What made me happy today?

[GoldMoon]

If I keep mentioning this book over the years, someone might shake their head so hard it will twist out of their neck. Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Been reading and posting that I've been reading it for years now. The slow pace is not due to the book, but due to some health conditions on my part.

The book is excellent and very interesting, but I'm looking forward to its conclusion now. I've heard it's the first book in a series, and depending on how it ends I might continue the series. However, I'm really looking forward to a change of scenery and subject, so I might get on to another on my reading list.

I finished it at the beginning of the year. I really loved all the stories (The only character I didn't love was Martin the crazy poet), but I won't spoil my thoughts of the ending for you.

With all the dense prose, I can understand why you would want something different. I'm reading a different series now, but will eventually get back to the rest of the Hyperion series.

 

[GoldMoon]

Also, our tomato plants are flourishing. We've started picking and dicing and freezing to make chutney later.

 

[defaux]

This. Ten thousand stanzas this.

I'll give you that one. As much as I loved lotr, I confess I skipped over the songs.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I read LotR when I heard they were making the movies. Only one chance to imagine the world and the characters for yourself before you see it on screen. At times it could be a bit of a slog. Especially all the random poems that can go on for pages.

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Fair enough. I write historical fiction, which means that I want and have to describe the surroundings in as much detail as I can. The saying that "the past is a foreign country" is very true; the world of 40 or even 30 years ago is incredibly different to the world of today, never mind 1,000 years ago or longer. (1,001 CE is as recent as I've written).

The settings I chose are medieval Iceland, ancient Greece and Italy and Egypt, and ancient Sardinia. If I want them to be convincing, they have to be described in detail.

So I use LOTR as an example of how to do that (an inspiration only), but I don't get carried away like JRRT did.