The GMG SF/Fantasy/Horror Club

[DavidW]

Admit it Bill, you cried didn't you?

[Bogey]

Admit it Bill, you cried didn't you?

When I read the book....of course I did.   But I did not weep uncontrollably as my wife did when she read it.  She is currently reading them with our son.  They start book 5 in the fall.  He only wants to hear one a year and savor them.  Even though he is at the point now where he could read them on his own (11 years), he looks forward to the read aloud each night.  I, on the other hand, get to read them to our daughter.  I cannot wait, but will probably let her get to mid second grade before unleashing the first one.

[DavidW]

I kept hoping that in the final book that well a Gandalf would be pulled if you know what I mean and my code is sufficiently non-spoilerish.  Ah too bad.

[Bogey]

I kept hoping that in the final book that well a Gandalf would be pulled if you know what I mean and my code is sufficiently non-spoilerish.  Ah too bad.

Here is how I saw them, David:

Book 1- Nice set up, but not a lot more than this.  Enjoyable, but little more.
Book 2- I thought this was the most clever plot of the lot.  It gets kind of forgotten by most, but the hinges of the story were nothing short of brilliant.
Book 3- At one point my favorite.  Just enough darkness to worry about turning corners, but still some sparkle left.  However, after more time, #2 eeks by it.
Book 4- Just a great story.  Classic settings with the tournament and some neat visiting characters as well as the Quidditch Cup.  The cold splash at the end was a wake up, but still did not get overly dark.
Books 5-7- I lump these all together.  Fairly dark reading.  The sparkle is gone and JK has your attention because you truly do not know how she is going to play out the story when these were being released.  None of them stand out on their own for me.  However, at first I thought her wrap up a bit to unfinished in the last book, but now it works over time for me to not know everything that happened to to every single character.  In short, she new where to cut it off and not go too far, IMO.

[DavidW]

I like that, and I think you are right #5 was when they kind of lumped together as a final trilogy.

For a long time #3 was my favorite, but even though they are dark and not as fun #6 and 7 are my favorite.  She really developed the characters and put them in difficult situations, and even when it was bleak it was never maudlin. 

[Bogey]

I like that, and I think you are right #5 was when they kind of lumped together as a final trilogy.

For a long time #3 was my favorite, but even though they are dark and not as fun #6 and 7 are my favorite.  She really developed the characters and put them in difficult situations, and even when it was bleak it was never maudlin. 

I really liked how she handled Dumbledore's background/past in the end as well as Harry's parents, especially the dad.  She had a knack of making sure none were too high on the pedestals and made them even more believable.  Some nice twists I recall.  I cannot wait to read them again.

[DavidW]

Yeah I can't wait to reread them too!  I think there is something to be said for how people of all age groups came to love these novels.

[Bogey]

I like that, and I think you are right #5 was when they kind of lumped together as a final trilogy.

For a long time #3 was my favorite, but even though they are dark and not as fun #6 and 7 are my favorite.  She really developed the characters and put them in difficult situations, and even when it was bleak it was never maudlin. 

Absolutely.  I wonder if we will ever see something like this again in our lifetime.  We went to a few of the midnight book sellings and they were a lot of fun.  Neat to see folks that excited about a release of a book.

Yes.  #3 seems to be a favorite of many.  Try #2 again some time down the road.  How she uses the journal and then ties it in later is really cool.

[Dr. Dread]

It's one of my favorites.   I love that part where they're all tied up and then one of them starts changing and they're all trying to get away BUT THEY'RE ALL TIED UP!!   And of course there is the spider head...

0:)

[Bogey]

On another positive note about the 6th movie, Michael Gambon  finally seemed to nail down the role of Albus Dumbledore.  My wife and I thought Richard Harris was perfect in the first two, and did not care for his replacement.  Here though, he pulled it off.  I guess you could say just in the nick of time.

[Dr. Dread]

Garry: "I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS F****** COUCH!"

Classic 'Thing' line 

Yeah, I take the point that this was every bit as good, nay better than the original.  Both excellent movies.

Slightly off topic, I am Legend (as an example)...don't you hate it when the big screen screws about with the storyline.  First it was the Omega Man, they were almost there to Matheson's book but how crap were the vampires 

And another moan, why is it the big movies of today have to have a 'win' situation.  We know the I am Legend ending was different in the movie which really Grinds My Gears.  I actually love it when movies end on a shocking bad point and actually end the way the author intended.

I read Denis Lehane's Shutter Island the other week, a really fine read.  Now I hear that Di Caprio is doing the movie version (no doubt they will screw around with the ending too)...make sure you read the book before the movie LOL

You discuss here two books I enjoyed.

Have you seen the Vincent Price version of I Am Legend? What's it called? The Last Man on Earth? Can't remember. Anyway, you should see it. Not perfect, but not bad either.

I enjoyed Shutter Island but many I know hated it for some reason. I think they figured out the twist well before I did.  

[Dr. Dread]

I'll have to check out The Thing, I haven't seen it.

a few sci-fi/horror faves...
a clockwork orange (1971)
re-animator (1985)
brazil (1985)
the fly (1986)
robocop (1987)

And there is a remake of The Wolfman that's being released in 2010 that I'm looking forward to.

Excellent list.

[canninator]

Just finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Thoroughly enjoyed it, an intelligently written, highly stylized novel sent in Victorian England in which magic is re-introduced into English Society having been lost for 300 years. Highly recommended.

Saw on DVD last week, Children of Men, based upon a PD James novel it tells of a dystopian future world (2027) in which all women are infertile and the human race faces extinction. The plot revolves around a suitably dishevelled Clive Owen who falls in with a group of dissenters who might just have the key to rescue humanity. A critical (but not box office) success at the time and I do not disagree. Superb cinematography and pacing, also highly recommended.

[DavidW]

Most of PD James ideas and subtle wit was lost in the movie, but yeah it's still a good adaptation.

[Fëanor]

Well, dah!    I suppose you can guess from my moniker that I'm a Tolkien fan, (if not fanatic). You tell given that while I thought Jackson's Lord of the Rings films were very good, I personally resented the departures from the J.R.R.'s sacred text.  Of course "Fëanor" is scarely if mentioned at all in Lord of the Rings, (probably in the Appendices), but rather in The Silmarillion which is compulsory reading if you want to understand the LoTR in its "historical" context.

My next favourite Fantasy is probably The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison.

As for Sci Fi, my hands-down favourite is The Book of the New Sun tetralogy by Gene Wolfe, plus the sequel, Urth of the New Sun.  Spoiler alert: definitely read the last last.  Like it says, "Best SF novel of the last century" ...

[Dr. Dread]

As for Sci Fi, my hands-down favourite is The Book of the New Sun tetralogy by Gene Wolfe, plus the sequel, Urth of the New Sun.  Spoiler alert: definitely read the last last.  Like it says, "Best SF novel of the last century" ...

You are my new best friend.

[DavidW]

Added to my wish list Feanor (the Gene Wolfe series).

[Tapkaara]

Here's an interesting question...which of the great composers do you think would have been particularly adept at writing an effective (and not silly) musical score for a horror film?

[Dr. Dread]

Here's an interesting question...which of the great composers do you think would have been particularly adept at writing an effective (and not silly) musical score for a horror film?

R. Strauss

[Fëanor]

Here's an interesting question...which of the great composers do you think would have been particularly adept at writing an effective (and not silly) musical score for a horror film?

Uhmm ... let me guess: Akira Ifukube (or Godzilla fame).