30 Days of Books Meme - Day 6

Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time.

Wow. That's a toughie. Well I don't want to pick just one favorite from one favorite series so I'm not gonna. Eat it.

-The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - The Narnia crew take a break from saving Narnia from conquerors to go on an old fashioned high fantasy quest. Gets rather weird when invisible hopping monsters get thrown into the mix.

Kushiel's Dart - Never before in the centuries of animosity between Vikings and sissy French bondage freaks has anyone tried to tell both sides of the story. Carey does and does it well. And also: Chidric d'Essoms; what the fuck is WRONG with that guy? And why do the other books just forget he existed?

The Wheel of Time: The Shadow Rising - SPOILER ALERT! A guy gets so upset about his ancestor's history that he literally eats his own face. They don't make entertainment like that anymore.

( The prompts... )

30 Days of Books Meme - Day 7

Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise

I don't think it's a plot device per se since it rarely drives the plot forward... but it occurs often in fantasy novels and annoys me in a way that actual plot devices rarely do.

If it's a fantasy adventure and the protagonist is any kind of peasant/commoner or what have you, there will inevitably be a scene where he is musing on the fact that all his life he has wanted to go on an adventure. But now that he's on an adventure he realizes he doesn't like it because adventures are scary and full of hardship and unpleasant all around. Many authors great and small feel the need to do this, and while it may be a natural reaction for a person to have, it all sounds the same after a while.

( The prompts... )