Great Great Books -More Books

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bbkkyy55" <bbkkyy55 at ...> wrote:
>
> I haven't posted for a loooong time.  I think I'm in mourning.  
> How can we wait two years for the next Harry Potter. I've been 
> trying to find some other books that I can care about as much 
> as Harry. While I have really enjoyed some of them I must say 
> they don't grab me the way Harry does.  I'm not sure what I 
> love about Harry, maybe it's the depth of feeling that is shown
> in the main characters.
> 
> ... Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game".  
> ...
> 
> I'd love to hear what you all think are the "Great Books".  Maybe
> I can broaden my horizons, or at least figure out why these books 
> grab me like they do.
> 
> Anxious to hear your ideas,
> Bonnie
>

bboyminn:

I just want to expand on 'Enders Game' which I truly loved. The story
began as a short story (1977) and was later expanded into a novel
(1985). The novel became so popular that it was then expanded into a
series (last book-1996).

'Ender's Game' takes place when Ender (short for Andrew) is very
young. The series that follows takes place 3,000 years later. Ender
and Valentine (his sister) have spend their lives in space travel
which produces a relativistic effect, which goes like this, if one
twin travels in a space ship near the speed of light and the other
twin remains on earth, when the space-travel-twin returns only a few
years will have passed for him, but his earthbound brother will have
aged many decades. The closer to the speed of light you travel, the
greater this effect becomes. In short a few years of space travel
equals many many decades of normal time. So, that is the background,
and the story begins from there.

The remaining three in this series are -
"Speaker for the Dead"
"Xenocide"
"Children of the Mind"

As you know from reading 'Enders Game', Ender was very tramatized by
that happened to him, and he spend most of the rest of his life trying
to escape the memories of that action. At first, at the end of the
Formic wars, Ender is a hero. But as the immemdicacy of victory fades
and a historical perspective takes over, Ender is demonized for his
actions, and history does not treat him well. So, he and Valentine
travel the galaxy staying only a short while in each place. Ender acts
as a Speaker for the Dead and Valentine as an itinerate historian.
When their job is done, they move on.

Eventually this leads to a very compelling story chronicalled in the
three books listed. I found this an excellent and captivating story
from beginning to end, and I have read it about three or four times so
far, and recently have been thinking about reading it again.

The second part of this story is 'Enders Shadow'. In 'Enders Game' we
are introduced to the character 'Bean' who has a very compelling,
perhaps even more compelling, story of his own. It is a deep dark and
tragic story. 'Ender Shadow' parallels 'Enders Game' but from Bean's
perspective. The early and substantial part of the first books deals
with Bean's early life and how he came to be a part of Ender's crew.
This is both a captivating and heartbreaking story that ultimately
ends happily...or so it seems.

The remaining three books is this series deal with Bean's life after
the 'Ender Game' story. Although it starts shortly in the future and
moves through real time; no relativistic effects here.

The most captivating part of these books aside from Bean's story is
the story of the world and the political intrigue that ensues. I found
it extremely interesting to see how this projected fictional history
parallels our real history, and to see the fate of various parts of
the world in the future.

I'm certainly not even remotely creating a captivating or intriguing
summary here, but I assure you that minus a few stylistic shortcoming,
these are all immensely interesting books. If you read 'Enders Game'
and 'Enders Shadow' then you will love these characters, and if you
love them (the way I do) then you will want to know their ultimate
fates, and that makes for very compelling reading. I can't imagine
anyone reading 'Enders Game' and 'Enders Shadow' and not wanting to
know the future of these characters.

The three remaining books after 'Enders Shadow' are -

'Shadow Puppets'
'Shadow of the Hegemon'
'Shadow of the Giant' (still in hardback, all others in paperback)

The 'Shadow' series is really a much easier read than the 'Ender'
series since they cover such a short period of time, and are more
connected with earth and reality as we know it. 

None the less, the 'Enders' series is still very good though more in
the science fiction realm. Though, I guarantee that any reader, even
if they don't like science fiction, will still love both 'Enders Game'
and 'Enders Shadow'. For non-science fiction readers, you will still
love the continuation of the 'Shadow' series, this is more a story
that takes place in the future, than actual science fiction. The
continuation of the 'Ender' series, while more science fiction, is
really centered around a love story on several fronts. 

I highly recommend both series.

Further, there is a book of short stories related to the 'Enders'
series, called 'First Meetings'. In it we get to see how Ender's
father and mother meet. We also get to see how Ender meets the
computer program called 'Jane' which will make sense if you read the
follow up to 'Ender Game'. The book is a must for any 'Enders' fan,
with very valuable and insightful background information plus the
original 'Enders Game' short story published in 1977. 

Another recommendation is 'The Bartimaeus Trilogy' by Jonathan Stroud.
There are some minor flaws in the books, but they are small enough and
the characters are interesting enough, that they can be easily
overlooked. The first two books are pretty straight forward; 'The
Amulet of Samarkand' and 'Golems Eye'. Enjoyable books that I have
read at least a couple of times. 

Further, these book offer an insightful look into alternative 'wizard
worlds' that I'm sure will fastinate any Harry Potter fan. In a sense,
this series is a 'what if', showing the wizard world if history had
only been a little different. 

But the real payoff comes in the third and final book in the series.
It is very character driven, where as the first two are more driven by
the adventure and mystery, though the character are well developed. By
the time you get into the third book, you are very invested in the
characters and their story which takes many unexpected twists and
turns, and ends in a very unlikely and unpredictable way. 

This 'Bartimaeus' series is not at the top of my list, but is still
nice comfortable reading. I am currently reading the just released
'Ptolomys Gate' for the second time.

"The Bartimaeus Trilogy -"
'The Amulet of Samarkand'
'Golums Eye'
'Ptolomys Gate'

Just for fun, try the 'Artemis Fowl' Series, while it is geared to a
younger audience, I guarantee you will not regret reading it. These
are captivating relatively short stories with a wonderful sense of
humor, and wonderfully interesting characters, especially Mulch
Diggums...I love Mulch Diggums! All but the latest are available in
paperback. Highly recommended for recreational reading. PS: they are
great on tape too.

'Atremis Fowl'
'Artemis Fowl - The Arctic Incedent'
'Artemis Fowl - The Eternity Code'
'Artemis Fowl - The Opal Deception'


Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn