P. Pherson’s Comments (group member since Nov 27, 2024)

P. Pherson’s comments from the Fantasy group.

Well...a sword named after a person, but...

Its a region along the coast, since its long and narrow, its like a knife edge and after a battle there, the blood in the sand reminded one of how a sword looks after a battle. Clean here, blood there, white edge there. So, the region acquired the name.

Some of the character seem to have more depth than a typical anime though. One of the female characters has a lot of good story potential. But we are following children who want to be the next generation of good warriors. I am sure it picks up more meaning as it goes.

And that's about as much as I can say.

Well, one for starters, the 'Sword of Kaigen' is actually the name of a region and not a weapon. I thought it would be a real sword. So... that wasn't what I thought was coming.

It feels like Japanese school kids growing in skills and powers, almost like a type of anime. But not quite. I am sure I will review.

Its likely the process of making the beer helped to get rid of the microbes in unclean water, but the people of that time would not have known it. To them, if the water smelled bad, they avoided it, if it didn't, they'd drink it.

Beer was more of a staple as it had nutrients and calories, and gave people more energy. Kind of like red bull today. I am sure people of all ages drank beer when it was available, but they also drank water.

Small piece of trivia, but if the people of Jamestown had understood microbes in water, they probably would have lived better. If they had dug their well just another 300 yards in land, they would have avoided the bacteria and salt that pooled where their wells were dug.

Started in on The Sword of Kaigen. I've been seeing this on pop up from many directions, so...I wanted to see what all the attention was about. I'm not too far in, but already is it not at all what I thought it would be. Feels a little bit like Avatar the last air bender to me, but...we'll see.

Hi Mary, welcome here.

My own book 2 ;)

I suppose, like everyone, I am watching Mr. Martin, to see if he can finish his Game of Thrones series. Otherwise, I am not sure enough about what is coming out to have a strong opinion.

No need to feel guilt for me.

For me, its a marathon, and not a sprint. I want readers who want to read it, not people feeling obligated, or doing me a favor. So please...dont take my comments to mean something like, hey, why are you not reading. But, it is a fantasy book, and this is a fantasy group. It is not a cozy fantasy though, and not every book is for every one.

Eragon is pretty much Star Wars in medieval form. All the story beats and events are the same. I think Paolini has very little that is genuinely his. He borrows a lot from everyone else. I hope he never reads my book ;) But...he did do something to get noticed, so it worked out well for him. I hope he is writing better, less borrowed stuff, now.

Hmmm... I think Paolini was a fan of Star Wars, but....

I hope someday, someone will care enough about my stories to write about it like you just did for Chimeras of Estmer. I can assure Ard, Martin and Paolini were not the inspirations for me.

Given that, I'll put that one the TBR list. I'd like to see how he pulled it off.

Thanks for that.

Well...you cant post that and not think we'd ask... Who is your favorite character?

I dont think I can name a book that checks all the boxes. Most I know are more in the classics line, but I was surprised to find that some have not read the Belgariad (I would have thought any fantasy enthusiast would have seen them). They are more YA, I think, but I thought they were a fun read.

Howdy Olivia, Welcome here.

LOTR is a mixed bag for me. I admire so much of it, but actually, I found them hard to get through when I read them. But...man, he did so much, its hard to write anything and not have it ring back to him.

The fantasy I actually enjoyed the most was the Belgariad. It was just funner to read.

I have never had to return a book on audible. I have purchased most of them with credits.

Star Wars is difficult to talk about, cause its been so bastardized and segmented. Since I disavow anything Disney has made, I will stick to the George Lucas movies.

I think it was a lot of great stuff coming together. The original three have a very strong story about the force, the threat of the darkside, the belief of Luke, and the redemption of Darth Vader. Even as I have grown older, I've not encountered many stories as strong as that one.

But...it has space ships and lasers, but no real science behind them. We dont know why they work? Its mostly the magic and knights that tell the story. The ships are cool, but they could be magic too.

Goodreads functions like an old site from the 90's or early 2000's, and it locks up all the time. I am surprised its not been updated in so long. Amazon owns it, the customer experience is their thing. But, they seem not to care to much for Goodreads. I do think it needs some love.

I might say Gaslamp is a sub of Steampunk.

But they are different. One is the world as if steam remained the major power source, the other is a world still without any power.

Gaslamp is usually the backdrop for Cthulhu type stories. Sherlock Holms and Jack the Ripper are Gaslamp. Steampunk, more urban adventure. 2000 leagues under the sea, Metropolis, and lot of anime, like Full Metal Achemist.

Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "Star Wars: While often considered space opera, it contains many fantasy elements, such as the Jedi’s "magical" abilities and the mythic storyline."

I would call Star Wars a Space Fantasy, with more emphasis on Fantasy, cause its really more fantasy than SciFi. Another of those that combined two to make something stronger.

Meh... I was gonna shift them over. Cest le Vei.

I think they were just too old, honestly.

Oh..I see you did add Gaslamp....was that always there?

Of those above, how would you rate your interest in them?

I had been leaving reviews on facebook for a long time...but when I came here, I went back and looked, and facebook had removed all my reviews. *Le sigh*... Guess, I'll just have to remember.

Facebook was never for me. I hated it from the day I started on it.

From an Author stand point....I'd say leave it.

As you may know, its very hard to break out of friends and family to actual readers, and so few leave reviews, that for a new author to get noticed is like...trying to merge in traffic when every one is doing 90MPH. Books in your TBR are still books people might see if they are your friend and look at your list. If it dont hurt you to keep them, its more helpful than not to leave them. Still...its better to be read and reviewed.

Well...I just kind of started in Goodreads... I have four already in my TBR category, and I dont know when I will get to them. I can see how if fills up.

The people I have met here on GR already are far more into the excitement of reading than I am. Many pop-up 3 or more books a week. And have contests to see who can read the most....Oy...Thats too much for me. I may get one every month...or maybe two months. I like to write them. If the choice is between writing new, or reading....I only have so much energy to spend.

And since most of my online friends are other authors, I read a lot of stuff no one will ever hear about. Sarah J. Maas and Brandon Sanderson are not on my friends list ;) (but if its good, I'll let you know).

Morwen wrote: "While I often simplify this by picking a book from a male or female author, I think it would be more efficient to use subgenres/categorizations for this purpose, as genre could be misleading in the writing style as it's too simplicistic nowadays."

Wouldn't this require you to categorize them in your bookshelf? I looked and you have like 500+ in the TBR category. This would be an undertaking. I think, if the categories are present in the bookshelf for this group, some of the users could add them....but...many of these book have already been stuffed into categories by the many reviewers of goodreads (and others).

I fear I killed the vibe of this by being too analytical.

I could put a lot of books into some of the categories, but I think the books I am familiar with are not likely those that will be on the to be read list. Most of the fantasy I have read is of the classic type by today's standards. Conan, Elric, LOTR, the Belgariad, the Magician series.... I read too slow to keep up with current trends.

Morwen wrote: " I'm now wary of description of books of too many genres or tropes, as often it felt to me like the author was trying to fit too many things he or she liked in a single book rather than many different ones.

I can feel that. Some things try to do too much. I am a less is more type. Some books are an enigma. Good luck trying to stuff Elric into a single category. But as sturgeons law would attest, 90% of everything is crap. Fantasy books are no exception. I hope that in the test of time people will not think the stuff I wrote is in that 90%. Guess we'll see.

Anyway, I think Steampunk at least, should be a fantasy category. I might also put Gaslight there as well.