Sarah's comments (member since Oct 05, 2008)

Sarah's comments from the Arthuriana -- all things King Arthur ! group.

Chrissie, hope you travel over and read my comments here. I wondered in general, what you and others felt of the relationship structure of the characters? Chrissie, you are probably familiar with how the relationship between Morgan and Arthur is often set up. In Joan Wolf's book, the two are known to each other and grow up together (even though without the knowledge of who Arthur truly is by birth). Morgan is then presented in a totally different light, personality and all the way round. Any comments? Likes, dislikes?

Chrissie, I have not read the last of the book, so I will add some comments in the No Spoilers folder.

Feel free to add other topic threads on Road to Avalon within the Road to Avalon folder. The ones I have added are just to get the discussion going! Enjoy!

Discuss here if you have read the book and are comfortable with plot spoilers.

Please add comments here if you are commenting while reading the book and aren't giving away the plot.

Good thinking -- I don't have the book yet, however, I could look at some online reviews and see what the comments refer to. usually the discussions cover things like

comparison to other Arthurian novels similar to it or similar authors
what traditional Arthurian elements appear in the story
what the author has created that is unique to the novel - like changing who is related to who, for example
looking at the novel's leaning toward myth and magic or is it a more historical-type retelling? or a balance of both?

The Arthurian literature is so open to many views and areas of discussion. The scholars of early Arthurian lit here in our group are helpful in bringing out connections to the early writings that I don't even know about, so lots of interesting elements can be brought to discussion.

I will browse the internet for comments on the book and see what I find.

Hey, Mark, thanks for posting questions for during reading. That is great! When would you like the discussion to begin on The Mabinogion?

I can also make a folder for this. I will copy your post over.

Thanks!

We were talking about our pets in one of the threads. Feel free to post photos in the group photo gallery of your pet.

Robert wrote: "Here Lies Arthur has a UK paperback edition - you can find it on amazon.uk. It's the weakest Philip Reeve novel I've read, though."

Robert, thanks for pointing that out -- I was hoping to wait for a paperback and folks could just pick it up in America more easily -- I know many like to shop locally at independent bookstores, so we'll wait it out a little longer.

I don't necessarily believe it will be "romance" as the genre is thought of today. From what I read, there may be more romantic elements than our Bernard Cornwell books earlier in the year. So maybe romantic won't equate to silly -- it probably wouldn't have been rated so well. I'll try to get a message out today--

Annette, I think it may go to paperback soon, then we'll put it on for discussion. Let me know if you wanted to try anything else that is in paperback.

Sounds like we can put up a pet gallery on the Arthuriana group-- that would be cool, wouldn't it? That photos section is just sitting there unused. I have a cat too.

Chrissie, Road to Avalon received a 5-star rating on Amazon. Not that I always use that as a test, but shows it is pretty popular. Let's move the discussion to begin Nov. 22. Don't worry if you aren't through with it by then -- I will get the first part of it started.

I will send out a group message about it and encourage nominations for future reads. I think that will generate some interest -- maybe Road to Ava. will appeal to more readers and fans of romantic elements moreso than our recent reads.

Mark, I will put in the message to check our group page for other upcoming reads and then we can set the Mabinogion date when you are ready.

One development -

I just saw that Here Lies Arthur has not been released to paperback yet. There are used copies available online, but for those who would like to pick it up locally that will mean a more expensive purchase.

Sorry to backtrack on our plans, but I suggest holding off a while to see if it does go to paperback soon.

So, are there any suggestions for a recent novel to read in its place? Chrissie isn't ready for discussion of Road to Avalon, so let's try to come up with other suggestions of a newer novel but trying for a paperback edition.

I can post a list of what we are reading and send of a message also. We can give a couple of weeks for people to locate and begin reading. Can we set a date of Nov 7 maybe? How about the Mabinogion - any opinions of start date from the rest of the committee here?

Oh, and to make it easier to find -- I will post a folder with the name of each book -- I didn't know if that is what you meant by "watch this space."

So Annette, would you be ok with Here Lies Arthur going first? Start early to mid Nov?

What's your dog's name, Chrissie?

If authors participating as Arthuriana members would like to share insight on their writing, please add as topics in this folder. We welcome hearing about your interests, views, inspirations, etc.

Great suggestions everyone.

Gavin, there is a posted discussion of Idylls currently within the folders -- join in if you have read it. Also, since we have Mark available to lead Mabinogion, we'll go with that choice for first pick. Would you be able to lead Faerie Queen in the near future?

Mark, do you have any preference on a start time for Mab.?

Also, I would delay a group dicussion of The Hawk, Mark's novel, since it may be harder to obtain. Thanks Mark, for suggesting that we ask our libraries to purchase it -- very reasonable request. We'll approach reading it upcoming, if more members have access to it then.

I supportive of you on bringing your novels to the forefront. You are a steady member of this group and I will post an Arthuriana Authors folder if you would like to tell us more of your own thoughts on your book -- what inspired you to write, thoughts on Arthurian lit today, thoughts on Arthurian readers (!), anything you like.

Annette and Chrissie, I say we read both your suggestions -- I can co-lead if you would like to pitch in some discussion along the way also. Do either of you have preference on which book goes first?

After we wrap up the details, I will send out a message to all the group noting that we have chosen some reads, invite all to discuss, and invite more suggestions for future reads.

Hawk and the Wolf - Mark Adderley
The Mabinogion
Tristan
Here Lies Arthur - Philip Reeves
The Road to Avalon - Joan Wolf

These are our reading suggestions so far. I wanted to hear views of group members on reading. We can do a poll as many groups do, but we are a smaller group, so I wanted to get more specific opinions.

The Mabinogion and Tristan are early texts and will be heavier reading. The other three are novels from modern day. I would suggest posting discussion for a modern read and a early classic simultaneously or overlapping at least. I thought that might bring more interest into the group.

Do any of you who suggested the books have a preference on discussion schedules? Do you want to leave it up to a poll and do the group reads in order of the votes they get -- top two, next two, etc.?

Could anyone volunteer for leading the early classics? I certainly don't have the background knowledge of many group members, so I know I could not lead an indepth discussion, but could certainly moderate, add the folders and keep track of the timeframes, etc.

It is really hard to judge interest. Sometimes members are just are too busy, aren't into the particular choices, or just aren't into them right now.

That's ok, I don't know how to link the title myself. (Anyone be able to tell us how?) I appreciate your adding the suggestion.

In the next little while, I will give an update on my thoughts on starting discussions. I will propose beginning a few from different categories.

I placed a new suggestions thread within the Future Group Discussions folder and closed the old thread, so we can focus the suggestions as of this date. Anyone can bring forth any suggestions from previous, if they would like.