Totally gone??

[Encephylops]

I've read a fairly sizable chunk of pre-70s Sci-fi, all the way back to Verne, Wells, Burroughs and some of their predecessors. It seems to me that the books that REALLY thoroughly intrigue me; make me really glow with adventure have that Lewis-esque narrative that flows as if some aged and noble person is delivering to you a story beyond animation with a glass of single-malt scotch in their hand and a gleam in their eye. Even H.Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and the like are just the most rip-roarenest stories I could ask for...

Has anyone seen anything similar in contemporary Sci-fi? Where are the wrinkled legends who lived through it all to start a novel:

You came here to hear a story, and a story is what you'll get. It all began when I was just 17 years old, and I first stepped aboard the mighty space cruiser Esperantes, crewed entirely (and piloted!) by the descendants of the great Amazonian Empire......

I miss that kind of storytelling...

 

[Dave]

I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem. The storyteller is a 19 year old reluctant hero who has never left a monastery for 10 years and begins a journal of his adventures. I don't know how old he is at the end because I'm only half way through.

Maybe not exactly what you may be looking for though if you want contemporary settings?

Is it just first person storytelling that you want, or does the storyteller have to be an old guy who outlived all his enemies and peers? That makes it difficult and I don't think I can help.

Have you read Cryptonomicon also by Stephenson? That is contemporary, and without spoiling, Enoch Root is a pretty old guy!

Iain M Banks writes some rip-roaring adventures - Against a Dark Background - I think that fits the kind of novel, though it is not typical of his other books.

I'll have to have a further think on what I have read recently.

 

[Encephylops]

Thanks for the suggested items, I'll take a look.

I guess what I'm looking for is something where the narrator is 'talking' directly to you, like C.S.Lewis does in the Narnia books, or like H. Rider Haggard's high adventures.

 

[HareBrain]

I guess what I'm looking for is something where the narrator is 'talking' directly to you, like C.S.Lewis does in the Narnia books, or like H. Rider Haggard's high adventures.

That classic style of storytelling, where the narration is in third-person but the narrator seems to be addressing the reader directly, has fallen right out of favour - you might find it still in children's books, but in adult fiction it's now almost non-existent.

That leaves first-person narratives, but they're not so common in SFF, especially not in the more epic varieties.

Sorry, this probably wasn't much help.

 

[Pyan]

I guess what I'm looking for is something where the narrator is 'talking' directly to you, like C.S.Lewis does in the Narnia books, or like H. Rider Haggard's high adventures.

Or "The Hobbit"...

Mind you, Terry Pratchett writes in a style very close to this, especially with the little footnotes scattered through the Discworld books.

 

[Ursa major]

Off he top of my head, I think the three Takeshi Kovacs novels (in order: Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Woken Furies), by Richard Morgan, are in the first person. (Well, the first one is, anyway.)

 

[Encephylops]

Or "The Hobbit"...

Mind you, Terry Pratchett writes in a style very close to this, especially with the little footnotes scattered through the Discworld books.

Too true. Pratchetts work (especially the Rincewind and Death stories) is a prime example. Just fantastically bizzare and wonderful.

Ursa, I'll check out Kovacs and Morgan, thanks!

That's kind of what I expected, HareBrain. I'm sure someone still writes in this fashion; but if not, I suppose I've got a niche to re-open. I'd love to write high sci-fi or space opera with that sort of narrative. Think it could fly?

 

[AE35Unit]

You could try Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I was told it was boring but I enjoyed the adventure. Yes its slow and not much happens but its a great trip!
Also try Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger novels,The Lost World etc.
I think that Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books are somewhat like this in that the hero seems to address the reader personally at times,which serves to involve you in the story.

 

[Dave]

I think that Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books are somewhat like this in that the hero seems to address the reader personally at times,which serves to involve you in the story.

I'll second that; I'd forgotten about those.

 

[dustinzgirl]

Those stories are excellent because they are 'journey/exploration' stories. Which do not sell anymore unless the journey is a smaller part of a character story. Modern sales are based on character strife, not exploration and journey. Even in television.

 

[The Procrastinator]

I just finished a re-read of Iain M Banks' Player of Games, which had a bit of that narrative approach - the story is told to the reader by one of the characters, though it is only in small sections that this comes through heavily. This novel is a bit of a journey/exploration, for sure. Damn fine book, too.

 

[BAYLOR]

I've read a fairly sizable chunk of pre-70s Sci-fi, all the way back to Verne, Wells, Burroughs and some of their predecessors. It seems to me that the books that REALLY thoroughly intrigue me; make me really glow with adventure have that Lewis-esque narrative that flows as if some aged and noble person is delivering to you a story beyond animation with a glass of single-malt scotch in their hand and a gleam in their eye. Even H.Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and the like are just the most rip-roarenest stories I could ask for...

Has anyone seen anything similar in contemporary Sci-fi? Where are the wrinkled legends who lived through it all to start a novel:

You came here to hear a story, and a story is what you'll get. It all began when I was just 17 years old, and I first stepped aboard the mighty space cruiser Esperantes, crewed entirely (and piloted!) by the descendants of the great Amazonian Empire......

I miss that kind of storytelling...

Years to late on my reply . I was not here on the site when this topic was posted , but yes , that style has fallen by the wayside.

Sometimes, when I find threads like these, it makes me wish I had found Chrons far sooner than I did.