Yeah, I think it’s that she started out as a “serious” “literary” writer, so the SF label puts her in the genre category, which has been seen as less prestigious. SF writers don’t get reviewed in the NY Times the way literary writers do. But, of course, she’s writing science fiction. On the other hand, she’s a much…

I have to say that everyone has been really polite in this thread, given that I trashed a novel that a lot of people like.

But, yes, I found the actual writing pretty bad—not the worst I’ve read (Twilight probably has that honor.), but very predictable—the dialogue was nondistinctive—none of the characters came across…

Yep. I think it only works if you’re someone like Martha Stewart—where you can create a market for a collectible after you’ve collected it. Like that artist who took a bunch of photographs using an old Blythe doll and created the craze for Blythe dolls.

Oh, the red dress is in the second book—sorry about that. I think the first book really picks up about a third of the way in.

Yes, a bit there—the whole idea that being a courtesan is a perfectly fine profession with its own rules and prestige fits both characters. Also, knock-out red dresses in both cases.

Yeah, it’s not the character or acting per se, just the general look seems right to me. Phedre comes off as quite a bit livelier.

Fe-druh or Fay-druh. Morena Baccarin during Firefly is kind of my image of her—small, dark, beautiful and even a courtesan.

Ha! Same here—I picked up Red Shirts and figure I’ll get to it at some point this summer. I’m basically the Sad Puppies worst nightmare as a reader—I like all that literary ideas-driven social-questioning stuff. The more women SF writers, the better—that sort of thing.

I read the Martian, then promptly loaned it to my husband and then we promptly loaned it to his brother, who’s one of those logical, can-fix-anything types. Perfect book for him.

I read multiple books at once. Right now, it’s Shadow Rising the fourth book of the Wheel of Tim

Yeah, I’m thinking of stopping after Book five, since there’s pretty general agreement that the series just slumps after that. I’ll go back and read the third Kushiel’s Dart book (and stop there with that series.)

Yeah, I think there are 2 female character who show up for 5-10 pages.

If you could tell how derivative it was as a kid, you know it was bad. I honestly don’t think it would have found a publisher in this day and age, though it might have been a hit as a piece of online fan fiction. Brooks was definitely lucky in his timing—people wanted another LOTR and Shannara was the closest thing.

Yeah, the book was so derivative that I sat there with Diana Wynne Jones The Tough Guide to Fantasy just so I could track the cliches. I’m sure a lot of my problem was being a well-read adult.

I’ve read several times that the books take a downward dive after book 5. What I’ve been wondering is if it’s possible to skip some of the middle books and pick up the last three or four and not be totally lost.

Wow, you are having an issues. It wasn’t a throw-away line, it was the summary line of the nut graph (i.e. the graph that tells you what the story is about.)

What I don’t understand is why you’re ranting about my post. So I think I’ll leave you to it. Adieu.

I’ve been on a reading binge this year and read The Sword of Shannara. I’m sorry, I know many here probably have great affection for the series, but Sword was *awful*. Painfully bad writing; incredibly derivative. Just.not.good. But maybe the second isn’t a total LOTR rip-off and that’s why the series is starting…

Sigh. No, it’s not in the title it’s in the article. The term is used in the second paragraph—i.e. the paragraph that describes what’s in the chart that is the subject of the article and why it matters. In other words, the point of the article. Specifically:

“ when you look at it for a little while, it reveals…

There’s some interesting speculation, though, on how to change Mars to make it more livable, though not as livable as Earth. I think you’d want to send up a fleet of robots first to create, say, a large (crater-sized) pressurized space (maybe kind of like bubble wrap—connected, but able to be sealed off), along with…

Well, what I recall is that eventually the Sun will do a number on Earth and make it uninhabitable, but Mars is actually better positioned in the Goldilocks zone and will hold out much longer.

That said—lot of problems with Mars—lack of earth-level gravity, ability to hold on to an atmosphere . . .