Anyways, I read the Joe Abercrombie age of madness trilogy which was decent enough. Some memorable characters in that.
I wrapped up The Blade Itself last week after stepping away from it for a few months. Started Before They Are Hanged immediately after. Abercrombie creates such a unique vibe with memorable characters and cracking dialogue.
Was thinking about returning to the Malazan books recently, after seeing a crazy offer on Humble Bundle. I stopped half way through the third book about 18 years ago, but have always been curious about the utterly bonkers world that Erikson created.
After several months I finally wrapped up "Out of Sheer Rage". I genuinely have no idea why it was on my list - it's about an author's struggles to write a biography of DH Lawrence, and while the first half is vaguely amusing and surprisingly relatable (about how he can't be arsed, basically, so keeps procrastinating to avoid doing it, then feeling depressed at his procrastination etc), it just dragged.
Anyway, now that's finally done, I've picked up Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. It's chunky - 650 pages - but in 3 nights I'm already through about a quarter of it. It's instantly more engaging than, say, Alastair Reynolds, more humour in it while still keeping fairly hard science.
And The Hollywood Killer is still going, but it's got a bit gruesome so I'll come back to it in a few days.
I'm on the final book of Iain Rankin's Rebus series. It'll feel weird when I've finished it.
Was thinking about returning to the Malazan books recently, after seeing a crazy offer on Humble Bundle. I stopped half way through the third book about 18 years ago, but have always been curious about the utterly bonkers world that Erikson created.
Malazan is worth it, imho, although it's a lot of books. Erikson is good and knows how to put pen to paper - Malazan has an overall coherence that you almost never see with these massive series - they usually go pear-shaped at some point when the author loses control or interest in the overall narrative. He doesn't quite pull it off with Malazan (imho) but it's a unique set of books.
He's got a similar gift to Abercrombie with dialog and character - a lot of energy in his writing.
I was a very late comer to Terry Pratchett discworld books so I read one of those every third book. They are great and I kick myself for not reading them earlier because they clearly have a lot of cultural references that were current at the time of printing. I have read ten of them so far so plenty more to go.
I don't often read autobiographies but I am reading and enjoying David Niven, The Moon's a Balloon.
He’s got a similar gift to Abercrombie with dialog and character – a lot of energy in his writing.
I feel like both of them set out to be nonconformist and write what they wanted to write... and both happened to be more than capable of pulling it off.
Will return to Malazan one day.
I've just finished Landlines by Raynor Winn. It's basically the tale of her & her husband who set off to walk the Cape Wrath Trail from north to south, and when they got to Fort Bill, decided to just keep going, selfsupported and camping much of the way. They finished at home in Cornwall. She previously wrote The Salt Path, covering their trek along the SW Coast Path. All of these things while her husband was suffering with a degenerative brain condition which should have meant he was incapable of walking or doing much for himself, but the whole process of fresh air/exercise, and coping with the challenges that something like this throws at you, actually meant that his symptoms were markedly reduced over the several months involved. There are plenty of "Ooh, it's rather dusty in here" moments. And her observations on the mess we're generally making of the world, locally and globally, strike a chord. Very well worth the £11 in the supermarket.
I kick myself for not reading them earlier because they clearly have a lot of cultural references that were current at the time of printing.
Pratchett's books haven't dated too badly, the world's still flat.
Butcher's Crossing by John Williams is my next after aborting Paul Morley's utter waffle The Age of Bowie. I used to like Morley in the NME, but a full book is just painful..
Butcher's Crossing is (hopefully) in the McCarthy vein.
I wrapped up The Blade Itself last week after stepping away from it for a few months. Started Before They Are Hanged immediately after. Abercrombie creates such a unique vibe with memorable characters and cracking dialogue.
I really enjoyed The Blade Itself and subsequent books in the series, and.i highly recommend them - but just haven't got on with any of his other books. No idea why.
Still (re)reading 'Bomber Boys by Patrick Bishop - not really enjoying it as much as I remember from the first time around and I can't decide whether or not the author agreed with the 'area bombing' approach that was taken. At one point he seems to suggest that Harris was doggedly using the tactic without direct approval from Porter and that he was wrong, the next he seems to be saying he was entirely right. Likewise, his opinion of the effectiveness of the whole campaign seems to flit from 'useless' to 'very successful'. I'll be glad when I am done with it!
Butcher’s Crossing is (hopefully) in the McCarthy vein.
You're not a million miles off, both part of the "new realism" direction westerns started taking. I liked it a lot, one section of the book still ranks high in my "shittest way to spend a winter" list!
[quoteShe previously wrote The Salt Path, covering their trek along the SW Coast Path.
I have Landlines and her third one in the 'to read' pile, after reading The Salt Path a few months ago. I'd avoided it for ages because I thought the misery aspect was a bit too much, but then saw her talking to Rick Stein on one of his programmes, and she came across well. (By coincidence, she was on some Mel Giedroyc thing last night.) I thought her writings about homelessness were extremely touching, and she's clearly a very good writer. Like you, I welled up a few times during the book. On the other hand, my brother disliked it - seeing their homelessness as a result of their own decisions. It's not really a book about walking, imo.
I've really enjoyed all of Joe Abercrombie's books, love the way he manages to make me dread and need to read the next chapter, for everything to be completely reset.
As for Erikson's Malazan series, fabulous but totally rocket ship madness when books don't follow on from each other, I've watched YT reviews since that made me feel better about being completely lost from one book to the next.
Just Finished John Scalzi's latest 'Starter criminal', not one of his best but I simply enjoy his writing . He does explain he was taken out by Covid during writing and suffered from brain fog while recovery. Along with the latest Mick Herron's 'Secret Hour', slow horse saga, a really good change of scene.
I did both of those mid Justin Cronin's Ferryman, as his slow build up was taking too long, but I'm back into it now
I'm currently reading 'Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire' by Peter Doyle and Robin Schäfer. It's a collection of letters home from English and German soldiers narrated by the authors for context. It's really interesting as it doesn't go too deeply into the history of the Great War, it just identifies key events and then illustrates them with the letters so you get to read letters from both sides, side-by-side to compare moods and emotions at key points in the war such as the Somme, Third Battle of Ypres, the final German Offensive etc. And, as it was jointly written by an English and German historian (and published in both English and German) it remains very neutral.
I've just finished The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding, excellent stuff. Very much in the mold of a classic fantasy book. Not perfect but it's a series I'd certainly read again.
After really enjoying Foundation on Apple TV I've actually started a sci-fi book. An STW favourite, Iain M Banks Consider Phlebas. I've read all the 'normal' Iain Banks books and no idea, apart from science fiction not being as big a draw to me, why I've not tried his stuff before. The book opens in a very Iain (M) Banks way.
I have just picked up a copy of "Attached: Are you Anxious, Avoidant or Secure? How the science of adult attachment can help you find – and keep – love" as I have struggled with relationships for most of my life. At 47 it's probably time to try to fix that. It might not make me a better human but it can't make me any worse.
Just started ‘The Glamour Boys’, by Chris Bryant. There was an exhibition in the town museum about Chippenham between the Wars, and part of it had a copy of the book, the connection being the significant involvement in events that brought Britain into the war against the Nazis of Victor Cazalet, MP for Chippenham.
We like to think we know the story of how Britain went to war with Germany in 1939, but there is one chapter that has never been told. In the early 1930s, a group of young, queer British MPs visited Berlin on a series of trips that would change the course of the Second World War.
Having witnessed the Nazis' brutality first-hand, these men were some of the first to warn Britain about Hitler, repeatedly speaking out against their government's policy of appeasing him. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hated them. Branding them 'the glamour boys' to insinuate something untoward about them, he had their phones tapped and threatened them with deselection and exposure.
At a time when even the suggestion of homosexuality could land you in prison, the bravery these men were forced to show in their personal lives gave them extraordinary courage in public. Undaunted, they refused to be silenced and when war came, they enlisted. Four of them died in action. And without them, Britain would never have faced down the Nazis.
One thing that surprised me, although maybe perhaps not that much, was just how many of the Nazi Stormtroopers, the Brownshirts, were homosexuals. And it seems Hitler knew as well.
was just how many of the Nazi Stormtroopers, the Brownshirts, were homosexuals. And it seems Hitler knew as well.
Not really when you think that Ernst Rohm (leader/founder of the SA) was openly gay. I think the Nazi leadership mostly looked the other way and when it was time to get rid of someone it was often the convenient excuse.
I think the problem with Bryant's book is that Chamberlain has to be both the PM who hated* the group of politicians telling him Hitler's a bad 'un, and at the same time in reality, the politician who did more than most at the time to start the process of re-armament, and outmanoeuvre Hitler when it wasn't politically possible to go to war with Germany (because for all it's faults; appeasement was popular in the UK, right up until the point that it suddenly wasn't).
To suggest that we "would not have gone to war with Hitler" is a neat by-line on the back of a book, but the facts don't bear it out really. I think the history and treatment of gay men in the military in WW2 is probably a worthy subject, I found this a bit tabloid for my taste.
* Bryant makes much of Chamberlain having these men followed and spied upon, but Chamberlain treated the secret services like his very own political hit squad on anyone he thought worthy of having dirt on.
Just finished Old Gods Time by Sebastian Barry. It’s one of the best books I’ve read, beautiful language, almost Beckett in places. It’s about a retired policeman in Ireland thinking back over his life and trying to come to terms with what has happened to him. Doesn’t sound gripping maybe, but I couldn’t put it down.
Also on an Irish theme but a bit more straightforward, Kala, about a girl disappearing - what led to it and what happened after.
Just finished O Brother by John Niven, author of Kill Your Friends and Amateurs.
It's a memoir, focussing on his relationship with his younger brother, who died by suicide at the age of 42.
Obviously it's a tough read, but it's also a fantastic evocation of time and place: West of Scotland childhood in the '70s, coming of age in the 80s, soundtracked by punk, post-punk and the embryonic UK indie scene, 20s hedonism as rave hits, then life in 90s London as a coke-fuelled A&R man.
It's for anyone who's ever been a member of a family, had (or been) a wayward sibling, or loved music. The examination of suicide and its consequences is unflinching - the sequence in which his brother finally dies following days in a coma will knock the wind out of you.
However, the book is also bloody funny. There are some truly toe-curling accounts of teenaged embarrassment, largely courtesy of his brother, a congenital wind-up merchant with zero respect for closed doors or locking mechanisms. There's also a fabulous thread of incidents within which he meets the various members of his beloved Clash, only to somehow manage to grossly offend them on every occasion.
If I'm any judge of the STW demographic, there's many on here who would get a lot out of this.
Quick PSA for a Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian 99p on Kindle - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UXKIXUQ?
Northerners: A History - Brian Groom
As the title. A good read about who and what makes up Northerners. Not a deep deep dive, as that could be several volumes long. Enjoying it a lot, as I'm Northern by birth and family, but never really grew up there. We moved south when I was 8, and I moved abroad once I was grown up, but returned to live in County Durham 14 years ago. Kind of tying me back to my roots.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/northerners/brian-groom/9780008471231
the natural history of badgers, by ernest neal
I love to see them,spent too many wasted evenings trying but failing,but fantastic when they get close
the book is well out of date but still many facts you wondered about, lets hope they are still here for the next generations to see.
And these generations too, if theyre not turning a blind eye to whats going on, or have any interest beyond coronation st
Just finished Richard E Grant’s ‘pocketful of happiness’ - various diary excerpts and stories of his wife, Joan Washington, and family dealing with Joan’s death from NSC lung cancer. Good book.
Re-reading The Crow Road by Iain Banks.
Re-reading Mouse or Rat: Translation as Negotiation by Umberto Eco
Reading, not sure how I haven’t done so before, Charley’s War volume 3 Remembrance
Reading ‘Humans’ by Tom Phillips. Amusing snippets of disastrous history.
Seems there’s on ongoing book most everywhere I look. Should get most finished by next week.
Next up might be PJ Harvey’s Orlam that I got at her gig on Monday.
Book club this time is a couple of Mick Heron spy thrillers. Set on the less glamorous backoffice end of the MI5 spectrum, various screw ups/desk jockeys happen to finally get involved in something juicy. Readable and quite well done, but very much within the genre, and I'm not sure what we'll discuss when we meet up. I predict that the inevitable topic switch to UK politics and/or AI will happen sooner rather than later this time.
I'm also reading Ultraprocessed Humans, which is fascinating and educational. He argues that Ultra Processed Food, rather than fat/sugar/carbs are the leading cause of obesity. UPFs have some sort of cheat code which bypasses people's switch to say they are full, so you eat much, much more than you would otherwise.
Long Way Home - Ryan Van Duzer
Finished 'Fritz and Tommy' last week and now reading 'Band of Brothers' by Stephen Ambrose. I have had the book for ages but kept avoiding reading it as I was worried it would feel like a screenplay of the series but it isn't at all – it is so much better at expressing the characters than the series managed. For example, although everyone hated Sobel and thought him 'chickenshit', they (almost) all also respected him and acknowledged he did an amazing job at making them one of the most effective fighting units of WW2. When I have finished it, I will have to re-watch the series.
Echoes my thoughts about Band of Brothers as well @johndoh. Reading Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher novel just for a laugh. It's terrible, but in a easy reading, gripping sort of way. I can see why they're so popular
If you like that one Nick, you'll like all of them 😉 I think I got to about 4 or 5 before giving up. My better half has ploughed through the lot.
In my never ending trashing SF/Space Opera phase, I read the Elfor Trilogy by R.R Haywood. Interesting concept, plot holes you could drive one of the ships through, quite tense tho but a bit of an unsatisfying ending.
Band of brothers is great. Never seen series so can't comment but it's a fantastic book.
I've just started Austerity Britain 1945-51. Wow I knew the rationing went on but it's incredible. Also the amount of data collected in 'mass observation' before proper computers is staggering. Big fan of David Kynaston and his social history stuff.
Book club this time is a couple of Mick Heron spy thrillers.
Adapted on Apple TV
Band of brothers is great. Never seen series so can’t comment but it’s a fantastic book.
I can recommend it – it feels very much like Saving Private Ryan (especially the D-Day sequences) but it is very much based around the true events of E (Easy) Company. The interviews with the veterans at the end of episodes made me cry.
Got fed up with Star of the Sea, first book in a long time I abandoned.
Just finished Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 🙂 .. she had silver shoes BTW.
Almost finished The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle..... Its fun 😉 in a 1912 sort of way.
I bought "the age of madness" trilogy after seeing it mentioned on here. I'm about 3/4 way through the first book and I'm loving it!
It's got everything I'm after!
Swashes are buckled! Chests are being puffed! And magic is skirting around...
Cheers for the recommendation!
Just picked up two muso autobiographies in the charity shop - always manage to buy something when I’m supposed to be getting rid of stuff.
Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello and Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young
Just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Deceptively simple and a bit ‘yeah and?’ but grows in your mind after reading till you realise it’s brilliant.
The Shining Mountain. Joe Tasker and Pete Boardman on Changabang. Awesome.
Just finished the Dark Defiles, last part of Richard Morgan's fantasy trilogy (Altered Carbon guy). Loved the first in the series, quite liked the middle, the last one's a kind of catastophic mess tbh, just feels like he lost all control of the book but still all in all worth the read. If you like the blade itself, it's definitely worth a look, Ringil would get on with Logen Ninefingers like a house on fire. Screaming, breaking glass, that sort of thing
Started into Hopeland by Ian Macdonald- absolutely loving his Luna series so decided to try this even though it's a bit outside of my tastes. And it's good, it has this wonderful twist on the fairly trad Neil Gaiman-ish "person discovers an alternative weird world parallel to our one" but with the twist that the person discovering it is also from another alternative weird world parallel to our one. Maybe it's been done before, it seems obvious once you've seen it done, but it's new to me and it's lovely. Plus, I love his writing- not sure he's really got the voices of the characters right here though but the rest is fantastic.
The Sleepwalkers; Christopher Clark. It's a study of how and why the Europeans stumbled their way into WW1. In essence it expands on the 'Princip shoots Archie Ferdinand, and it all goes off' story that we're all familiar with. It looks at the start and reasons of the Balkans War that preceded the Great war, and the exposes the machinations of the Aristos desperately trying to hold onto power in the sense it allowed them to shape either/both internal and external policies of the countries that they found themselves "In Charge" of. and the politicos either trying to support them or wrest power from them (or sometimes both) and how that led to the sorts of decision making that caused them all to stumble into war when none of them really wanted to, understood more or less fully what it would mean, but went ahead anyway because it was not in their interests not to. Its depressing because you can see the same sorts of national decision making going on now. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose...Or something.
Its very dense and I can't decide whether its so dense that its unreadable, or that because there's just so much stuff it really should've been a couple of volumes but for some reason it's crammed into a single volume, or I'm too stupid. My money is on the last one.
The Savage Storm - the Italian Campaign 1943-45 - James Holland - he does a good job of weaving in personal accounts from all sides into the big picture of the campaign itself.
And I thought the weather in West Yorkshire was bad............
One of a two-for-a-pound from a garage sale job. Stalker by John Stalker.
It looks so dull and dated but actually a really good non-fiction. He was a senior Manchester police officer tasked with investigating the trigger-happy RUC culture. Blatant obstruction to evidence from special branch and the most senior levels of the police frustrating his efforts at every step.
Just finished Sylvia Beach's 'Shakespeare and Company', an account of her opening the bookshop in Paris and the struggle to publish Joyce's 'Ulysses'. Also Heminway's 'Death in the Afternoon', a detailed description and analysis of bullfighting in the 20s and 30s arising from his early career as a sports journalist. Now returning to Danny Dorling's 'Shattered Britain', a radical geographer's account of how increased inequality has been brought about in the UK. I can only read so much of it in one go as it's so close to the knuckle.
Just started...
Flashman and the Mountain of Light.
Could (sounds) like fun 🙂
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_and_the_Mountain_of_Light
Just finished Drive your plow over the bones of the dead by Olga Tokarczuk - pretty good, lighter work from a big hitter. She won the Nobel prize for lit a few years ago and has written some hefty tomes, but this one is very accessible - a murder mystery.
Have one called The Vorrh up next by Brian Catling - don't know if anyone has read that here? Rated as a very original book by some so hoping it lives up to its reputation. Writer seems like an interesting man, a sculptor and artist who only started writing novels in his late 50s.
Also picked up the first book of the Prince of Nothing series by Scott Bakker. Mentioned all the time in connection with stuff like Malazan and the Black company books so thought I'd see what it's about.
Thin Places by Kerri Ni Dochartaigh A book about personal problems, mental health, the recent history of Northern Ireland particularly Derry and the the redemptive power of nature. If you're interested in the concept of thin places this book is for you
Have one called The Vorrh up next by Brian Catling – don’t know if anyone has read that here? Rated as a very original book by some so hoping it lives up to its reputation. Writer seems like an interesting man, a sculptor and artist who only started writing novels in his late 50s.
I’ve read it, quite enjoyed it, have read the second one in the trilogy. It’s very dark fantasy.
Currently working my way slowly through The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown. In fact I'm currently working through everything he ever wrote!
Have one called The Vorrh up next by Brian Catling – don’t know if anyone has read that here?
The whole trilogy is very good. His novella Hollow is exceptional - what would it be like to live in a Hieronymous Bosch world?
redthunder
Free Member
Just started…Flashman and the Mountain of Light.
Could (sounds) like fun 🙂
Flashman is pretty reliably good. I got the 12-book set on Kindle a few years back for something like £60, and it was great VFM.
Still working through the second Arkady Martine book here - A Reminiscence of Turkey or something. It's excellent stuff, not dissimilar to Iain M Banks, in that it's sci-fi about space and empires, but fun and funny with it. Really gripping.
And for non-fiction I'm still with Jupiter's Travels - Ted Simon's book of riding a motorbike around the world in the 1970s.
The new Chuck Palahnuik, Not Forever, But for Now. I think that's title, can't even be bothered to check. What a letdown, after all his other brilliant books, I can't wait for it to be over.
So at the same time my Kindle reading is Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy). Funny, cos I found his last book a bit of a letdown too. Blood Meridian is awesome though.
I need to find a new favourite author. 🙁
Just started The Three Body Problem in prep for the new netflix series next year. Only a couple chapters in so far and it's not what I expected.
Oooh yes, The Three Body Problem has been on my to-read list for a couple of years now. Is it good?
Agreed on Cormac McCarthy. I started with the Road and then Blood Meridian and both are absolutely excellent. Then tried Suttree (couldn't finish it), The Orchard Keeper (did finish it but it wasn't great); now I've got the All The Pretty Horses trilogy on the shelf ready to read, and hoping it's more like the first two I read
A couple of chapters into The Nanny State Made Me by Stuart Maconie, and it's making me quite annoyed (with the subject matter, not the author)
However, Family Friendly Dog Training has just dropped through the door, and given this weekend's addition to the IHN household, reading that is the most pressing need...
Agreed on Cormac McCarthy. I started with the Road and then Blood Meridian and both are absolutely excellent. Then tried Suttree (couldn’t finish it), The Orchard Keeper (did finish it but it wasn’t great); now I’ve got the All The Pretty Horses trilogy on the shelf ready to read, and hoping it’s more like the first two I read
Suttree was one of his earlier ones. I finished it but didn’t particularly enjoy it. I could see some of the elements of his later works but it was clear he wasn't really in his stride at that point. AtPH is his magnum opus and for my money one of the great American novels.
I thought 3 body was absolute shite tbf, but, I am in the minority I think. But definitely worth a try. People keep telling me the 3rd one is great though
All The Pretty Horses trilogy on the shelf ready to read
I loved that.
No, it was just his last one - The Passenger that I didn't like - didn't bother with Stella Maris after that.
Arabs And Israelis, by Abdel Monem Said Aly, Shai Feldman and Khalil Shikaki. Not a comedy, but seems vitally important right now.
Backseat Rider by Laura Massey-Pugh, the stoker half of the couple that broke the round the world tandem record in 2022.
Great book, enough detail and anecdotes without it being too detailed. They are doing talks to promote the book - went to one at a nearby cycling club and liked it so much I'm arranging one for our club.
I'm re-reading my copy of Palestine by Joe Sacco
He also published Footnotes in Gaza which is another excellent read
I thought 3 body was absolute shite tbf, but, I am in the minority I think
nah, I'm with you, I didn't rate it either. The concept sounds cool I guess but maybe the drama was lost in translation. Couldn't wait to finish it, and haven't bothered with the 2nd or 3rd books.
Stephen Donaldson - The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Against all things ending
First started reading these in the mid 80's. The last book in the chronicles wasn't printed until 2013.
Thought it about time I finished them off. Though it has been a struggle at times.
Oooh yes, The Three Body Problem has been on my to-read list for a couple of years now. Is it good?
Even translated from the original Chinese it's still very readable - but I'm only a couple chapters in so no idea where the story will go. There's definitely quirks to the translation you can pick up on that aren't perfect but it's cirtainly interesting.
Netflix series come out in March and I wanted to read it before the TV adaptation so I bumped it up my to-read list.
Lucy Worsley's biography of Agatha Christie. Love many of Christie's stories and have a big crush on Lucy so win-win.
Just finished Red Notice, by an American financier who was one of the first big investors in Russia when they started selling all the state assets. Much more readable that I expected. Goes from a story of investment banking and hedge funds to one about corruption and revenge under Putin.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22609522
Quite emotional at times too.
Now reading The Wolf, about the wolves of Yellowstone. It's quite good, but a bit middle-ground between story telling and science. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/41750870
Have also read recently "Wool", the first book in the Silo series. It was OK, but too many aspects of the plot broke the laws of physics and it got annoying. It's set on a future earth too, so can't "alternate universe" away the holes.
And Alex Dowsett's autobiography, "Bloody Minded". Recommended, different to the usual cyclist memoir due to his haemophilia.
Stephen Donaldson – The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant – Against all things ending
Did the first 2 trilogies, tbh not in any great rush to reread them.
Red Notice is top notch, really fascinating and instructive stuff but gripping too
Did the first 2 trilogies, tbh not in any great rush to reread them
I'd like to see what they were like - he improved massively as a writer through his career afaik. The first books have some deep feels and ideas, but undermined with lurid bad writing and melodrama. What's the verdict Keando?
Donaldson set the benchmark for the antihero in fantasy. Like you'll really hate reading about this guy. Before Covenant it was all edgy emo kids like Elric.
I thought 3 body was absolute shite tbf, but, I am in the minority I think
nah, I’m with you, I didn’t rate it either. The concept sounds cool I guess but maybe the drama was lost in translation. Couldn’t wait to finish it, and haven’t bothered with the 2nd or 3rd books.
Same here. I don't necessarily think it was lost in translation, just not a great read.
No, it was just his last one – The Passenger that I didn’t like – didn’t bother with Stella Maris after that.
The Passenger kept me interested enough to read Stella Maris, which was awful. But that's McCarthy - some books are utterly brilliant, some are grim. The Crossing is up there in my favourite books I've ever read, and I recently read and enjoyed Child Of God. (When you can show some sympathy for a rapist serial killer loner in the woods then you know the author is doing a good job. )
The first books have some deep feels and ideas, but undermined with lurid bad writing and melodrama.
There's a name I've not heard in a while. I just remember my brother (coming down off a LOTR high) trying to tell me that the Covenant books were the next greatest things and reading the first one...All the while saying "what the ****" to my myself over and over...Doesn't the first "chronicle" open with a rape? (I seem to remember) The past really is a different place.
There’s a name I’ve not heard in a while. I just remember my brother (coming down off a LOTR high) trying to tell me that the Covenant books were the next greatest things and reading the first one…All the while saying “what the ****” to my myself over and over…Doesn’t the first “chronicle” open with a rape? (I seem to remember) The past really is a different place.
The story is literally about a leper transported to a beautiful land who rapes the first person who is nice to him, then spends the rest of the books refusing to believe any of it is real and generally being a massive downer about it all. Followed up in the second trilogy with another main character who was even more of an energy vacuum on the page (Linden Avery).
BUT they sold millions and connected with a lot of people because basically he's an original writer, with good ideas and powerful (if dislikeable) characters, writing when the whole genre was asphyxiating in the iron grip of formulaic Tolkein cloneware.
Weirdly bad feel for language - he couldn't write a sentence without bolloxing it up with a clumsy adjective. Layer this on to the awkward premise of the books and a lot of people haven't got the time for it, which is fair enough. But I'm pretty sure he improved a lot - I've read the Mordant's Need books z1ppy mentioned and they're solid, substantially better writing.
The Three Body Problem
First book was pretty good. Reasonably original concept kept it going. Worth a read. Not sure it will translate to tv very well.
Second, not so great. Never got into it.
Three Body Problem spoilers...
Thing that killed me isn't just that the bits in the game are bad- though they really are bad- it's that so much of the novel is hung on that game and it makes no sense whatsoever. "OK so you have spent ages playing our terrible and boring VR game, for some reason. But now we unveil ourselves! It is all a genius strategy to recruit people into our pro-alien anti-human conspiracy! Join us!" And he goes, aye, sure and joins them and then instantly betrays them, and apparently nobody has ever said "um, excuse me? That's really stupid, there's nothing about the game that could possible identify people who might join you, let alone stream out the people who'd be absolutely against you and would instantly report this to the authorities. I've spent hundreds of hours playing Total War, it doesn't mean I want to be a ****ing skaven. You people are idiots." We spend like a quarter of the novel going through all that tedious crap and in the end it doesn't even work. I wanted to throw it out the window at that point. It's like recruiting for your ecoterrorist organisation using Final Fantasy 7.
Thing that killed me
[more spoilers] Aliens are coming, but not so fast that I can't get a couple of squeal books written first...The whole thing is a daft concept.[/spoilers]
Currently ploughing through Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, last book in Thomas Cromwell trilogy. I got through the other two ( Wolf Hall and Bring out the Bodies) in no time but I’m struggling to get into this one.
The story is literally about a leper transported to a beautiful land who rapes the first person who is nice to him
Yeah, as "introductions to the hero of this trilogy" its a tough sell..😃
writing when the whole genre was asphyxiating in the iron grip of formulaic Tolkein cloneware.
A reluctant hero is forced to go on a quest/journey with a group of other folks to destroy a powerful baddie who lives in Mount Thunder (the next door address presumably) using a literal ring as a metaphor releasing lava which destroys the baddie...Yep, that's a wildly different take.
BUT they sold millions and connected with a lot of people because basically he’s an original writer, with good ideas and powerful (if dislikeable) characters, writing when the whole genre was asphyxiating in the iron grip of formulaic Tolkein cloneware.
Published 1977-1983. I started reading them in 1984 when I worked as Xmas staff in a bookshop. We had the Fantasy/SF stand right next to the till, which meant I spent a lot of time planning my next read. I barely read anything away from that genre for the next few years, and might be wrong, but I don't remember any sort of 'iron grip of cloneware' as you describe. I'm desperately trying to think of anything - other than the Covenant novels - that could be described as ripping off Tolkien. Help me out - my brain is old and creaky! 😀