September's Studious Search For Sonorous Snippets

[GOLLUM]

Feel free to post what you've been reading for the month of September...

 

[Fried Egg]

Thanks Gollum, I'm into the final third of "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr. and next up I plan to read the final part of Gene Wolf's "The Book of the New Sun" quartet: "The Citadel of the Autarch".

 

[elvet]

I'm reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's SF set in the near future. The story involves a multibillionaire computer guru who sets up a virtual world treasure hunt to bestow his fortune posthumously. The deceased grew up in the 80's so all the clues are related to that era. It's full of computer, book, music, and gaming references from that decade.

 

[HareBrain]

Still on Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae -- most amazing, thought-provoking, dense, erudite, funny, fascinating book on art I've ever read. Also just re-started ploughing through my Akira set, probably untouched for ten years.

But no novels.

 

[biodroid]

John Scalzi - Old Man's War

 

[J-Sun]

Reading John Shirley's Three Ring Psychus. I'm not sure what I think of it yet (about half through) but it's much better than its title. Kind of a mishmash of SF, fantasy, and horror (unsurprising in that it's Shirley).

 

[Gilean]

China Miéville - The Scar

 

[Extollager]

I'm in one of those periods when most sf isn't attractive, which is convenient since I have a lot of reading I need to do on Russian lit. I'm about halfway through Frank's 5-volume biography of Dostoevsky (though I've done some skipping); I'm rereading Jane Eyre; and my nightstand book is Thomas Bewick's Memoir. I did (re)visit Ballard's early story "The Illuminated Man" recently. I think he must have expanded this into something called The Crystal World -- ?

 

[antiloquax]

I am enjoying "The Anubis Gates" so far. Not read any Tim Powers before ...

 

[D_Davis]

I am enjoying "The Anubis Gates" so far. Not read any Tim Powers before ...

I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't like that book. And my dislike for it is as fierce as demon's breath from the fiery depths of hell.


***

Started The Year of our War, by Steph Swainston last night. Absolutely loving it so far. I've been craving a great fantasy to sink my teeth into, and this is so much more in my wheelhouse than ASOIAF is. It's bizarre and weird, imaginative and creative, and otherworldly. It has piqued my interest in the same that Elric, The Last Dragon, and The Divinity Student did. I wish I was at home today so I could read the whole thing. I think I'm going to devour this series.

 

[antiloquax]

I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't like that book. And my dislike for it is as fierce as demon's breath from the fiery depths of hell.

Started The Year of our War, by Steph Swainston last night.

So, why didn't you like it? I'm only a little way in. It does feel a bit "pulpy" but the Coleridge thing is drawing me in ...

The Swainston book sound good!
a

 

[D_Davis]

So, why didn't you like it? I'm only a little way in. It does feel a bit "pulpy" but the Coleridge thing is drawing me in ...

I thought the characters were monumentally stupid, and the plot went no where I was interested in. I felt it lacked a compelling dramatic drive. I couldn't even be bothered to finish it. Not sure why, but I felt totally insulted by it, like it was robbing me of the time I could have been spending on something far more worthy. Just not for me.

For me it was another miss in a long series of misses in the Fantasy Masterworks.

I do want to give Powers another chance though, if only because of his ties with Philip K. Dick.

 

[D_Davis]

Thanks Gollum, I'm into the final third of "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr..

The third part is incredibly powerful; absolutely masterful.

 

[CyBeR]

Finally unto the final part of the Ender saga by Orson Scott Card, Children of the mind.
80 pages in and so far all they've done is do another freaking recap of the previous books. And annoying, ridiculously over the top dramatic dialog. Grrrr....accursed completionist urges.

 

[D_Davis]

So glad I'm not a completionist!

 

[Fried Egg]

I thought the characters were monumentally stupid, and the plot went no where I was interested in. I felt it lacked a compelling dramatic drive. I couldn't even be bothered to finish it. Not sure why, but I felt totally insulted by it, like it was robbing me of the time I could have been spending on something far more worthy. Just not for me.

For me it was another miss in a long series of misses in the Fantasy Masterworks.

Curious that you say this, whilst I do agree that "Anubis Gates" does fall short of being a masterwork (and one or two otehrs), I find the series overall to be generally of a high standard. What others were you disappointed with?

 

[D_Davis]

Curious that you say this, whilst I do agree that "Anubis Gates" does fall short of being a masterwork (and one or two otehrs), I find the series overall to be generally of a high standard. What others were you disappointed with?

Ones I've read that I thought were really bad:

Tales of a Dying Earth
Viriconium
Darker than You Think
The Iron Dragon's Daughter

I don't know - I just don't trust someone else I don't know telling me what the "masterworks" are. I think I'd rather discover them for myself. I guess I just have a problem with them labeling the imprint as such.

 

[Connavar]

Ones I've read that I thought were really bad:

Tales of a Dying Earth
Viriconium
Darker than You Think
The Iron Dragon's Daughter

I don't know - I just don't trust someone else I don't know telling me what the "masterworks" are. I think I'd rather discover them for myself. I guess I just have a problem with them labeling the imprint as such.

Did you read the whole Dying Earth omnibus or just the first book is weakest in the classic series ? Vance is one of the best fantasy,SF writers ever.

I thought you knew Masterwork series was a marketing tag for rated books that is out of print. Dying Earth is huge classic while others are just some semi rated fantasy,SF today. Like PKD books.

Would you say the weakest PKD books are masterworks or are they in the series because PKD didnt have them in print before Gollancz saw their chance.

 

[GOLLUM]

Funnily enough I found Tales of a Dying Earth, Viriconium & Darker than You Think to be three of my favourites in the Masterwork series...oh yeh and I thought Anubis Gates was pretty darn OK too... I'm a Tim Powers fan from way back.

It would be a little dull and uninspiring if we all agreed on the same thing all the time though.

 

[antiloquax]

I do want to give Powers another chance though, if only because of his ties with Philip K. Dick.

Had to go to wikipedia to find out what you meant!

For anyone else who didn't know, Powers was a friend of Dick and "David" in VALIS is supposed to be based on him.


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