July, you said you read that already!

[GOLLUM]

I gave in trying to read Shadowmarch


Will read The Riddle by Alison Croggon next

Sorry to hear that Rune I quite liked it... then again you should enjoy The Riddle.....

 

[rune]

Sorry to hear that Rune I quite liked it... then again you should enjoy The Riddle.....

Im gonna be sidetrack from The Riddle. Took a library book back and found a couple I've been wanting to try - typical!

Robert Rankin - The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Ive not tried his works before and often feel confused at to what genre he writes under.

Darren Shan - Vampire Blood Trilogy - a horror book, but seems to have a few written and again not tried this authors stuff.

Hoping these are both good reads as both authors have a few books published

 

[kaneda]

Reading the prince of dogs at the moment. I can't get into it though, feels like its going to be a struggle to finish this one

 

[Jay]

I'm almost done with a sword/sorcery anthology Lord of Swords, and about halfway through a nvole about a bumbling widl mage The Imrobable Giddley Jenkins by Brett Hall.


Just getting strated on Robin's Hobb's new Shaman's Crossing.


About to put in an order for Cathrynne M. Valente's Yume No Hon: Book of Dreams - really looking forward to this.

 

[Gary Wassner]

Did you listen to Cathrynne's Dragon Page Interview? She and I appeared on the same podcast. I had never heard of her before. But that's nothing new. I had been pretty out of touch until recently.

 

[Jay]

Did you listen to Cathrynne's Dragon Page Interview?

No I had a desire to follw those interviews - but call me old fashioned i don't care for the format.


Kirsten (KJ Bishop) told me Valente's a supreme stylists, and since Yume No Hon: Book of Dreams is also Japanese/oriented and I like to support the good people at Prime Books, who for my money is consistenly the best publisher in speculative fiction.


Big time expectations.

 

[Gary Wassner]

I am wondering if being called a 'supreme stylist' is a compliment or a veiled criticism? In the fashion industry, when a designer is called a great stylist, the inference is that they are not original in any way but simply very technically adept at copying.

 

[Jay]

I am wondering if being called a 'supreme stylist' is a compliment or a veiled criticism?

In the context it was given to me it was meant as a compliment - when I call an author a supreme stylist I mean it as a positive, although not automaticaly implying that it also means the content is profound. Peake was a supreme stylists and a terrific writer as well.

I would call Gene Wolfe, and China Mieville stylists as well - and rank them among the genre very best, particulary Wolfe who is a bonafide legend, and I think Mieville is just supremely gifted.

On the other hand I wouldlcall Patricia Mckillip a stylists as well, but with the exception of her terrific Riddlemaster trilogy, I don't care for any of her work even thoguh it's written incredibly beautifuly)

I think someone can be taught how to write (of course some are more inclinded and adept than others), I think style is something for the most part is innate, and more individual, in regards to an author writing a a number of books with that style.

For instance, I think Mieville can be taught some of the nuances of fine tuning his writing - I don't think you can teach somone to consistenly write with his style however.

 

[Gary Wassner]

Do you read in other genres, Jay? I am curious to know. When it comes to beautiful prose, who do you admire? I agree with much of what you say, though certainly not all, and I find that my sensibilities are quite different when it comes to a particular few. I am wondering if it's a generational gap between us or a cultural difference.

 

[Jay]

Do you read in other genres, Jay?

Most of what some would all outside of the genre reading, I call genre reading for instance I admire stylisitcaly works by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Marquez, Franz Kakfa, Italo Calvino, and Edward Whittmore.

Some non-genre work that that I felt was wonderfully written stylisticaly are written but authors who have genre works. Like Haruki Murakami's NorwegianWood. I also think highly of Kazuo Ishiguro's non-genre work.


One of the great stylists IMHO was Thomas Wolfe, who was just a brilliant stylist IMHO. William Burroughs, Thomas Mann, Thomas Pynchon (alot of Thomas'). Marcel Proust, I would also point to Les Chants de Maldoror
by Lautreamont.

I also like Steve Erickson (not t obe confused with the author of the Malazan series who is Erikson, and no where near as talented as Erickson)


Regarding sheer genius at the craft I have never been exposed to anyone approaching Joyce who was merely amusing us with his sheer genius.


I also admire Lucius Shepard's none genre work.


It's hard to say I like an awful lot.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Now reading the new Harry Potter, Dan Simmons' "Olympos", and Recursion still, all at the same time...

 

[GOLLUM]

WOW multi-tasking I'm impressed Cal!!

 

[dwndrgn]

Almost done with HP#6 and then I've got some "popcorn" books to tide me over until the fantasy books I bought on ebay come in.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I finished Poul Anderson's The Boat of a Million Years, and a what a voyage it was! This book reaffirmed to me why I love SF so much - it actually is willing to imagine that humanity has a future other than choking on our own filth, and puts the creative imagination to work in imagining where we might go rather than turning away from where we are, as too many people seem to think.

Now reading Philip K Dick's VALIS. This is way weird, and cool.

 

[Blue Mythril]

Wow it's been so long since I've been able to contribute here!
So far (July and last week of June, I'm kinda cheating there ) I've read some new stuff and revisited some old friends.

Colleen McCullough: First Man in Rome
Steven Erikson: Gardens Of The Moon
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre affair
Ian Irvine: A shadow on the Glass
Kate Forsyth: The Tower of Ravens
Kate Forsyth: The Shining City
Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots and leaves.

I was actually only finishing First Man in Rome, as I had started it at the beginning of the year and couldn't finish it before uni started. It was a great read, however I found it a bit too long... Or maybe too detailed, or something. I'm not sure, but there is something there which detracts from the experience for me. Though it was great to have started it before I started my course on that period of Rome

I enjoyed Erikson, still havn't read the next book yet. This was yet another on my hit list that I finally caught up to. I think I've lost the momentum though, as I got distracted by other books.

Jasper Fforde, what can I say? A must read for anyone! Always a fan.

Ian Irvine was thoroughly dissappointing. I actually attempted to read this book when I got it almost five years ago now, but I lost interest. I thought I'd return now that I'm older, see if it was any better. I must say, I'm so sticking to my try-before-I-buy line. The characters were fairly stock, though the idea of a chronicler as a main character had potential. The world is cardboard, it doesn't come alive really, this story felt like one of those dreams where you can never really see your surroundings or the people around you with any clarity. Besides which, the majority of the book is a series of long, arcuous flights. I really hate those parts
of stories. The constant trek of Frodo and Sam through Mordor was my least favourite part in LOTR. I mean, an author should really ask themselves, does this add anything to the story or character development? In some cases it does, it may be extremely crucial to a character or event. But in this case it doesn't. Urgh. He could have condensed the vast majority of this book into a few pages and it would have been better off. But still not brilliant. I'm not going to follow this up.

Upon reading her new series, I am reminded of how much I LOVE Kate Forsyth. Her writing is just so animated (especially in comparison to Irvine). The world of Eileanan is the one fictional location that I love always, its almost like it exists on its own outside the plot. If I was given the choice one day to be able to go to any place I desired- past, present, future or fiction, this world would be it. Other authors and works I love, but none has captivated me like the world Kate Forsyth has created. I found this new series/ tale a lot harsher and more frustrating (in terms of plot and sympathising with the characters) than her first series: everything that could go pear-shaped, does go pear-shaped. She also really challenges you in giving you a main character with so much potential who you can't help but empathise with, and then having her kill and maim a loved character from the first series. All in all, I could hardly put these two books down (I havn't been sleeping too well lately ) and can't wait for the next one next year.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Well, this is just a classic, and it can't go wrong to touch up on the basics whilst having a good laugh. Plus its brief: I decided to return to it to pass the time until the new Harry Potter came out I can't control my reactions every time I read from this. I just love it.

So that's what i've been reading the past few weeks, and I'm on to Potter tomorrow. Holidays! Don't you love them? I only have one week left now though....

 

[Rane Longfox]

WOW multi-tasking I'm impressed Cal!!

Sure, but its hell on the eyes

I've dropped Olympos until I've finished at least one of the others, for the sake of my sanity

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

VALIS is incredible fun. Dick parlays gnosticism, all manner of spiritual arcana, existential paranoia and his own 'pink light' episode into an oddly compelling and thought-provoking macap quest. So soon after two solidly 'hard sf' books - Robert J Sawyer's Calculating God and Poul Anderson's The Boat of a Million Years (which is also part historical fiction really) stepping into a such a toally different tale brings home once again what a wonderfuly diverse genre Sf is.

 

[Leto]

Was unable to sleep last night, and read Dissolution by C.J.Sansom. A good historical murder mystery set in a period not really well know (the moment UK changes state religion).

 

[Leto]

Another thriller/anticipation novel, Autobiographie d'un virus by Eric Nataf. A story about a virus designed to sterilize spermatozoids. Quite scary.
Then it'll be Watership down by Richard Adams, and eventually Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince

 

[rune]

I'm back to reading The Riddle by Alison Croggon