November 20, 2002

Reading maketh a full man

I have been meaning to write about what I’m reading at the moment ever since I started this blog but I’ve never got the chance to do so – either I’ve had some other topic to rant on about or I’ve been too busy coding to write here at all. Well, it’s time I did this entry – not that it really matters to anybody, but I just want to write about this particular series – especially now 🙂 So what the heck am I reading these days? I’m reading Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s DarkSword trilogy – I’m actually on book II, "Doom of the Darksword" at the moment. Incidentally, I’d always thought that Tracy Hickman was a woman till I read the back cover of the book and found out that he was a guy – OK, fine, maybe I still don’t realize the gender difference between the different spellings of Tracy :p (Is there one BTW? There probably is, isn’t there?)

I am probably going to ramble around a bit before I come back to the series – let me warn you :p I started reading when I was around six or seven years old and have read voraciously ever since then. For the longest time, science fiction has been my preferred genre – at least, that was the case till about five or six years ago when I began to be seduced by the insidious call of fantasy :p I’d read fantasy before too but I think ever since I discovered Terry Pratchett, I’ve been reading more and more fantasy and neglecting science fiction. Incidentally, I buy a lot of books to read later and so I have many other books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman but this is the first time I’m reading a book by them – and I think I’ve had at least the first two books of the Darksword series for over six or seven years now!

I liked the first book because it was about a world where everybody has magic. Incidentally, this world was supposed to have been populated by people who left Earth (using magic of course) due to the persecution of magic users on Earth. The people were supposed to have been led to this new world by Merlin – a nice touch I thought. The first book was all about how this boy born without any magic at all (and anybody without magic is considered dead on this world since magic is life) forges a sword which can absorb magic – the darksword. Of course, there are many other plot elements such as the fact that the boy will be killed if he’s discovered because anybody without magic is to be *mercifully* put to death on this world.

The second book is about the journey of this boy and his friends to the capital of their country so that the boy can claim is inheritance. The story became even more engrossing suddenly because the boy falls in love 🙂 I think I am a sucker for books with a romantic thread in it – I first started reading Westerns because Louis L’Amour always had a love story in his books :p I have enjoyed the love story so much in this particular instance because it seems to be very realistic – at least as far as I am concerned because I feel the same way as the characters in the books do. Maybe it is because I am in love at the moment or maybe I just get caught up in books but this story calls out to me 🙂 But I am still reading book two and so that’s all I’ve read …

Tags: Books, Entertainment, Personal
Posted by Fahim at 7:26 am   Comments (2)

2 Responses to Reading maketh a full man

Subscribe to comments with RSS

#1
Gravatar Image
Edward McCain 20 November 2002 at 12:16 pm


So what the heck am I reading these days? I’m reading Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s DarkSword trilogy – I’m actually on book II, “Doom of the Darksword” at the moment.

We seem to have similar tastes. I read mostly fantasy because the science in SF is often not terribly believable. Much easier to believe in magic and in reconstituting the human psyche from a mri 🙂

My favourite author would have to be David Eddings, I think. The Belgariad is simply a great work of fantasy. Robert Asprin and Piers Anthony are also good. The Amber series by Roger Zelzny. Good Goddess, what I would give for the chance to walk a broken pattern! Yes, being a Prince would be better, but I’d settle for a broken Pattern.

Asimov was my first love, and I shed tears at his passing. Along with Asimov, Clarke and Norton also formed the basis of my boyhood.

Mercedes Lackey is a damn good author, imo and I buy her books when something new comes available.

Other than that, I mostly pursue scientific materials – New Scientist, Discovery, NanoMagazine, JAMA, etc.

and dream of one day writing something of worth.

#2
Gravatar Image
Tracie 21 November 2002 at 10:27 pm

Nine times out of ten, if a male is named Tracy, it’s usually spelled with a ‘y’.

The feminine way is usually, Traci, Tracie, Tracey. But I’ve seen plenty of girls who have it spelled, “Tracy” too. Never met a guy named, “Tracie” or “Traci”, though.

As for reading, I miss it. I used to read a lot. Now I never have time. 🙁

Leave a response

:mrgreen: :neutral: :twisted: :shock: :smile: :???: :cool: :evil: :grin: :oops: :razz: :roll: :wink: :cry: :eek: :lol: :mad: :sad: