that checked.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
quote:We can't be friends anymore.
*nods solemnly*
I understand.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
i own the hard cover and soft cover of Mission Earth the story was on the whole okay scifi but the entire anti-psycology rants and the other...... stuff was a major destraction. And I swaer up and down that Battlefield Earth was a good book as scifi.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:...destraction. And I swaer up and down that Battlefield Earth was a good book...
I don't know if I trust your mad literary skillz.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
I like Battlefield Earth. I've read it 3-4 times, actually. I won't see the movie, though.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I told myself, when the movie came out and everyone was criticizing Battlefield Earth, that it couldn't possibly be that bad.
So I tried to read it.
And yes, it was that bad. Notice I said tried. I couldn't even finish it. Whereas I did manage to finish the first Left Behind book. Maybe even the second, but I know I stopped reading pretty soon after that.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Another scifi that gets slammed here all the time that resides on my shelves... I'm starting to see a trend. LOL
The first half or so of Battlefield Earth (the book) was decent. It definitely went on way too long, though. I have yet to see the movie and truly have no plans to.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
Several years ago I read the first six books back when there were only six books. I don't know what all the fuss about them being so horrible is- they never claimed to be great fiction. I found them incredibly readable and the only reason I kept reading them is because they were so easy to devour. I think it took less than two weeks. I certainly don't like the theology and I didn't have any particular interest in reading the seventh one when it came out. I don't see how it differs from reading any other less than literary book for light reading. And it does have the benefit of bringing insight into what some groups believe.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: I like Battlefield Earth. I've read it 3-4 times, actually. I won't see the movie, though.
I hear the sound of castanets.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I watched Battlefield Earth. The nine year old in me could forget the stupid crap and just enjoy the neato bits with Harriers and laser cannons. The adult part of me realized what a comically tragic piece of utter garbage it was and enjoyed watching the train wreck.`
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester:
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: I like Battlefield Earth. I've read it 3-4 times, actually. I won't see the movie, though.
I hear the sound of castanets.
I don't get it. What's so unusual about what I'm saying?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Amanecer: Several years ago I read the first six books back when there were only six books. I don't know what all the fuss about them being so horrible is- they never claimed to be great fiction. I found them incredibly readable and the only reason I kept reading them is because they were so easy to devour. I think it took less than two weeks. I certainly don't like the theology and I didn't have any particular interest in reading the seventh one when it came out. I don't see how it differs from reading any other less than literary book for light reading. And it does have the benefit of bringing insight into what some groups believe.
Exactly.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
The movie I liked as being simple non franchised scifi. However the book was better and why should it be shorter? I felt it was about right we had to find out what happens after they blow up the planet and voila they told us. I think it was Hubbards best work, like c'mon the idea of having the russians manning the Americans nukes and the Americans manning the Russians nukes so that they wouldnt nuke each other was pretty funny.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
quote: And the first ten books of the Children of the Lion series (it gets really dumb after the Exodus). I actually recommend them. They follow the families of the biblical patriarchs and a family of armorers (the eponymous Children of the Lion) from Abraham (in the first book) through the Exodus. The remaining 8 or so books take it up to David, I think, but they didn't hold my interest.
I can't believe it. Wow. Someone else has read these books. I went through a time period (12 years ago) where I read most every one. Half the time, I wanted to throw the books across the room at the inconsistancy of the characters (they'd act one way in one book. Then completely differently the next) or the way they were stereotypes. Or his take on Biblical characters was so very cliched or strange.
But why did I read them...They were so steeped in the history and culture of the era. Even as we are reading of 4000 years ago, he captures the feel and the richness of the world. And that world, ancient as it is, has it's own distant history- peoples, nations, old customs, institutions, into the mists of time. He captured that perfectly, similar to Colleen McCullough (though she does it a million times better). The world seemed very modern to me, but not anachronistically so (or at least, not jarringly).
I agree they went downhill after the Exodus ones. The Judges and David ones were pretty lame (and he went further by including Akenaten and his reforms as a parallel plot, much in the way he included the Trojan war as a parallel-nonintersecting plot in one of his earlier books.)
And, most grating of all, I don't remember if he ever explained how the mark of Cain ever survived the flood of Noah. Or did he say the flood was merely localized?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:I think it was Hubbards best work...
I agree with you. But that's damning with faint praise. We're talking about a man who couldn't come up with anything better than "alien blew us all up in a volcano" when he had to invent an origin story. I bet half the people on this board could do a better job.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by IanO:
quote: And the first ten books of the Children of the Lion series (it gets really dumb after the Exodus). I actually recommend them. They follow the families of the biblical patriarchs and a family of armorers (the eponymous Children of the Lion) from Abraham (in the first book) through the Exodus. The remaining 8 or so books take it up to David, I think, but they didn't hold my interest.
I can't believe it. Wow. Someone else has read these books. I went through a time period (12 years ago) where I read most every one. Half the time, I wanted to throw the books across the room at the inconsistancy of the characters (they'd act one way in one book. Then completely differently the next) or the way they were stereotypes. Or his take on Biblical characters was so very cliched or strange.
But why did I read them...They were so steeped in the history and culture of the era. Even as we are reading of 4000 years ago, he captures the feel and the richness of the world. And that world, ancient as it is, has it's own distant history- peoples, nations, old customs, institutions, into the mists of time. He captured that perfectly, similar to Colleen McCullough (though she does it a million times better). The world seemed very modern to me, but not anachronistically so (or at least, not jarringly).
I agree they went downhill after the Exodus ones. The Judges and David ones were pretty lame (and he went further by including Akenaten and his reforms as a parallel plot, much in the way he included the Trojan war as a parallel-nonintersecting plot in one of his earlier books.)
And, most grating of all, I don't remember if he ever explained how the mark of Cain ever survived the flood of Noah. Or did he say the flood was merely localized?
He never explained it. I wondered about that as well. I mean, Noah's wife Naamah was a descendant of Cain (at least in Jewish midrash), but that doesn't really work.
I've always wondered if there was really a Peter Danielson, or whether it was a name used by a committee. And there were definitely flaws in the series. But compared to most biblical historical novels, the first 10 books were actually pretty good. Granted, the bar is set pretty low, but still.
I like OSC's Women of Genesis books, but they're so tightly woven around the characters that they lack the kind of panorama that Danielson paints so well.
My biggest objection to the series is that the second book should have been split into two. That's just about what happens every time I read it, actually. Way too thick for a paperback. And I don't think the Hyksos are placed properly in history, either. But that's a minor quibble.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Oh... and one other. It's only two books, and it only mentions things biblical in passing, but it's simply the best historical novel of the ancient near east that I've ever read:
Certainly in comparison to other books, they were pretty good. And in general, I liked them. As I said, I loved the ambience, the way they had their own distant history.
But I would laugh when (and keep in mind that I am running on vague memories here) the Worship of the Mother Goddess comes to the area (I think Egypt) and it's treated as near-Satanism. People are terrified and anyone who is a worshipper is pretty much evil. And then in the next book, ho-hum. O him? He's a mother-goddess worshiper. No biggie. Now, granted, this could have been made into a point of toleration. As they got to know these people better, they realized they were still human, etc. But that was not the way it was played. They were one thing in one book. Something else in the next. The same with the Pharoah (I think) who they helped restored to the throne after throwing out the Hyksos. In the book where they restore him, he is a hero and great man. There is not a hint of anything dark. Next book? He's secretly a (mother-goddess?) worshipper and is really quite bad. There was no transition.
Or that technological genius guy who was so oblivious to his surroundings that it took the capture and destruction (by the Hurrians?) of Babylon to wake him up and suddenly he's the most observant and wise guy ever.
What second book? Children of the Lion is the one that I remember that was so long (with images of Lot's two daughters that I wish I still didn't remember, even now.) What was the second one?
I think it was one guy. There were certain expressions and descriptions (the ones I remember were primarily of a...shall we say sensual nature) that seemed consistant throughout the books. Gonna wikipedia it. Sometimes their comments on book series are interesting.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
I read the Assyrian (about the same time as Children of the Lion). I like it alot.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Let me know if you find anything. I'd be surprised if Wikipedia had an entry for it.
I was also a little weirded out by the way Kamose went from a sympathetic hero to a cowardly bully from one book to the next. But then, Danielson might have been trying to illustrate the idea of power corrupting.
The long book was The Shepherd Kings. Shobai, Hadad, Jacob. Excellent, but thick.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
Oh yeah. Shepherd Kings was good (though Jacob was such a wuss, it kind of was jarring). And it Kamose was who I was thinking of. But There was no transition or indication that that was going on. I got the impression he was basically now the equivalent a secret child sacrificing Satanist after a whole book where he was an awesome self sacrificing hero. The "two" characters need some reconciliation before I can believe they aren't two seperate people who happen to have the same name and live in the same circumstances.
Come to think of it, that was my irritation with the Dune Prequels. The people were so DIFFERENT then later. For one thing, they were borderline retarded. Come on. ****SPOILERS****
Shaddam has Henring murder his father and then very suspiciously (I mean the way he acted) refuses to allow an autopsy. Uh, hello? Duh. In such a vast empire of thousands of years and no ones alarm bells go off? They all acted so stupidly. But it was pulp. And so I enjoyed it as a story.
Wikipedia is brief. Danielson wrote only up to 15. After that two other guys came in.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: My favorite was actually God Emperor of Dune.
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Lisa, you not only march to your own drummer, you have your own little percussion section going there, with finger-cymbals, tambourines, cowbells, and a triangle.
Bless your heart.
(just sayin')
Actually, it isn't that uncommon for people who like the series to consider the 4th one to be the best. I don't agree--I always liked the 1st best, closely followed by the 5th and 6th--but I certainly appreciated God Emperor Dune. I just wish that Herbert had lived to finish the series. Given that he didn't, I wish that his son would just publish Herbert's reputedly extensive notes on what the 7th book was going to be.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Given that he didn't, I wish that his son would just publish Herbert's reputedly extensive notes on what the 7th book was going to be.
I could take a rewrite by Brian/KJA. What I can't take is the almost certainty that crap from the "prequels" will be referenced in the 7th book. I have no clue if I'll be able to bring myself to read it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm honestly not sure whether I'll read Brian/KJA's take on Herbert's notes or not. The plot will be solid, assuming that they don't take liberties with what Herbert left, but still. ::shudder::
I read the first of their prequel novels. That was plenty.
I suppose that I'd read it if it got great reviews. Otherwise, no.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Are they really going to write a book based on those notes? Cool. It'd be sort of like reading Heinlein's missing Future History stories.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:The plot will be solid
I'm a sucker for the story. They left such a cliff hanger at the end of Chapterhouse that I've got to know what the hell is going on. Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
They're ok. Not great. Less dense and obscure. That could be a bit of a good thing. But then again, maybe not.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Damn. That's it. I'm just going to wait for them all to come out, and then I'm going to read through them all. That's what I did when the 6th Thomas Covenant book came out way back when.
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