Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

The Reading Public Library presents...

a Book Discussion


Thursday Oct 18th 2007
6:30 PM

City Espresso
124 S. 5th Street
Reading, PA 19602

To sign up,
call 610-655-6355, or visit the Reference Desk

James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (Robert Jordan) 1948 - 2007

May you shelter in the palm of the Creator’s hand, and may the Mother’s last embrace welcome you home.”

For over 15 years I have been reading, rereading or anticipating the next release date of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The universe he created was so intricately detailed that it seemed encumbered by the pages (and pages) of words describing it. The series is a great example of the the world building potential inherant in the fantasy genre but it also employs the much overused bildungsroman style that many fantasy authors seem to enjoy. When the protagonist is young and niave from a sleepy, backwater village, it's useful for the author to describe the sights and sounds as experienced by our wide-eyed soon to be actualized hero.

That being said, Robert Jordan has created a universe, full and robust, that will always hold a portal in my imagination.

While waiting for someone to finish A Memory of Light , we do have other fine examples of the fantasy genre to keep us occupied. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson, is a gritty military story arc occupied by grizzled veteran soldiers, many of whom are missing various limbs, ethically dubious "good guys," and gods disguised as fools possessing a refreshingly dry wit. The Bonehunters, Book six of an anticipated 10 books was just released yesterday.

Another hefty series I've come to enjoy is George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice. A Dance with Dragons, the fifth of seven books, is currently in the works. Martin's universe is modeled after medieval Europe, with knights in armor bearing coats of arms, small kingdoms with ruling families sharing complex genealogies warring with each other, and a good deal of political intrigue. There's not a lot of magic, but there are dragons. Martin also indiscriminately kills off his protagonists, while the "bad guys" are not always punished for their crimes.

Malazan Empire

George R. R. Martin

Adult Summer Reading Program - And the winner is...

Congratulations to Valerie Bush for winning the grand prize of two tickets to an event at the Sovereign Center!





Thanks to everyone who took part in the program. We had 200 participants this year reading a total of 2181 books!

Thanks also to our generous sponsors:
Sovereign Center
Reading Phillies
Target
Alebrije Restaurant
Sam's Club
City Espresso
Reading Public Library