Tsujigiri

I inadvertently listened to 'Classic rock' on repeat while I read Raymond Feist's Magician for the first time....now the orchestral version of Peter Gabriel's 'Dont' Give Up' always evokes the novel for me.

Estelthea

There is, I used to have a copy somewhere unfortunatly it was not mine and I had to return it. I don't rememeber it being too folky (there was stuff inspired by the wizards and death as well as all the hey-nonny-nonny folk parody). Worth it for the full version of 'The Wizard's Knob' though!

Tsujigiri

I have to have silence while I'm writing, any exteraneous sounds just irritate me. This is possibly why I haven't been as prolific a writer since my progeny arrived on the scene.

Constant noise, no space...and I like to binge write...you know...sit down and write...look up a few days/weeks later and realise that someone has been feeding you and perhaps it's now snowing outside...but you have a completed first draft in front of you

Nothing beats that feeling.

Culhwch

Yeah, I can't say I hear the sounds or an entire music soundtrack (just not that creative, I suppose) but I do like to go back over the dialogue and work out the delivery in my mind - the character's voice, tone, pacing, emphasis etc etc etc.

When I'm reading music doesn't bother me, as long as it is low. Radio bugs me because of the stop-start nature of song-dj-ad-song-dj-ad-ad-ad-ad... When I write I play my entire tracklist on WMP on random - so it's anything from jazz to classical to rock. And what's playing definitely affects the way I write.

a|one

thats funny.. when i read the serpent wars saga i had my walkman on repeat
for a band called System of a down. Now whenever i hear the song Aerials i think of Erick von Darkmoor and Roo Avery somewhere killing giant reptiles

Tsujigiri

Chop Suey evokes the mercenary arms attacking Lalonde with kinetic harpoons in The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton.

a|one

sad to say i havent read it, though the name rings a bell.
it sounds pretty sci fi'ish
to be honest, the reason i dislike most sci fi books as oppose to fantasy is the lack of realistic interesting characters. sci fi novelists always seem to focus more on the science and the plot. what kind of writing style does the reality dysfunction have?

Tsujigiri

It's a Sci-fi Horror Space Opera, there is a plot...it's huge and quite rambling but the entertainment and interest comes fromt he characters who are well developed (occasionally archetypal, but in a good way) and interesting.

Jerry

My two favourite "novel soundtracks" would be Hawkwind's 'The Chronicle of the Black Sword', based on Michael Moorcock's works (specifically the Elric stories), and Steel Prophet's 'Dark Hallucinations', a concept album based on Fahrenheit 451.

But I can't listen to music when I'm reading - my brain just can't multitask

Sirathiel

Lord of the Rings does have classical soundtrack composed long before Jackson ever thought about making it into a film. The name of the composer eludes me at the moment. Sorry. And no, it wasn't Howard Shore.

I usually have some music playing while reading. And since I've the bad habit to play the same albums repeatedly, that makes for curious associations. When I read the book Ecotopia I was listening to the Titanic soundtrack. These days, if I hear that music, I feel myself immediately return to the world of Ecotopia. Same goes for The Dragonrider of Pern and the soundtrack to Brother Bear.

So sue me...

Estelthea

According to the author Robert Rankin (but I would not believe him!) A Dog Called Demolition is the first book with a soundtrack, all the soungs are listed at the end of the book and each one coresponds to a chapter. It's mostly heavy rock and that kind of thing.

Ailanna

David Arkenstone composed a new age soundtrack to LotR before the films came out, too. The title of it is escaping my mind-- Music Inspired by Middle Earth perhaps? Something like that. And a local CA group called Broceliande has put the songs in Tolkien's books to music in their cd The Starlit Jewel; a bit too folksy for me, and I confess I was not a fan of "The Bath Song" even in written form!

I usually have music on while I'm reading, and I occasionally try to coordinate the reading and lisening materials. One of my favorite pairings is a Patricia McKillip novel, complete with stunning cover art by Kinuko Craft and Loreena McKennitt playing in the background. A beautiful, somnambulistic trio.