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[Il Palazzo]

I like how everybody(including yours truly) moaned about there not being a "book club thread" on the boards, yet instead of just going and starting it himself, waited for Vector to do something about it.

When I write "I like", I mean "it fits in the sad thread".

[Duke 2.0]

The Mists of Avalon has a good female character in Morgan le Fay, though some other ones are pretty good too. It has unfortunate amounts of 'necking', though.

Just picked up a copy =)  Necking doesn't bother me as much as long as it's not this "I am a great woman and here is a great man come to declare his love for me!!!  And so everything was great!!!!!!" sort of situation.  Basically, I'm sick of chick-flick style setups with the Designated Male and the Designated Female, and the soft Hollywood glow of idealism cast over everything.

If this is the book I'm thinking of one of the main female characters(I think it goes through three or four) is Guinevere and Lancelot going about things about as well as you would expect these two characters. The others just sort of do what they do for politics.
 It's been a while though. I can't remember enough about it to say if you'll like it, but it probably won't fit the negative example you presented.

[Vector]

I like how everybody(including yours truly) moaned about there not being a "book club thread" on the boards, yet instead of just going and starting it himself, waited for Vector to do something about it.

Well, I was the one who suggested it, so I'm guessing people wanted to give me a chance at starting the thing.

If this is the book I'm thinking of one of the main female characters(I think it goes through three or four) is Guinevere and Lancelot going about things about as well as you would expect these two characters. The others just sort of do what they do for politics.
 It's been a while though. I can't remember enough about it to say if you'll like it, but it probably won't fit the negative example you presented.

Nah, I am totally down with Guinevere and Lancelot, as long as they keep the "madman of the forest" section.  I always loved that bit as a kid.  That is seriously not a relationship covered in happy glow in any telling.

[Solifuge]

I would also highly reccomend Ursula K. LeGuin... I hear Tales from Earthsea is a good series to read, and it was even adapted into a Studio Ghibli anime. The Left Hand of Darkness is another good one, which deals with the idea of gender roles, by portraying a completely androgynous society.

Madaline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" is also a great one, though perhaps geared more toward younger readers. It deals with dimensional travel (in as scientific a sense as that is possible), and details a Sci Fi take on the Judeo-Christian mythos... it's a very surreal coming-of-age story.

[Vector]

Ooh, I loved Wrinkle in Time and all Engle's other stuff.

Didn't like Earthsea when I tried it, though.  Maybe I should go back and reread.  I also need to go check out The Handmaid's Tale, to be sure.

... Does anyone remember if the necromancer series by Garth Nix is any good?  I remember not liking the first book, but I think that was for purely superficial reasons.

[nenjin]

Earthsea is great. Of all the dozens and dozens of fantasy series I've read, Earthsea stands out of one of the most unique and compellingly written. No BS heroes, no BS magic, real consequences and a sense of the infinite that most authors only dream about achieving. It's almost as much a story about the man behind the Wizard as it is a story about the world and its ills. And the entire setup behind the Tombs of Atuan is just fantastic.

[Vector]

Okay, definitely checking that out of the library.  Thanks bundles

[Leafsnail]

Earthsea is quite interesting, yeah.  It's sortof... well, it doesn't dissappear into its own fantasy world and stay there.  It feels sortof grounded, in a way.

Currently on a series that's confirmed to not have a happy ending.  In spite of not being finished yet.

[Vector]

Which series?

[Il Palazzo]

I don't know, I never liked Earthsea that much. It's been ages since I read that, so maybe I'll give it another go.
Anyway, as of today, I preffer her "Hainish" novels and short stories. "The Dispossesed" and especially "The Left Hand of Darkness" are my favourites.

[smigenboger]

I recently read Megafowl: The Sword is Mightier than the Hen.

[Vector]

That's it, we need a literature thread.  I'll make one once I'm done with my homework.

[Realmfighter]

... Does anyone remember if the necromancer series by Garth Nix is any good?  I remember not liking the first book, but I think that was for purely superficial reasons.

I liked it, but that says almost nothing on the quality of a book.

[Leafsnail]

Which series?

Umineko no Naku Koro ni.

Reading does require a fair amount of masochism.

[inteuniso]

My painkillers are making me very nauseous, and if I don't take them, I am in a bunch of pain.

I hate my current situation.