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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 23, 2024 10:18:32 GMT -5
I finished Zothique, a collection of Clark Ashton Smith's stories set in that fictional, far-future earth when our sun is dying and human history may be nearing its end, but the setting is very much fantasy-based rather than SF - sorcerers and necromancers rather than mad scientists are the villains. The atmosphere is one of decadence and darkness - though there are occasional surprising flashes of humour, especially in the last story, The Voyage of King Euvaron, which might be seen as outright satire. I liked this quite a bit but I would say it's better for reading a story or two at a time in between other things rather than reading straight through in one go. I look forward to comparing CAS's other collections and settings when I get to them. Roy Thomas was planning on adapting several stories from Zothique back in the day. After abdicating the throne of Aquilonia in Conan Annual #7, the Cimmerian was meant to sail westward toward a new continent (as per what Robert Howard had mentioned in a letter). Thomas had decided that said continent was Zothique, but all we saw of it was an island in Conan the Savage #10. I'm not sure that the Zothique stories had the right feel for a conanization. As you rightly put it, a tone of decadence and darkness permeate these stories. But who knows? Perhaps they'd have done fine as reference material. (As it is, Conan the Savage #10 was extremely disappointing). |
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Post by berkley on Jul 24, 2024 0:07:48 GMT -5
I finished Zothique, a collection of Clark Ashton Smith's stories set in that fictional, far-future earth when our sun is dying and human history may be nearing its end, but the setting is very much fantasy-based rather than SF - sorcerers and necromancers rather than mad scientists are the villains. The atmosphere is one of decadence and darkness - though there are occasional surprising flashes of humour, especially in the last story, The Voyage of King Euvaron, which might be seen as outright satire. I liked this quite a bit but I would say it's better for reading a story or two at a time in between other things rather than reading straight through in one go. I look forward to comparing CAS's other collections and settings when I get to them. Roy Thomas was planning on adapting several stories from Zothique back in the day. After abdicating the throne of Aquilonia in Conan Annual #7, the Cimmerian was meant to sail westward toward a new continent (as per what Robert Howard had mentioned in a letter). Thomas had decided that said continent was Zothique, but all we saw of it was an island in Conan the Savage #10. I'm not sure that the Zothique stories had the right feel for a conanization. As you rightly put it, a tone of decadence and darkness permeate these stories. But who knows? Perhaps they'd have done fine as reference material. (As it is, Conan the Savage #10 was extremely disappointing).
It's an interesting question - while reading this collection of Zothique stories, I couldn't help but think of both Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft (especially since Lin Carter mentions them in his introduction) and how their respective approaches to fantasy writing compared. I think there is some vague feeling of a shared "Weird Tales sensibility" but they are very different to one another. The facile observation might be that Smith was somewhere between the two, combining Lovecraft's pessimism and ghoulishness with a setting that feel in some ways reminiscent of Howard's Hyperborian world - though in this case set at the dusk rather than the dawn of history.
I'd say that would be too simplistic but there are at least a couple of stories that I think could be re-imagined as Conan tales - The Weaver in the Vault and The Black Abbot of Puthuum - in that they feature protagonists roughly of Conan's type in the most general sense - soldiers, fighters, warriors, men of war, however one wants to describe them - and the bare plot-outline could be made into a vehicle for the Conan character without too many drastic changes. Actually, the pair in Black Abbott might remind one more of Fafrhd and the Grey Mouser, and since that story is one of the minority with an upbeat ending, it might be the easiest to relate to for fans of either Leiber's duo or REH's Conan. Weaver in the Vault is more in the Lovecraft vein, or perhaps rather how one might imagine a Conan story written by Lovecraft.
But there I go, indulging in the kind of comparison I just said was over-simplistic. Really, I agree with you that the tone of CAS's Zothique is very different to REH's Hyperboria. The end of the world is different to its beginning, even if similar types of civilisations emerge in both settings as far as technology-levels, politics, social structures, etc go. No doubt a clever writer could mine Ashton Smith's Zothique stories for material or ideas to be transferred, suitably adapted, to Conan stories, but it would lose most of what makes Ashton Smith's writing unique and therefore worth reading.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 24, 2024 8:36:46 GMT -5
Currently reading Troubled Blood by J.K. Rowling (under the alias of Robert Galbraith).
I have never been a Harry Potter fan, although I did read the series for my kids' bedtime stories. I must admit I was biased against those books from the start. As a fan of fantasy fiction, I was annoyed that so many "serious" book critics, who contemptuously dismissed the works of my favourite writers as sub-genre literature, were all of a sudden fawning over what struck me as a mere cross between Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea and Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings (with the invisibility cape from Burroughs' John Carter thrown in).
That was unfair to Rowling, and I must admit that although I am still irked by the frequent nonsensical plot-twists of the Potter series, the writer is really good at making us care for her characters -like what you'd find in a good soap opera, or an early X-Men comic by Chris Claremont.
The same quality is present in Troubled Blood, and the main character's relationship with his colourful family is my favourite aspect of the book as of page 200. Not that the cold case being investigated by our one-legged detective is uninteresting, but the past shenanigans of his late mother would be worthy of a novel on their own. I don't know if the matter was covered in another book (Troubled Blood is part of a series, too) but if so, I might look them up.
I suppose that when I'm through with the 950 pages hardcover, I might opine that a tighter editorial hand could have been welcome. As shown by the Honor Harrington or the Song of Ice and Fire series, bigger books are not always better. But we'll see.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 24, 2024 8:53:08 GMT -5
Hey wait a second... are you saying the Honor Harrington books are too long? I LOVE those.
OK, I'll grant you toward the end of the series when it got overly political it got silly. But the first, oh, 1/2 dozen or so are amazing Naval fiction in a fun space setting.
George RR Martin.... I'll agree with you. He went on more than a few unnecessary tangents.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 24, 2024 10:44:20 GMT -5
Hey wait a second... are you saying the Honor Harrington books are too long? I LOVE those. OK, I'll grant you toward the end of the series when it got overly political it got silly. But the first, oh, 1/2 dozen or so are amazing Naval fiction in a fun space setting. Oh, I agree. 300-500 pages of tightly scripted space battles with credible physics? I'm so there and I'll buy the next book. After the first half of the run, though, as you point out, we got fewer and fewer space battles and way more chapters of Honor and friends having extremely boring relationship problems, sophomoric political discussions and daft social commentary -just as the page count went up to 800 or thereabout. Weber writes great space battle, but he's bad at soap opera and political thrillers. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 24, 2024 20:01:40 GMT -5
OK I can definitely agree with that
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 25, 2024 10:19:33 GMT -5
 L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
The third part of Ellroy's L.A. Quartet and arguably the best known because of the 1997 film. We follow three LAPD detectives: Ed Exley, war hero, straight arrow and son of a legendary police detective; Jack Vincennes, narcotics officer and technical advisor to the television show Badge of Honor (based on Dragnet); and Wendell "Bud" White, a force of nature who is fixated on men who abuse women. The three, who are frequently at odds and occasionally trying to kill each other are pulled in to a labyrinthine plot that has multiple conspiracies and ties in with past cases and legends both within the LAPD and in Los Angeles in general. And when I say labyrinthine, I mean this thing makes Raymond Chandler's plots look simple and linear. And that's not a problem. Ellroy's writing is so propelling and compelling that you just chug right along no matter what crazy twists, turns and double-backs he gives you. Keep in mind that this is James Ellroy. There is absolutely nobody in this book that isn't just a completely fatally flawed individual. If you have to have someone to root for in your reading, you need to find a new read. Because these folks are all universally awful. But that's still fine, because Ellroy is, quite simply, the best writer of neo-noir there is. There are a couple of things in here that bugged me...almost enough to dock the book some points. Ellroy intermixes historical people and events with his own creations. And generally that's fine. The entire plot tends to flow out of the real-life "Bloody Christmas" of 1951. Ellroy has fictional stand-ins, i.e., Hush-Hush magazine for Confidential, and the aforementioned Badge of Honor for Dragnet. But there are also real-life folk like Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato that are integral to the plot and whose lives are portrayed fairly straight. It's when he goes very far afield with real people that it bugs me, like stating multiple times that Jack Dragna was deported and no longer boss of the L.A. mob. Dragna was ordered deported, but appealed the order and was never removed from the country before his death. And he was the titular boss of the L.A. mob until that death. That just bugged me. And there's a somewhat important point in the book that hinges on a .38 Police Special with a suppressor. Revolvers can't be suppressed. Yeah...there are a couple of weird exceptions (that Russian Nagant for one), but the .38 revolver can't be silenced. That just drove me nuts. But overall this is just a great read. A super important and well done neo-noir. It's been easily 25 years since I've watched the film, but there were definitely significant changes. I'll give it a watch in the near term. But damn...this is good. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 26, 2024 8:55:51 GMT -5
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
The third part of Ellroy's L.A. Quartet and arguably the best known because of the 1997 film. We follow three LAPD detectives: Ed Exley, war hero, straight arrow and son of a legendary police detective; Jack Vincennes, narcotics officer and technical advisor to the television show Badge of Honor (based on Dragnet); and Wendell "Bud" White, a force of nature who is fixated on men who abuse women. The three, who are frequently at odds and occasionally trying to kill each other are pulled in to a labyrinthine plot that has multiple conspiracies and ties in with past cases and legends both within the LAPD and in Los Angeles in general. And when I say labyrinthine, I mean this thing makes Raymond Chandler's plots look simple and linear. And that's not a problem. Ellroy's writing is so propelling and compelling that you just chug right along no matter what crazy twists, turns and double-backs he gives you. Keep in mind that this is James Ellroy. There is absolutely nobody in this book that isn't just a completely fatally flawed individual. If you have to have someone to root for in your reading, you need to find a new read. Because these folks are all universally awful. But that's still fine, because Ellroy is, quite simply, the best writer of neo-noir there is. There are a couple of things in here that bugged me...almost enough to dock the book some points. Ellroy intermixes historical people and events with his own creations. And generally that's fine. The entire plot tends to flow out of the real-life "Bloody Christmas" of 1951. Ellroy has fictional stand-ins, i.e., Hush-Hush magazine for Confidential, and the aforementioned Badge of Honor for Dragnet. But there are also real-life folk like Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato that are integral to the plot and whose lives are portrayed fairly straight. It's when he goes very far afield with real people that it bugs me, like stating multiple times that Jack Dragna was deported and no longer boss of the L.A. mob. Dragna was ordered deported, but appealed the order and was never removed from the country before his death. And he was the titular boss of the L.A. mob until that death. That just bugged me. And there's a somewhat important point in the book that hinges on a .38 Police Special with a suppressor. Revolvers can't be suppressed. Yeah...there are a couple of weird exceptions (that Russian Nagant for one), but the .38 revolver can't be silenced. That just drove me nuts. But overall this is just a great read. A super important and well done neo-noir. It's been easily 25 years since I've watched the film, but there were definitely significant changes. I'll give it a watch in the near term. But damn...this is good. I've had Ellroy on my to-read list for years without ever getting around to him. Is the LA Quartet the place to start or is there something earlier that would be a better introduction to his writing? |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 26, 2024 9:21:57 GMT -5
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
The third part of Ellroy's L.A. Quartet and arguably the best known because of the 1997 film. We follow three LAPD detectives: Ed Exley, war hero, straight arrow and son of a legendary police detective; Jack Vincennes, narcotics officer and technical advisor to the television show Badge of Honor (based on Dragnet); and Wendell "Bud" White, a force of nature who is fixated on men who abuse women. The three, who are frequently at odds and occasionally trying to kill each other are pulled in to a labyrinthine plot that has multiple conspiracies and ties in with past cases and legends both within the LAPD and in Los Angeles in general. And when I say labyrinthine, I mean this thing makes Raymond Chandler's plots look simple and linear. And that's not a problem. Ellroy's writing is so propelling and compelling that you just chug right along no matter what crazy twists, turns and double-backs he gives you. Keep in mind that this is James Ellroy. There is absolutely nobody in this book that isn't just a completely fatally flawed individual. If you have to have someone to root for in your reading, you need to find a new read. Because these folks are all universally awful. But that's still fine, because Ellroy is, quite simply, the best writer of neo-noir there is. There are a couple of things in here that bugged me...almost enough to dock the book some points. Ellroy intermixes historical people and events with his own creations. And generally that's fine. The entire plot tends to flow out of the real-life "Bloody Christmas" of 1951. Ellroy has fictional stand-ins, i.e., Hush-Hush magazine for Confidential, and the aforementioned Badge of Honor for Dragnet. But there are also real-life folk like Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato that are integral to the plot and whose lives are portrayed fairly straight. It's when he goes very far afield with real people that it bugs me, like stating multiple times that Jack Dragna was deported and no longer boss of the L.A. mob. Dragna was ordered deported, but appealed the order and was never removed from the country before his death. And he was the titular boss of the L.A. mob until that death. That just bugged me. And there's a somewhat important point in the book that hinges on a .38 Police Special with a suppressor. Revolvers can't be suppressed. Yeah...there are a couple of weird exceptions (that Russian Nagant for one), but the .38 revolver can't be silenced. That just drove me nuts. But overall this is just a great read. A super important and well done neo-noir. It's been easily 25 years since I've watched the film, but there were definitely significant changes. I'll give it a watch in the near term. But damn...this is good. I've had Ellroy on my to-read list for years without ever getting around to him. Is the LA Quartet the place to start or is there something earlier that would be a better introduction to his writing? I think so, but I've not read any of his earlier stuff. I know that Ellroy himself isn't super excited about his Lloyd Hopkins books and actually finds Blood on the Moon to be embarrassing. That said, I kind of wish I'd read Clandestine before the L.A. Quartet because it introduces Dudley Smith and a couple of other characters in the later cycle. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 26, 2024 15:12:03 GMT -5
Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian SwordspersonGeorge Alec Effinger, 1993 (this edition, 1994)  The complete collection of all eight Maureen Birnbaum stories written by Effinger and originally published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (the first two) and various SF or fantasy anthologies over the course of the 1980s. The premise is entertaining enough: the titular Maureen (also known as ‘Muffy') is a ditzy East Coast prep-school girl who keeps getting transported to various SF or fantasy settings and then reappears to her friend Bitsy (later Betsy and then Elizabeth) Spiegelman, usually after a few years pass, to whom she narrates her adventures. An important detail is that Maureen never ages. The first few stories, in which Maureen travels to Barsoo, er Mars, the Earth’s Core, or the planet from Asimov’s short story “Nightfall” are all right and mildly amusing. However, there are diminishing returns, as the schtick quickly gets a bit tiresome and the humor does not always land very well. The best thing about this edition I have is that – besides the cover – the illustrations at the beginning of each story are by Ken Kelly. 
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 27, 2024 13:54:19 GMT -5
that looks fun!
The Last Command
by Timothy Zahn
I found that alot of the parts I remembered most about the trilogy were in this book, both good and bad. I would have liked the New Republic to actually beat Thrawn, rather than the combination of past deeds catching up and outsmarting himself that happened, but it does certainly make for a great image... I wonder once again how awesome this would have been on the big screen if Disney was just willing to pay Timothy Zahn a bit instead of starting from scratch and coming up with the nonsense they did.
I was fun seeing the different uses Thrawn came up with for cloaking tech, which is far more interesting than just sneaking up on someone. Star Trek writers should take note.
One thing that did occur to me... the cover doesn't make alot of sense. I think it's meant to be Mara and Luuke, but certainly it makes me think of Jacen and Jaina (Who are of course infants in this book)
I wonder if that's on purpose?
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Post by berkley on Jul 27, 2024 19:32:20 GMT -5
Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian SwordspersonGeorge Alec Effinger, 1993 (this edition, 1994) The complete collection of all eight Maureen Birnbaum stories written by Effinger and originally published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (the first two) and various SF or fantasy anthologies over the course of the 1980s. The premise is entertaining enough: the titular Maureen (also known as ‘Muffy') is a ditzy East Coast prep-school girl who keeps getting transported to various SF or fantasy settings and then reappears to her friend Bitsy (later Betsy and then Elizabeth) Spiegelman, usually after a few years pass, to whom she narrates her adventures. An important detail is that Maureen never ages. The first few stories, in which Maureen travels to Barsoo, er Mars, the Earth’s Core, or the planet from Asimov’s short story “Nightfall” are all right and mildly amusing. However, there are diminishing returns, as the schtick quickly gets a bit tiresome and the humor does not always land very well. The best thing about this edition I have is that – besides the cover – the illustrations at the beginning of each story are by Ken Kelly. I usually like Ken Kelly's art from what I've seen of it on paperback and Warren magazine covers but these don't quite work for me, for some reason. The concept sounds like it has potential but as you say, not sure it has enough to support a whole book, even a relatively short paperback like this. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 27, 2024 20:41:22 GMT -5
I've had Ellroy on my to-read list for years without ever getting around to him. Is the LA Quartet the place to start or is there something earlier that would be a better introduction to his writing? I think so, but I've not read any of his earlier stuff. I know that Ellroy himself isn't super excited about his Lloyd Hopkins books and actually finds Blood on the Moon to be embarrassing. That said, I kind of wish I'd read Clandestine before the L.A. Quartet because it introduces Dudley Smith and a couple of other characters in the later cycle. Hmmm, I think I might try that one if I see it around. I like starting with the first introduction of the characters, if possible. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 28, 2024 3:40:26 GMT -5
Chike and the RiverChinua Achebe, 1966  One of the few children’s books written by Achebe (a favorite author of mine); he apparently wrote it when his daughter started going to school and he saw that all of the children’s prose books were written by non-African authors. It’s about an 11 year-old boy named Chike, who moves from his village (where he lived with his mother and sisters) to the bustling market city of Onitsha to live with his uncle and continue his schooling. He is fascinated by the Niger River, which flows past the city, and wants more than anything to take the ferry across it – although he doesn’t have the sixpence needed for fare, and his uncle refuses to give it to him. Much of the story deals revolves around Chike’s fascination with the river and his efforts to take that magical (to him) ferry ride. Like all of Achebe’s books, the deceptively simple prose tells a rich story. As a children’s book, it succeeds in portraying life and situations in the way it would be perceived by small children. In general, though, it also provides a very nice slice of life in eastern Nigeria in the mid-20th century.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 28, 2024 11:48:42 GMT -5
 Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak
It's late summer 1974 and cousins Dean and Chuck Melville are making a road trip from Texas to Idaho. It's not your normal road trip. Chuck is recently paroled from the Texas state penitentiary. Dean is a low-level marijuana dealer selling out of his taco truck. They are both good old boy rednecks...Dean is just significantly more good than Chuck. Why Idaho? Well Evel Knievel is going to make his jump across the Snake River Canyon over the Labor Day Weekend. And Chuck and Dean has a taco truck packed with 250 pounds of weed and are supposed to have a connection at the jump site to sell it. Unfortunately they're being chased by Ivor County Texas Sheriff Bob Giddings and by Antoine, Deans other boss...the one from whom they stole the 250 pounds of weed. Now all of that sounds a bit like Smokey and the Bandit or any of a number of 70s movies. And on the surface it kind of is. But this book has a lot more edge than any of them had. There is underlying humor here, particularly in the first two acts. But it's still darker and it gets a whole passel darker in the close-out. And overall, that's fine. If you grew up in the 70s or even into the 80s with older siblings this is going to push a lot of good buttons. I was almost seven when Knievel made his Snake River Canyon "jump." There were a whole lot of us boys on the playground who were playing with the Ideal Toys Evel Knievel stunt cycle. And we would watch Wide World of Sports whenever he was on there. And I grew up just about forty miles east of the canyon jump site. Oh yeah...it was the talk of the schoolyard. Not that any of us went there. That was no place for little kids. And the fact that I grew up there and I knew and know Twin Falls, Idaho was maybe not a great thing for the third act of this book. I know it's fiction. And I made a number of allowances. But...there was definitely stuff that took me out of my willing suspension of disbelief. Because Von Doviak definitely didn't know Twin Falls...and certainly not that town circa 1974. Now mostly it was like water off a duck's back. But there was one piece that I just could not let go. The taco truck was towed from its parking place in Twin. The impound was to the west, out past Hollister (very doubtful but okay...not to mention that Hollister is mostly south of Twin). So, Dean and Antoine go to get it and end up having to steal it (the impound has bullet-proof glass at the lot office...not a damn chance in 1974 Twin...probably not now). The police are called and start chasing them coming from the west (now leaving aside the issues of geography, and they are huge, I guess it's possible there was a statey or a sheriff's car west, but I suspect most law enforcement was dealing with the shit-show in Twin). And Dean pulls over in Hollister. At a McDonalds. Look...there's never been a McDonalds in Hollister, Idaho. And there never will be. The population of Hollister in 1974 would have been about 30. And no...I didn't drop a zero there. Hell, I'm like 99% sure there was only one McDonalds in Twin in '74 and I think it was toward the north end of Blue Lakes. But I could be wrong since I never set foot in one until I was in college (I wasn't paying). Now, is any of this important? Not really. But it absolutely took me out of the story. Don't get me wrong, I liked this book. I liked Von Doviak's earlier book "Charlesgate Confidential" as well. I like this one better, but I don't love it. It's a good neo-noir with some decent underlying humor. But if you happened to live in Southern Idaho in the 70s parts of it can be damn jarring. |
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