Most beautifully written book

What's the most beautifully written book you've ever read?

I would have to say one of the most beautifully written books I've read is the Chanters of Tremaris trilogy. Kate Constable has such a lovely, lyrical voice! I even wrote to her to tell her how much I loved her books and I HEARD BACK. That was a good day!

What about you?

I've never read those books, what are they about?? The best written book for me would be any of Kelley Armstrong's YA books, I'd explain why but it would be a really long post but, the most beautifully written book would probably be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's probably because there aren't any books written like that anymore, and the words could be interpreted in different ways. I loved it!

The Wind on Fire Trilogy by William Nicholson, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and LOTR plus The Hobbit. These are all beautifully written in their own ways. Wind on Fire has a delightfully British voice, wonderful imagery, and perfect word choice. The Goose Girl (pretty much all her YA works, anyway) has lyrical language, and beautiful ideas and storytelling. LOTR is lyrical in the old-fashioned way, with lengthy but wonderful descriptions, and will always hold a place in my heart. I think that's it.

I've never read the ones you guys mentioned--I'll have to check them out.

Renee wrote:The Wind on Fire Trilogy by William Nicholson, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and LOTR plus The Hobbit. These are all beautifully written in their own ways. Wind on Fire has a delightfully British voice, wonderful imagery, and perfect word choice. The Goose Girl (pretty much all her YA works, anyway) has lyrical language, and beautiful ideas and storytelling. LOTR is lyrical in the old-fashioned way, with lengthy but wonderful descriptions, and will always hold a place in my heart. I think that's it.

I've never read the ones you guys mentioned--I'll have to check them out.

I haven't read any of those books, though I've seen some good reviews of Goose Girl so I'vd been wanting to read it. The Wind on Fire trilogy, LOTR, and the Hobbit sound good too!
And you have to read Kelley Armstrongs YA books! She became my all time favorite author! They are so amazing! The first one is called The Summoning and she writes free short stories online too! You can find them on her website under archives, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] you can read Dangerous and the Kat story but you don't want to read the other two stories until you read the books cause they're stories that happen after/during the books

Renee' already took mine, so...Shakespeare! John Keats(poetry)! Samuel Taylor Coleridge(also poetry)! Everything by C.S. Lewis! All of these people epitomize the beauty of the English language. Robert Browning and Lord Alfred Tennyson, also. Most of them didn't write books, per se, but used language beautifully, and reading their work helps influence my writing for a more lyrical style. Which is always good.

Amanda wrote:Renee' already took mine, so...Shakespeare! John Keats(poetry)! Samuel Taylor Coleridge(also poetry)! Everything by C.S. Lewis! All of these people epitomize the beauty of the English language. Robert Browning and Lord Alfred Tennyson, also. Most of them didn't write books, per se, but used language beautifully, and reading their work helps influence my writing for a more lyrical style. Which is always good.

C.S. Lewis is good! Though, I've only read one book by him. I don't like Shakespeare though, probably because I had to read it for school and I had no clue what anyone was talking about lol. Do you write poetry?

Sarah wrote:I've never read those books, what are they about?? The best written book for me would be any of Kelley Armstrong's YA books, I'd explain why but it would be a really long post but, the most beautifully written book would probably be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's probably because there aren't any books written like that anymore, and the words could be interpreted in different ways. I loved it!

This is about the first book in the Trilogy:

"Calwyn has lived all her life behind the high ice-wall that guards the sisters of Antaris from the world of Tremaris.

The sisters practice ice chantment -- one of the Nine Powers of chantment, a form of magic worked through music. But when Calwyn finds an Outlander man fallen, wounded, through the wall, she is drawn to him ... and drawn into a wondrous, dangerous adventure.

It is an adventure that takes her outside the wall and to the limits of her own powers, as she, the Outlander Darrow, and others unite to defeat the sorcerer Samis, who seeks to claim all Nine Powers and become the Singer of All Songs."

It may sound 'ehh' but it's so well written it makes up for any flaws.

Sarah wrote:C.S. Lewis is good! Though, I've only read one book by him. I don't like Shakespeare though, probably because I had to read it for school and I had no clue what anyone was talking about lol. Do you write poetry?

I've read the whole of Chronicles of Narnia, The Great Divorce, and The Screwtape Letters, and I'm working on reading his essays--they're all very good. And I don't write poetry, after several rather meager attempts in the past, but I do enjoy reading it, as long as it's well-written. I like to use techniques learned from poetry in my novel writing, i.e. precise word choice, involving the sound, the mood, and the image you get from the word...for every single word. Comparing past work with my current stuff that applies this idea, it's several times better just in the flow department. So poetry is good.

Lizzy wrote:

Sarah wrote:I've never read those books, what are they about?? The best written book for me would be any of Kelley Armstrong's YA books, I'd explain why but it would be a really long post but, the most beautifully written book would probably be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's probably because there aren't any books written like that anymore, and the words could be interpreted in different ways. I loved it!

This is about the first book in the Trilogy:

"Calwyn has lived all her life behind the high ice-wall that guards the sisters of Antaris from the world of Tremaris.

The sisters practice ice chantment -- one of the Nine Powers of chantment, a form of magic worked through music. But when Calwyn finds an Outlander man fallen, wounded, through the wall, she is drawn to him ... and drawn into a wondrous, dangerous adventure.

It is an adventure that takes her outside the wall and to the limits of her own powers, as she, the Outlander Darrow, and others unite to defeat the sorcerer Samis, who seeks to claim all Nine Powers and become the Singer of All Songs."

It may sound 'ehh' but it's so well written it makes up for any flaws.

It sounds pretty good! I'll put it on top of my list to read!!!

Amanda wrote:

Sarah wrote:C.S. Lewis is good! Though, I've only read one book by him. I don't like Shakespeare though, probably because I had to read it for school and I had no clue what anyone was talking about lol. Do you write poetry?

I've read the whole of Chronicles of Narnia, The Great Divorce, and The Screwtape Letters, and I'm working on reading his essays--they're all very good. And I don't write poetry, after several rather meager attempts in the past, but I do enjoy reading it, as long as it's well-written. I like to use techniques learned from poetry in my novel writing, i.e. precise word choice, involving the sound, the mood, and the image you get from the word...for every single word. Comparing past work with my current stuff that applies this idea, it's several times better just in the flow department. So poetry is good.

I'll have to start reading more books by him! I tried and failed at poetry too lol, it wasn't that it was bad per say, its more that I had to force myself to write it which sucked the fun out if it. But I like reading it! Thats great that its helping your writing!

I have to admit, I've never been a big C.S Lewis fan. Yeah, be shocked. I have only read a few of the Chronicles of Narnia books because I had to to watch the movies. Other than that though...I'm not sure why. I never liked his writing.

Now I'm older I should try again. *wince*

Lizzy wrote:I have to admit, I've never been a big C.S Lewis fan. Yeah, be shocked. I have only read a few of the Chronicles of Narnia books because I had to to watch the movies. Other than that though...I'm not sure why. I never liked his writing.

Now I'm older I should try again. *wince*

I like his later books better than the early ones. He has a very storyteller vibe the whole time, so it can be a bit distant from the characters, but he gets better at pulling you into their heads in the later ones. I could never get through them when I was younger--I've read The Magician's Nephew like five times, and the rest once, haha. The Magician's Nephew is actually one of my favorites in the series.

Amanda wrote:
I like his later books better than the early ones. He has a very storyteller vibe the whole time, so it can be a bit distant from the characters, but he gets better at pulling you into their heads in the later ones. I could never get through them when I was younger--I've read The Magician's Nephew like five times, and the rest once, haha. The Magician's Nephew is actually one of my favorites in the series.

I've never read any of his later books. I'll have to put that on my list because I probably shouldn't judge his writing on the Narnia books alone.

I did enjoy the Magician's Nephew, actually. It kind of creeped me out, just a bit, but I did like it all the same.

Yeah, The Magician's Nephew was written like fifth or sixth, so it's a bit of a let down to go from that quality of writing to The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe. But if you can get through it, it gets really good.

Amanda wrote:Yeah, The Magician's Nephew was written like fifth or sixth, so it's a bit of a let down to go from that quality of writing to The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe. But if you can get through it, it gets really good.

I agree, it does. I loved the rings.

The Book Thief. Oh goodness. That book was so beautifully written I wanted to explode. The author is Markus Zusak. If you haven't read it, read it. It's so amazing!

Also, Patrick Ness, who wrote the Chaos Walking trilogy (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men). He astounds me. His writing style is very ... different. He writes in very short sentences, fragments, etc. which I usually hate, except he captures so much emotion it's like ... I can't even describe. Those books were emotionally exhausting. I actually couldn't breathe for most of them. So good.

Neal Shusterman is also a fantastic writer. He wrote the Skinjacker trilogy (Everlost, Everwild, and Everfound), Unwind, Bruiser ... and a bunch of other books, but those ones are my favorites. His world-building is really thorough and fascinating, especially in the Skinjacker books. Same goes for his characterization; I love his characters! And his writing is beautiful.

So yeah, those are my top three. All writers that make me ashamed of my own writing.