February's Fabulous Feast Of Fully Formidable Fiction

[Grunkins]

Finished Abraham's The Dragon's Path last night. The next book in the series comes out in May, and I'll be buying it.

Starting Guy Gavriel Kay's A Song for Arbonne. <3 Kay.

 

[gully_foyle]

Just about to embark upon The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Stirling. I assume best read by gaslight.

 

[Warren_Paul]

I abandoned Tender Morsels.

Started Death of an Ordinary Man by Glen Duncan instead. Seems way more interesting.

Oh right, the research book, it been good so far, Mouse? The blurb sounded interesting.

 

[Diggler]

The Old Man and The Wasteland by Nick Cole. For a first book, from a no name actor, this is a fantastic novella. The main character is just so likeable, and the setting of a post apocalyptic US, some 40 years after a nuclear apocalypse is so far realistic.

The only real gripe so far is the animal sections, though they give a unique perspective between hunter and hunted. If you own a Kindle (or other Ebook reader), 99c is a pittance for this mid sized ebook.

 

[Mouse]

Oh right, the research book, it been good so far, Mouse? The blurb sounded interesting.

I've read two chapters and enjoying it so far. The way it's written is interesting because there seems to be lots of streams-of-consciousness type passages where there's little to no punctuation. Works though.

 

[Warren_Paul]

I've read two chapters and enjoying it so far. The way it's written is interesting because there seems to be lots of streams-of-consciousness type passages where there's little to no punctuation. Works though.

Little to no punctuation? Hope you don't have to read it out loud

 

[Mouse]

Little to no punctuation? Hope you don't have to read it out loud

Not the whole way through. One bit says:

earthworms in and out like tacking stitches when do similes drop it metaphors give up the ghost

Exactly like that. Exactly. (It's somebody's thoughts.)

 

[Warren_Paul]

Not the whole way through. One bit says:

earthworms in and out like tacking stitches when do similes drop it metaphors give up the ghost

Exactly like that. Exactly. (It's somebody's thoughts.)

I take it the character is a bit eccentric, or going mildly insane?

Finished Abraham's The Dragon's Path last night. The next book in the series comes out in May, and I'll be buying it.

Starting Guy Gavriel Kay's A Song for Arbonne. <3 Kay.

Just started Tigana myself, liking it so far.

 

[j d worthington]

I take it the character is a bit eccentric, or going mildly insane?

Not necessarily; simply an attempt to capture the random nature of genuine thought-processes; the mind's tendency to conjoin a number of things which we would not consciously recognize as related, though the unconscious mind does... hence our tendency to pun, etc.

Try reading the last portion of Joyce's Ulysses....* In comparison, this is lucid as they come.....

*To clarify: this is not intended as a snipe at Joyce as I found Ulysses to be a thoroughly enjoyable and often very moving novel, and one I will be returning to now and again....

 

[Mouse]

I take it the character is a bit eccentric, or going mildly insane?

The main character is dead and at the moment he's just trying really hard to carry on existing. He can hear other people's thoughts - the thoughts I quoted were those of his wife at his funeral.

Not necessarily; simply an attempt to capture the random nature of genuine thought-processes; the mind's tendency to conjoin a number of things which we would not consciously recognize as related, though the unconscious mind does... hence our tendency to pun, etc.

Exactly.

It's all very good. Almost makes me want to have a go at writing something similar myself. Almost.

 

[j d worthington]

The main character is dead and at the moment he's just trying really hard to carry on existing. He can hear other people's thoughts - the thoughts I quoted were those of his wife at his funeral.

Interesting... use of a relatively common situation combined with relatively modern technique, in a much more extensive way (from your description) than normal.

Exactly.

It's all very good. Almost makes me want to have a go at writing something similar myself. Almost.

Stream-of-consciousness is not at all an easy thing to do well, but very easy to do poorly. However, it has some great potential, depending on the type of thing you're doing....

As for myself... still going to be deeply involved in the non-fiction aspect of things, but I'm also dipping occasionally into Brian Lumley's first collection, The Caller of the Black, from 1971. My views of Lumley have altered over time, so rereading this one is an interesting experience. I see both his strengths and flaws very distinctly here (for example, the title story is almost embarrassingly similar to M. R. James' "Casting the Runes" in concept and general plot; so much so that one half suspects it is intended as an affectionate parody; while other pieces show a much more controlled and individual voice, with occasional passages which are really quite good); but overall I'm enjoying it.

Then again, I've always had a fondness for Lumley's work, despite -- or at times even because of -- his failings; so much of his work is very much in the spirit of many of the writers of the weird pulps. Save for some of the more modern approaches or themes (and, as his career progressed, some more explicit sexuality), from my not-negligible reading in that field, he would have fit right in....

 

[J-Sun]

Finished Jack Vance's The City of the Chasch and now on to Servants of the Wankh. (Vance's facility with invented terms is often cited as a strong point but it sometimes fails him.) I know Vance has some fervent fans but I've had mixed results. For the first part of this book, I thought this was going to be another that wouldn't work as I wasn't enjoying it at all but about the time Anacho appears[1], it gets good and more or less stays that way, though Vance is really slack with the plot here, directing us pretty much by author fiat through some extremely (though not too graphically) violent adventures on an alien planet in which some indigenous species, several invader species, and many human slaves live, while Our Hero is a skilled fighting man from Earth (not, apparently, Virginia, though). I believe Silverberg's later Majipoor was influenced by Vance and it is a "big planet" but I wasn't overwhelmed with that Vance book. Tschai is also "vast" and its multi-species science fantasy vibe reminds me much more strongly of Majipoor (but a much poorer, rougher, more violent one). Anyway - really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the next.

[1] Another place where invented terms (names in this case) aren't entirely successful. I happily call him An-a-cho but can't help thinking about calling him "A nacho" (and his buddy Cheezdip).

 

[Diggler]

Just started Finch by Jeff Vandermeer. It is a detective story set in an apocalyptic city that is run by a race of Aliens? So far very unique and odd in a Ballardian/Existenz kind of way.

 

[D_Davis]

So Robert Sheckley is some kind of genius.

 

[Parson]

I just finished reading our own Teresa Edgerton's Goblin Moon. I'm not normally much for reading Fantasy, but this worked for me. I loved the 18th century feel of the book. I think it must have been Steam Punk before Steam Punk became a recognized genre.

 

[Warren_Paul]

I'm also reading a book by one of our regulars here. Just started reading The Empire Dance - Echoes of War by Steven Poore aka Chopper.

I've never been much for reading sci-fi but so far I'm intrigued by it, a lot easier to get into than the last sci-fi book I tried to read.

 

[GOLLUM]

Just started Finch by Jeff Vandermeer. It is a detective story set in an apocalyptic city that is run by a race of Aliens? So far very unique and odd in a Ballardian/Existenz kind of way.

I didn't mind Finch actually. I recall I reviewed it here and gave it upwards of 7.5 - 8 stars out of 10? It's part of a loosely based trilogy (stretching things a bit but set in the same city Ambergis certainly, one of my favourite urban realizations in the genre) of which most people's favourite is City of S and Madmen, the third work being Shrek: An Afterword. It does help if you have read City first but not crucial...more for extra background. City of Saints of Madmen is one of my favourite Vandermeer's..I think I rated that one 9 stars out of 10. I have most of Vandermeer's work, he's also along with his wife published some excellent anthologies of late inlcuding one on steampunk and another quite outstanding collection recently entitled The Weird (not to be confused with the modernist movement New Weird, which along with Mieville, Vandermeer is possibly its best known exponent). I say outstanding not because I purchased it. More based on the fact I had most of the works listed or other works by the those authors listed but if you are interested in reading 'world literature of the fantastic with a weird bent' then you can't go past this collection as possibly the best consolidated collection I've seen to date and quite good value for money. Recommended. To finish though, try and get hold of a copy of Veniss Underground. It is short but its visceral impact is significant and to my way of thinking Vandermeer's greatest work to date... a masterpiece. Not a story you are likely to forget in a hurry.

Cheers,

 

[GOLLUM]

Diggler: Just to add here is a blurb on that Weird anthology I was referring to.

From Lovecraft to Borges to Gaiman, a century of intrepid literary experimentation has created a corpus of dark and strange stories that transcend all known genre boundaries. Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature.

Exotic and esoteric, The Weird plunges you into dark domains and brings you face to face with surreal monstrosities. You won’t find any elves or wizards here...but you will find the biggest, boldest, and downright most peculiar stories from the last hundred years bound together in the biggest Weird collection ever assembled.

The Weird features 110 stories by an all-star cast, from literary legends to international bestsellers to Booker Prize winners: including William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, China Miéville, Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami, M. R. James, Neil Gaiman, Mervyn Peake, and Michael Chabon.

 

[D_Davis]

The Wizards and the Warriors, by Hugh Cook

Started this last night, and I'm loving it. This is how you kick off an epic fantasy. It begins in the middle of the quest, after things are already interesting. Wow! What a novel idea. The writing is superb, the sense of humor is biting, and the genre send-ups are masterfully arranged.

And again I have to ask: why are most of his books OOP, and why aren't more people talking about him now? Fantasy is pretty big right now, and someone needs to be bigging-up Hugh Cook. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Fried Egg]

I remember reading "The Wizards and the Warriors" (as well as a few others by that author) at the time they came out in the late 80's when I used to lap up everything fantasy that came out. I don't remember it being anything particularly special though, I have to admit.