February's Febrile Focus For Finding Fulfilling Fiction

[GOLLUM]

HMM...February already...

Now that we've arrived, please tell us what bookish delights you've so far discovered in Fabulous February.

 

[AE35Unit]

I finished Greg Bear's Forge of God last night/this morning and now onto its sequel, Anvil of Stars.

 

[Southern Geologist]

I'm starting on Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama.

 

[AE35Unit]

I'm starting on Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama.

This your first read of it? Just so as you know you dont need to read the sequels-theyre mostly written by Gentry Lee. First one, Rama II isnt too bad but they get thicker and heavier as they go.
But Rendezvous is a good un!

 

[Lord Captain Woden]

I'm starting on Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama.

Also started on a Clarke last night, A Fall Of Moondust.

 

[Vertigo]

Just finished Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Not an easy read, at least for me; I have read a fair bit of stuff written end of the 18thC beginning of the 19th (Verne, Wells, Doyle, Burroughs etc.) and I throughly enjoy the way they use the English language. This however is a hundred years earlier (1818 I think) and there are a lot more words that have dropped out of use, changed their meaning (for example, this is the first time I have come across the original use of 'terrific' meaning something terrifying rather than something great) or are used in unusual (for us) ways. The order of words in sentences is also often different (interestingly my German lodger reckons they are are much closer to the order he would use in German). This wasn't a real problem but did leave me a little confused on occasions.

As to the book; I think it was certainly not a horror story (though maybe it would have been in 1818) but was a desperately sad indictment of society's attidudes to deformity or just plain being different (look at the treatment of the turkish merchant); judging purely on looks not on the person. In that sense I almost feel it was an indictment of racism and slavery and the timing would be about right for that, too.

Now starting on Tony Ballantyne's Capacity. It turns out I have read this sometime ago but have decided continue reading it again. I think I have also read the third book in this series and I suspect I read it before this second one. So completely out of order. However I'm enjoying it so much that I think I shall read both of them again! If you like hard SF then you really should read these books. Although the tech stuff can get pretty serious and detailed at times.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've finished the first book in my Chronicles Author reading adventure,Perps 2013 Chronicles Reading List and the fact that I finished the first book, Toby Frost's Space Captain Smith in under a week should say volumes.

The review can be found here: Space Captain Smith

Or in the thread itself linked above.

Next up is: The War Gate by Chris Stevenson

 

[Southern Geologist]

After reading through part of 2001 and the beginning of Rama I've realized that Clarke's style has started to wear on me and I need a change. I can always return to Clarke later. I grabbed the LoA '50s sci-fi collection and started on The Space Merchants. It was just the jolt of caffeine I needed. (No pun intended. )

 

[AE35Unit]

Also started on a Clarke last night, A Fall Of Moondust.

Oh that is a good early example of a space disaster story.

 

[Grunkins]

Last night I finished John Ringo's Gust Front and really enjoyed it. Some of the explanations of military strategy dragged (for pages), but all in all it delivered what I wanted from it: good military SF action, solid writing, emotional impact, and some "Oh cool!" moments (Benedictine monk commando teams!).

After finishing that I started Stephen Baxter's Timelike Infinity. In the past couple weeks I've built a nice little library of Baxter's work, and this will be the first I've read by him. I like SF thick with science and Big Ideas (as well as other forms of SF) and this fits the bill about as well as anything.

 

[Aledan]

I began the reading of "Les Kerns de l'Oubli" (The kerns of oblivion, in english probably) from a french author Feldrik Rivat.
Also I finally began The Chronicles of the Black Company ! (And I wonder why there is not "author thread" for Glen Cook)

 

[j d worthington]

Also I finally began The Chronicles of the Black Company ! (And I wonder why there is not "author thread" for Glen Cook)

Briefly... there have to be a certain number of active discussions of a writer going for that one to merit a subforum. You might try floating a discussion and see if you start something, but please keep the number of discussions down, at least until enough interest warrants further topics being broached.

Vertigo: I would have to disagree about Frankenstein not being a horror story; it is, in many ways, a very powerful one... though not of the type most modern readers would recognize, I suppose. The entire novel is permeated with death, decay, and corruption, for one thing; not to mention the "spiritual" horrors, which abound.

However... this is only one aspect of a surprisingly complex novel (surprising, given the author's young age when she wrote it), which also works very well on the level you describe, as well as a questioning of the prevailing view of an active, concerned God (Frankenstein, of course, being "god" in this case, while his creation can be said to represent humankind) and an indictment of such a deity. There are also many other levels on which this short novel works, which likely goes to explain its durability....

As for myself, I've been continuing my Ballardian odyssey; having finished The Voices of Time, and moved on to Passport to Eternity, I'm about a third of the way through the collection at this point....

 

[Mangara]

Still plodding through A Canticle for Leibowitz, I found the first 100 pages real hard going, but it is getting a bit easier now. Wasn't really enjoying it at first, but it is improving as it goes on.

 

[The Judge]

I couldn't get on with Frankenstein at all. The image it's created is certainly powerful and long-lasting, as are the ideas (though I think she later back-tracked on some issues when the book was revised so as to appear less ungodly). I do think, though, that it's one of those writings that people can read into it what they want, so reformers would see it as an indictment of society which allows "children" to be cast off, whereas the factory owners would see the rise of the working man as the "evil" monster which destroys goodness for no reason save revenge. But as a novel, ie a piece of story-telling which makes you want to read on, I found it deeply flawed and I had to push myself to finish it.

I'm interspersing Kraken with considerably lighter fare at the moment -- Dark Fire by CJ Sansom, a detective story set in Tudor England.

 

[Aledan]

j. d. worthington==> I will probably not open a discussion, well not about Glen Cook. I will probably open one about French authors. But it's not the place for talking about it.^^

 

[AE35Unit]

I began the reading of "Les Kerns de l'Oubli" (The kerns of oblivion, in english probably) from a french author Feldrik Rivat.
Also I finally began The Chronicles of the Black Company ! (And I wonder why there is not "author thread" for Glen Cook)

Glen Cook? Never heard of him! I want to see threads for Greg Bear, Gregory Benford and Poul Anderson.

 

[Vertigo]

JD I think you are probably right about the horror aspect of Frankenstein; it's just that, as a modern reader (and not a horror reader I might add), it was not horrifying to me but, as I said, it may well have been to 19C readers. Yes there is a lot of mental and spiritual horror, but even that seemed more a case of: life was hard and brutal in the 18-19 centuries.

I certainly agree with both yourself and The Judge that it can be interpreted in so many different ways that one is left wondering whether it is even correct to do so! One interesting thing is that I find I can usually be pretty objective when reading fiction; I try not to be judgemental (with regard to the characters and their actions if not with regard to the book itself) but in this book I couldn't help being judgemental and having to keep revising those judgements. Shelley managed to make my sympathies swing back and forth between Frankenstein and his creation an awful lot of times!

 

[Connavar]

JD I think you are probably right about the horror aspect of Frankenstein; it's just that, as a modern reader (and not a horror reader I might add), it was not horrifying to me but, as I said, it may well have been to 19C readers. Yes there is a lot of mental and spiritual horror, but even that seemed more a case of: life was hard and brutal in the 18-19 centuries.

I certainly agree with both yourself and The Judge that it can be interpreted in so many different ways that one is left wondering whether it is even correct to do so! One interesting thing is that I find I can usually be pretty objective when reading fiction; I try not to be judgemental (with regard to the characters and their actions if not with regard to the book itself) but in this book I couldn't help being judgemental and having to keep revising those judgements. Shelley managed to make my sympathies swing back and forth between Frankenstein and his creation an awful lot of times!

Gothic fiction before Poe type authors was more mental side, slightly creepy and what we would call dark fantasy today. What was horror then isnt the same as now. The Gothic stories have degrees of being creepy, horror like too but myself i dig books like those and of that period for the weird mood, atmosphere. When its well done i can almost taste the mood.

Good to see you liked it. I read Goethe just before so the romantic era style writing is still in my system so to speak.

 

[AE35Unit]

Conn did you see my Forge of God review?

 

[Vertigo]

Gothic fiction before Poe type authors was more mental side, slightly creepy and what we would call dark fantasy today. What was horror then isnt the same as now. The Gothic stories have degrees of being creepy, horror like too but myself i dig books like those and of that period for the weird mood, atmosphere. When its well done i can almost taste the mood.

Good to see you liked it. I read Goethe just before so the romantic era style writing is still in my system so to speak.

Yes I think that describes it rather well, not what we would call horror today really but distinctly creepy and definitely disturbing!