Just finished Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings and cannot emphasize enough how much people should read that book, it has to be one of the best Epic Fantasy novels I've ever read. It was amazing. 20/10
Conversely, I thought it was awful and stopped reading it half way through. I had stopped reading the Shallan (sp?) chapters a couple hundred pages earlier, and eventually just quit on the book.
Sorry for the double post (can't edit). I gave up on Gemmell's Legend at about 70 pages. I should have read it when I was a teenager.
Then I started Iain M Banks' Excession, which I've been excited about for good long while now. I'm not very far into it, but am surprised by how different the prose style is compared to his other Culture novels. Go Banks!
Sorry for the double post (can't edit). I gave up on Gemmell's Legend at about 70 pages. I should have read it when I was a teenager.
Then I started Iain M Banks' Excession, which I've been excited about for good long while now. I'm not very far into it, but am surprised by how different the prose style is compared to his other Culture novels. Go Banks!
Gemmell has many adult fans like me and Fried Egg, not only for teens. You must like heroic fantasy/S&S. He is not the best prose writer but he has quality,flawed heroic fantasy characters. Legend is more warlike,epic than his usual books. He is more like solo anti-hero S&S without the REH style horror elements. If you dont like Conan,Solomon Kane type dark heroes than Gemmell isnt for you.
He was my first fantasy fav and i can see after reading Vance and other fantasy authors he isnt the best prose writer but he was called the king of Heroic fantasy for a reason. He is for us who cant endure huge epic books by GRRM,Erikson,Jordan and co. Maybe he isnt for your but if you like the subgenre try Wolf in Shadow or historical fantasy Lion of Macedon.
I'd have to agree with Grunkins on this one. After reading The Complete Chronicles Of The Jerusalem Man, I gave Gemmel another go with Ghost King and then decided there are too many authors out there that I like to spend precious reading time on another book by Gemmel. Sorry if this sounds harsh.
I'd have to agree with Grunkins on this one. After reading The Complete Chronicles Of The Jerusalem Man, I gave Gemmel another go with Ghost King and then decided there are too many authors out there that I like to spend precious reading time on another book by Gemmel. Sorry if this sounds harsh.
That is understandable. I dont want waste my reading time on A Game of Thrones series that many love because i dont like it,that type of fantasy.
I meant its a big leap to say you dont like something and call it trash book for kids. There are many good authors whose style or type of book i dont prefer reading. Gemmell is not a hack, he is seen as legend of heroic fantasy.
I certainly agree with your sentiment. For me, there are just two kinds of books: Those I like to read and those I do not like to read. So that says usually more about me than the books.
However, book for kids (or teenagers) doesn't necessarily mean trashy.
Went for a Rajaniemi antidote and may have overcompensated but it was still fun. I wanted something with chemistry and "real" physics and generator coils and metals and whatnot, so read John W. Campbell destroy some planets in The Mightiest Machine (1934). There's something sociopathic (psychopathic? something else? globopathic?) about gleefully obliterating planets just because the enemy species is brave and proud and artistic - and evil - rather than brave and proud and maybe not as artistic - and good - like us. Talk about collateral damage. Damned evil alien fish and birds and Bambi's and so on.
Anyway - Arne Munro is a physicist from a human colony on Jupiter, is about as wide as he is tall and is Jovianly strong and about as smart. He has a chemist sidekick and an entrepreneurial sidekick and a couple of - I dunno - backkicks or something. But, in possibly a bit of Marysue, he's the star even more than Arcot was in the Arcot, Morey, and Wade books. In the trial run of the Spencer Research Laboratories Number Six spaceship (aka Sunbeam) - which is powered by the mightiest machines, the nuclear furnaces of suns - we run into a rock and tear a Star Trek-ian hole in space and end up lost a zillion light years from home, smack in the middle of a war between good guys like us and evil guys. Superscience, lots of apparatus, and much demolition ensues.
In a way, this doesn't do much the Arcot, Morey, and Wade trilogy didn't but it does it concisely in one well-sustained volume without veering off the tracks entirely like I felt the last book of AMW did (Invaders from the Infinite (1932)). So, in a way, this might be the John W. Campbell (as opposed to Don A. Stuart) book to read.
But, even so, this would only appeal to a select audience in a select way today.
Finished The Mongoliad: Book One by Neal Stephenson et al. Although it was a reasonably enjoyable whilst reading, I was actually quite disappointed.
As stated this is from 5 authors and I have heard good things about NS so, although this is my first Neal Stephenson, I won't give up on him, but I'm certainly not encouraged.
Indeed. As I think I indicated to you in an earlier discussion I have all of Stephenson's work but avoided this one a bit like the plague..moreso because I had not heard great things about it and becasue Neal's 'voice' was only one of several creative influences of what began as an online project. Still, to balance this comment I also recall you saying that you had already purchased this one at the time so I would suggest Snow Crash for your next port of call. I you like that then try The Diamond Age followed by the very cleverly conceived Cryptonomicon next as a standalone and if you are still hooked then move on to the brilliant Baroque Cycle..before checking out some of his more recent stuff...which I confess I've not read (in fact his last 2 books,...must make time soon to rectify this) before returning to some of his earlier stuff if you become more of a hardcore fan.
In the meantime, I've started reading Cold Magic by Kate Elliot. Interesting enough so far. Based in an alternative reality of Italy - I think - where the steampunk themed world appears to be on the verge of an ice age, or just coming out of it. It's written in first person, which is different to her previous work, but it appears to come over well. I'm enjoying it so far. I loved her Crossroads trilogy.
I'm something of a fan of Kate. I have most of her fiction as well as having the good fortune to meet her at WorldCon 2010 in Melbourne.. For me her best series is the six part Crown of Stars....wonderfully written! .. partly as I recall in first person but mainly third person and also check out her collaborative work The Golden Key...it's very good.
I finished The Man in the High Castle by PKD and it is totally different beast than i expected. Here is my review from goodreads:
This novel is set in 1962 San Francisco in a very memorable alternate world years after a longer World War II, most of the world is under totalitarian Fascist imperialism as the war was won by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.
It is a profound novel that has much to say about our world through an alternative political world like George Orwell's 1984.
Its a very ambitious novel that Dick uses to comment on Fascism and also people who hate non-white peoples. There was a racist character that was clear negative example. He manages to both explore his ideas, comment on the big issues and doesn't forget to tell many smaller,personal stories about many different POV characters living in this world. Japanese,German,second class peoples in the occupied USA. He didn't forget to write about Africa,Asia either and think the world ends at Europe like some novels like this does.
Normally his prose style, somewhat dated language is his weakness but this time the prose,the storytelling is the finest i have seen of all the books i have read. That made this novel easy choice as the best book i have read of him.
This is not weird,thrilling SF story but read more like a great social realism novel about our modern history and one of those books you have to think a lot while reading it and again that reminds of 1984. Not because they are alternate history SF novels but they are great novels period.
I wonder what you will think of his writing,the way he chose to tell the story. The social story,the personal stories are vintage PKD but i was sceptic about him having so many POV characters. That was a weakness in Dr.Bloodmoney who was overall a good novel. Usually he has few POV character to tell smaller scope story.
I was impressed how seamlessly he went from character to character choosing the right moment to leave them and go to other.
Indeed. As I think I indicated to you in an earlier discussion I have all of Stephenson's work but avoided this one a bit like the plague..moreso because I had not heard great things about it and becasue Neal's 'voice' was only one of several creative influences of what began as an online project. Still, to balance this comment I also recall you saying that you had already purchased this one at the time so I would suggest Snow Crash for your next port of call. I you like that then try The Diamond Age followed by the very cleverly conceived Cryptonomicon next as a standalone and if you are still hooked then move on to the brilliant Baroque Cycle..before checking out some of his more recent stuff...which I confess I've not read (in fact his last 2 books,...must make time soon to rectify this) before returning to some of his earlier stuff if you become more of a hardcore fan.
I'm something of a fan of Kate. I have most of her fiction as well as having the good fortune to meet her at WorldCon 2010 in Melbourne.. For me her best series is the six part Crown of Stars....wonderfully written! .. partly as I recall in first person but mainly third person and also check out her collaborative work The Golden Key...it's very good.
I wonder what you will think of his writing,the way he chose to tell the story. The social story,the personal stories are vintage PKD but i was sceptic about him having so many POV characters. That was a weakness in Dr.Bloodmoney who was overall a good novel. Usually he has few POV character to tell smaller scope story.
I was impressed how seamlessly he went from character to character choosing the right moment to leave them and go to other.
I wonder what you will think of his writing,the way he chose to tell the story. The social story,the personal stories are vintage PKD but i was sceptic about him having so many POV characters. That was a weakness in Dr.Bloodmoney who was overall a good novel. Usually he has few POV character to tell smaller scope story.
I was impressed how seamlessly he went from character to character choosing the right moment to leave them and go to other.
Now finished Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. An excellent novel, but I didn't find the second half quite as interesting as the first, though many reviewers on Amazon seemed to find the opposite, for some reason.
What those reviews also taught me, to my astonishment, was that this is a first-person novel whose narrator doesn't use the word "I" once. I didn't even notice! I'm not sure whether this speaks more of the author's skill or this reader's lack of perception, but it's quite a feat. (And I can see why she's done it, though I'm not sure it's very realistic.)
I think I agree with Conn's description of it though the very thing that makes it work for him makes it one of my "least favorite top favorites" of PKD, if that makes sense. It's a lot more "boring" or "ordinary" (to use sort of negative terms) than the quintessential PKD. But, like you, I didn't much care for the generally well-regarded Dr. Bloodmoney, and do find High Castle to be much better than it. So hopefully it'll work for you at least as well as it did for me, and maybe as well as it did for Conn.
***
In my reading, I finished the flipside of my Fritz Leiber Ace double. I discussed the collection part in the short story thread but, in sum, it was a slight, minor, but enjoyable collection. The flipside is The Green Millennium (1953). This is weird because it basically predates (speaking of) PKD's writing career and certainly predated his novels but it has a protagonist named Phil Gish and he's that sort of bland everyman amidst madness that PKD often has for a protagonist. And, as Dick was influenced by van Vogt, this also has the "pile on events with a sort of dreamlike intensity" approach. And, while social satire was in the air, this is almost simultaneous with The Space Merchants (probably being written as Gravy Planet was being serialized). I have a feeling a lot of the social satire is 50s-specific and flew by me but the obvious and more general Cold War elements and others are there and a lot of it (FBL == DHS?) is kind of still applicable. And there's some Sturgeonesque/Farmerian "liberation" in some of the concepts and depictions.
Thematic note that could be spoilery:
It also shares a theme, bizarrely, with Haldeman's Forever Peace or the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still but handles it so much better. Here, if you're aligned with the theme it basically enhances the story and, if not, it at least does not detract from it because it's lightly handled and none of the colorful foreground is sacrificed
.
Leaving aside influences and themes, basically, this is just a loose rollicking adventure of poor Phil Gish trying to be reunited with the green cat that wandered into his apartment one day and changed his life, during which he encounters a rogue's gallery of spectacularly zany characters and it's a blast. I was hesitant at first but quickly settled into the novel and became aware near the end that I'd probably had a faint grin on my face the whole time. It's probably not for everyone, but I highly recommend it.
I think I agree with Conn's description of it though the very thing that makes it work for him makes it one of my "least favorite top favorites" of PKD, if that makes sense. It's a lot more "boring" or "ordinary" (to use sort of negative terms) than the quintessential PKD. But, like you, I didn't much care for the generally well-regarded Dr. Bloodmoney, and do find High Castle to be much better than it. So hopefully it'll work for you at least as well as it did for me, and maybe as well as it did for Conn.
You dont read general fiction books meaning books outside the big genres? Me i like general fiction often when its political,social realism or important books. Not some hyped author writing about his childhood very boring,mundane way.
I thought same as you when i read High Castle that is very ordinary serious human story. Its lack of SF thrill made it also a classic of his. I rate PKD as a great author period. I dont care if it is more regular SF novels or the books he wrote late in his career that was mundane general fiction. I mean i know SF fans who dislike even regular SF books because they are social stories about people,their mess. Not alot of science or action.
Of course High Castle is terrible book to try if you are new to PKD. He is lot weirder,more emotional in most of his other stories. High Castle was him in control of his emotions to calmly talk about his ideas.
You dont read general fiction books meaning books outside the big genres? Me i like general fiction often when its political,social realism or important books. Not some hyped author writing about his childhood very boring,mundane way.
I do read general fiction, but very little. It usually has to have at least something askew about it. If not outright science fiction, or some flavor of the fantastic, the surreal, mythology, or adventure, or whatever, then it usually at least needs a Dostoevskian psychological intensity or something. Most "ordinary" fiction I have is written by people who've written something besides that. Or at least part of why they stick with me is due to those other things.
I thought same as you when i read High Castle that is very ordinary serious human story. Its lack of SF thrill made it also a classic of his. I rate PKD as a great author period. I dont care if it is more regular SF novels or the books he wrote late in his career that was mundane general fiction. I mean i know SF fans who dislike even regular SF books because they are social stories about people,their mess. Not alot of science or action.
Yeah - not to give others the idea that this isn't a form of speculative fiction (kind of a surreal alternate history) because it definitely is but the emphasis is definitely not on science/action.
Of course High Castle is terrible book to try if you are new to PKD. He is lot weirder,more emotional in most of his other stories. High Castle was him in control of his emotions to calmly talk about his ideas.
Both good points, the second one of which I hadn't thought about quite that way. First is that, while not un-Dickian, it's still atypical PKD, so not a good intro. But the second - you're also right. He tended to dash off a lot of fiction very quickly and some of it didn't work and some of it did but there was almost something "inspired" about what worked. Not to say he didn't have craftsmanship and artistic skill but there was something kind of "genius" (which is to say, sporadic and uncontrolled) about a lot of his stuff. Whereas High Castle is probably more consciously planned and executed. I'm sure (granted time) I'll re-read it someday and I'll try to keep that in mind.
Very good to compare J-Sun our reactions to it. I enjoyed the fact it was atypical PDK because i had read 10 PKD books where he used some really typical PKD SF idea to build his stories from. The Man in the High Castle i didnt know what to expect from him at all. There was nice freedom to that not expecting PKD to be his usual "inspired", out of control self,the things he is known for.
This novel it was interesting to note, see clearly the author trying to craft his ideas,stories in something not similar to his usual style. That is why the novel is an acquired taste even among seasoned PKD fans.
At the moment I'm returning to the list from HPL's Supernatural Horror in Literature... this time it is a reading of Henry James. However, as with so many of the writers he mentions, I'm also reading other things by them in order to provide context and get a broader perspective concerning them; hence I am combining a reading of the Leon Edel-edited The Ghostly Tales of Henry James (which puts all his ghostly works in chronological order) with a two-volume set of his Collected Stories (selected and introduced by John Bayley, also in such order). So far I have only read the first tale from the latter, "A Landscape Painter" (1866), which is certainly a rather simple, even simplistic, tale for James; yet it is very interesting on the technical level, as he does very well with the selections from the artist's journal at describing things and people through painterly eyes, which adds a very profound layer to the character, while allowing the reader to see much more than said painter himself. I especially like the ambiguity of the ending, which at first appears to be a happy resolution, yet which on reflection... er, paints quite a different picture....
Up next is the earliest of his genuinely ghostly tales, "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes" (1868), which I have not read for decades....
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