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Post by Fortmax2020 on Dec 17, 2013 23:01:10 GMT
Consider Phlebas.
I like the style so far and looking forward to setting aside some time in the new year to read it at a bit more of a rapid pace than at present. Along with Charles Stross Banks is an author I have felt for a while I 'should' read but have avoided doing so for that reason. On a panel with Stross at Easter so should at least try to read one of his as well beforehand.
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Post by legios on Dec 22, 2013 10:47:55 GMT
I quite enjoyed "Consider Phlebas", lean towards prefering "Excession" as far as Banks' SF goes but most of his output is pretty darned good. (Like Banks himself I don't really see a distinction between his SF output and his "literary" novels - "Use of Weapons" and "The Wasp Factory" have more in common than the latter does with "The Business" in all honesty).
Karl
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 31, 2013 10:12:29 GMT
Working through the highly variable H.G. Wells short stories, I've just read a gem that includes the following paragraph:
"The reader... will object, probably has already objected, that certain points in this story are improbable, that if any things of the sort already described had indeed occurred, they would have been in all the papers a year ago. The details immediately following he will find particularly hard to accept, because among other things they include the conclusion that he or she, the reader, must have been killed in a violent and unprecedented manner more than a year ago. Now a miracle is nothing if not improbable, and as a matter of fact the reader was killed in a violent and unprecedented manner a year ago. In the subsequent course of this story that will become perfectly clear and credible, as every right-minded and reasonable reader will admit."
I'm enjoying Conan so far. It's like a popcorn movie in written form. The concepts, plots and characters are simple, but the descriptions are superb. Like with Lovecraft, the way Howard strings words together conjures up three-dimensional images in my mind that I don't think can be matched in comic artwork, and only by a very, very high-budget movie. The world he creates is huge and exotic. I could however do without the regular massacring of armies of hundreds of thousands of men. It seems that battles in Conan's world have a much higher percentage death count than battles in the real world using the same technology (typically 90% death toll on the winning side, 100% on the losing).
(The reason I am trying Conan at all is because it's been published in the same gorgeous leather-bound deluxe edition series as the Lovecraft books, which caught my eye in Waterstone's. I'm a sucker for a nicely bound book.)
Also beginning to read 'Battle Cry of Freedom' by James M. McPherson, on the American Civil War. The few chapters I've read so far really make me think about the extent to which our views on right and wrong are shaped by our culture and upbringing. Can we say with confidence that we would be anti-slavery if born white and raised in southern US states in the early 1800s? They were the same species as us, no different from us coming into the world, but believed what they did was right. Lots of food for thought.
Martin
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Post by legios on Feb 7, 2014 20:39:14 GMT
The last week or so has been heavily "caper" themed in media terms for me. The written part of this has been Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novel "Scoundrels". The plot has a nice simple hook, basically Han and Chewie, having been robbed of the reward the Rebellion gave them in the first film have to find money quickly as they still want to pay-off Jabba... Enter a gentleman who has been robbed by the Black Sun (basically the Space Mafia) with an itch to get revenge for his losses and make himself rich by stealing the Mob's money. From here things spiral into pure caper movie territory as Han puts together a group of criminal specialists to pull off a ludicrously complex heist, with all of the usual sort of complications and near-misses, and an final sting in the tail which is amusingly absurd. Great stuff, dine with a nice light touch and an awareness of he grand tradition on heist movies.
It is bits of the Expanded Universe like this which I will miss, not the absurdly proliferating doomsday weapons or the proliferating Sith Lords and Jedi Masters, but the sort of things where a few people get themselves in over their heads and a rollicking adventure results.
Karl
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Feb 7, 2014 23:22:40 GMT
I quite enjoyed "Consider Phlebas", lean towards prefering "Excession" as far as Banks' SF goes but most of his output is pretty darned good. (Like Banks himself I don't really see a distinction between his SF output and his "literary" novels - "Use of Weapons" and "The Wasp Factory" have more in common than the latter does with "The Business" in all honesty). +1, I found Excession immensely enjoyable with its blend of hard SF, space opera and almost Le Carré-esque intrigue. The Business was the first Banks book I read at all and I found it mildly interesting but a little underwhelming - might not have persevered had a friend not insisted on lending me The Wasp Factory. -Jim |
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Post by Jim on Feb 7, 2014 23:31:53 GMT
Bit of catching up to do. The other week I finished reading The Adventures / Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which was great fun. I read Adventures as a teenager but think I appreciate it more now. Memoirs is decent, though The Final Solution is both a departure from formula and form; the stories are definitely stronger without arch-enemies and grand criminal conspiracies.
I then read Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Janson, a Christmas present from the other half. Lots of really charming sketches inspired by her childhood in Bohemian Finland, some fictional. Highly recommended.
Then another Xmas gift, Daphnis and Chloe by Longus, a bit of classical and slightly naughty Greek literature. Quite enjoyable (though I found Daphnis a bit on the annoying side), I had been thinking it possibly not the most appropriate thing to read in public but when you consider how many people openly read 50 Shades...
-Jim
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 8, 2014 0:13:03 GMT
I've actually been looking to pick up a really nice sturdy set of Doyle Homes. Just haven't found an edition I like yet. My old Hardbacks turned to mush in storage and I have cleared out some space during my Winter clearout for a new set. Have had a hankering to read this stuff again. I can't stand BBC Sherlock. I like my Holmes traditional in style or origin.
Almost bought a hardcover compendium of Jules Verne today. It looked so nice.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Feb 8, 2014 16:35:36 GMT
I actually have exactly the opposite kind of Holmes volume - I found a collected volume in The Works last year which is in terms if its binding, size and paperstock not unlike a Marvel Essential volume. It is not durable and won't survive the ages. But as half of the Holmes stuff in this house belongs to my sister and will likely be reclaimed at some point this year and the other half is mine but dates back to the Inter-war period and is somewhat fragile it makes for a good reading copy in the interim.
Karl
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 14, 2014 10:25:39 GMT
Have finished reading 'The Complete Chronicles of Conan'. Relatively easy reading, somewhat repetitious but the author's writing improves with his career (and the stories are printed largely in the order they were written). They're not stories that could be written nowadays, what with their careless treatment of race and gender, but the less politically correct writing suits the subject matter of the bloody exploits of a simple but honourable barbarian in an uncivilised world. The hero's mentality is simple but not stupid, and so are the plots. In this world, good and evil are more associated with attitude than actions, and life is cheap. The overall work is limited when it comes to stimulating the reader's intelligence, and does not contain diverse and complex characters, putting it in a very different category to modern works like 'Game of Thrones' in which everything is complex and multi-faceted. Nevertheless, Howard, like Lovecraft, really knows how to string words together to create a particular effect, and his world seems very real and appealing in its wildness and freedom, just as Lovecraft's world appeals in its sense of ancient mystery and awe. Both succeed in transporting the reader away from 20th Century routine to more exotic worlds of adventure. But comparing the two side by side, I would have to say Howard's work is fairly disposable, simple and formulaic, whereas Lovecraft's is a great achievement of sustained imagination. Of the two, only the latter could in my mind lay potential claim to the title of genius.
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 14, 2014 12:59:11 GMT
Whereas I have the opposite view. Love Howard's work in context and think Lovecraft was shite! Of the two I would say the former deserves to be in print and the appeal of the latter utterly mystifies me. Repetitive crap!
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Mar 14, 2014 13:45:30 GMT
I have a much greater exposure to the ideas behind Lovecraft's work than I do his own actual material - he has been so heavily raided by comics, roleplaying games and the like that it would be impossible to not have encountered the concepts and still have the interests I do. I must read more of his actual prose at some point.
What I found when reading Howard's work is that Conan felt very fresh. Perhaps because that particular "Sword and Sorcery" genre isn't really something that is around much these days. I've read somuch sub-par fantasy with "Chosen Ones" and prophecies that the contrast with Howard's work was very strong. Conan is who he is not because if Destiny or Preordination, when Conan is flush it is because he has seized wealth with his own strength, cunning and good fortune and when he is broke it is because he has drunk and whored it all away, or trusted the wrong person. Even when he becomes a king it is because he was in the right place at the right time and seized his opportunity. He is the kind of self-made man that is in a minority in Western Fantasy for some reason.
I have a lot of time for Howard's prose style as well. Yes, if you sit down and read several Conan stories back-to-back it can be a bit repetitive, but on the individual story level I think it has a very strong sense of identity and creates a very distinctive flavour of Conan and his world. Howard does not use a broad tool-set but the tools he uses he is a mastercraftsman with in my opinion.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 14, 2014 16:59:59 GMT
I'm not at all a fan of Sword and Sorcery. The only ones I can read are Howard's Conan tales and Peter Jackson's Fighting Fantasy game books! They get by on sheer adventure, for me.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 30, 2014 6:07:50 GMT
Just read a set comprising John Wyhdham's 'The Day of the Triffids', 'The Midwich Cuckoos' and 'The Chrysalids'. This guy really learnt from what H.G. Wells did and took it to the next level. In my view these books are more polished than Wells' work but equally imaginative and thought-provoking.
Martin
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Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 30, 2014 6:24:55 GMT
Loved Triffids when I read it years ago. Have you ever seen the BBC adaptation Martin, it's rather good.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 30, 2014 8:27:32 GMT
Which one? Been a few!
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 30, 2014 9:52:53 GMT
Original 80s one of course
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 30, 2014 17:50:53 GMT
Nope.
Martin
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Post by blueshift on Apr 30, 2014 18:55:08 GMT
Just read a set comprising John Wyhdham's 'The Day of the Triffids', 'The Midwich Cuckoos' and 'The Chrysalids'. This guy really learnt from what H.G. Wells did and took it to the next level. In my view these books are more polished than Wells' work but equally imaginative and thought-provoking. Martin I remember reading all of his stuff when I was younger as my parents were big fans. I recommend The Kraken Wakes. And, of course, Chocky. (That is the name of our cat  ) |
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Apr 30, 2014 19:03:31 GMT
The Chrysalids is one of my favourite books!
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Jim
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Post by Jim on Apr 30, 2014 22:47:11 GMT
I love John Wyndham, I find it pays to revisit his works as you get older and get new perspectives. The Kraken Wakes is great, and I know some people don't like it so much but I really enjoyed Trouble with Lichen.
Last week I read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, which was heart wrenchingly brilliant and one of those books where on the one hand I feel I should have read it sooner but on the other am glad I read it with the experience to appreciate it more fully.
-Jim
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Post by legios on May 2, 2014 11:44:33 GMT
I spent three evenings trying to transfer a great mass of ebooks to my Ipad by various circuitous methods. Then discovered you can add .epubs to Itunes and it will drop them straight int Ibooks. Yep. Technical genius me.
Having sorted that out it means I now have a large chunk of David Weber's Honor Harrington novels on the device for re-reading. I am going back to the early novels, where the Hornblower/Patrick O'Brian influence is most pronounced to start with. But I anticipate a rapid sidetrip to the short story collections with the side-characters in, mostly because I could do with re-reading "Lets go to Paris!" again (best way to describe it is that it is analagous to two drunk naval officers in Nelson's fleet deciding to extend their London pub crawl to Madrid during the war between England and Spain. Only in space).
Karl
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jun 1, 2014 7:21:54 GMT
After reading 'The Day of the Jackal' and 'The Odessa File' last year I have now read Frederick Forsyth's third novel (I think), 'Dogs of War'. Absolutely riveting. How does one guy know - or appear to laypeople to know - so much scary stuff??? He apparently knows how to plot an assassination in France, how to carry out an undercover investigation of Nazi war criminals, and now, how to plot and carry out a coup in a small African state using a handful of experienced mercenaries. To accumulate such knowledge and know how to write... crazy.
Also reading two recent Tom Clancy novels, 'Locked On' and 'Threat Vector'. Jack Ryan's sure come a long way since 'The Hunt for Red October'. The books are a lot more right-wing politically than I thought, and make uncomfortable reading in places, but it's always good to see where the other side in a political/ethical debate is coming from.
Martin
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Post by blueshift on Jun 8, 2014 15:28:59 GMT
I thought I should finally start reading the Count of Monte Cristo to see what all the fuss is about, as it regularly pops up on the front page of Reddit as 'Oh my god I never realised how good this book was'. I have bought the new Penguin translation, I am not sure if that makes me a monster or not.
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 8, 2014 16:51:37 GMT
I've not read any version of it!
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jun 8, 2014 17:21:34 GMT
You've seen the Ghost who saved the Bank at Monte Christo, does that count?
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 8, 2014 17:22:31 GMT
Of course.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Jun 8, 2014 17:58:18 GMT
Also reading two recent Tom Clancy novels, 'Locked On' and 'Threat Vector'. Jack Ryan's sure come a long way since 'The Hunt for Red October'. The books are a lot more right-wing politically than I thought, and make uncomfortable reading in places, but it's always good to see where the other side in a political/ethical debate is coming from. Clancy became much more polarised in his politics as his career went on. (Although the Jack Ryan Jnr era stuff is, arguably slightly less strident than "Rainbow six" with its long screeds about how environmentalists are evil terrorists who want to destroy American prosperity because they hate progress and think that people should be living in the stone age...). I had a similar reaction to the three of the "Campus" novels that I read - I was very uncomfortable with the rational presented that a secret organisation doing wetwork and espionage without official sanction and or oversight is "A Good Thing" as long as it is acting for what it perceives as America's interests. And the books lost me completely when some of the sentiments expressed were so strongly aligned with the modern Republican Right view that by definition a Democrat cannot be a legitimate President because the office of the President can only legitimately be held by a Republican. (And yes, this is a real viewpoint in American politics - it lies behind a lot of the odder stuff that is brought up about Obama). What did strike me about the Campus stuff was how indistinguishable from Jack Ryan his son was as a character. It did rather feel like it was a mechanism for getting around the fact that the books had been set in real time and Ryan was now too old to be a field op. (Although the fact that this didn't seem to be stopping John Clark, who I am pretty sure is marginally older was accidentally amusing). I've been on a space-opera kick in the last week and a half myself. I am two-thirds of the way through Gary Gibson's "Nova Wars" trilogy. It is decent enough stuff, huge scale space-opera with a few post-cyberpunk trappings (neural interface technology, and a bit of brain-hacking and personality uploading in the background) with a decent high-concept story - FTL technology is controlled by one species who dictate where everyone else can travel and colonise and what technology species can trade with each other and which species can meet, except that it becomes clear that the FTL tech has some nasty weaponisable aspects (you can use it to blow up stars) and that the species in question stole it from someone else. The books have a very morally grey edge, with various factions all having their own reasons for wanting to get their claws into FTL tech and a lot of lies being told by one side or another. And that is before what I can only describe as homicidal gnostic space-elephants show up in the second book, apparently looking for something they believe to be God so that they can kill it for being evil... "Homicidal gnostic space-elephants", there is a sentence I never thought I'd be able to type. I don't think the trilogy is hugely ground-breaking stuff, there is nothing here that I haven't seen done by other authors, but it is competently enough done, and keeps me out of mischief. Karl |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jun 8, 2014 18:37:09 GMT
I love 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Easily in my top 20 books of all time. So much better than any of the Musketeers novels. But it's not for impatient folks in a rush. Linger over it and enjoy the journey.
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 8, 2014 23:18:14 GMT
In a move which would would have surprised Ralph of a year ago I have picked up a copy of Shakespeare's Complete Works. I've been enjoying the cinema screenings of theatre productions of his plays, whether pre-recorded or live feeds and wanted to have something to hand to help with my appreciation to look at after screenings (I had seen some film versions but not properly read any of the original texts since school days). Got the RSC giant paperback, which is a mighty beast. There is a hardback available which might suit better in the long-term but thought I'd see how I got on with the paperback first before deciding if I want a more durable copy. It has a good 50-page intro and the various notes and essays look interesting.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jul 9, 2014 20:35:39 GMT
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