OT...great books

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Actually, now that I think about it, he can do some magic, just not on the scale of the other main charaacters. At least, not until the end of the series, where he gets really munchkined for a bit.

[Kamog]

Yeah, there's a lot of similarities between the different fantasy books by Eddings. Other than this new book, I have also read the Belgariad & Malloreon series, the Elenium & Tamuli series, and The Redemption of Althalus.

In general, the good guys always include at least one super powerful magician or goddess, and the group of heroes are all very skilled and powerful. The bad guys are also powerful but there's usually only one smart bad guy, and the rest aren't that bright and tend to come up with schemes that are easily discovered and countered by the good guys.

[Randallw]

Ah yes I forgot that bit, gotta have the inept villain try a sneaky attack.

"Ho hum, it appears villain #4 is actually trying to be intelligent and sneaky. Well we better quickly demonstrate how superior we good guys are" (no sarcasm intended, thats how it seems to go)

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Well, if you want a high body count, go read something by David Drake.

Or, better yet, I read a series a while ago, forgot what it's called, after the first 2-3 books, every new book that came out would kill off most of the old generation. That gets tiring much faster. Fantasy, wizards, nomads, picture of a horse on one of the covers, intelligent stone lion in one of the books.

[Randallw]

I've read a bit of David Drake (I think) Belisarius and Shiva Option (correct me if I'm wrong, but SciFi military series) and I can't say I've seen any killing off of major chaacters, apart from some scientist in Belisarius who had a bit more than usual coverage before he blew himself up.

Edit: I also have heard of an anime series where aliens invade earth and a major character is killed each episode until everyone dies by the end.

[gregebowman]

Just finished reading the Star Wars Clone Wars book about a medical unit. Basically, it's MASH in the Star Wars universe. It was ok, but I could have lived without reading it. Now I'm reading Dean Koontz' From The Corner of His Eye. Koontz is a great author, and I like him almost as much as I do Stephen King. I read his Strangers not too long ago, and that has become my favorite book of his. Check it out.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

That's because the Belisarius series is written by Eric Flint, despite David Drake's name on the cover, he just provided a general script. Shiva option was written by David Weber and Steve White, based on a strategy tabletop game.

Try 'Redliners' or his 'Hammers Slammers' series. I only read Redliners once and I avoid Hammers Slammers.

[Randallw]

narf poit chez BOOM said:
That's because the Belisarius series is written by Eric Flint, despite David Drake's name on the cover,

I've always wondered about stuff like that. When there are two authors, who writes what?. I've got a Turtledove book cowritten by Richard Dreyfuss. Do they write half of it each, did Dreyfuss come up with the idea and let Turtledove actually write it, or do they spend hours on the phone (or in a forum) comparing notes.