March's Manic Marauding of Maverick Meanderings

[mosaix]

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I've only read the first few pages but I find the style intriguing. I love stories where you're just given slight hints at the backdrop to the story and you have to piece together the clues yourself - the exact opposite of info-dump.

 

[Connavar]

I finished reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I didnt read this a kid so i didnt have to see it with new eyes as an adult. My impression is that its both a mad, fun story and it is also complex one for a novel aimed at children. A story whose literary quality both kids and adult can enjoy.

I have more respect for Carroll's writing ability than i expected and i like how he didnt look down on the reader. Some books aimed at kids look down at them, oversimplify things. I have not even see a film based on this novel so everything was fresh, new to me. Other than knowing the characters was classic ones that appear in many other stories. I know the Mad Hatter from Batman comics as a villain. The scene with Alice, March Hare, the Hatter was one my fav parts of the novel. There were also some lovely poetry qouted in the novel and im not surprised to find after a quick search that Carroll was a poet.

 

[Grunkins]

I finished reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I didnt read this a kid so i didnt have to see it with new eyes as an adult. My impression is that its both a mad, fun story and it is also complex one for a novel aimed at children. A story whose literary quality both kids and adult can enjoy.

I have more respect for Carroll's writing ability than i expected and i like how he didnt look down on the reader. Some books aimed at kids look down at them, oversimplify things. I have not even see a film based on this novel so everything was fresh, new to me. Other than knowing the characters was classic ones that appear in many other stories. I know the Mad Hatter from Batman comics as a villain. The scene with Alice, March Hare, the Hatter was one my fav parts of the novel. There were also some lovely poetry qouted in the novel and im not surprised to find after a quick search that Carroll was a poet.

Fun anecdote about Carroll:
Lewis Carroll was, of course, Charles Dodgson, professor of mathematics and logic at Oxford. After reading and loving Alice in Wonderland the queen visited Dodgson and told him he absolutely must send her a copy of his next book. So Dodgson did just that, sending her an impenetrable and weighty academic tome of maths.

 

[Vertigo]

Fun anecdote about Carroll:
Lewis Carroll was, of course, Charles Dodgson, professor of mathematics and logic at Oxford. After reading and loving Alice in Wonderland the queen visited Dodgson and told him he absolutely must send her a copy of his next book. So Dodgson did just that, sending her an impenetrable and weighty academic tome of maths.

Unfortunately though a popular story even in his day it would seem to be untrue:

Indeed, according to one popular story, Queen Victoria herself enjoyed Alice In Wonderland so much that she suggested he dedicate his next book to her, and was accordingly presented with his next work, a scholarly mathematical volume entitled An Elementary Treatise on Determinants.[35][36] Dodgson himself vehemently denied this story, commenting "...It is utterly false in every particular: nothing even resembling it has occurred";[36][37] and it is unlikely for other reasons: as T.B. Strong comments in a Times article, "It would have been clean contrary to all his practice to identify [the] author of Alice with the author of his mathematical works".

Shame really...

 

[Grunkins]

Unfortunately though a popular story even in his day it would seem to be untrue:



Shame really...

In the words of goofy Vader, "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

 

[nathaniel]

Little, Big by John Crowley, and Light by M John Harrison. Crowley's writing is out of this world. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this just might turn out to be one of the greatest books I'll have read in my life. Have any of you read Light? Its...er, very dark, and for someone not generally into space opera and cyberpunk, a little difficult to get into as far as the language is concerned. But I think I understand what he's trying to do with the story. I think.

 

[D_Davis]

Finished...

The Wizards and the Warlords, by Hugh Cook

I had an absolute blast reading through this. It's been a very long time since I've been able to get into this kind of fantasy, and it feels really good to have found a book like this that I enjoy.

Cook's world and characters are fascinating. He sets up a fairly stereotypical setting, and populates it with your standard archetypes, and then, bit by bit, and layer by layer, he peels and chips away at things until he reveals characters, situations, motivations, and scenarios that play out unlike anything I've read before.

I also admired Cook's ability to juggle a dozen or so characters without relying on any predetermined villains or heroes. Each character possesses qualities of hero and villain. They are not driven by a desire to do good or to do bad, they are simply motivated by things that are important to them as people and their relationships with each other.

The plot does stall a bit towards the end, and I feel as though one entire portion of the book could have been left out entirely. However, the vast majority of everything Cook presents is so good and so much fun that it hardly even matters.


****************

Started....

The Quest of the DNA Cowboys, by Mick Farren

It's a crazy, 1970s on the road style SF adventure, mixing in elements of western, SF, Kung Fu, drugs, sex, and all kinds of crazy things. In the first few chapters the main characters meet a trucker who is a Lord of Creation. The Lords of Creation drive their trucks around the vast and desolate highways protecting them from being destroyed by a reality-destroying force called The Disruptor. It's very, very cool and inventive so far.

Farren, the author, is kind of a super star of the UK underground. He was a lyricist for Hawkwind and Motorhead, a musician, and a journalist for NME.

So yeah - I'm going to like this one.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Finished...

The Wizards and the Warlords, by Hugh Cook

I had an absolute blast reading through this. It's been a very long time since I've been able to get into this kind of fantasy, and it feels really good to have found a book like this that I enjoy.

Cook's world and characters are fascinating. He sets up a fairly stereotypical setting, and populates it with your standard archetypes, and then, bit by bit, and layer by layer, he peels and chips away at things until he reveals characters, situations, motivations, and scenarios that play out unlike anything I've read before.

I also admired Cook's ability to juggle a dozen or so characters without relying on any predetermined villains or heroes. Each character possesses qualities of hero and villain. They are not driven by a desire to do good or to do bad, they are simply motivated by things that are important to them as people and their relationships with each other.

The plot does stall a bit towards the end, and I feel as though one entire portion of the book could have been left out entirely. However, the vast majority of everything Cook presents is so good and so much fun that it hardly even matters.

Crikey it is a long time since I have heard the Hugh Cook books mentioned. I read them years ago, and always thought of them as the WW books, although they were actually Chronicles Of an Age of Darkness, 10 books in total. I remember them as being a lot of fun, some of them were completely off the wall, and the last couple were bizarre in the best possible kind of way.

I recall moving mountains, some great dragons, and a gradual blurring of Fantasy and SF.

I always felt that some of the middle books were weaker than the rest, but it was when he was being treated for cancer. Toward the end the books got better again.

Unfortunately Cook didn't, he relapsed and died in 2008, but he left behind a 10 novel fantasy series that was a lot of fun and gives me some fond memories.

 

[CyBeR]

Still going slowly through Deadhouse Gates.
If anyone's reading and has read the series...would you be so kind and send me a PM regarding Adjunct Lorn's fate after the first book? I really can't remember and I'd rather not search, case it'll spoil something later on.

 

[D_Davis]

Crikey it is a long time since I have heard the Hugh Cook books mentioned. I read them years ago, and always thought of them as the WW books, although they were actually Chronicles Of an Age of Darkness, 10 books in total. I remember them as being a lot of fun, some of them were completely off the wall, and the last couple were bizarre in the best possible kind of way.

I recall moving mountains, some great dragons, and a gradual blurring of Fantasy and SF.

I always felt that some of the middle books were weaker than the rest, but it was when he was being treated for cancer. Toward the end the books got better again.

Unfortunately Cook didn't, he relapsed and died in 2008, but he left behind a 10 novel fantasy series that was a lot of fun and gives me some fond memories.

Nice. I don't understand why these books aren't talked about more, and with more enthusiasm from more people.

 

[ScottSF]

Last month I finished Foundation, it'll be a while before I read dated sci-fi again I think.

I'm closing in on the end of A Dance with Dragons by Martin and also reading The Reality Dysfunctionby Hamilton. Was going to read The Black Company but it wasn't available for kindle. Guess I'll have to break down and find a dead tree version.

 

[dask]

BEETHOVEN: THE UNIVERSAL COMPOSER by Edmund Morris. Excellent so far.

 

[Rodders]

I finally finished The Nemisis List by R. J. Frith. I enjoyed it and there has to be a sequel coming but i found it kind of hard going in the end.

Now on to Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter. I've read Jeter's Blade Runner sequels a few years ago and don't remember being overly impressed, so i'm hoping this one's going to be a little better.

 

[Diggler]

I only finished Wool by Hugh Howley today. What a great book! Seeing that John Carter is currently on our MUST SEE! list (seeing it tomorrow), I thought I'd give the original stories a read. I've only just started A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, and have to say I am really impressed! The writing is in the romantically antiquarian style of the late 1800's to early 1900's. I was expecting to find this style of writing to be a tad frustrating, especially after my attempts with Poe, though found it very easily digestible, and even quite enjoyable.

I'll have to see how far I can last with the series. I've set myself up for the first 3 novels (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars and The Warlords of Mars), though have a hard time reading through series. So we'll have to see.

By the way. These are available through Gutenberg Australia. Under Australian copyright law, they are all in the public domain.

 

[AE35Unit]

Seeing that John Carter is currently on our MUST SEE! list (seeing it tomorrow), I thought I'd give the original stories a read. I've only just started A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, and have to say I am really impressed! The writing is in the romantically antiquarian style of the late 1800's to early 1900's. I was expecting to find this style of writing to be a tad frustrating, especially after my attempts with Poe, though found it very easily digestible, and even quite enjoyable.

I'll have to see how far I can last with the series. I've set myself up for the first 3 novels (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars and The Warlords of Mars), though have a hard time reading through series. So we'll have to see..

I have most of the series but have only read the first one. While it is fun in parts its also very naive and hard to swallow in parts, and does ramble a bit- not sure I want to read the others. To be honest Im amazed a film has been made, I cant see how people will swallow a race of people living on what we know to be a dead planet!

 

[Connavar]

I only finished Wool by Hugh Howley today. What a great book! Seeing that John Carter is currently on our MUST SEE! list (seeing it tomorrow), I thought I'd give the original stories a read. I've only just started A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, and have to say I am really impressed! The writing is in the romantically antiquarian style of the late 1800's to early 1900's. I was expecting to find this style of writing to be a tad frustrating, especially after my attempts with Poe, though found it very easily digestible, and even quite enjoyable.

I'll have to see how far I can last with the series. I've set myself up for the first 3 novels (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars and The Warlords of Mars), though have a hard time reading through series. So we'll have to see.

By the way. These are available through Gutenberg Australia. Under Australian copyright law, they are all in the public domain.

Attempts with Poe ? Poe prose style was frustrating to you ? I remember thinking it was too clinical,almost academical when i read his detective stories and then i read his horror which was more romantic,stylized.

Why are you reading first John Carter book ? Because its SFF classic or because of the film ? I have just now received a very old 1936 copy of A Princess of Mars from the interloan library system. People assume im reading it for some Disney film. Mostly its because i have respect for Sword and Planet genre and want to try JC.

 

[D_Davis]

Quest of the DNA Cowboys - If Ralph Bakshi had been a SF author in the 1970s, this is what he would have written. This book is insane, and insanely good. Totally my kind of SF. It's a totally weird road-trip adventure with tons of strange creatures and characters, social commentary, and a completely gonzo sensibility that throws caution to the wind. Farren lets it rip.

 

[Diggler]

I have most of the series but have only read the first one. While it is fun in parts its also very naive and hard to swallow in parts, and does ramble a bit- not sure I want to read the others. To be honest Im amazed a film has been made, I cant see how people will swallow a race of people living on what we know to be a dead planet!

I think it all boils down to suspension of belief. War of the Worlds is another of those stories with aliens coming down from Mars to invade, that has also been made into recently successful films.

I have no issues with the naive aspects of the story. I love 50's-70's SF more than anything else, and while they get a fair bit right, they also get a hell of a lot of it wrong as well. I just take it with a grain of salt and ride the entertainment factor.

Attempts with Poe ? Poe prose style was frustrating to you ? I remember thinking it was too clinical,almost academical when i read his detective stories and then i read his horror which was more romantic,stylized.

Why are you reading first John Carter book ? Because its SFF classic or because of the film ? I have just now received a very old 1936 copy of A Princess of Mars from the interloan library system. People assume im reading it for some Disney film. Mostly its because i have respect for Sword and Planet genre and want to try JC.

I had tried reading Poe when I was a younger teenager. At the time it was beyond me, and I became disinterested. I must admit I have held onto this belief since and have not bothered re-reading Poe's works. Obviously I am of a mature state of mind to finally understand, and enjoy, the style and prose of his works now. So will definitely have to give them a try in the near future.

You could say the reason I am trying them out is partly because of the movie, but also because one of my wife's co-workers loves a lot of the romantic SF/adventures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This lady recommended the John Carter series as a pretty good start, and deemed them as one of her favourites. She had also recommended another author, but my wife could'nt remember the name.

So while the movie piqued my interest, I have always had an interest in SF novels of this era. Though I have unluckily read close to none due to a constantly evolving collection of novels

 

[Vertigo]

Martian Time-Slip by Philip K Dick. A very unsettling book; I found this much more demanding than other PKD books I have read. Almost all the characters in it were disturbed in some way or another which was a little trying at times. He really makes you experience the confusion and distress of the shizophrenic mind. Possibly a brilliant book but I'll need to let it settle a bit before I decide!

 

[D_Davis]

Martian Time-Slip by Philip K Dick. A very unsettling book; I found this much more demanding than other PKD books I have read. Almost all the characters in it were disturbed in some way or another which was a little trying at times. He really makes you experience the confusion and distress of the shizophrenic mind. Possibly a brilliant book but I'll need to let it settle a bit before I decide!

One of my favorites, and one of Dick's darkest. Completely haunted me for a long time.