Eoin Colfer & Tanith Lee

[Taranis]

Not sure where he'd fit in, so here he is!

Well, Ireland's own Eoin Colfer may be writting young adult "thriller fairy tales" but they are pretty darn good if I do say so myself!  (Which I do  )  His Artemis Fowl series is great for a quick laugh and a dazzle of wit and they also have an actually sound storyline.  Great reads!

Another quick and highly entertaining series is Tanith Lee's Unicorn trilogy (Black Unicorn, Gold Unicorn, Red Unicorn).  Red Unicorn is my favorite and it is absolutely hilarious!  (Especially when you get small furry familiars who talk backwards and blow bubbles in their spare time! ...and sometimes run through walls... )

[Patti L.]

Huh!  I'll have to look at the Unicorn books again.  My favorite Tanith Lee is 'Cyrion'.  It's kind of an oddity, a one-off.  I think it's a collection of short stories, really, although I don't recall a list of previous publication dates/sites for the stories in the copyright area.
Cyrion is a mysterious blond man who was apparently raised by his world's version of the Bedouin.  He wanders here & there, solving often magical mysteries.  Curiously, while people pay him, he never really keeps the payment.
I particularly liked (strange for me, who doesn't like scary stuff) the story where the family captured him & forced him to stay in their house until he figured out who killed the heiress.

[Taranis]

I haven't happened across 'Cyrion' yet, but thanks for the tip!  I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled...

[Patti L.]

Don't let it obsess you, it's about as hard to find as Masques.  I suspect it didn't sell many more copies, for all that Lee was already a Name when it came out.  It didn't really fit with the other things the author was writing at the time.

[Collaroy]

I absolutely love Artemis Fowl. The first one was good already, but the second was brilliant! All the characters 'grow' a lot in it (Artemis actually shows he has a heart), it's witty and funny, exciting, original...  I was really enthusiastic when I read it- one of those books that is truly delightful.

Now the third and fourth books have been sitting on my night stand for a while, but I'm trying to hold off reading them for as long as I can (I tend to do that with books I look forward to a lot).

How anyone can compare Artemis Fowl to Harry Potter (that's how I came to buy AF, looking for an alternative in between HPs) is beyond my understanding- the only thing these two series have in common is that they're fantasy for teens and adults.

Has anyone read his Colfer's "Supernaturalist"? I thought it sounded pretty good, but I have so many books to read already...

[Taranis]

Ditto in the Fowl series.  The Eternity Code is the best of all!  My absolute favorite and brilliant to boot!     I havent' read 'Supernaturalist' but I read 'Half-Moon Investigations'.  My understanding was that most of his other books were written for a younger audience.  They are still fun but not as witty as Artemis Fowl.  Still, I will probably read anything with Colfer's name on it to judge for myself!

[Collaroy]

The thing is, I didn't expect AF to be so good. I thought it would be a HP surrogate or rip-off, but it's definitely not. It's wittier, the characters are more flawed, there's more action, the high-tech bits are fun... it's less goody-goody than HP.

But I wonder- would those books have been published if JKR hadn't had this huge, freaky instant success with HP? Until then I don't think that the publishers were aware of how much kids actually craved to read fantasy; and now there are quite a lot of children's/teen's fantasy books out there.

[Patti L.]

I think you're right, it is partly a response to the Potter books.  Having worked at bookstores from just before the first HP came out through #6, I can tell you that the amount & publication dates of fantasy for children has changed considerably.  Barring some DWJones, and DDuane, with some of the Redwall books for good measure, most of the children's fantasy on the shelves was stuff that I (nearly 1/2 century, here) grew up with, and it's largely out of date & confusing for younger children.  Edward Eager, who I love, but the kind of life his characters have, from around the WWII era is pretty well gone, just like the kids in the Narnia books.  I think that tha's why the Narnia adaptations haven't done any better than they have, to be honest.  The kids think of them as 'historical with fantasy' rather than simply fantasy.

[Spryte]

didn't Eoin (cool name!) Colfer write The Wish List?
It was a good book, and I really liked it.

[Patti L.]

He did.  I have to admit you've got me on that author, Spryte.  I haven't read any of his work.

[Spryte]

 

[Taranis]

*sending hypnotic messages throughout the forum*

Reeead Eion Coooolllffffeeeerrrrrrr.....  Rrrreeeeead Aaaarrrrtttemmmmmissssss Fowwwwlllllll...nnnnooooowwwww.....

[Patti L.]

Naughty Taranis!  No hypnotizing your forum fellows en masse.  You do it one at a time, through PMs.

[Taranis]

Why must you always spoil my fun?  First the world domination plots, now this....

[Patti L.]

Somebody has to do it, & Bun Bun's not here.
Nor my twin.