Mary Gentle?

[AE35Unit]

I've had a comic fantasy of hers on my shelf for ages now,'Grunts',but does she also write SF?

 

[iansales]

Yes. Golden Witchbreed and Ancient Light are sf. Rats & Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire, and Left To His Own Devices are arguably sf. Ash: A Secret History is very much sf, although some will argue the point.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well,i'd heard of the first 3 titles there but always assumed they were fantasy! Not heard of Ash before.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Grunts made me laugh in places,black humor or what.

 

[AE35Unit]

Grunts made me laugh in places,black humor or what.

Must give it a read someday. I've had it on my shelf since i bought it new way back in the late 80s,never read past the dispru chapter.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I read Golden Witchbreed & Ancient Light years go and loved them, not my favourite books, but very enjoyable and then read Grunts (and still have a copy) which I loved even more, finding it very, very funny.

Then Rats and Gargoyles came out, and there was a lot of positive noise made about it. I read it but was left cold. I could see it was clever and well written, but it just did not appeal to me. (I do know that one of my friends loved it, in fact still has my copy of the book)

Since then I've tried reading more of her material and none has really caught my attention like the earlier works. (But it's just me)

 

[Pyan]

Yes, I agree with you about Rats and Gargoyles...have tried to get into it several times, with no success at all.

I read Ash when I was rather ill, on industrial-strength antibiotics and running a fever of about 104°, and the book worked its way into my head and dreams so effectively that I've never been able to re-read it. There's a section about the winter in Burgundy that had me shivering so violently that I thought I'd break the bed...arguably some of the most effective writing I've ever read.

Oh, and I've got Grunts as well, which, if nothing else, made me look at Rosie Cotton in an entirely new light....

 

[AE35Unit]

Wow stirring stuff Py. But who's Rosie Cotton?

 

[Pyan]

Ah, sorry, AE...Lord of the Rings reference.

Rosie Cotton is a female Hobbit - you'll have to read Grunts to work out the rest!

 

[Connavar]

Ash isnt that the female general of hers in some alternate history book ?

I think i read an review of a book of that character in sfsite.com. The military,alternate history thing got me interested.

 

[Winter Lord]

Try The Architecture of Desire. An alternate history novel with the White Crow in it.

 

[iansales]

Ash: A Secret History is about a female mercenary captain in an alternate Middle Ages where Burgundy still exists, and North Africa is populated by Visigoths and is permanently night. Framing that is a near-future narrative in which a scientist writes a study of Ash's "fictional" diary, only for his world to change such that Ash's past becomes his past.

Rats & Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire, Left to his own Devices and some of the stories in Scholars & Soldiers all feature White Crow and are set in a Renaissance-style fantasy world based on the Hermetic tradition - well, Rats & Gargoyles is; the other two stories move it forward through the Reformation to the present day. All have been collected in an omnibus edition, White Crow.

Also worth reading is 'The Road to Jerusalem', which is one of my favourite sf stories. There's a copy of it here on infinity plus.

 

[Connavar]

Ash: A Secret History is about a female mercenary captain in an alternate Middle Ages where Burgundy still exists, and North Africa is populated by Visigoths and is permanently night. Framing that is a near-future narrative in which a scientist writes a study of Ash's "fictional" diary, only for his world to change such that Ash's past becomes his past.

Rats & Gargoyles, The Architecture of Desire, Left to his own Devices and some of the stories in Scholars & Soldiers all feature White Crow and are set in a Renaissance-style fantasy world based on the Hermetic tradition - well, Rats & Gargoyles is; the other two stories move it forward through the Reformation to the present day. All have been collected in an omnibus edition, White Crow.

Also worth reading is 'The Road to Jerusalem', which is one of my favourite sf stories. There's a copy of it here on infinity plus.

Are there africans then in the rest of Africa ? Wierd Visigoths in North Africa.

Is it a good read ? I want to read the alternate middle ages part.

After Tim Powers fantasy books, im getting a thing for different historical fantasy.

 

[Pyan]

Are there africans then in the rest of Africa ? Wierd Visigoths in North Africa.

Is it a good read ? I want to read the alternate middle ages part.

After Tim Powers fantasy books, im getting a thing for different historical fantasy.

It's an excellent read, Conn...highly recommended. Sorry, I should have made that clearer.

And the Visigoths in the book just do basically what the Moors did in RL.

 

[Connavar]

It's an excellent read, Conn...highly recommended. Sorry, I should have made that clearer.

And the Visigoths in the book just do basically what the Moors did in RL.

Interesting with what Visigoths is doing in the book.

Im a big fan of the moors. They left alot culture to show the good side of Islam. Have seen many documentaries,read about them.

I will check it out then. Pyan's pimping it+ a good review is enough in this case

 

[Pyan]

Pyan's pimping it+ a good review is enough in this case

Alas, not a penny comes my way from any of my recommendations...would that it did!