My daughter has a love for reading. Which, in this day and age, is something that seems to be rare. She reads roughly a book a month. As I mentioned in the Quorum, she is in the middle of the HP novels. She loves them. Her favorite movie is LotR. But, I dont feel she is ready for it, as some of the words are very hard to pronunciate.

I never got into fantasy until after the 1st season of GoT. So, my knowledge of fantasy for children is very limited. She loves it though. I was wondering if you good folks could give me any age appropriate recs.

She loves all that draws us to fantasy. The escape, the magic, the interesting characters and so on. She likes scary things, yet nothing too out there (I dont want her scared for life). So, that being said, use common sense and give me some recs that would fit my description. Thanks!

So, I have finished the book and wanted to discuss with anyone who has read this. Such a great book.

What really kept me engaged the whole time was the premise. Which is, imho, a play on morality, a "what if", if you will. If you could live your life over and over, and remember this previous lives, what would you do? And North tackles this subject very well. Would you change thing to benefit yourself? Would you stay in the monotony of your everyday life and not effect catastrophic events? Or would you?

Harry doesn't mess with any of these events such as WWII, Cold War, Vietnam War or any other of the huge events of the 20th century. Well, to an extent any way. And, what I loved was that these events happened over and over again. He does dabble a little here and there, but the action starts when his close friend, or enemy, Vince/Vitali does begin to. Vince wants to know what created the world, and all that is in it. And, believes he can by creating a Quantum Mirror, to look at life on a microscopic(?) level. He does this by slight of hand, introducing tech from the 80's and 90's well before the 60's. And, this makes the "end of the world" come sooner and sooner.

A whole lot more to talk about, but would live to hear the opinion of others first. I'm looking at you ThoughtsofThelli!

To be ignorant and to be deceived are two different things. To be ignorant is to be a slave of the world. To be deceived is to be the slave of another man. The question will always be: Why, when all men are ignorant, and therefore already slaves, does this latter slavery sting us so?

—AJENCIS, THE EPISTEMOLOGIES

But despite stories of Fanim atrocities, the fact of the matter is that the Kianene, heathen or no, were surprisingly tolerant of Inrithi pilgrimages to Shimeh—before the Holy War, that is. Why would a people devoted to the destruction of the Tusk extend this courtesy to “idolaters”? Perhaps they were partially motivated by the prospect of trade, as others have suggested. But the fundamental motive lies in their desert heritage. The Kianene word for a holy place is si’ihkhalis, which means, literally, “great oasis.” On the open desert it is their strict custom to never begrudge travellers water, even if they be enemies.

—DRUSAS ACHAMIAN, COMPENDIUM OF THE FIRST HOLY WAR

I write to inform you that during my most recent audience, the
Nansur Emperor, quite without provocation, publicly addressed
me as “fool.” You are, no doubt, unmoved by this. It has become
a common occurrence. The Consult eludes us now more than
ever. We hear them only in the secrets of others. We glimpse them
only through the eyes of those who deny their very existence. Why
should we not be called fools? The deeper the Consult secretes
itself among the Great Factions, the madder our rantings sound to
their ears. We are, as the damned Nansur would say, “a hunter
in the thicket”—one who, by the very act of hunting, extinguishes
all hope of running down his prey.
—ANONYMOUS MANDATE SCHOOLMAN, LETTER TO ATYERSUS

Begin at your leisure!

I want to do a reread of the entire series. Find the hidden nuggets. See, if clues of Ajokli are there, and so on.

I don't want this to be something we fly through. Whoever is interested, we will discuss how much we read and discuss per week. I'd like it to be little enough that it not make it impossible to read other works. Say......1-3 chapters a week.

I'm sure Madshire would like all discussion to be in the almanac. I think thats the right way any how. So, how many would be interested, and committed to seeing it through? Let me know and we'll discuss a start date. I think alot of people could participate. In talking taking this slow, so the amount of reading isnt a problem. We have no deadlines for any upcoming book, so we can go at a slow sustained pace and everyone participate. Who knows what we might uncover? Hmmm?

[EDIT Madness: Fixed the title.]

This convo started in the Olympics thread and Wilshire suggested we should probably make a thread of its own, as to not make Dora Vee change into a Ciphrang and shut down the forum. (Kidding, I feel you ire Dora Vee)

Wilshire and I had some convo about this, along with Tleilaxu, and if anyone would like to jump in and offer thoughts, please do.

From the Oxford dictionary: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

That's what I think excludes eSports, from being a real sport. Sure we can attach sport onto the end of anything for commercial reasons. That's the reason its being done in video games, to attract more people. But, for all the skill (mental, hand-eye coordination), you are missing the physical exertion which makes a sport, a sport. Trust me, I know it takes plenty of skill. I played Madden from the time it came out til about the 2005 version, and I was very, very good. I have nephews that would beat me today with their eyes closed. So, I'm not questioning that one bit.

I also linked a story from ESPN where a Curling athlete from Russia tested positive for PED's. I did this because Wilshire used Curling as a comparable sport to eSports. I don't believe there have been any PED controversies in any eSports competitions.

So, just a place to nicely discuss what constitutes a sport and what does not.

Oh, one last thought. I do see a future where kids have whole rooms that act as a virtual world, and that is how you play the game. Actually running, ducking, jumping and so forth. I've always thought ill see it before I die. If it does come to that, then I would consider that a sport. There would be tons of physical exertion in such a thing. Alas, we are not there yet, but probably very close.

As you all should know I'm a die hard WVU fan. Ranked #2 last week and blew to games on the road where we had leads of at least 15 points. If you watch a WVU BIGXII conference game you will see we get absolutely no calls. But, I still think we win regular or tournament championship.

I don't know that we have the offensive firepower to win a NC. But, I can easily see us as a Final Four team. We're very good this year and we're not going anywhere. Huggy Bear is bringing in some big time recruits. We are definitely a National Contender, a weaker one though, ill admit. We definitely ain't the Duke, Michigan St, and Kentucky's of the college bball world. But we're legit.

Oh, if think it be fun to have a tournament bracket competition on Yahoo, same as the pick em BFK suggested in NFL. Would be a lot of fun. And, the less you know, the better chance you have at winning the bracket it seems.