Some Books That I Think Are Neat

Here are some books & films that I think are pretty neat.

Jack Vance's The Dying Earth books

These books are some of the first fantasy books that I read that weren't self-proclaimed "children's fantasy". They are just awesome. Jack vance is not as well-known as some of his contemporaries (like Ursula K. LeGuin, and Philip K. Dick) but he is every bit as good. The verbose style of the protagonists (and the antagonists) and a eerie vistas of the setting are what make it good. It is also not really like many other fiction works (that I have read at least, if you know of some that are like Vance, then please reccommend them!). The "Vancian Dialogue" has been immortalised in roleplaying form, at least in its Dying Earth mode, by the good people at Pelgrane Press.

Anything else by Jack Vance

Vance also wrote the Lyonesse trilogy (fantasy, sort-of Arthurian?), the five Demon Princes books (space opera revenge saga), the Cadwal Chronicles (strange social commentary/space opera) and heaps of others that I will add later. Read them all. He's great.

Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books

This was the second "children's fantasy" series that I read. Well, the first three are sort of allegedly childrens, the latters ones don't seem it. Personally I find them powerful and exciting and better than an awful lot of contemporary "adult fantasy". more. more.

Distance, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

This film is really quite odd I think. I am not an expert on Japanese cinema but I found this sparse film to be really really compelling and interesting. It evoked a genuine curiousity in me regarding the story and the characters, and it made me want to visit the Japanese countryside very much. I saw it on SBS and subtitled, not in the cinema or in Japanese (which I don't speak anyway...). IMDb has a fairly useless entry about it.