[McLovin]

Oh, you didn't hear about the accident? Very sad

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

She's still hoping that some day she'll make varsity.



Ba dum dum. (Get it? Her name is J.V.)

~Luxury Yacht, master of unfunny jokes.

[Drenai]

I never heard that she had an accident. the 3rd books was scheduled like 2 years ago and suddenly was pulled. Now it is scheduled for a November release.
I have all of her 1st editions in hardcover(including the Baker's Boy series) but have not read any yet. I was waiting until the fall for the release of and Sword from Red Ice...
In fact I was even going to read them earlier until i decided to read the malazan books now, because I was starved for more dark, violent fantasy after reading Tad Williams...

[Dr Trouble]

What accident? Can someone clarify?

[Werthead]

There was no accident. It was apparently a joke or something. I'd heard she'd had a very tough time with an ill relative that has caused immense delays on the books, but she's now back to writing full-time.

The Sword of Shadows series will now - apparently - be five books long. Book 3 - A Sword From Red Ice - was completed about 16 months ago and will be simultaneously published by Orbit in the UK and Tor in the USA in November 2007. Book 4 - A Shadow Beneath the Ice - is apparently already nearing completion (according to info that I think Mithfanion dug out a few weeks back) and shouldn't follow too long after (maybe a year?). No info on Book 5 as yet.

Sword of Shadows is the much darker, much adult sequel to the semi-YA trilogy The Book of Words, although only a few characters from the former appear in the latter. She's also written a fine single-volume novel, The Barbed Coil.

[McLovin]

Werthead;182124 said:

There was no accident. It was apparently a joke or something.

Yeah, I was going to make a joke. Then I realized it wasn't funny. So sue me.

[Morgoth]

longhorn;182166 said:

Yeah, I was going to make a joke. Then I realized it wasn't funny. So sue me.

That can be done.. You forgott to return my pants, didn't you?

[Abyss]

Having only read the first two Ice books, i find JVJ annoys me somewhat. i like her settings, i like her characters, i think she has some great ideas... but oh my bleeding eyes does she spend ages getting from point a to point b, with much angsting and shivering and whining and then finally, finally, something cool happens and it's awesome but then we're back to travelling and whining and shivering.... She also suffers from a Weis-Hickman-esque tendency to build only to a huge finale with very little major events until then.

- Abyss, will wait for the mmpbs.

[Rakov]

She writes wonderfully, though, with some stylish detail and thought that gets you inside a character. And she's as fine a figure of a woman as she is smart and talented (what has that got to do with anything? absolutely nothing whatsoever!) that she can take as long as she likes!

J V Jones

[Falco]

I'd hit that with furious dedication, but I agree with Abyss about the writing. Lotsa filler. Not bad though, better than a whole lot of tripe out there.

[ObsoleteResolve]

Couldn't get into her. Har har. Har de har har. Shush.

But, yeah. Couldn't really get into her writing. Gave several of her books a shot, and just... meh. Nothing I could pinpoint down, but it was just something I couldn't get into.

[opiate taylor]

IMO, JV's first trilogy, The Book of Words, is perfect for those new to fantasy. It was my first real fantasy series and so will always hold a special place in my memories. Her second series is much more ambitious. The way she writes about the north and the clans and the cold absolutely immersed me. I really like her chars. and how she is able to weave so many threads together and still keep each interesting. I do hope that she will finish the series and continue to write because she gets better with each novel she releases. I do believe I read that she was thinking of writing a SF novel. If so, I can't wait to read it.

[Kazz D'Avore]

Book of Words was quite good especially if you read it early on, although some of the plot devices are a bit predictable.
The second series is much better IMO and the characterisation is much improved, Mace Blackhail is the only fantasy character that ive really really despised as though he was real. I see what you mean about the long travelling, i think its to do with the realtionship between the characters but i think she overdoes it a bit. The long wait and constant changing of release date for the next book are also extremely annoying.

[Werthead]

Not sure about the 'constant changing' of the release date. The first officially announced release date was December 2007 over a year ago now. The only change was to actually bring it forward (albeit only by a month).

Agreed about the long wait though.