Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
OK, what I thought I'd do is just dump all my reviews here, so they can be easily mined for possible inclusion on the reviews section later. Feel free to jump in, comment and contradict.
The Knivesout Revue
- Thread starter Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
- Start date
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
Ian R MacLeod - The Light Ages
I've just finished Ian R MacLeod's The Light Ages and it was quite a read. Despite the 400+ pages length, I somehow buckled in and finished it in about four days, even though it's not what you'd call a fast read.
it's essentially a parallel-history tale of a Victorian Age (minus Victoria) dominated by a mysterious, magical element called aether which forms the basis of all industry and craft.
The working out of how aether functions is science fictional in spirit, even though the substance has magical properties. However, this does not form a very large part of the story - aether is more of a constant undertone, like the booming of the aether-works in the narrators' home town.
In the process of telling the tale of how the aether-dominated Age of Industry with its oppresive guild system is overturned and a new Age that is oddly similar takes its place, MacLeod weaves in messages or just thoughts about environmental pollution, the nature of progress, politics and more.
But the story is really about people - most of all, Robert Borrows, the narrator, who manages to be at the heart of the events that lead to the unravelling of his Age and the birth of the new Age. Borrows' story paralleled the tale of Pip in Great Expectations in many ways, I felt, although I can't comment on the significance of these parallels.
The tale is told in a leisurely, almost dreamy way, following the entire course of Borrows' life, and there is a lot of melancholy in the overal mood. So it's not a brisk, snappy read, but it is very worthwhile, if you are willing to take the time.
I've just finished Ian R MacLeod's The Light Ages and it was quite a read. Despite the 400+ pages length, I somehow buckled in and finished it in about four days, even though it's not what you'd call a fast read.
it's essentially a parallel-history tale of a Victorian Age (minus Victoria) dominated by a mysterious, magical element called aether which forms the basis of all industry and craft.
The working out of how aether functions is science fictional in spirit, even though the substance has magical properties. However, this does not form a very large part of the story - aether is more of a constant undertone, like the booming of the aether-works in the narrators' home town.
In the process of telling the tale of how the aether-dominated Age of Industry with its oppresive guild system is overturned and a new Age that is oddly similar takes its place, MacLeod weaves in messages or just thoughts about environmental pollution, the nature of progress, politics and more.
But the story is really about people - most of all, Robert Borrows, the narrator, who manages to be at the heart of the events that lead to the unravelling of his Age and the birth of the new Age. Borrows' story paralleled the tale of Pip in Great Expectations in many ways, I felt, although I can't comment on the significance of these parallels.
The tale is told in a leisurely, almost dreamy way, following the entire course of Borrows' life, and there is a lot of melancholy in the overal mood. So it's not a brisk, snappy read, but it is very worthwhile, if you are willing to take the time.
Re: Ian R MacLeod - The Light Ages
Just to say - excellent idea. I'll try to keep up.
Just to say - excellent idea. I'll try to keep up.
I've never heard of the author or his book but it looks interesting - almost kind of Steam Punkish. I may have to look it up and give it a try Wasn't Aether an old (ye olde?) word that people used to use to describe Space and the Cosmos?
Wasn't Aether an old (ye olde?) word that people used to use to describe Space and the Cosmos?
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
I think so. Right up until the last century, when, I think two chaps named Clerk and Maxwell (?) disporved it, scientists thought most of the universe was filled with this intangible element called ether. Then came Einstein and Realtivity...
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Knivesout no more
Veniss Underground - Jeff VanderMeer
Veniss Underground
by Jeff VanderMeer
2003
I've been hearing all sorts of good things about Jeff VanderMeer's Veniss Underground, and now that I've read it I can tell you they're all true.
Perhaps the nicest thing about the book is its brevity, for a book that broadly falls into the fantasy genre. At just about 200 pages, it's an elegant, economically written tale that sparkles with ideas, images and yes, even, erudition. There are various literary and mythical references, but it doesn't really hurt if you miss a lot of them. The story is strong enough on its own.
The core story is that most hackneyed of genre devices - the quest. It traces one Shadrach's descent into the underworld to rescue his beloved, and then (literally) into the belly of the beast to avenge the wrongs that were visited upon her.
That's as far as the cliché goes, though. The setting, to begin with, is not some mediaevalist middle earth analog - it's a grim, intricately nightmarish far-future. The dark underworld is populated with ghastly creatures - all of which are the creations of Quin, an insane, brilliant genetic artist. Shadrach's beloved, Nicola, no longer returns his love. Quin himself is not unambiguously evil - he is cruel, sadistic and supremely twisted in a manner that Salvador Dali would have applauded, but it is hard to tell if his basic motivation - to replace the human race with something new - can be described as intrinsically evil.
The story is superbly constructed - it is divided into three sections, each longer than the previous one. First, we hear from Nicholas, second-rate struggling artist and Nicola's twin, in the first-person. Then we meet Nicola herself, in an unusual and unusually succesful second-person narrative. Finally, Shadrach, yes, the third person and in third-person.
It may all seem very clever-clever, but it in fact works quite seamlessly.
The book is quite nerve-wracking at times - certain scenes are not for the weak of stomach - and yet, capable of oddly whimsical invention at others. There are scenes of utter horror and moments of total brutality (Shadrach discovers that Nicola has been captured by Quin when he visits an elderly client of Quin who is wearing Nicola's transplanted eye and hand). And yet, the prose is so smooth and compelling, you have to read it all.
In fact, this was the first book in a long time that I stayed up all night to finish. It was also my biggest lit-kick since Umberto Eco's Baudolino.
Go get it and read it.
Veniss Underground
by Jeff VanderMeer
2003
I've been hearing all sorts of good things about Jeff VanderMeer's Veniss Underground, and now that I've read it I can tell you they're all true.
Perhaps the nicest thing about the book is its brevity, for a book that broadly falls into the fantasy genre. At just about 200 pages, it's an elegant, economically written tale that sparkles with ideas, images and yes, even, erudition. There are various literary and mythical references, but it doesn't really hurt if you miss a lot of them. The story is strong enough on its own.
The core story is that most hackneyed of genre devices - the quest. It traces one Shadrach's descent into the underworld to rescue his beloved, and then (literally) into the belly of the beast to avenge the wrongs that were visited upon her.
That's as far as the cliché goes, though. The setting, to begin with, is not some mediaevalist middle earth analog - it's a grim, intricately nightmarish far-future. The dark underworld is populated with ghastly creatures - all of which are the creations of Quin, an insane, brilliant genetic artist. Shadrach's beloved, Nicola, no longer returns his love. Quin himself is not unambiguously evil - he is cruel, sadistic and supremely twisted in a manner that Salvador Dali would have applauded, but it is hard to tell if his basic motivation - to replace the human race with something new - can be described as intrinsically evil.
The story is superbly constructed - it is divided into three sections, each longer than the previous one. First, we hear from Nicholas, second-rate struggling artist and Nicola's twin, in the first-person. Then we meet Nicola herself, in an unusual and unusually succesful second-person narrative. Finally, Shadrach, yes, the third person and in third-person.
It may all seem very clever-clever, but it in fact works quite seamlessly.
The book is quite nerve-wracking at times - certain scenes are not for the weak of stomach - and yet, capable of oddly whimsical invention at others. There are scenes of utter horror and moments of total brutality (Shadrach discovers that Nicola has been captured by Quin when he visits an elderly client of Quin who is wearing Nicola's transplanted eye and hand). And yet, the prose is so smooth and compelling, you have to read it all.
In fact, this was the first book in a long time that I stayed up all night to finish. It was also my biggest lit-kick since Umberto Eco's Baudolino.
Go get it and read it.
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