tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8047488076813147885.post698344105836551518..comments2023-07-10T03:19:07.210-05:00Comments on Parsing the Dragon: A Year's ReadingAdam M. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12174171725951187454noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8047488076813147885.post-59807833285170014242012-01-22T13:19:54.687-06:002012-01-22T13:19:54.687-06:00Thanks for the suggestions, Mike. Your opinion th...Thanks for the suggestions, Mike. Your opinion that shorter books are often "padded" is a valid one. At least the longer ones usually provide some meat to go with the padding.<br /><br />As for the purple Folio Society edition - that's _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_. It didn't show up that well in the photo. I love the gorgeous Folio editions, whenever I can get my grubby hands on them.<br /><br />Fantasy may suffer an eclipse similar to the western, but I think that in general it has undergone a bit of a Renaissance in recent years, especially in regards to quality. The lower-quality years of fantasy took place in the 60's, 70's, & 80's. Those were the decades of the "Tolk-clones", D&D, Dragonlance. Those tropes cheapened the genre as a whole and left a bad taste in lots of readers' mouths.<br /><br />Overall, I think the quality of the writing and content in fantasy is consistently higher now than it has ever been. Outside of a few - probably long-running and previously established - fantasy series, you are unlikely to step on an elf or a dwarf. <br /><br />Now, if you take into account the YA trend toward "Twilight" spinoffs of every sort, I can see that. I think YA Fantasy is setting itself up for a fall into irrelevance. The Pied Piper (a sparkling vampire, surely) may lead them all to the sea. Which is a shame, because there are some truly wonderful YA books being written. Margo Lanagan, anyone?Adam M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12174171725951187454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8047488076813147885.post-31933586763782483662012-01-22T09:57:16.447-06:002012-01-22T09:57:16.447-06:00Interesting. Totally agree about Pillars of Earth....Interesting. Totally agree about Pillars of Earth. The TV film was almost as tedious, apart from the heroine who held the screen. Sometimes quite short books are guilty of 'padding' And that is even worse!<br />The books I enjoyed this year were John Burnside's 'The Devil's Footprints', Leslie Norris Collected stories, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood and a re-read of Barnaby Rudge. I've read many more but not worth singing about. Oh, and I also totally agree with your praise of Lonesome Dove. I've read the related books and I can't sing their praises enough. The western, as a genre would never have died if all books were of the same calibre. Sad to say, fantasy will one day, in my opinion, will suffer the same eclipse, for much the same reason<br /><br />PS what's that purple 'Folio' book you have in the picture? I squinted but couldn't quite seeMike Keytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15116528233058221536noreply@blogger.com