Better late than never.
Reading Take your Eye Off the Ball in honor of the start of NFL training camp.
I've started on Forge of Darkness, the latest Steven Erikson Malazan novel (not related to the Malazan empire) that came out yesterday. Lots of origin stories on many characters we've already met on the main books. I've still to hit on any epic moments, but I'm only at the beginning.
I was in the mood for something light, so I got the audiobook version of The Light Fantastic, which I enjoyed a lot more than Colour of Magic.
Started The Stranger's Woes by "Max Frei", second book in the well-known Russian-language series ("Max" is Lithuanian, though.)
This book continues Max's story. Max (the character, not the pseudonymous author) is an unskilled somewhat effeminate loser on Earth who miraculously finds himself in another world where magic works, he has all kinds of special powers, and where he is generally lauded and looked up to by everyone he meets. Immediately on arrival Max is made an important person in the royal service of the most important country in the world, a place where almost everything is absurdly charming and pleasant. The setting is extremely twee. The stories generally have to do with Max's exploits as part of a sort of royal security team whose job is to deal with evil magic, which is generally presented in a sort of horror-lite style -- stuff that would be ghastly, if it wasn't being so successfully confronted by people who were so very pleasant.
I realize all that sounds like a horrible recipe for a novel -- not much conflict and unrealistic characters indulging themselves and being even more indulged by the author -- but in fact it's shockingly readable and appealing, so despite myself I have to recommend it.
Very little attempt is made to re-describe the basic setting and re-introduce old characters in this book, so if you are tempted by the horrible description I gave of the book, then you should start with the first volume in the series, The Stranger.
I'm reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Very, very enjoyable.
I also took a look at a couple of clips from the TV show on youtube, and that appears to be appalling.
Honestly, if you can allow for the fact that, like many BBC shows, especially pre-CGI, Neverwhere had basically no budget, it's a pretty good show. But Neverwhere the novel was Gaiman's attempt to correct the damage said lack of budget did to the idea he had in his head.Originally Posted by gmonkey
I was already expecting production values to be fairly low. However, what I didn't expect was the bad acting, which I think was due to bad direction. De Carabas in particular is terrible.
Just read "Waterloo: A Near Run Thing" by David Howarth, and now working through Charles Flood's "Grant and Sherman."
By God, war is such fun as long as you're only reading about it.
Finished Bitter Seeds today - fantastic book if you like subject matter. It presents an interesting alternate history of World War 2 because of the involvement of some supernatural elements. Lots of spycraft, secret missions, and the author does a wonderful job of making you feel like you're living in wartime Britain.
Thankfully book 2 just came out. (interestingly, the audio version of book 2 has been out since January but it only just made it to print).
Reading Forge of Darkness too, but I'll be slow.
Only read the first few pages but this is by some margin the best writing Erikson has done (that I've read). It shows quite a progress writing-wise going from a few pages of The Bonehunters to Forge of Darkness.
It also begins more like a gothic novel with Lovecraftian undertones, which is refreshing.
And it has a few characters and situations that remind directly Martin, though you see how differently Erikson deals with this.
Read Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson.
Kind of a modern Islamic cyberpunk fantasy. Kind of, but not really. It's gotten a lot of bookstore advertising push and non-genre review space for some reason, so it's trying to poke its way into the mainstream.
Main character is a young Arab-Indian hacker in an unnamed Gulf state. By dint of his illegal activities and his love interest being an (evil) prince's fiancee, he gets in trouble with the government. He then gets involved with djinn and efreeti and other magical critters, with the book's maguffin being an old book that contains magical secrets that could be used in a program to do something cool.
I read the book wanting to like it, and it does have some value, but I liked it less as I read more.
First of all there is way too much description of computer programming and so on that is not merely wrong but impossible, and which become key plot points of the story. Much of this could have been avoided by just not trying to describe things that closely, but some of it is unavoidable given a questionable plot decision. When writing Neuromancer, Gibson knew very little about computers and networks, but he got by through just not trying to explain the details of the technology, just the experience of jacking into cyberspace. Sadly, Wilson gets all the details wrong in talking about current-day technology, and would have done better not to put them in at all. Worse, though, there is a major plot point that hinges on the functionality of a particular non-magical program running on conventional hardware that just can't work the way it's described at all.
Anyway, if the technical stuff was the only problem, you could ignore it, but the book is just not good enough to sustain that; there's not enough other good stuff to make it worth slogging through pages of bad tech description.
The book can't decide whether it's a cutesy "lite" fantasy with casual magic and improbable intrusions of mythological creatures, or if it's profound and scholarly. It can't decide if it's trying to be literature or pulp. The character relationships are sometimes meant to be deep, and sometimes just smack of soap opera. Not that being in the middle of any of those axes is bad at all, but the book sort of oscillates around the extremes, so it's always neither here nor there.
Finally, and least importantly, the book is sympathetic towards a religious view of the world. Admittedly, it prefers a liberal view of Islam, so liberal as to be very rare these days. I can certainly overlook an author's religious views in a book that's otherwise worthwhile -- I've done that with many other authors with a variety of crazy beliefs -- but in this book, which isn't that good in any event, it just compounds my irritation.
Anyway, I'd say you can give the book a miss, unless the setting seems to be especially appealing. It's almost worthwhile, but not quite. Too annoying and too superficial. There are a number of other fantasy and science fiction novels set in Islamic countries which are considerably better written, though this is the only one I've read which was actually written by a Muslim (she's a convert).
I read 872 words from Erikson's The Forge of Darkness.
That prompt me to write 1185 words about them...
I'm interested in trying some Gaiman, and I've got a trip coming up, so I'm looking to load up my Kobo. Is Neverwhere a good start, or are there other recommendations?
My favorite author today is Michael Chabon, and while I doubt there is anyone out there who can turn a phrase quite like he can, I'm interested in expanding my horizons!
It's where I started, at least with his novels, and I love it, but it's probably not his best work. His best best work is of course the 100 issues of The Sandman, but I think most people would call American Gods the best of his prose output.
I thought Anansi Boys was better than American Gods but since Anansi Boys is kind of sort of a sequel, or at least a book in the same universe with one of the minor characters taking on a bigger role it probably is better to start with American Gods.
I hear his name praised every now and then. What can you recommend from him?
Anything he's ever written. The man has a magical way with words... you will find yourself rereading passages -- not because you need to (in a Cormac McCarthy sort of way) but because you want to savour the phrasing over and over. You don't have to be Jewish to really appreciate him, but it certainly helps!
The three works I would most recommend are Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I'd probably read them in that order, too.
I loved Sandman, back in my comic book days. I will start with American Gods. Thanks!
Really? I didn't even like it that much.
--- Alan
Finished my trek through Feist's Riftwar Universe last week. Only one I didn't read was the one that isn't out yet (due next year sometime). It's a fun high-fantasy-type series, although I think you really need to be a D&D fan to appreciate it. The whole thing started from Feist and his buddies making an alternative to D&D, and quite a lot of the writing feels like the novelization of gaming sessions. Not a bad thing, but I did get tired of it after a dozen or so books.
Re-reading a few Charlie Stross novels now (Glasshouse, Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise) before I pick my next foray into new material. Any suggestions? I'm pretty much into anything that can fit into the very broad sci-fi/fantasy category.
Philip Jose Farmer's Dayworld series, or his The Stone God Awakens novel. Jack L. Chalker's Well of Souls serieses, or his Soul Rider series. L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth :-)
Hah, I read Mission Earth back in high school, when it felt like an act of rebellion. I don't remember if I ever bothered finishing it, probably not.
I know I've read some Philip Jose Farmer stuff but for the life of me I can't recall specifics. Might be worth putting on the to-read list!
I'm reading The Purple Plain by H. E. Bates, an excellent novel of World War II in Burma by a well-known if minor English novelist of the mid-twentieth century. Bates is known for his comic novels (Darling Buds of May etc.) but this novel is a departure: quite grim and beautiful at the same time.
My favourites of Gaiman's prose are American Gods and Good Omens. This last one was a collaboration with Terry Pratchett and, often, had me in stitches. Also, I'd recommend Coraline, which is a children's book, I guess but still excellent all the same.
The only book of his I wouldn't recommend is Anansi Boys. I found it the most plodding of all his works and I never really engaged with the characters.
I enjoy Gaiman's novels, but I think his best work is absolutely his short stories. He has several collections out there:
Fragile Things
Smoke and Mirrors
I thought there was a third one too, but I can't dredge up the name if it exists.
There is and there isn't. There is a volume called Angels and Visitations that was published by a SF&F bookstore here in the Twin Cities named Dreamhaven in a limited print run back in 1993. However, all of the stories in it are in either Smoke and Mirrors or Fragile Things.
I'm reading Deadhouse Gates (3rd attempt) and actually enjoying it this time. I didn't plan on giving Erikson another chance but glad I did as it's really clicking.
Holy cow, I didn't realize it was printed out here. I found my copy in excellent condition at a Goodwill in Washington a year or two back. Some very enjoyable short work by Gaiman.
Yeah, Gaiman lives in the Twin Cities and I believe is good friends with Greg Ketter (not sure if that's the right spelling), who runs Dreamhaven. Certainly they're the best source of signed Gaiman works (he comes by and signs stock for them), and he's done quite a few readings there, a couple of which I have been lucky enough to attend. I also once happened to drop in, quite unplanned, while Lois McMaster Bujold was reading from the then upcoming Cryoburn. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, retail bookselling is a dying market so I wouldn't expect Dreamhaven to be around too many more years.
Forbes' top earning authors of 2011:
1) James Patterson - $94 million
2) Stephen King - $39 million
3) Janet Evanovich - $33 million
4) John Grisham - $26 million
5) Jeff Kinney - $25 million
6) Bill O'Reilly - $24 million
7) Nora Roberts/JD Robb - $23 million
8) Danielle Steel - $23 million
9) Suzanne Collins - $20 million
10) Dean Koontz - $19 million
11) JK Rowling - $17 million
12) George RR Martin - $15 million
13) Stephenie Meyer - $14 million
14) Ken Follett - $14 million
15) Rick Riordan - $13 million
--- Alan
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