Definitely read The Anatomy of Story if you’re a writer/interested in writing as a craft. It is by far the best guide on plot structure I have ever read and even though it focuses mainly on Hollywood plots it can be adapted to any story form. I use it as a starting point for everything I write, highly recommend it!
I know I should, I’ve gotten a couple of chapters in, but I just started the First Law trilogy and it’s so good. Definitely after that though, definitely…
There is a lot I should probably read one day but didn’t feel like it yet:
S. King’s stuff (haven’t read anything by him yet), Wheel of Time, Brandon’s Stormlight Archive, some of the Paolini’s newer books (after Inheritance cycle), more of Laundry Files by Stross, more of Pratchett’s Disc World (so much more I haven’t read yet).
Though presently, something by Asimov might be my next pick
finishing up The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. very long, and I struggled for the first half of it with keeping track of the dizzying array of characters, but overall pretty good. I enjoyed Primeval and Other Tales by her much more, however.
next up will be Soldiers and Kings by Jason DeLeon (Land of Open Graves, his previous book, was a goddamn gut punch, and expecting the same from this one - both deal with migration at the southern US border). also looking forward to James by Percival Everett.
I recently finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and while I can see why other people enjoyed it, it was not for me.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow spoilersI’ve heard that the people who love this book tend to not play many video games, and those who dislike it do, and that holds true for me. While the characters are interesting at times and their development was done pretty well, I just could not get over how the video game design itself was described. Like, take Ichigo for example. It was the first game they developed together and described in the most detail. They talk about the art design, and the story, and the gender of the protagonist, but never once do they say what genre it is. Is it a platformer? Action? RPG? The genre of a game is the most important aspect of it, because all gameplay and mechanics play off of it in order to tell the story. Not to mention the fact that some of the games did things that are really just not possible in gaming storylines, like that Pioneers chapter towards the end of the book. You can do that sort of thing in a text-based roleplay forum, but not in an MMORPG as described in the book. Also, while I was very young when some of these games were developed and wasn’t in tune with technology then, some of the descriptions of it struck me as odd. Several times there were references to “burning out” several graphics cards and processors in a short amount of time trying to create certain visual effects in a game engine, for an indie PC game designed in 1997. Maybe computer components were just more delicate back then but… that just feels weird. Finally, Sadie’s vendetta against Sam really bothered me. Not that she found some things that Sam did a betrayal or wrong - I might as well if it were me! What bugged me the most was that she forgave Dov, her abusive ex, much more readily than Sam, her well-intentioned (if misguided at times) friend. And what she was initially upset about was Sam wanting her to speak to Dov! I just don’t understand that, and it wasn’t well justified to me at all. Also, the shooting was unnecessary and only served as “haha gamers are violent” to me.
Your comment about who typically likes and doesn’t like this book is really interesting because I loved the book AND love playing games. I hadn’t heard this criticism of the book before.
I think reading your comment in hindsight, yes that DOES strike me as off looking back on it now but I don’t think it stuck out while reading to me outside of one Metal Gear Solid reference that made me quirk an eyebrow and knew it wasn’t right.
Yeah of course the comment on who likes/dislikes it isn’t universal, it’s just something I heard mentioned at some point.
I’m someone who can struggle with minutae like what I mentioned in the spoiler section, so that’s probably a big part of why I disliked it. Like I said, I do understand why so many people like it - Gabrielle Zevin has great prose and the overall character development is interesting and compelling. I just struggled with some parts.
I really enjoyed the first third of that book. the last third was OK. the middle third was so dreadful that I almost stopped reading. it just abruptly shifted to sitcom style/ depth plot and character development, it was bizarre.
Well, unfortunately, StackExchange was just how I remembered it: lots of snarky assholes waiting to pounce on newbies. Account created, question asked, bitchy response received, then account deleted. Thanks for your suggestion in any case.
I agree with this message: in fact I am not against doing it by hand. It could be a nice life project. I will look into all the advice that you have given me, thanks everyone!
As for experiences: Used Inventaire a few years back, metadata was a nightmare, it was trying to pull data from Wikidata (nice in theory) but did not check if e.g. the author already existed, so there were five of them with varying degrees of data. No fun.
Bookwyrm is pretty cool, made the mistake to go to a small instance that was plagued by technical server problems, tried to export the books I had already put in and import it to a bigger instance, didn’t work (and was somehow not supposed to, I was later told 🤷♀️ Though that’s a feature that is apparently worked on). Other then that it’s petty nice, pulls data from Openlibrary, which works very well and you can also add metadata to OL if it’s not there. And the whole social thing with following people and writing reviews, good stuff.
I used to use Delicious Library but the developer went to work for Apple and he can’t develop the app any longer. I switched to Book Tracker but it’s trying to be more than I want so I’m not set on it.
You might try the Evidence Explained forums answered regularly by Elizabeth Shown Mills. She is a specialist in genealogical citation but she is based in Chicago Manual of Style. www.evidenceexplained.com/forums/citation-issues
Or you could just take your best stab at a citation and wait for some eagle-eyed all knowing person to correct you 😄
Yeah I know what you mean, I’ve reached a point where I can just about stomach going there if a Google-search finds relevant information on something I’m researching, but I draw the line at active participation or even logging in.
I’ve done a quick search and found a list of Discord boards that are tagged with #grammar.
This one looks promising, and the list says there are currently 20 people online (take with grain of salt, though): The Grammar People
If you could share your specific question, maybe there’s more research that can be done (or maybe someone here knows the answer) 🤔
Sounds like the other commenter got it. I’m commenting because the only time I’ve ever posted about a book o couldn’t remember was “The Dark Lord of Derkholm” also by Diana Wynn Jones! Great book of you haven’t read it. She wrote Howell’s Moving Castle too.
The book you’re describing is most likely “The Shadows Between Us” by Tricia Levenseller.
Here’s why it matches your description:
Island Nation in the South: The story begins on the island of Iolara, a tropical island with a strict code of conduct called the “Way.” Discipline and Quest to the North: The protagonist, Alessandra, is being punished for practicing magic, which is forbidden. She joins a group on a quest to the tyrannical Empire of Aethel in the north. Crown Prince with Magic and Internal Struggle: One of the main characters, Kallias, is revealed to be the crown prince of Aethel. He possesses forbidden magic that manifests as dark veins and threatens to consume him if he uses it too much. Abandoned City, Temple, and Possession: The group ventures into the ruined city of Aethel’s former capital and break into a temple. There they encounter the Shadow Queen, an ancient deity who temporarily possesses one of the characters. Evil Palace and Power Struggle: The climax takes place in the Obsidian Palace, carved into a mountain, where Kallias faces betrayal and assassination attempts from his siblings vying for the throne. Although some minor details might not perfectly align with your exact memory, the core plot points you mentioned strongly suggest “The Shadows Between Us” is the book you’re looking for.
Unfortunately, that’s definitely not it. I’ve never read anything by Tricia Levenseller. None of the other names align either. :( Thanks for the input though!
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