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[frostilicus]

Believe me, unless you've done your homework and/or are really looking for it, you will only notice the namings and one or two occurrences.

[ChairmanPoo]

I treat the WoT as I would a soap opera: entertaining, but should be read without entertaining any idea that it's supposed to be original or deep

[Josephus]

Hah, my mom picked that "Hero With a Thousand Faces" book up from the library not that long ago.  I didn't read anything in it though, plus I was already somewhat familiar with how a number of different mythologies have similar or damn near identical heroic figures.

That's a good book, if a bit didactic.

Wheel of Time, I haven't yet picked up, but the tagline on the first book always pisses me off. "Jordan explores the world Tolkien began to reveal!"

Yes, technically. But I don't suppose he does it very well.

[Frelock]

Hah, my mom picked that "Hero With a Thousand Faces" book up from the library not that long ago.  I didn't read anything in it though, plus I was already somewhat familiar with how a number of different mythologies have similar or damn near identical heroic figures.

That's a good book, if a bit didactic.

I don't know.  I'm currently finishing it, after being inspired by a review of "How to Train your Dragon."  I'll agree that the overall ideas are good and generally correct.  I just wish the guy wasn't so in love with Freud.  Seriously, the whole thing's about the longing of our subconscious for a unified narrative which we can use to overcome our Oedipal frustrations.  Oh, and his prose could use work too; didactic indeed.

As to the book that started this thread, I enjoyed it when I read it.  That was a few years ago, and I can't recall much of it, so no telling how I would feel about it now.  I can remember feeling that it was a bit predictable, but why not sit back and enjoy the words?  The story's only half the writing.

[frostilicus]

Yes, technically. But I don't suppose he does it very well.

I thought he did amazingly well. It's definitely worth a read, in my opinion. There are one or two books that are a little of a drag (six to seven books in, mind), but both before and after those two, it's great fun.

[ECrownofFire]

Back to Ontopic we go.

I have the "2-disc special edition" of the movie here with me, and here's a tiny bit of commentary about the Urgals, as best as I can tell. This is directly from the director of Eragon. This is actually commentary to a storyboard to an alternate opening to the movie, which would go back and forth between Eragon going into the Spine, and Arya being ambushed.

"Here we still have Urgals with horns, as you see. Many people wondered why, what happened to the horns, and why they weren't exactly as in the book, and I think it was just a way to differentiate them a little bit from another very, you know, popular trilogy."

They removed the horns from the Urgals specifically to make sure they're not the same as the orcs from LotR.

[Jackrabbit]

I am trying to slog my way through the LoTR books, but I'm certain that the majority of people who read and watched Eragon knew only the hornless Orcs from the movies.

So yeah. Wat.

[frostilicus]

They removed the horns from the Urgals specifically to make sure they're not the same as the orcs from LotR.

Then, imo, he's a silly bastard. There is very little out there that hasn't been done before, considering the imaginations of most people.
If he thinks removing horns from Urgals is going to make people think "Oh, hey, it's nothing like Orcs like in the Lord of the Rings," he really mustn't have much of an imagination going.
To me, this just goes back to the South Park episode Simpsons Already Did It.

One thing I don't hear, however, is something like this:
'ZOMG The Dwarf-Human-Elf size ratios are all off! Dwarves and Elves aren't supposed to be the same height! In LoTR *pushes up glasses* Elves were taller than Dwarves by about double! But in DF, they're the same size! And Humans are only about 15% larger than Dwarves and Elves? Elves were at least the same size of Humans, usually taller, in LoTR! WTF?! Tolkien rolls in his grave!'

I wonder why....

[Sir Pseudonymous]

Yes, technically. But I don't suppose he does it very well.

I thought he did amazingly well. It's definitely worth a read, in my opinion. There are one or two books that are a little of a drag (six to seven books in, mind), but both before and after those two, it's great fun.

I haven't read them since I was younger, though I loved them at the time. I do remember one book in the middle being generally pretty bad, though I forget which. The biggest problem I had was that by the last book I read (the second to last before Jordan died, I think), there were so many more or less independent plots going on that in the full ~700 (rough guess) book, it felt like the story advanced about three chapters in all.

I didn't bother reading the last book he wrote, because a) I didn't hear about it until after he died, and didn't know whether or not it finished the series, and b) I can't remember what the fuck was going on, or more than the loosest overview of the overall plot, so I'd either have to go back and read through the first ten ~600-1000 page books, or have no clue what the fuck was happening.

[smigenboger]

It took me a while to get through the Eragon Sporkings, since I read the books when I was around 15, it's fun to go back and see how horrible they were.

Is Discworld worth picking up?

[Kagus]

Is Discworld worth picking up?

Abso-fucking-lutely.  Pick it up and hang on for dear life.  And get the audiobooks while you're at it.  The more the merrier.

Terry Pratchett is a literary genius.

[ECrownofFire]

I've heard a lot of good things about Discworld (See above post ). Not sure about it myself, I haven't read it, though I want to.

Also, I agree with Armok's comment from page 1.
_{(The second part.)}

[Josephus]

It took me a while to get through the Eragon Sporkings, since I read the books when I was around 15, it's fun to go back and see how horrible they were.

Is Discworld worth picking up?

YES. Pick it up now and never let it go. Whisper tender affection into its ear at night. Make love to it with all your literary passion.

[Sergius]

Someone mentioned Discworld!!!111oneone

It is in many ways the best fantasy book series ever written by any living mammal in history or prehistory in Earth and/or outer space!

But, you know, your mileage may vary. Except NOT!

"I thought you said there were hundreds of thunder gods," said Brutha.
"Yeah. And he's all of 'em. Rationalization. A couple of tribes join up, they've both got thunder gods, right? And the gods kind of run together-you know how amoebas split?"
"No."
"Well, it's like that, only the other way."
"I still don't see how one god can be a hundred thunder gods. They all look different..."
"False noses."
"What?"
"And different voices. I happen to know Io's got seventy different hammers. Not common knowledge, that. And it's just the same with mother goddesses. There's only one of 'em. She just got a lot of wigs and of course it's amazing what you can do with a padded bra."

[Shade-o]

I think Small Gods was my favourite. It had a serious plot with some silly elements that marked it as Discworld, without getting too irreverent.