I explain to them in detail how bad Eragon is (it usually is Eragon) and they get a bit huffy until I hand them ASOIAF, Locke Lamora, or even a Tad Williams, and ask them to try that and compare. This is rarer now because everyone knows pretty quickly that I like fantasy/sci fi.
Because I can't keep my trap shut I can be too vehement about this and people really do get huffy.
Although I hit a stumbling block with a friend who likes Erikson, whereas I can't read Erikson at all because the writing is awful, the pacing's terrible and I just hate it. I don't get the popularity. She didn't like GGK though, so whenever we meet we have a pretty spirited debate about these things (Harry Potter vs The Dark Is Rising our most recent) and to an extent it is all swings and roundabouts.
If it gets them into fantasy it can't be all bad though. My first forray into non-Tolkien fantasy was Goodkind, after all. Thank god for that Legends anthology, wouldn't have known there was a wider range of stuff out there!
Because I can't keep my trap shut I can be too vehement about this and people really do get huffy.
Although I hit a stumbling block with a friend who likes Erikson, whereas I can't read Erikson at all because the writing is awful, the pacing's terrible and I just hate it. I don't get the popularity. She didn't like GGK though, so whenever we meet we have a pretty spirited debate about these things (Harry Potter vs The Dark Is Rising our most recent) and to an extent it is all swings and roundabouts.
If it gets them into fantasy it can't be all bad though. My first forray into non-Tolkien fantasy was Goodkind, after all. Thank god for that Legends anthology, wouldn't have known there was a wider range of stuff out there!
I hesitate to recommend GRRM or GGK to my friends/relatives that think Eragon etc is good. I'm afraid it'll blow their minds! I usually ease them into better fantasy like WoT or Sanderson before I pull out the big guns.
I'd like to have heard the debate about HP and The Dark Is Rising. I like both of them (I read TDIR when I was young and reread a couple years ago). There are both good but very different. I think I would recommend HP to non-readers and TDIR to more accomplished readers.
*MySmiley*
I'm drinkin' some George Jones,
and a little bit of Coe
Haggard's easin' my misery
and Waylon's keepin' me from home
Hank's givin' me those high times-
Cash is gonna sing it low
I'm here gettin' wasted-
just like my country heroes -Hank III
I'm drinkin' some George Jones,
and a little bit of Coe
Haggard's easin' my misery
and Waylon's keepin' me from home
Hank's givin' me those high times-
Cash is gonna sing it low
I'm here gettin' wasted-
just like my country heroes -Hank III
Ever happen to you? A friend lends you a book...
- 31/08/2009 05:36:00 AM
1009 Views
I have friends who swear by Goodkind, actually. ~shudder~ *NM*
- 31/08/2009 06:08:05 AM
1079 Views
Poor misguided souls *NM*
- 31/08/2009 06:46:43 AM
347 Views
All the time. And I'm bad with this.
- 31/08/2009 07:55:54 AM
724 Views
Re: All the time. And I'm bad with this.
- 31/08/2009 09:30:35 PM
669 Views
That was pretty much the discussion in a nutshell
- 01/09/2009 02:23:57 AM
693 Views
Wait, how on earth is Harry Potter a better role model than Will Stanton?
- 01/09/2009 03:55:49 AM
901 Views
I would tell her that but she's got a black belt in tae kwon do. I like my face where it is. *NM*
- 02/09/2009 12:47:48 AM
383 Views
Well, there are a couple of options. First, you could kill the friend.
- 31/08/2009 08:22:10 AM
726 Views
Make a trade.
- 31/08/2009 03:28:36 PM
655 Views
I did that with my niece.
- 31/08/2009 09:52:49 PM
669 Views
Me too...
- 01/09/2009 06:43:31 PM
644 Views
Sandman...I think we have that in the garage...Gaiman? *NM*
- 01/09/2009 06:47:42 PM
296 Views
I'm not a big fan of graphic novels but The Sandman is exquisite in every way. *NM*
- 01/09/2009 07:00:32 PM
263 Views
Always the truth. People aren't that fragile. They would rather know the truth.
- 31/08/2009 09:48:10 PM
649 Views