dask
dark and stormy knight
Looks cool. Any good?
March 2019: Reading Thread
- Thread starter nixie
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Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
It isn't being published until this October, the previous ones in the series were good reading
picklematrix
Well-Known Member
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- Jul 1, 2018
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I've just started 'A Deepness in the Sky' by Virner Vinge. Dragonlance is good, but I needed to break it up a bit.
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Roger Zelazny: "This Immortal" ( aka "....And Call Me Conrad")
I really enjoyed this. I can see how it tied for the 1966 Hugo Best Novel with "Dune" despite being much much shorter. Most impressive for a first book. I was particularly taken with how little background information/world building there is. You learn nothing other than what comes up as the plot develops, and that really works. This could so easily be turned into a 500 page doorstop.
A while back I got rather tired of the Zelazny heroic alpha-male, but, perhaps because I haven't read him in a while, I was very much intrigued by the main character.
I was also somewhat mortified to find that, despite having read and very much liking "...And Call Me Conrad" around ten years ago, I remembered absolutely nothing of the story or plot-line other than recognising, when it appeared briefly, a certain mutated animal that lives in the Nile.
I really enjoyed this. I can see how it tied for the 1966 Hugo Best Novel with "Dune" despite being much much shorter. Most impressive for a first book. I was particularly taken with how little background information/world building there is. You learn nothing other than what comes up as the plot develops, and that really works. This could so easily be turned into a 500 page doorstop.
A while back I got rather tired of the Zelazny heroic alpha-male, but, perhaps because I haven't read him in a while, I was very much intrigued by the main character.
I was also somewhat mortified to find that, despite having read and very much liking "...And Call Me Conrad" around ten years ago, I remembered absolutely nothing of the story or plot-line other than recognising, when it appeared briefly, a certain mutated animal that lives in the Nile.
And now I see this, I've started to sweat ...
If the first five chapters are anything to go by, I think you're safe.
*prepares for the precipitous decline in quality that always seems to follow this kind of statement*
Well, I finished Fire Ant by "Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee, usmc retired" the opening book in this series maybe 6 months ago. I thought it was better than average. I just finished his Crystals book 2 in this series and have immediately moved on to book 3 Ace. I wouldn't call them 5 star material (5 stars is very high quality for me. I don't give more than one or two in a year.) but they are solid 4 star material. The main character is a young woman from a poor background who through talent and hard work has become a "fighter" pilot. She's very likable, but flawed like the rest of humanity. Fire Ant must be read first or critical back story is lost. There are interesting questions in the story that I am longing to find understand. --- In short, I'd recommend this series, in spite of the author's pretentious title. --- And I'd now guess, in spite of his sub par past performance.
P.S. I would avoid like the plague a story of a marine who is also a werewolf!
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
Cheers,
Think I'll get Fire Ant to try it at the weekend (after I finish this Merrily Watkins book)
Ian Fortytwo
A Poet, Writer and eclectic Reader.
Currently reading Solar Lottery, by Philip K. Dick. A brilliant novel, I've not read anything like this before.
Danny McG
Lid closed, monkey dead.
I enjoyed it the first time I read it ..I found the ending a bit frustrating though!
Simbelmynë
Well-Known Member
Moorcock was one of the first fantasy authors I picked up. I’d be interested to hear how you get on with Elric.
The only Philip K. Dick book I’ve read is The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrith. Very weird, and like with a lot of older sci fi the concepts were more interesting than the plot but still an enjoyable read. I have a couple more by him on my shelf picked up in charity shops which I plan to get to at some point.
Chasm City is my favourite book of his so far. To be honest, though, I do not expect him to ever surpass it. It's just too good.
Same here. I even think it was the first I ever tried - almost 30 years ago now. I did not quite know what to make of the stories back then and probably it was due to a lack of understanding on my part. I read all the Moorcock books available in the liberry, though, and it got me thoroughly hooked on fantasy.
Simbelmynë
Well-Known Member
I found his books to be a bit hit and miss to begin with, but some of his stuff really allowed my imagination to blossom as a fantasy and SF reader. I noticed that in some of his departures from straight fantasy he isn’t afraid to use big cultural and historical figures and events eg Hiroshima, The Nazis, Alexander the Great, the devil, even Jesus Christ! The introduction of a repentant Lucifer in The Warhound and the World’s Pain seemed especially interesting to me as a teenager.
If my memory does not lead me astray, what got me about Elric was the eternal champion bit. It seemed to take away his individuality and make him more of a persona than a person. A story on endless repeat. But my memories of that time are a bit suspect. I was in my mid-twenties and in full partying mode, most of the time on some drug or other. Probably growing (up) pains.
Simbelmynë
Well-Known Member
I can sympathise with this. The amount of errant chapters read away after stumbling in late at night makes it hard to remember well the few books I read during my heavy drinking years.
The Eternal Champion is one of those concepts which can come across as a bit of a clumsy attempt to loosely bring an artist’s body of work under some supposed grand design. A bit like most rock concept albums. That would be a cynical way of looking at it, but the Erekose books express the tragedy in the idea, and through the consistent subtleties threading through the whole mythos I’ve come to enjoy exploring MM’s multiverse.
I enjoyed it - it was a fast but highly entertaining read. Moorcock's imagery and ideas are the best things about his books perhaps. The novel was short, and by today's standards it skips along at a very quick pace. A modern author would be required by their editor to take a little longer to spin the yarn, but it wouldn't necessarily be better for it. I was reminded of two authors while reading - Lovecraft, for some of the half-shown ghastly imagery of demons and foul places, and van Vogt, for the incredible pace and ability to move the story on with nary a pause for breath. I will certainly read on, but I always break series reads with other books (a funny habit) so it may be a few weeks before I'm back in Melniboné. Good stuff though, I can see why some rate Moorcock highly and get drawn in to reading his books by the dozen. Elric is also more 'accessible' I think than his Dancers at the End of Time books, though I did enjoy the depth and ideas there very much too.
I've now started 1632, by Eric Flint. I've been meaning to give this a go for some time, and a few pages in, it seems good and has 'pulled me in' nicely. Its quite a long book, but I suspect I may charge through it, as its that kind of book I think (famous last words).
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