December's Daring Descent into Dynamically Divergent Documents

[Randy M.]

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. A rather more elegiac tone than most of the canon (excepting "His Last Bow"), as it's written by Watson late in life after Holmes as died and he, Watson, has retired. The novel recalls an incident from 1890 too politically charged to have been published at the time, and Watson has made certain the manuscript will be held from publication for 100 years.

While the mystery includes skullduggery, theft, murder, blackmail and the usual events of a Holmes story, the solution leads to a clandestine operation -- the House of Silk -- that is distressingly plausible and more charged than what Doyle would have been able to deal with. In this case Watson's sometimes seemingly willful naivete is symbolic of the English as a whole.

On the whole, I thought this a successful excursion into Holmsian England. It doesn't really expand on Holmes like Michael Chabon's The Final Solution or try to deconstruct the canon like Michael Dibdin, but it's better than a paint-by-the-numbers story.

Randy M.

 

[AE35Unit]

Im reading a novelette called The Tentacles from Below by Anthony Gilmore (Astounding Stories, 1931)
Nothing unusual in that you might think, except the author's other name is Harry Bates.
Bates wrote a story called Farewell to the Master (1940-Astounding)
This formed the basis of a now famous film called The Day the Earth Stood Still!
Man I love sf history...

 

[Vertigo]

We have that. Its a nice addition to anyone's book shelf. Albeit it has to be a rather large book shelf

You know I loved the 80s TV show with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry but I've never read any of the books. Must fix that.

My bookcase isn't very large but it fits nicely. Yes it really is a very nice edition. I remember I bought it when it just came out and then bought another copy for a friend's birthday. It's a bit short but the illustrations made up for it.

Yes haven't quite decided where to put my copy; all my shelves of that size tend to be at floor level.

And AE you really should read the Wodehouse books; some, though I don't think all, are available on Gutenberg. Beautifully written, easy to read and great fun. What more can you ask?

 

[AE35Unit]

Yes haven't quite decided where to put my copy; all my shelves of that size tend to be at floor level.

And AE you really should read the Wodehouse books; some, though I don't think all, are available on Gutenberg. Beautifully written, easy to read and great fun. What more can you ask?

Yup, downloaded My Man Jeeves!

 

[Grunkins]

Finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons. What a brilliant book. It had so much going on I'm sure I don't yet fully understand or appreciate it. But what I do have is thrilling. It's both a huge space opera and a love song to SF. Really brilliantly conceived. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it was to write. I also can't begin to imagine what the next books have in store.

 

[ratsy]

Finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons. What a brilliant book. It had so much going on I'm sure I don't yet fully understand or appreciate it. But what I do have is thrilling. It's both a huge space opera and a love song to SF. Really brilliantly conceived. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it was to write. I also can't begin to imagine what the next books have in store.

That's cool. I always wanted to read that book and I bought a copy for my brother a few Christmases ago. I never did ask him how it was...would you recommend it to someone who doesn't read much space opera?

 

[Grunkins]

That's cool. I always wanted to read that book and I bought a copy for my brother a few Christmases ago. I never did ask him how it was...would you recommend it to someone who doesn't read much space opera?

Definitely. There's really something in there for everybody. The space opera aspects mostly unfold in the background.

 

[J-Sun]

...What a brilliant book..I'm sure I don't yet fully understand...it.

While there are exceptions, I don't get this attitude that it seems a lot of people have. I'm not saying it's yours (because it's perfectly possible to like the bulk of a tale while not being sure about every last bit of it which is what you seem to be saying), but it makes me think of people who seem to think that, if it's comprehensible, it can't be any good and that obfuscation or opacity is a virtue and means it must be good. (IOW, I might say "I think I liked it but I didn't get all of it" whereas I sometimes hear others say (never in so many words, of course), "I definitely liked it because I didn't get all of it".)

There's really something in there for everybody.

Not for me.

The space opera aspects mostly unfold in the background.

I'll say - it's basically a homage to Chaucer with horror elements. Not what I think of when I think "space opera".

But it won all kinds of awards and most people who have read it say they like it, so it seems to be a good recommendation. Just saying not *everybody* who's read it liked it.

 

[Grunkins]

While there are exceptions, I don't get this attitude that it seems a lot of people have. I'm not saying it's yours (because it's perfectly possible to like the bulk of a tale while not being sure about every last bit of it which is what you seem to be saying), but it makes me think of people who seem to think that, if it's comprehensible, it can't be any good and that obfuscation or opacity is a virtue and means it must be good. (IOW, I might say "I think I liked it but I didn't get all of it" whereas I sometimes hear others say (never in so many words, of course), "I definitely liked it because I didn't get all of it".)

Not for me.

I'll say - it's basically a homage to Chaucer with horror elements. Not what I think of when I think "space opera".

But it won all kinds of awards and most people who have read it say they like it, so it seems to be a good recommendation. Just saying not *everybody* who's read it liked it.

I am not saying it's opaque, therefore it's good. It's not opaque. I don't think I fully grasp it all because it's so large. From the politics within the book, to the literary references, to all the various plot lines. It's vast, and one reading wasn't enough to get it all in my head.

And interstellar civilization on the brink of all out interstellar war is definitely the stuff of space opera.

When I say it has something for everyone I mean it has military SF (The Soldier's Story), cyberpunk (The Detective's Story), fantasy-horror (The Priest's Story), literary SF (The Scholar's Story)...etc. There is a bit of just about every sub-genre of SF in there somewhere. There's Big Idea SF, conspiracy theories, comedy, politics, mystery. It has all these things. Something for everyone.

 

[Mangara]

Just finished Slow River by Nicola Griffith. Pretty dark, with uncomfortable subject matter, but delivers a cracking read. Probably my best book this year! Anyone else read this gem?

 

[Lord Soth]

Well finished The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, which I thought was solid overall but disappointing, he's not one I'd follow in hardback. Currently reading Space Captain Smith by our very own Toby Frost (Christmas present) - loving the humour and the digs at the French, but I did notice the odd inconsistency though

Oh, and Happy New Year! I may be the last post of the year?

 

[Rodders]

I did't read anything last year so it's a relief to pick up a book again after so long. Now reading Abaddon's Gate.

 

[AE35Unit]

Anyonr gonna kick start January?

 

[Grunkins]

I finished Count Zero by William Gibson last night. Fun Gibsony stuff going on in there. The book had enough potential story to be significantly longer than it was. The ending was a bit abrupt - as if Gibson just got sick of writing it (or came flush up against a deadline). I enjoyed the read, just would have liked a bit more.

 

[Bick]

Anyonr gonna kick start January?

No one can think of enough appropriate words beginning with J, I imagine. I'm keeping my powder dry on current reading until someone gives it a go.

 

[J-Sun]

No one can think of enough appropriate words beginning with J, I imagine. I'm keeping my powder dry on current reading until someone gives it a go.

The threads should be called "The January 2014 Reading Thread" or something consistent and searchable, anyway. And I don't understand why anyone can't create the thread. Duplication is no more likely for it than any other thread and, if it occurs, can be handled by merging just like any other thread.

 

[AE35Unit]

No one can think of enough appropriate words beginning with J, I imagine. I'm keeping my powder dry on current reading until someone gives it a go.

Let me think...

 

[J-Sun]

Well, when I said "I don't understand why anyone can't create the thread" I meant that to imply that anyone can't create the thread - we've been through this movie before and it's apparently an "only a mod can start the thread" thread. It ain't very egalitarian and democratic and all, but there it is.

Good J's though. And I can say that as an expert.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well, when I said "I don't understand why anyone can't create the thread" I meant that to imply that anyone can't create the thread - we've been through this movie before and it's apparently an "only a mod can start the thread" thread. It ain't very egalitarian and democratic and all, but there it is.

Good J's though. And I can say that as an expert.

It is done!

 

[GOLLUM]

I usually post the monthly reading threads but I was a little late this year..too much celebratory cider perhaps although I can assure you I have a stack of words starting with J still to be used...

The reason I like to use alliteration is basically because it's something I started doing several years ago when I fist stared to manage this particular thread and as a quirk I know several members happen to enjoy.

It's basically a mod task as with many of the other tasks we perform here as a way of ensuring a certain consistency and reliability of the thread always being posted on or just after the beginning of a new month, something I usually leave to the second day as living in OZ I'm ahead of many members here in terms of timezones...

Closing thread.