threemonkeys (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
threemonkeys) wrote2009-06-07 10:28 am
threemonkeys) wrote2009-06-07 10:28 am
Trimmings
I haven't been writing about what I have been reading lately. But I have a little pile of books which need to be put on shelves, so time for a few quick comments.
Death's Head by David Gunn was touted as superior military SF and for nearly half the book, it looked that way. More comarable to Richard Morgan that David Weber really. But then the hero got a talking gun. I don't care if it has an AI or is fueled by magic; talking guns, cats, horses, spaceships, swords or whatever do not work. These sassy, funny usually sulky creations destroy plots and character interaction. It certainly ruined the second half of this book.
Bloodmind by Liz Williams is a sequel to Darkland. Darkland was a breakthrough book for Williams. It delivered on the promise that earlier books had shown but not really delivered. But sequels rarely deliver what the first book manages. Such is the case here. And yet it still manages to validate that the author has "arrived". Put another way, it shows that the first book wasn't a fluke. I'm glad about that.
Sixty Days & Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson adds weight to the notion that he is the world's best boring author. No that does not mean most boring. Just that amongst the worlds large collection of boring authors, he writes the best books. Still boring though.
Johnny Phillips Werewolf Detective is by Robbie Matthews who was fan GoH at Conscription. How you get to be fan guest when you have a newly published book is a question for another time. One word - fun. It is the ASIM ethos and it is therefore no surprise to see it here. Being not actually written for humour but just for free spirited entertainment make this a tasty little snack of a book.
Dark Visions is a bunch of novellas by Stephen King, George R R Martin and Dan Simmons. It sounds like a dream team collection except that it was put together in the late '80s. george was in a quiet phase of his career (book-wise that is - he was in hollywood) and Simmons hadn't really made his name. King was at the top of his powers though. Interesting and quite precient move to bring them together. The sceptic in me does wonder though - I'm pretty sure these three all knew each other back then. Was it a way for King to unload a few of his hard to package novellas while givings his pals a leg up. Who cares - just look at the result.
Canterbury 2100 edited by Dirk Flinthart is more than just a shared worled anthology. It is designed to mimic the original Canterbyury Tales storytelling mode as well as allow a coherent story to story flow inside a bigger framework. What a challenge for an editor herding a bunch of headstrong authors into that structure when they all want to talk with their own voices. And yet those voices can't be shut off because that is what they bring in the first place. It is no wonder that the editorial duct tape shows through more and more as the collection progresses. But it does hold together and what it more you can see just what it is about the notion of such a collection really excites and why an editor is prepared to take on the challenge.
Death's Head by David Gunn was touted as superior military SF and for nearly half the book, it looked that way. More comarable to Richard Morgan that David Weber really. But then the hero got a talking gun. I don't care if it has an AI or is fueled by magic; talking guns, cats, horses, spaceships, swords or whatever do not work. These sassy, funny usually sulky creations destroy plots and character interaction. It certainly ruined the second half of this book.
Bloodmind by Liz Williams is a sequel to Darkland. Darkland was a breakthrough book for Williams. It delivered on the promise that earlier books had shown but not really delivered. But sequels rarely deliver what the first book manages. Such is the case here. And yet it still manages to validate that the author has "arrived". Put another way, it shows that the first book wasn't a fluke. I'm glad about that.
Sixty Days & Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson adds weight to the notion that he is the world's best boring author. No that does not mean most boring. Just that amongst the worlds large collection of boring authors, he writes the best books. Still boring though.
Johnny Phillips Werewolf Detective is by Robbie Matthews who was fan GoH at Conscription. How you get to be fan guest when you have a newly published book is a question for another time. One word - fun. It is the ASIM ethos and it is therefore no surprise to see it here. Being not actually written for humour but just for free spirited entertainment make this a tasty little snack of a book.
Dark Visions is a bunch of novellas by Stephen King, George R R Martin and Dan Simmons. It sounds like a dream team collection except that it was put together in the late '80s. george was in a quiet phase of his career (book-wise that is - he was in hollywood) and Simmons hadn't really made his name. King was at the top of his powers though. Interesting and quite precient move to bring them together. The sceptic in me does wonder though - I'm pretty sure these three all knew each other back then. Was it a way for King to unload a few of his hard to package novellas while givings his pals a leg up. Who cares - just look at the result.
Canterbury 2100 edited by Dirk Flinthart is more than just a shared worled anthology. It is designed to mimic the original Canterbyury Tales storytelling mode as well as allow a coherent story to story flow inside a bigger framework. What a challenge for an editor herding a bunch of headstrong authors into that structure when they all want to talk with their own voices. And yet those voices can't be shut off because that is what they bring in the first place. It is no wonder that the editorial duct tape shows through more and more as the collection progresses. But it does hold together and what it more you can see just what it is about the notion of such a collection really excites and why an editor is prepared to take on the challenge.