Days Three and Four: Favorite Series/Favorite Book of Your Favorite Series
Combining these two for brevity.
So many series to choose from, but I’m going with what is probably the first series I ever loved, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and the book I love most is…ugh, don’t make me choose. Okay, okay…fine, I pick the first book, Dealing With Dragons.
This series was everything my nine-year-old self needed: a feisty princess, a sassy dragon, evil wizards, dumb princes, a no-nonsense witch and a lot of fun. I’m going with this book because it’s definitely the one I’ve re-read the most, but the third book, Calling on Dragons is told from my favorite character’s point-of-view and has some very funny situations.
Shout outs to:
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold – I haven’t finished the last two books because I don’t want the series to end, but Mirror Dance is a brilliant study of scientific ethics, mental heath, bodily autonomy, and philosophy (all themes that recur throughout the books) and one of the standouts in the series. I also loved Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance because of course Ivan would do that just to annoy his mother.
Also, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, because I love all of Cat and Christopher’s adventures and the series contains some of the best and most clever world-building I’ve ever read. All fantasy authors should take note – Diana Wynne Jones knew what she was doing.
Finally, I absolutely cannot forget the Thursday Next books. They’re so clever and funny and just plain fun, especially if you’re a literary nerd.
Same! I think what I love most is that Thursday is a badass in the most un-badass way. She’s allowed to age and have children and a boring romance, but yet, the books are so fun and readable because the world she’s in is so interesting.
I love all of Fforde’s books and I know he just published a new one a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to dive in whenever I get a chance. He has a really clever way with prose and plot.
I have never managed to get into the Thursday Next books. They seem like the sort of thing I would like but they just never worked for me. I don’t know why. Maybe too much Discworld has ruined me for anything involving literary jokes.
I think I picked up the first book three times before I got into it, but once it sucked me in I was there to stay. Maybe you just need to be in the right mindset? I love Discworld too, but Thursday Next is very different and both are great in their own unique ways.
SnarkyJellyfish
August 5, 2020 at 4:24 PM
Days Three and Four: Favorite Series/Favorite Book of Your Favorite Series
Combining these two for brevity.
So many series to choose from, but I’m going with what is probably the first series I ever loved, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and the book I love most is…ugh, don’t make me choose. Okay, okay…fine, I pick the first book, Dealing With Dragons.
This series was everything my nine-year-old self needed: a feisty princess, a sassy dragon, evil wizards, dumb princes, a no-nonsense witch and a lot of fun. I’m going with this book because it’s definitely the one I’ve re-read the most, but the third book, Calling on Dragons is told from my favorite character’s point-of-view and has some very funny situations.
Shout outs to:
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold – I haven’t finished the last two books because I don’t want the series to end, but Mirror Dance is a brilliant study of scientific ethics, mental heath, bodily autonomy, and philosophy (all themes that recur throughout the books) and one of the standouts in the series. I also loved Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance because of course Ivan would do that just to annoy his mother.
Also, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, because I love all of Cat and Christopher’s adventures and the series contains some of the best and most clever world-building I’ve ever read. All fantasy authors should take note – Diana Wynne Jones knew what she was doing.
Finally, I absolutely cannot forget the Thursday Next books. They’re so clever and funny and just plain fun, especially if you’re a literary nerd.
egads aka Dame Maggie
August 5, 2020 at 4:38 PM
The Eyre Affair was so shockingly fresh when I first picked it up. It blew me away.
SnarkyJellyfish
August 5, 2020 at 4:45 PM
Same! I think what I love most is that Thursday is a badass in the most un-badass way. She’s allowed to age and have children and a boring romance, but yet, the books are so fun and readable because the world she’s in is so interesting.
I love all of Fforde’s books and I know he just published a new one a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to dive in whenever I get a chance. He has a really clever way with prose and plot.
isa: I'm not a serial killer I'm just really passionate about things
August 5, 2020 at 7:37 PM
I love the Thursday Next series! I couldnt get in to the Humpty Dumpty spin off though.
beffels
August 5, 2020 at 5:29 PM
I have never managed to get into the Thursday Next books. They seem like the sort of thing I would like but they just never worked for me. I don’t know why. Maybe too much Discworld has ruined me for anything involving literary jokes.
SnarkyJellyfish
August 5, 2020 at 6:08 PM
I think I picked up the first book three times before I got into it, but once it sucked me in I was there to stay. Maybe you just need to be in the right mindset? I love Discworld too, but Thursday Next is very different and both are great in their own unique ways.
beffels
August 5, 2020 at 7:42 PM
Maybe I just need to try again, again. My sister likes them and we usually read all the same stuff so I don’t know why this has never clicked.
SnarkyJellyfish
August 5, 2020 at 8:31 PM
I definitely think you should give it a second chance; sometimes we just aren’t in the right headspace for a book and need to revisit it later.