That most common of beasts
Apr. 7th, 2006 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysMy attempts to adjust my body clock show that it isn't something to attempt in one step. I stayed up watching a movie on TV last night that I would otherwise have taped. I was very out of sorts this morning. Perhaps if I was fitter and healthier it would be easier. I pruned some trees this afternoon in an effort to start addressing that. I also got some reading done which does not quite contribute in the same way but is good for my mental health.
I managed to finish Edenborn by Nick Sagan. Sagan's first book, Idlewild, got a rather mixed reception. This was probably more than a bit to do with him being his father's son (yes, that Sagan) than due to the merits of the book. I thought Idlewild was pretty good - a well constructed story in a well developed cyber type future with a diverse bunch of character types. Such is not the case with the sequel.
The problem with Edenborn is that it lacks a strong story at its heart. The novel is almost entirely constructed in the emotional states of the characters, some of whom carry over from the first book. Yes there is stuff happening around them in the physical world, but that is mostly small scale and trivial. Some authors carry this type of thing off. Some of the most powerful books written are entirely as internal examinations. Sagan is not such a writer and Edenborn is most certainly not such a book.
Just why Sagan chose to discard the strong story and world building aspects of his writing I just don't know. Some of the words that spring to mind are also words that detractors used about his father and I don't want to get into that game.
I managed to finish Edenborn by Nick Sagan. Sagan's first book, Idlewild, got a rather mixed reception. This was probably more than a bit to do with him being his father's son (yes, that Sagan) than due to the merits of the book. I thought Idlewild was pretty good - a well constructed story in a well developed cyber type future with a diverse bunch of character types. Such is not the case with the sequel.
The problem with Edenborn is that it lacks a strong story at its heart. The novel is almost entirely constructed in the emotional states of the characters, some of whom carry over from the first book. Yes there is stuff happening around them in the physical world, but that is mostly small scale and trivial. Some authors carry this type of thing off. Some of the most powerful books written are entirely as internal examinations. Sagan is not such a writer and Edenborn is most certainly not such a book.
Just why Sagan chose to discard the strong story and world building aspects of his writing I just don't know. Some of the words that spring to mind are also words that detractors used about his father and I don't want to get into that game.