Rated YA-MA discussion
Recommendations and Book Lists
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Stacia (the hype killer) wrote: "First off, how has Daniel not read those books? Isn't he one of our hardcore fantasy people? Rachel wrote: "Alright, you got me there... I did read (and love) Game of Thrones. But is that conside..."
Yes I know. I have actually been want to read the Night Angel series for a few years. I will read all of these series just to make sure I stay in tune with all of the popular fantasy series/books. . If I recall correctly I was called fantasy guy at one point, so I can't let this group down
Very good summary by the way.
Rachel wrote: "Jenny wrote: "See, I love adult high fantasy. High fantasy is my favorite. A lot of adult high fantasies feature younger protagonists though (kids, teenagers, twenty-somethings) so have that crosso..."High fantasy just means it is set in a second world - that is, one that does not exist in our universe.
lol, I responded before I moved over to page 7. My answer obviously isn't as thorough as Stacia's. But yeah, the thing that makes it high fantasy is the second world. ASOIAF takes place primarily in Westeros, for example.Daniel, The Night Angel books are good!
Run-on summary...what?I wish I knew how to be more concise.
Jenny wrote: "lol, I responded before I moved over to page 7. My answer obviously isn't as thorough as Stacia's. But yeah, the thing that makes it high fantasy is the second world. ASOIAF takes place primarily i..."Yeah I have been told that. I am so envious of you. I am actually going to see if I can get them now.
Jenny wrote: "They might break your reading funk."That is even more of a reason to find them. Thank you for idea.
seriously people magic ninjas get on it!
Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha.
Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha.
Does it count that I've read the first half of book 1 twice? This was back in my library days, when I actually had to take books back.
Melanie wrote: "seriously people magic ninjas get on it! Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha."
Okay I am getting them right now online.
Melanie wrote: "seriously people magic ninjas get on it! Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha."
lol right? magic ninja assassins. wtf is not to love?
Stacia (the hype killer) wrote: "Does it count that I've read the first half of book 1 twice? This was back in my library days, when I actually had to take books back."
That is exactly how I have to get my books right now. Being a college students sucks like that.
I bought the trilogy a loooong time ago before that agency model for ebooks crap. Amazon had all 3 books for $9.99 or some such. Bargain!
Jenny wrote: "Melanie wrote: "seriously people magic ninjas get on it!
Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha."
lol right? magic ninja assassins. wtf is not to love?"
I cant fathom any one who does not love that idea.
and his new book has pirates PIRATES!
but I still have not read that one
Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha."
lol right? magic ninja assassins. wtf is not to love?"
I cant fathom any one who does not love that idea.
and his new book has pirates PIRATES!
but I still have not read that one
Jenny wrote: "I bought the trilogy a loooong time ago before that agency model for ebooks crap. Amazon had all 3 books for $9.99 or some such. Bargain!"Awe I wish I could find deals like that or afford deals like that haha
Melanie wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Melanie wrote: "seriously people magic ninjas get on it! Literally how I sell the night angel trilogy to friends...works every time haha."
lol right? magic ninja assassins. wtf is ..."
Now pirates. I love pirates! Has anyone heard of the series vampirates?
I loved The Night Angel/The Kingkillers Chronicles (Fantasy) and ASOFAI (High Fantasy).I didn't know anything about what High Fantasy term was for. Sometime ago I made a crappy translation to myself:
Fantasy = With fantasy elements but not either paranormal nor UF (that is paranormal but in the city (Urbanite). Probably in medieval times.
High Fantasy = It can be thick if includes a lot of political stuff. Thick doesn't mean bad, of course, just that you might need more patience to get where you want, as in A Song of Fire and Ice, where you'll have to have pails of patience :/
Pretty simplistic and misguided, aren't they?. Obviously, I prefer Jenny's or Stacia's definition anytime. :)
Has anyone tried audiobooks? I drive to work every morning and my radio station recently got replaced. I've debated about trying audiobooks, but I'm a visual and hands on learner. So two questions:1. Have you tried/enjoyed audio books even if you are not an audio learner.
2. What books would you recommend? Preferably something on my to read shelf.
Thanks!
I don't really have anything to recommend, but in my experience audiobooks can triumph or fail based on who's doing the narrating. Some're really great and some can be completely awful.The HP audiobooks, for example, are really well done.
Natalie, The narration will definitely make or break an audiobook experience. I really liked the audio versions of
and
. You can check out Audible for reviews.
Audible also has soundbytes so you can listen to a clip from the audiobook and then decide if you like the narrator or not.I can only keep focus on an audiobook if the narrator is really good. It's difficult for me to keep my mind from wandering when I'm only listening to stuff, but a good narrator keeps my attention.
Some audiobooks that I liked:
There are some particular narrators that are pretty amazing that you could always look out for, such as Jim Dale or Katherine Kellgren.
I tend to like it when authors narrate their own books (Libba Bray and Neil Gaiman come to mind). There are some celebrity narrators that are pretty good too, like Alan Cumming who reads the Leviathan books by Scott Westerfeld.
Hillary listens to a lot of audiobooks so she can probably tell you some recommendations and give you a list of some of the better narrators.
Natalie wrote: "Has anyone tried audiobooks? I drive to work every morning and my radio station recently got replaced. I've debated about trying audiobooks, but I'm a visual and hands on learner. So two questions:..."Natalie, check out my shelves. I have several audio book shelves -- either listened only to, audio listened to -- and narration is great. I tend to listen to about 4-6 audio books a month. But I can listen to anything. :)
You can peek in on this thread as well: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...Anywho, I wasn't able to stand audiobooks when I was younger. I didn't have the attention span for them. However I started listening to a few every now and then while super busy at work during the holidays and found that it makes my day go by faster. Then when I started running things on my own 2-3 days out of the week and my radio stations was turned to shit with putting on a syndicated couple of pigs, I really started listening while working and while driving in. As others have said the narrator is the most important part. If you listen to the little snippets on sites such as Audible you can tell if you can't stand a narrator.
Some books from your TBR that have good narration are:
--it is long--34ish hours. However Nick Phodel is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
--Neil Gaiman is wonderful at his narrations.
--Libba Bray is highly amusing--it may be a love it or hate it type thing though.
--This was enjoyable. The narration isn't one I would RAVE about, but it was good.Some other good narrators: Lorelei King, Alan Cummings, Jennifer Van Dyke, Dan Bitner, Phil Gigante, James Marsters, Renee Raudman (<-- She seems to be a love her or hate her one)
Jenny wrote: "Audible also has soundbytes so you can listen to a clip from the audiobook and then decide if you like the narrator or not.I can only keep focus on an audiobook if the narrator is really good. It..."
I won scorpio races in a giveaway and never received it so I have been curious if I should go and find it to read it because it sounds good
How long ago did you win it?It took a few months for me to get my book in the mail.
You should email or message the contest holder and say, "Where's mah shit?!"
Jenny wrote: "You should email or message the contest holder and say, "Where's mah shit?!""Haha, amen!
Wendy This was a long time ago, so I gave up waiting haha.Jenny I did message, not so boldly as you put it, and I never got my book.
Well, I guess we could kill them and take it.
Jenny wrote: "Well, I guess we could kill them and take it."Okay if that is the only way. I better make sure I have an alibi though.
Jenny wrote: "Audible also has soundbytes so you can listen to a clip from the audiobook and then decide if you like the narrator or not.I can only keep focus on an audiobook if the narrator is really good. It..."
Ooh, I really liked the Scorpio Races narration; they picked great voices for Sean and Puck.
That sucks! How disappointing to get excited and then never get it.
Wendy F wrote: "That sucks! How disappointing to get excited and then never get it."Yeah it did but that's life I guess
Thanks for the recommendations. I ended up joining audible and getting Beauty Queens and look forward to starting it. I also added a few more onto a wish list based on the suggestions here and in the other thread Hillary linked. I have a work trip this week that is 2-3 hours each way and I cannot listen to the radio that long. Thanks again!
Natalie wrote: "Has anyone tried audiobooks? I drive to work every morning and my radio station recently got replaced. I've debated about trying audiobooks, but I'm a visual and hands on learner. So two questions:..."Sounds like I'm a little late to sound in on this one, but I drive over an hour a day and I live by audio books. If you are concerned about attention span, a full cast recording may be a good start for you. If you don't like the fist one or two you try, try a few more before you give up--the narrator is everything and it may take a while before you find one you like.
I loved Libba Bray's narration of Beauty Queens and Scorpio Races may have been my top audio book of 2012. Certainly in my top 5.
I keep a shelf of books I've listened to and frequently include a bit about the narration.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...
Thanks to all of you who helped me with the YA "canon." I just ordered 
,
Thanks for all of the help! I'm about to order a few more, including the Immortal Instruments , but this seems like a good start. And keep in mind... these books will eventually end up in a 6th grade classroom so we'll be spreading the YA love!
The second order consisted of:
[thanks to Elaine's rec!],
So much YA to catch up on! I'm so glad for this group!
I just finished
PLEASE!!!! Give me something YA Romance---amazingly feel good happy.
lol, Heart got ripped out of your chest a little bit?Hmm... Here's a few:
Any Sarah Dessen stuff.
Also Lauren Barnholdt or Susane Colasanti.
Jenny wrote: "lol, Heart got ripped out of your chest a little bit?Hmm... Here's a few:
[bookcover:Past Perf..."My heart hurts!!!! And thank you! I have the Sarah Dessen's...I'll read some...I need to clear this out a little bit...assuming I can get past the crying and all. That's why I waited so long to read it, I knew it was sad but holy crow!
!!!These are so much fun.
Thanks Stacia! I read those and liked them a lot. They were fun!
Hey, guys. I'm looking for a YA paranormal series to read. Something similar to Vampire Academy. Not necessarily in plot, but the way you feel when you read it. I hope that makes sense! LOLAny suggestions?
I'm not interested in Bloodlines.
How did you feel when you read VA? And maybe...what made you feel that way? The characters? The world? The mythology? The development of the story?
Have you read the Hex Hall books? You might like those! YA Paranormal with action, magic and some romance but not super-heavy reads?I'd steer clear of the House of Night books, personally.
Cassandra Clare's books, maybe? I dunno.I always feel so useless when people ask for paranormal recommendations! I don't really read it. :/ The only reason I read VA is because of massive peer pressure! (Though I did like them.)
I suppose I should pay attention to what people recommend for this one.
I'm not a Cassie Clare fan at all, but I guess her books might fit the bill for a lot of people? Paranormalcy is another general-paranormal with some action, humour and romance. (It was just okay for me, but I'm really picky about paranormal books at this point.)You could also try Maureen Johnson's The Name of the Star?
Hex Hall are the ones that I enjoyed the most though, for sure. I think there's a spinoff of those coming around sometime soon, as well.
Well it is hard to recommend based to feeling, since like opinions that varies wildly. However trying to keep that in mind what jumps to mind first is:
Gwen is a little soft and annoying at times, but by the end of the books you want more. And Logan...mmm Logan. Also you have to bare with the authors repetitive nature. (She does this in all of her books.)
I'll have to come back with more later.
Adream wrote: "Thanks Stacia! I read those and liked them a lot. They were fun!"I feel like a slacker for not checking your shelves to see if you'd read these.
Sorry!
Rated YA-MA
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Rachel wrote: "Alright, you got me there... I did read (and love) Game of Thrones. But is that considered high fantasy? Dragons are obviously a theme, but there isn't any magic per se. Or does high fantasy simply mean a complex, author constructed mythology?
..."
From what I gather (and Jenny can correct me if I'm wrong), I think fantasy can encompass a variety of things.
It can be magical, but doesn't have to be.
There can be other races, but it's not a requirement.
Generally, traditional/high/epic fantasy involves some sort of alternate "made up" world. Most often, the style of dress and utensils/tools are similar to historical items from a previous era (horse travel as opposed to car, for example - unless you're lucky enough to have a sweet dragon ride).
Now, if the world is alternate but mirrors the world as we know it (either past or present), then it falls under a different fantasy sub-category (usually alternate history or something similar).
Most stories involving magic in our current modern world would fall under the urban fantasy category, which ties in with the different paranormal genres.
In a few small instances, I might consider modern-day stories to be Fantasy. Maybe not high fantasy or epic fantasy, but some sort of category of fantasy. Percy Jackson would be one of them because the mythology reads (to me) more fantastical than paranormal.
Again, Jenny might have a different take on this, so I'll be curious to see what she says.