> > There's a reason for this, at least as regards Feng's -- it's not > > one of his better works. ;) That and To Reign In Hell both had > > significant problems. > >Strange.. I really enjoyed both books, although I do consider 'To Reign >in Hell' to be one of the best books I've read, period. It's also the >book I recommend to people who want to read Brust, but not necessarily >jump into a series. Ditto, per tRiH. I can't tell you how many times I've reread it, or how many times, for that matter, that I've bought it because my copies of it keep walking off. I suppose that one could argue that there are points where Steven gets a little too precious... depicting Mephistopheles as a dog who speaks Elizibethian English is pretty zany, but I think that it's a good zany. More than that, the book tackles a tough theological question. At the time I first read it, I was still a devout Muslim (although the book assumes a more-or-less Christian cosmology, Islamic theology is close enough for the question to be valid). I won't say that this is *the* book that motivated me to return to atheism, but it was certainly influential in as much as it helped to catalyze certain thought processes. As such, I not only think that it's an excellent book, in and of itself, but it is a book that has particular meaningfulness, to me. >I've never read F&N. I started once, then started to lose track of who >is who, then was told by friends who are much better at keeping track of >characters that they had the same problem.. so I put it down and just >haven't picked it up again. I'm always leery of collaborations, so I've been really reluctant to even pick it up. Then again, I was reluctant to start tStM&tS (for different reasons) and tore through it once I got past the first few chapters (although I'm still puzzled at the relationship between the two story lines). >Other than that.. I'd say the ones I didn't really enjoy were Brokedown >Palace (although I am considering rereading it), Teckla, and Athyra was >ok. I didn't like BDP on my first reading, but I've started to wonder if if should give it another. I've realized that part of the reason that I didn't like BDP was because I objected to its characterization of Verra, of all things! That hardly seems a good reason to dismiss it. Athyra was just plain weird. I don't know what to make of it. I should reread it again, too. >Athyra - I just think Vlad is much more interesting in Adrilankha, or >off on adventures involving powerful wizards and gods. I don't mind stories that take Vlad out of his usual surroundings (e.g., Orca is amoung my favorites). I suspect that my problem with Athrya is that it's just so different from the other Vlad novels that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus