What literary delights are you delving into this December?

Finished Out of the Silent Planet by C.S.Lewis on Saturday. I found it enjoyable; perhaps this was because I decided to allow for the books age (first published in 1938) with regard to some of the science described (and not). I'm quite tempted to read the sequels.
 
I have just finished Thorns (1967) by Robert Silverberg.

By the way, I'm glad I read this after his Downward to the Earth, although the latter was, I believe, published two years later. As I wrote a few days ago, there was a point in that book where I nearly gave up; I'm glad I didn't. If I'd read Thorns first, though, I might have given up there and then, and on this writer as a whole, which would have been a mistake.

I ought to start with the positives. Robert Siverberg's writing carried me along and I found the two principal characters quite sympathetically and truthfully portrayed; their stories take centre stage most of the time, which is just as well.

The conceipt that drives the book is silly (and unnecessary, if truth be told). I was going to say profoundly silly, but that simply isn't an adequate description. The silliness is fractal: from which ever angle you approach it, and whether you look at it as a whole or burrow down into its detail, it's silly. Mind-numbingly so. It's a testament to Robert Silverberg's writing that you are able to forget it for long stretches and actually have the bad luck to reach the ludicrous final chapter. I shall have to read more of this writer's work, but profoundly hope that none of it is as silly as this book was.

(As an aside, someone in the Publishing area of the Chrons said that she did not like too many POV switches; she wouldn't like chapter four where, for effect, two completely separate events alternate faster and faster until they occupy alternate sentences. And it's not as if either thread was meant to be exciting, which is just as well.)
 
I've started Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner. It has some fantasy elements in it, compared to the 2 previous books which were more alternate historical fiction.
What I'm really enjoying is the character driven nature of the story. For once there is no impending doom/gloom/dark lord. Mostly it's about political intrigue and the discovery of a possible heir to a long since disposed monarchy. It's a much stronger story than it's chronological predecessor, Privilege of the Sword.
 
Separated by some Cordwainer Smith short stories, I'm re-reading the His Dark Materials books by P. Pullman. I have to purify my mind after that movie.
 
Just finished reading Lovecraft: A Graphic Novel. Whilst this novel deals loosely with Howard's life and the themes he wrote about I still found myself enjoying the artwork more than the stroy itself. I was left with a feeling that so much more could have been done with this book and that little true reasearch had been done into the life of this most extraoridnary writer of the imagination. 3 stars out of 5.
 
Rosemary said:
Now I have started to read 'The Black God' by Greg Keyes. I used to be a member of his forum but have never read any of his books! :eek: This is a sequel to 'The Waterborn', seems to be 'dark fantasy'. Hopefully there will be lighter passages. :)
Click to expand...
:eek: I finished the the Prologue and then realised I had read it and The Waterborn as well. However, it has been a number of years, so I really enjoyed re-reading it.

Until I can afford it or Santa to give me a Book Voucher, I shall be re-reading Tad William's Shadowmarch.



 
Just started The Hallowed Hunt by Lois Bujold.
Didn't realise it was a Chalion book...a pleasant surprise....:)
 
I have just finished Singularity Sky by Charles Stross. All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I was left feeling ... I don't know ... a little "empty".

I'll list the good points:
  • an interesting story, with quite a few twists and turns;
  • a sometimes humourous turn of phrase;
  • some interesting characters;
  • a lot of imagination.
Bad points? I can't say the book doesn't hold together; it does; nor do any of the characters pall. It just seems to add up to less than a sum of its parts. Basically, there are too many ideas for the plot to carry. Stross has invented an interesting set of futures for the human race and then crashes them all together, almost as if to see what might happen; the result trades narrative drive for gee-wiz imagination. (The book also reminded me a bit too much of Look to Winward by Iain Banks, which is more a grab bag of ideas than a coherent novel.)

None of the above will stop me reading the sequel (Iron Sunrise) when, that is, I can get hold of it. I'm basing this on the assumption that, as the author's first published novel, he wanted to pack Singularity Sky full of things to grab the readers' attention. By the time he got to the sequel, I'm hoping he's had a chance to calm down; but not too much.
 
Im reading two books right now. Even though i dont like to do that.


Finaly Deadhouse Gates is becoming more interesting to read. When i find it too slow and uninteresting depending on whats happening then i read :

The Maltese Falcone by Dashiell Hammett, so far he is not half as good as Chandler or Ross Macdonald but still an interesting hardboiled detective story The opening scene with the Vs was alittle too much. If you have read the book you know why....
 
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