Picked up Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man at a bookstore over the weekend and am now halfway through it. I was nervous about the narrative focus on Reich to begin, but man the central dynamics and cat-and-mouse game that ratchets in about halfway through is just fantastic to read. Not quite as formally innovative, but still plenty assured.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
It's good. Not The Stars Me Destination good, but still really good. Bester was a great writer. The opening few lines of the book are amazing.Quoting dreamdead (view post)
Yeah, this is all about right. The middle half of the book, with Powell and Reich battling out their wits, is flat out amazing, and the best sort of combination between noir and sci fi. Sadly, the climax turns a little too explanatory, psychologizing things a bit too much and undercutting the central mystery. Some of the linguistic play, where Bester intercuts mental conversations, has a great rhythm to it. But overall it never quite achieves the transcendent yearning and exploration that The Stars My Destination holds. Still, glad I read this one.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
This sounds rather fascinating. Anyone read Varley's novel?
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
So glad I gave Dune a second chance. What an absolutely remarkable book it is. It's one of the most perfectly plotted books I've ever read; as a matter of fact, it alone could be an entire masterclass on the subject of how to plot an epic genre story. It is epic, and yet it never gets bogged down in the minutia of unimportant details. It creates a sense of time and space by skipping entire sequences, and expects the reader to be able to keep up. It's political and dramatic without becoming a tedious soap opera. It's weird and bold, and embraces it's imaginative world without a hint of embarrassment - that is to say, it's not at all ashamed of being an unabashed work of science fiction and space opera. And most importantly, it contains one of the greatest characters I've ever encountered: Paul. My god! I haven't encountered such a bold and interesting creation since Alfred Bester's Gully Foyle in The Stars my Destination.
Leigh Brackett's The Ginger Star is a mega disappointment. For a work of heroic science-fantasy, it is completely devoid of heroics. The main character, one of Brackett's "best loved creations," Eric John Stark, does absolutely nothing heroic. Hell, it doesn't really do anything at all. He's a passenger along for the ride. He spends half the book captured by different enemies, and each time his captors just so happen to take him closer to where he needs to be next. He rarely makes a single crucial decision, and the few times he does Brackett writes him out of any consequences. Except for Stark being "the one," you could completely remove him from the book and nothing much would change. Heroic fiction is only as compelling and exciting as the hero, and Eric John Stark has the personality of moist cardboard. I expect more from Brackett, and know that she can deliver a truly remarkable work of pulp fiction. Unfortunately, The Ginger Star is a total failure.
Fun reading:
D_Davis, I think you might like this. Quote on the back compares it to Charlie Huston, which seems fair.
This is one of the most brilliant things I've ever read, by the way. Utterly, utterly, genius.
Please, PLEASE read "Kraken"!!!
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I'm halfway through it now, actually. It's pretty good. Fun structure, integrating nicely Mieville's stylish wordsmithing and semiotic conceptualizing with zippy thrills and witty twists on the end of it all.
The Forever War is one of my favorite books ever, but it's the only Joe Haldeman I've read. I've always been meaning to check out his other work. Any recommendations?
Sure why not?
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Rian Johnson) - 9
STRONGER (David Gordon Green) - 6
THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco) - 7
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (Sean Baker) - 9
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig) - 8
"Hitchcock is really bad at suspense."
- Stay Puft
I've begun reading "Jack Glass" by Adam Roberts. It's fascinating.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I am just loving "Jack Glass".
Very good read so far. Hope it keeps it up.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Found a copy of Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land at Goodwill for a buck. Ten pages in and I am loving it.
:fresh:
I really dug that one.
Man, "Jack Glass" is something else. Less than 100 pages to go now.
Wish D_Davis was still around, I think he'd dig the heck out of it.
Anyone looking for a great sci-fi read, look no further. Read "Jack Glass" immediately.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
"Jack Glass" was pretty wonderful. A mystery whose answer is simultaneously as large as a supernova, and as small and personal as the most base human emotions.
Really great stuff. Loved the world it built, and the story it told within that world.
No worries! I hope you enjoy it!
I actually have a small pile of new sci-fi to read on my bed table. "Ancillary Justice" and "Bald New World" are the top 2
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Going to read this next...
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Won a bunch of awards last year.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Less than 20 pages in and it's already riddled with cool ideas.
The main character is the thousands of years old consciousness of a galactic starship placed in the body of a human.
And in this empire there is no importance seen in distinguishing between genders, so the only pronoun used is "she".
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