The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
OLD TASK HELP THREADS
>
Janice's task!

Trying to remember if Hobbit has prophecies mixed in.
Not sure if Sleeping Beauty could count - prediction/curse 16th birthday, prick her finger.
DUNE is a definite PROPHECY - there will come a Messiah :P
Child of Prophecy by Juliet Marillier

If you're at all interested in fantasy, The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling is fantastic, and hinges around a prophecy about a king's niece who is disguised as a boy by means of dark magic so that she can grow up to fulfill the prophecy without being endangered by her uncle. I'm tempted to do a reread for this one, but I'll probably go with the Allende.

I'd definitely like to know from Janice if Dune was okay.



I've heard lots of good things about this book and found it today in the new arrivals at the library. I guess this will be one of the first books I start next week.


I was thinking about that too...

The Rhapsody books by Elizabeth Haydon would work. The second book in the series is actually named Prophecy, but the entire original trilogy deals with the fulfillment of a certain prophecy.
I highly recommend Lynn Flewelling's Tamir Triad, which centers on a prophecy that so long as a woman remains queen of the nation, the nation will prosper, and what happens when a man schemes his way into power. (Which is a horrible summary - you'd be much better off reading the summary for the first book, The Bone Doll's Twin).
The Black Jewel Trilogy by Anne Bishop also centers around the prophecy that Witch will be born, and is a highly enjoyable series.
The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass is another example of a series that centers around a prophecy, as is The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth and both the Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings.
There is also a prophecy that threads through the Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper, another series that I highly recommend.
Other examples that I'm a little less sure about: The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams, and Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr. Confirmation on those would be great, since it's been years since I read the first, and the second is on my to-read list.


And ooh Tani, you remind me of those books I haven't cracked yet. I may put Rhapsody as this task.


I loved that series, although it's not appropriate for younger viewers! Though I did read it at 12 and thought it was amazing and wasn't scarred for life.
Lots of high fantasy has prophecy in it. There's a very high chance there's a prophecy somehow involved if it's a "hard" fantasy (elves, magic, etc.), especially when it's a series. As people mentioned, there's The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time), Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad), The Baker's Boy (Book of Words), etc. I read a lot of these when I was younger.
Some books I've read and loved that involve prophecy:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has an important one (and sounds cool too...Clarke did a good job writing the prophecy so it's poetic and creepy and vague but clear all at the same time).
Watership Down has the entire plot driven by Fiver's vision of the destruction of the warren and the subsequent decision to leave.
A nonfiction on my TBR shelf with good reviews is A Fortune-Teller Told Me Earthbound Travels in the Far East.

Based on the description and multiple reviews (A reviewer says that "He has become something of a medium; receiving visits from a ghost and experiencing moments of predictive ability") I think it would, but I wanted to double check first.
Thanks!


A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett
Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende
Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer
Prophecy by Peter James
The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani
The Hen Night Prophecies by Jessica Fox


Dune -- I think SHOULD be ok since the prophecy is a MAJOR theme that runs even into the next series of books.
Been a while since I saw this one on any shelves BUT it does work -- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.
Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Temple of Ezekiel's Prophecy by Henry Sulley
Eagle's Prophecy by Simon Scarrow
The Presley Prophecy by Allan Morrison
And can't forget Nostradamus.

I'd definitely like to know from Janice if Dune was okay."
Dune is ok

Not familiar with Gemma, I'd say no to visions of the ESP flash. I'm looking for the "at the beginning of the line a wise woman prophesied..." or "a hero will arise..."
Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli novels are definitely on the list.


I've heard lots of good things about this book and found it today in ..."
Is this the novel that was made into the movie Knowing? Looks like an interesting twist in how the prophecy is presented, and I'll take it.

Not familiar with Gemma, I'd say no to visions of the ESP flash. I'm looking for the "at the beginni..."
Okay thanks Janice! I may have to check those out :)

If "psychic" is related to a specific fortune telling or prophetic statement, yes. Just having visions/hunches and acting on them is not enough.

Based on the description and multiple reviews (A reviewer says that "He has become something of a medium; receiving visit..."
Does he predict things on a regular basis? Does he write them down for public view? Does he hold town hall meetings and tell people what their future will be? That's acceptable.
Or is he just "seeing" that turning left will lead to different consequences or being led by spirits to do their bidding? That's not this task.

I loved that series, although it's not appropriate..."
All of those are excellent.

If you're at all interested in fantasy, The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling is fantastic, and hinges around a prophe..."
Plus The Bone Doll's Twin is creepy, so you get a really Halloween thing going.

Actually, neither of these is what I wanted.
The first is mostly dreams of the ESP kind: a passive, rather than active, thing. The second is more like a self-curse working through others than a prophecy to guide people after the fact.

I think prophecies are all about the end of: the world, the ruling family, the country, life as we know it. Even the "good" ones.

Based on the description and multiple reviews (A reviewer says that "He has become something of a medium; ..."
Ah, gotcha. I think it's more along the lines of the second scenario you listed, so it won't count.
I think instead I'll either read The Shape of Things to Come by H.G. Wells or The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

When I read that, my immediate thought was, "Can I read the Book of Isaiah?" But ummm... Isaiah is confusing.
I think I'll read either The Fortunes of Indigo Skye or Pawn of Prophecy, which my husband assures me has a love story in it. He knows EXACTLY what to say to get me interested... ;)

When I read that, my immediate thought was, "Can I read the Book of Isaiah?" But ummm... Isaiah is confusing.
I think I..."
Isaiah also is not 100+ pages, but go ahead and read the entire Bible. It's full of prophecies.


Maybe not for this task - even though most recent printings have fewer than 1000 pages - but I have it on good authority that if you read at least three verses a day, you can read the entire Bible in a year. My authority further states that one should devide the bible into six sections (i.e. The 5 "Books of Moses"; the histories; the Psalms-Song of Solomon, Esther, etc.; the prophets; the Gospels & Acts; and the letters & Revelations) and read from one section each day, so one does not get bogged down on any one section.

The book needs to be about the foretelling, prophecy, prediction or a fortune teller* OR the stated words - "Fortune" Or "Prophecy" - have to be in the title.
I will accept "Fortunes", "Fortune's", and "Prophecies" in the title.
*For this task, "fortune teller" means a professional, not just a random dreamer or people playing around with a ouija board. I'll accept a prophet, a sooth-sayer, a tarot reader, a chiromant (i.e. palmist), a reader of entrails or cast bones, a crystal gazer, an astrologist, the Witch of Endor, a medium who foretells the future as long as their job is to tell the future.
If you really can't find a book under the above guidelines, I'll accept a book about an insurance actuary or a horse-racing bookie.

LOL!

I read that, and was like, "What does that have to do with... Oh..." and I burst out laughing.

I think you mean 3 chapters a day? Verses won't get you too far...
We use the King James Version, and it's got 1590 pages... (The Old Testament alone has 1184 pages...) EEK! I found . It's a pretty nice site! You can switch versions and print out monthly reading calendars... You can even get the daily reading e-mailed to you every day! Cool! It's still daunting though...

How about books centering on the oracles of Delphi in Greek mythology?

Hmmm. Wonder about MacBeath or are the 3 witches feature too little to be a main theme?

Contact-Carl Sagan
"...his prophetic adventure story,..."
or
2001 A Space Odyssey-Arthur C. Clarke
"Even though history has disproved its 'predictions,'..."
The included quotes are taken from the goodreads summary of each book. Has anyone who read these books clarify if they feature prophecy Or predictions as a main theme. Thank you!

It's a classic, but I hated it. Of course, I hate most classics, so... nrrr...

Yes, of course you may read something based on the Greek Oracles, who were fortune tellers, but not the Norns nor the Fates, who created without foretelling.
Also, you can't read 300 because that's a graphic novel, which, as far as I'm concerned is just a gentrified comic book.

Foretelling the future was part of the grounds for the witchcraft accusation against Tituba. It always seemed to me that she got the short end, as the girls probably egged her into telling their fortunes (predicting whom they would marry, most likely) and then they all turned on her the minute the elders got wind of their messing around.
Books mentioned in this topic
Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, Vol. 1: Priestess (other topics)Fushigi Yûgi: The Mysterious Play, Vol. 1: Priestess (other topics)
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (other topics)
The Friends of Meager Fortune (other topics)
The House on Fortune Street (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
MaryJanice Davidson (other topics)Melody Carlson (other topics)
Dean Koontz (other topics)
Dick Francis (other topics)
Ron Currie Jr. (other topics)
More...
Any suggestions?! I'm drawing a blank ....