Saul the Heir of Isauldur > Recent Status Updates

I can't have already guessed the twist. I refuse to believe it, it seems too obvious!

I can't have already guessed the twist. I refuse to believe it, it seems too obvious! Here it is, see if I'm right <spoiler>Vahr is Lightsong</spoiler>

The writing got more cohesive and a little more fluid from last book. Also, I really like that Roran gets his arc.

Just as I remember it! Man, it did NOT age well! But then again, who does? haha

I'd been avoiding this one for a while, because I always imagined the plot was some sort of childhood-poetic-reminiscence and the tragedy of growing up. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not my cup of tea. Boy, was I wrong. And I'm so glad I finally went for it. I had no idea of the plot at all, and this only made the book better!

So far, a very solid 4 stars. May even go to 5, we'll see.

Feeling more and more like Gormenghast, what with the significance of architecture. There are also touches of what feels like magical realism.

So far, it reminds me of Peake's Gormenghast, oddly enough. It has that gray, dreamlike quality and ability to absorb the reader into the mundane. Shaping up to be pretty good, even though I'm barely just starting it.

I am SO glad I read Dunsany's King of Elfland's Daughter. There are A LOT of callbacks to that novel in Stardust. Captain Alberic? Thunder hunting? "The fields we know/beyond the fields we know"? May be wholly coincidental, but then again...Stardust IS in the spirit of the old-fashioned fairy-tale fantasy

Maybe it's because I literally just read The King of Elfland's Daughter, but Gaiman is clearly drawing inspiration from one of the masters of the genre. He's touched the land "beyond the fields we know."

I love the fact that the world isn't made up. Parts take place on England, Finland, Ireland...And yet, Anderson makes it all seem like an entirely different universe.

Wow, these elves are badass.

Reading it, it sort of reminds me of The Children of Hurin: same dark tone. But even Hurin is comparatively tame to this one. Loving it so far!

Man. This summer I'm gonna get buried in the Fae. With Dunsany's King of Elfland's Daughter. Gaiman's Stardust. Clark's Ladies of Grace Adieu. Anderson's Broken Sword. Some Hellboy to spice things up and some Clark Ashton Smith for heft. If I vanish, it's because the elves have taken me.

Wow. More Dunsany and Howard than Tolkien or Lewis. By far. I like the prose and the crudeness of the story. Eager to continue!