This book is better written than it's predecessor in the trilogy. It follows the characters more smoothly and one get's a feel for the complexity of wThis book is better written than it's predecessor in the trilogy. It follows the characters more smoothly and one get's a feel for the complexity of what is happening. Unfortunately, the complexity also contributes to the difficulty I had following who the characters actually were. I found myself chapter after chapter flipping back through the book to find a character's name so I would know how to associate them with the current part of the plot. Never the less I found the character's more engaging than some other installments of the epic. Bear's portrait of Seldon is among the best. He seems to have some difficulty writing women. They come across as confusing. Maybe that's a product of Bear's own masculinity, but it doesn't hamper all writers.
The confluence of characters at the crisis of the story bears witness to the complexity built into the cast. The crisis itself became hard to follow, and between the machinations [ahem] of the robots, the politicians, the mentalics both rogue and protagonist, and the main characters the crisis became to protracted and dynamic to give the reader a sense of perspective. The situation is complicated by all the mental manipulation going on among characters. While the crisis was compact, it's presentation was disbursed.
Then again, Voltaire and Joan were back. Not as prominently, and not as luridly, but there still. They did not jar as they did in the previous work, but I was disappointed that they were not gone. I suspect they still aren't, though I can't be sure. The strong role of the robots I found jarring too, but since they've been a part of IA's universe all along, they were a little more tolerable.
Because it's part two of a trilogy, I would find it hard to recommend it as independent reading. In fact, I read it as part of an epic walk through the galactic empire. Some current authors are guarding their creations against fan fiction, and IA might have been wise to do the same. It's hard to call the level of writing these books display fan fiction, but that's really what they are, on a very grand scale. If it lasts, one could see the Foundation becoming an open source sub-genre all its own. In the mean time, endorsed, as this book is, it is part of canon, and therefore an authentic stone in the wall....more
**spoiler alert** First let me say this book is pretty good. I don't give it much more than that, on the whole. Who am I to judge? I found the inclusi**spoiler alert** First let me say this book is pretty good. I don't give it much more than that, on the whole. Who am I to judge? I found the inclusion of Joan of Arc and Voltaire tiresome. Their infusion with the minutea of computer operations became downright fancifully cryptic. Their sex was downright odd. I'm sure I'm not physicist enough or philosopher enough to handle Benford's gymnastics, but it had it's affect.
About 2/3 of the way through the book, I became tired of it and sat the book aside. I picked it back up for three reasons. One, I am trying to work my way through the Foundation series including many of its addenda. Two, I am loathe to leave a book so far completed unfinished. Three, and least important, I was curious about the story.
While my curiosity about the story was overshadowed by my dislike for the Voltaire and Joan characters, I do enjoy the entertainment of good, well established characters. For the most part I was curious how Hari would continue to develop Psychohistory. I was curious how his rivalry with Lamerk would play out. I was curious how Daneel would continue to find his way into the story. And I was curious about Hari's relationship with Dors. I was even a little curious about Cleon.
Of these, the only development I found satisfying was the relationship between Hari and Dors. Her vacillations between lover and body guard became a little maternal and mechanical, but on the whole, her role as lover compensated for it. I would love to see her take on the role of partner more.
Sure, go ahead and read Fear. It will help you fill in some gaps. Benford's writing is good and I can only assume I'd enjoy some of his other books more. It's always daunting to pick up an established icon and attempt to improve upon it. In this case, like Psychohistory itself, it cries out for improvement with every passing decade. If we are to look ahead to galactic society with hope, we'll need something more than the actual developments of space travel for encouragement.
Benford contributes, but I'm hoping his collaborators on the next two volumes do more to intrigue and less to impress....more
I read this book a very long time ago, and again, though I can't remember when. This is at least my third time through. Of course, I often read it in I read this book a very long time ago, and again, though I can't remember when. This is at least my third time through. Of course, I often read it in conjunction with the other Narnia stories, but this time I think it was simply the next one in order after the last one I read, which was also a while back.
The Horse is a different kind of allegory for Narnia, not a retelling of a biblical story, but rather an allegory of coming of age and character development. Overcoming pride, dismissing the old bad habits of a former period of life, accepting the realities implicit in the humanity (equinity?) of others, and, of course, the part Jesus plays in those things.
A person does see the flashes of nationalistic prejudice in Lewis's stories. There are, indeed, barbarian peoples who are lesser than the civilized, and even the civilized do not live up to the standard of Narnia. Possibly these are merely features of this story and of its characters. I'll have to think about it when I come to another Narnia story.
Read the Horse and His Boy as a young teen to help in the transition between childhood and responsible maturity. Of course, read it as an adult to overcome the pride all of us battle....more
As early as reading the Lord of the Rings in the last days of the 1970s, I read of Beren and Luthien as Aragorn sat with the hobbits near Weathertop. As early as reading the Lord of the Rings in the last days of the 1970s, I read of Beren and Luthien as Aragorn sat with the hobbits near Weathertop. The story is lovely and sad full of beauty and courage and doom. I read the longer version a few years later in the Silmarillion and picked up bits and pieces in the Lays of Belariand or the Book of Lost Tales, I don't remember which. In any case, a person who has read the more difficult of Tolkien's mythic writings will know that this tale stands out as a singular polished gem. It has the tone of high heroic lore. While Tolkien was notorious for leaving the Lord of the Rings rather lean on female characters, this story weaves (pun intended) Luthien and Beren together in a deed so great that even Frodo's pales by comparison. Where he destroyed something evil, they redeemed something good.
This book wanders from the beginning of the tale to the end, pulling together the loose threads of the legend as Tolkien re-imagined it over the course of decades. It never was published in his life, and it appears to be because he was unable to complete it. It is incomplete in the sense, not that it has no ending, but in the sense that he could not settle on a path to take through the basic elements of the story. The various versions lay alongside each other like variants of the same story that might be found in different cultures. Here Beren is imprisoned by cats, here by wolves. Here he is a wandering woodsman, there an avenging rogue warrior. It would be easy to see the story told from the perspectives of the sons of Feanor, Doriath, and the banks of Sirion, each with its own version.
However, the essential mystery of the tale enhances its beauty. Who Beren was is as unknown to us as it is to Morgoth. While we do not have his malevolent purposes at heart in our curiosity, the shadow of his character is a necessary side-effect of his hidden existence.
Luthien, on the other hand, begins in one story as a nearly naive girl. In another version she is a victim. In the end, though, she emerges as a magical force to be reckoned with, not with fire and breaking stones, but with the gentler magic of sleep and the friendship of the hound Huan. She conquers as a woman conquers, not with force but subtlety.
The story ends as the legend began, with Earendil and the evening star along the slopes of Kor. Even this seminal story has variants, as they should, taking place, as it were, beyond the reach of mistrals.
I recommend Beren and Luthien to anyone who likes Tolkien so much they will wade through the brambles to get to the garden. It is not easy reading, and perhaps the version of the story in the Silmarillion is still the best of all. But the process of composition fascinates, and the legend grows in its complexity. Not everyone will enjoy it, but the truly dedicated will be glad they did....more
I read this for the first time back in 1981 or 82. I had just read the Lord of the Rings and was in need of something similar. I had no idea just how I read this for the first time back in 1981 or 82. I had just read the Lord of the Rings and was in need of something similar. I had no idea just how similar the book would be. It is so clearly derived from LOTR that it makes me think of a designer knockoff.
That's hardly fair, It does take a strong measure of skill to pull off a story that is so similar to another and yet carries the reader through to the end. The idea of what we know, about ourselves and others, about our circumstances, about just our body of knowledge makes this book a study in epistemology. The study could do a better job at probing the question, but if the reader follows the book with that idea in mind he will find himself reading a different book from Tolkien's anyway. Who do I trust and why? What do I really know about them? Why do I do what I do? Am I sure?
I re-read SOS as an exercise in nostalgia and as a starting point for revisiting something that has grown tremendously since I learned of it. Brooks has taken the world of Shannara to the level of a magnum opus and he is now embarking on wrapping it up. Even the wrap up will take three or four books. It will be interesting to see if he finishes.
By all accounts, the succeeding books in the series sound a unique voice better than SOS does, so embarking on the longer work is part of my purpose. It does no good though to leave off the beginning if one is curious about the end....more
Lije Baley comes to the rescue. One of the criticisms to SF mystery Asimov tried to overcome was the pitfall of gadgets coming to the rescue of otherwLije Baley comes to the rescue. One of the criticisms to SF mystery Asimov tried to overcome was the pitfall of gadgets coming to the rescue of otherwise unable detectives. He does this successfully, here, but in the mean time ignores the analog of that same pitfall in other sciences. He uses the sociological equivalent of gadgets to fix his problem here. That's a little cheap. However, he does ok at building characters even if he does continue to put R. Daneel in his place. I have begun to see IA's tendency to repeat himself too much, to overemphasize his SF machinations in order to make his story work for those not observant enough to catch them the first time. I suspect his book could have been 20% shorter. Still, it's a part of the overall structure of his empire series, and a reasonable read. If you like mysteries you probably will not like this. If you like SF it will hold your interest. ...more
This book is a nerdfest. If you like comics and conventions, you'll love it. The writer traces bat-culture from the beginning of Detective Comics to BThis book is a nerdfest. If you like comics and conventions, you'll love it. The writer traces bat-culture from the beginning of Detective Comics to Batman v. Superman, with everything in between. It's great hearing the comparison between the popular embracing of the character (60s TV show, Nolan) and the nerd reactions to the acceptance.
I have personally dealt with the odd feelings of having your nerd ideas coopted by the main steam with the knowledge that these masses do not love the same things you love, and they will shortly move on to something else. I have felt it with LOTR. The Bat-culture deals with it on a much bigger scale, since blockbuster movies come along every decade or so to refill the pop culture empties. It is, as the author describes, this odd intersection between appreciation for having your enthusiasm vindicated and the genericism that comes with popularization. The commercialization of the characters becomes overwhelming. The bat-culture has gotten it in spades.
Along with the relentless reinterpretation of the character to fit the mores and the literary tastes of the times, from noir, to camp, to psycho analysis, to psychosis. Batman has marched through the years on a downward trajectory to make him harder, more relentless, and more "real" to the audience.
Nerd culture will never be mainstream, in spite of the success of the "age of the geek". The successful talk about their nerdiness but never let it show. In spite of the rise of the brain, strength will always be the pride of youth, and Batman lets the nerd have the strength vicariously, in his dreams....more
So, if you're interested in the short answer, yes, it's a good book. However, if you're more interested in subtlety, it's not without its problems. ItSo, if you're interested in the short answer, yes, it's a good book. However, if you're more interested in subtlety, it's not without its problems. It's a good book in that the scope of the plot, the main characters: Ogden, Sloan, Harrow, Bertram, and Buchan are worth following. The tone is one of ribald violence and irreverence for life. The story spans to just about every part of the globe. If you like adventure, this book has plenty. The unique format, combining prose novel with graphic novel, is interesting and helps a very long book move a little more quickly.
That said, the plot and the individual sequences tend to be disconnected from each other. The graphics are not always clear in what they are representing. The secondary characters are hard to discern from one another. In the case of Renton, if it wasn't for the graphics, I'm sure I would not have known what to think of him.
The story moves along a traditional sweeping, epic adventure track. I'm afraid it's rather obvious in its devices pulling rather than drawing the reader along. "Oh, we're going here now." The mystery of Shambhala, it's nature and location are somewhat secondary, as they should be, to the transformations of Ogden, Sloan, and even Miss Harrow. However, what it has in mystery it loses in plausibility, or even in its ability to suspend the reader's disbelief. I like Bertram, I like Ogden, I like the horse, and I like Buchan's inexperience. On the whole, though, the settings for the story were pretty interchangeable, with the possible exception of Nepal and New York ... though if they'd told me the latter was a Western European city, I would have believed them.
Them is the biggest problem. The book is written by them. While collaboration is a good thing, in the arts it tends to dampen the result and this book is no exception. I acknowledge that an author may not be able to straddle the two genres and so some partnership is probably necessary, but the project just seems to have too many hands in it. The authors also sing the praises of Kevin Costner and his contributions, but in the end I couldn't help feeling that he was drawn into the project for celebrity juice. The resulting product looks as if it was trying to please too many owners. The book rises above this handicap and if you can tolerate the fits and starts, it is a satisfying story....more
This book was great fun, if you have the stomach for it. Not everyone will, nor should they necessarily. Cornwell makes great strides in approximatingThis book was great fun, if you have the stomach for it. Not everyone will, nor should they necessarily. Cornwell makes great strides in approximating the life and language of 14th century soldier.
I am very taken with stories in which a person tries to find an ancient artifact of significance. A different kind of fantasy genre is dominated by the supernatural or conspiracies. In this case, it's a belief in the supernatural. In the middle ages, relics were the currency of credibility. If the relic was credible, then God was smiling on the person who held it. If the person was supernaturally credible, they had power.
The power in this book is the sword of St. Peter used, or rather not used in Gethsemane. Once again, an instrument of peace is interpreted as an instrument of war.
I like Thomas's character. He's a modern archetype: the spiritual man who is outside the religious establishment. In his case, he is the only truly spiritual man in the story and all the religious people (except those who abandon the church for the sword) are corrupt. No doubt the corruption of the medieval church was made famous by Chaucer, but unfortunately his view has become something of a gospel that is held as the only viable interpretation of the times. Thus, the model becomes a strong expression of the preferences of modern anti-ecclesiastical sentiments.
In the mean time Sir Thomas is a powerful character, strong, loyal, and wise. However, he also brooks no nonsense. Don't do him wrong or you'll suffer, probably a great deal.
I like the plot, the move from senseless violence to international significant war. Don't read this book unless you can put up with some very graphic violence, more graphic than you are likely to expect in print. Also the language is much stronger than I usually am prepared to tolerate. However, the historical details of place, armament and technique are quite well represented. And, in spite of the coarseness of the details, the characters represent a delicacy of nuance and clarity missing in many other books....more
Perhaps my sixth time through The Hobbit, maybe seventh. I've lost count. I first read The Hobbit when I left boot camp. I bought it when they droppedPerhaps my sixth time through The Hobbit, maybe seventh. I've lost count. I first read The Hobbit when I left boot camp. I bought it when they dropped me at the airport and read it on the way to Shreveport, LA where I awaited school. It was recommended to me by a couple guys in my company at Orlando. Sure, it's a children's book, but it's value goes far beyond its charm. The lauding of virtues like courage, responsibility, self-discovery, and self-reliance are powerful messages for anyone. I'm not sure how much these come through in the movie, I'll have to watch it again. I remember reading it and resonating strongly with Bilbo's return home, the change that overcame him, the way nothing was ever quite the same. Today when I read it, I find a strong dose of nostalgia for the first time I read it, but I also noticed anew the virtues in the book. I am also much more well prepared to appreciate some of the poetry. I look at Gandalf a little more critically and wonder about some of his choices. This time through, I noticed for the first time that Gandalf attended a council of the white wizards. It was in this context where the Necromancer had been cast out. This might be the only reference I've seen to such a council.
Read The Hobbit to awaken the child in you. Read it to develop the adult in you, the virtues we all wish we had absorbed fully when we were younger, but must now remind ourselves of their value and their meanings. Find in Bilbo Baggins your own less mature, adle-brained self. Remind yourself how family and friendship is fraught with all kinds of disagreements, sometimes fundamental and serious, and how courage must ultimately lead us to be true to the wisdom we can forge for ourselves....more
This narrative is wonderful, giving great context for St. Peter's Basilica. It is always nice to place an idea into its historical setting. Bramante, This narrative is wonderful, giving great context for St. Peter's Basilica. It is always nice to place an idea into its historical setting. Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, The Reformation, the Inquisition, The Spanish Armada and the discovery and exploitation of the New World all fit into this piece. When Luther complained of the Pope selling indulgences to build a church, this was the church. Also one begins seeing the meaning of spending the life blood of one's followers in more literal terms. It is important to know that leadership means not just sacrificing yourself, but sacrificing others as well, which can only be done with integrity of one is sacrificing one's self. Seeing the puzzle take place around one of the architectural masterpieces of the world is both enlightening and somewhat reorienting. Knowing the atrocities that took place in the name of building a church, or of protesting the same helps one to see that nobody's hands are completely clean....more
I have made it a personal practice to collect Books of the Bible presented as individual writings, perhaps, as in this case, bound in a volume by themI have made it a personal practice to collect Books of the Bible presented as individual writings, perhaps, as in this case, bound in a volume by themselves. This is one example of how such a thing can be done. It is a graphic and dramatic presentation of a text that is often confusing, always arresting, and sometimes daunting. Many simply avoid the book of Revelation, and I understand this impulse. Since the book relies so heavily on visual imagery, the medium of a graphic "novel" makes sense. The artists have endeavored to write what John said, and not to interpret through contemporary possibilities. When John said "army" the artist drew Romans. This is what John knew an army to be. When he said beast, the artist tried to draw heads, horns and crowns, though the traditions of interpretation have said this beast is a man, so the artist also rendered the beast as a man. The lamb is a lamb, though I am astounded at the level of serious strength that can be drawn in the face of a lamb.
I like this book, and highly recommend it for two groups of people: those who would like a fresh take on Revelation, and those who like graphic arts. This book gives each of those two groups a competent introduction to the other. While some may be frustrated that their particular interpretation of Revelation is not given special place in this rendering, anyone who is willing to admit that there is a level of ambiguity that goes along with prophecy will also see that this book goes a long way in honoring that ambiguity....more
I must assume that if I had read this book instead of listening to it, and chosen a different time to go after it, I might have been a little more impI must assume that if I had read this book instead of listening to it, and chosen a different time to go after it, I might have been a little more impressed, but I can't imagine that it would have been by much. I more than welcome intercultural elements in literature, but after awhile, the strong French in the book made it very hard to compensate for. I don't speak French, and English books about France may be believably written in English. However, none of this was the reason I disliked the book. It was a complication.
The reason I disliked the book was its tedium. It was long and complex but didn't have the payout required to make a long and complex book worth the reader's investment in time and effort. First and most important, if a writer is going to use something as well worn as the Holy Grail for a major plot driver, the use of the device has got to live up to its cultural importance. Instead, the thing came across as being didactically Rosicrucian. Sorry, not really Mosse's fault, but we've had enough of that with Dan Brown. I found the back and forth device hard to follow, but that may be my own fault. I should have been more awake for the experience.
The two protagonists were too interchangeable, in spite of the fact that they were separated by centuries. The antagonists were too two-dimensionally evil. The men were mostly props. Let's face it, the impression we get from the end is that the brevity and shallowness of William's relationship mattered not at all. Unfortunately, such superficiality transfers to the protagonist as well.
I read Labyrinth because I read Sepulcher and it was pretty good. Someone told me Labyrinth was better. Sorry, friend, I disagree. I usually say why a person should read a book, but only read this if you must. There is a third book to the cycle, but I doubt I will invest the effort....more
I have long put off reading L'amour because western series seem to me to be the equivalent of a soap opera. I was mistaken. Sackett's Land is a light I have long put off reading L'amour because western series seem to me to be the equivalent of a soap opera. I was mistaken. Sackett's Land is a light weight adventure story. It has little depth, but good structure and reasonable characterization. Barnabas Sackett is not a deep character, but he is entertaining, a fun, swashbuckling, two-dimensional adventure hero.
However, though the book is somewhat shallow, it still contains some wisdom. The manly virtues of courage, integrity, and honesty stand conspicuously. I admire the decision of this man, who takes risks and moves ahead with conviction as if he has nothing to lose. This attitude is part of what makes him fiction.
Barnabas and his cohort of trusty followers: Sakim, Jubain, even Captain Tempenny are intersting to follow, though the followers act nearly like lap dogs. His antagonists are just as flat: Rupert and Nick Bardle, aristocrat and pirate captain. But they are necessary. And above them all floats Abigail, the unreachable, purely virtuous, strong and feisty love interest. L'amour could not be more formulaic, but it's a story, not a philosophy.
And that's the rub. L'amour believed he was witing literature, and maybe he was. Perhaps Sackett's Land is not it, but it's in another book. This one bears all the marks of an intentional prequil, and that's ok, when you're trying to give back story to a more substantial work. One hopes that is the case. However, if you're looking for diversion from a yarn well spun and you are not in need of the big questions, except the ethical encouragements of an action hero, this is your book. I'm impressed with the clean, condensed story line, the likeability of the character, the way the setting shifts from city, to countryside, to sea, to wild America. Nicely done L'amour....more
The Engines of God is a very good book. I recommend it for anyone who likes hard science fiction. McDevitt takes a different intermediate approach to The Engines of God is a very good book. I recommend it for anyone who likes hard science fiction. McDevitt takes a different intermediate approach to aliens by seeing them all as "pretty much human." That is, the SETI efforts will take us to the stars only to find more of ourselves in different shapes. I can't talk about the meaning of the title without a drastic spoiler, but I will say that the author connects a nasty form of destruction with Sodom and in so doing supports a religious motif that weaves throughout the book. In the face of enigma, loss, discovery, and the perennial conflict between those who want to observe and those who want to exploit we see the spiritual selves of the cast develop. they form connections, some of them close, and they ask big questions about the nature of the universe.
McDevitt could have done better at connecting his plot with the stories of the real earth. The academy, the business concern, the biblical reference to an ancient destroyed city is about it. By extracting from the terrestrial, McDevitt encases us in an authentic Space Opera which is, refreshingly, not about the military. However, beyond the newsbites that give us a glimpse of what's going on back home, we have very little way to answer the question: what has happened in the last few centuries? I like the fact that star travel, even with FTL still takes a long time and the author deals realistically with interstellar travel that becomes something akin to the sea voyages of past centuries, long and needing creativity to fill. The people involved become small societies of their own and actual connections have a chance to develop. There is even time for healing.
This is a departure from the BEM and LGM alien encounter, giving us a glimpse of life as we know it rather than a fantastic leap into the realm of The Other. Of course, it depends heavily on an evolutionary model and all religion is shunted to the shelves of mythology. It also grapples with the meaning of art, which in this case is reduced to a ... well, maybe I shouldn't say, but in my opinion, when the mystery is solved, the meaning of the art becomes less compelling. And that's sad, because in my experience, the more the mystery behind art is unpacked, the more beautiful and compelling it becomes.
Read The Engines for its unique take on alien life, for its touching human drama, for its vision of a galaxy that holds not just natural wonder, but imaginative wonder as well. I read it for an introduction to Hutch, and I will revisit her in another book to see what happens to a pilot who somehow escapes the cockiness usually reserved for fictional pilots. She is just one more way McDevitt breaks stereotypes. We'll see if it can hold up....more
The blurb on this books sings the accolades too loudly. It was worth reading if you enjoy the Foundation books, but not compelling in most regards. ItThe blurb on this books sings the accolades too loudly. It was worth reading if you enjoy the Foundation books, but not compelling in most regards. It felt like Asimov had to say Psychohistory at least three times on every page, as if the reader was going to forget what was important to Seldon and his clan. It needed either to ignore psychohistory a bit and focus on the actual substance of Seldon's relationships, or get into it a little more intensely and help us see how it went from being a questionable endeavor to a viable model of prediction. It didn't do either. Instead it focused on Seldon's fear that it would fail. As real as that kind of fear may be, it gets boring after a hundred pages. Asimov always enjoyed being clever. Sometimes he pulled it off and sometimes he didn't. This time he barely squeaked by. At least in Prelude Seldon had the quest motif to keep things interesting. It was as if IA was straining to pull everything together, and though he succeeds, he does not do so brilliantly. Asimov complained one time that readers and publishers would not let the series rest, and in this book it shows.
The book's good features are the development of Raych, Yugo and Wanda. These too could have been better, but they did carry more depth than the plot of the book. These could have become compelling characters, but at least they had some depth of feeling directed toward something besides the work. For the most part the extreme love for psychohistory, as if it were a character, was unconvincing. Read Forward the Foundation to complete your absorption of the mythos, but read it early on and definitely before you read Foundation. But don't let it's flatness discourage you from continuing on. Know that Asimov's earlier work in this series is still the better work....more
I have not read enough King to be a viable critic of his work per se, but this was excellent stuff. The tapastry was rich and textured, the charactersI have not read enough King to be a viable critic of his work per se, but this was excellent stuff. The tapastry was rich and textured, the characters were multidimensional, the plot, though a little predictable, was not cliche'd but came across as archetypal. It is a post-modern imaginative odyssey of the highest order. We see the gunslinger in both his every man and his super man guises. We also see him with all the self absorption and betrayal of which men are capable. And yet it was not sordid but conflicted. The reader is left understanding and yet hating Roland as much as we understand and hate ourselves.
This book deserves a place alongside The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and A Princess of Mars as a distinctively American fantasy. This story could not have been written anywhere else. In fact, it could not have been written by a person of any other generation, for all its spaghetti western influence and post-apocalyptic barrenness. And yet drawing as it does on Robert Browning and remaining faithful to that poetic vision makes it a global work as well.
It is a story for adults with its sexual content and yet it does not come across as titilating, at least not to me. Instead it demonstrates how people are sometimes bound by, even enslaved by their own sexual impulses. How sex is used as a game of power and manipulation instead of intimacy and beauty. But beyond the sexual facet of the book darker emotions galvanize the story into a thing of nightmares. I would not like to see the betrayal of Jake emplanted in the mind of a child.
Having recently read The Time Machine, I am once again taken with how we are haunted by our Morlock or Slow Mutant potential. Humans dread the possibility of descending into a beastial savagery, and yet are comforted by the idea that such a state is still subject to our higher nature, able to be overcome, escaped from if not defeated.
Read the Gun Slinger if you enjoy fantasy. If you don't there's no point. Those who appreciate King's more macabre side will probably be disappointed. I have my doubts that this book could serve as gateway fantasy for lovers of westerns. However, if you don't love fantasy, and you do love profound literature, you may just stand a chance of enjoying this novel....more
Space opera is one of my more nagging literary lovers. It is hard to justify my liking it, except that I am a sucker for Odyssey based stories, and SpSpace opera is one of my more nagging literary lovers. It is hard to justify my liking it, except that I am a sucker for Odyssey based stories, and Space Opera tries to capture the archetype with a powerful sense of imagination, something missing from many quest stories. In most, the author tries so hard to be relevant, he forgets that he should also be engaging.
Black Jack Geary is an apt Ulysses lost in time and space. Constantly trying to shake off his own reputation like a persistent spiderweb, he walks with power through the story, even if Campbell keeps telling us he's not confident. It's easy to get wrapped up in the hero rather than the protagonist.
Geary is awakened after a century long cold sleep and unceremoniously thrust into command of a fleet made inept by long bad leadership. The loss of the fleet's other command officers creates a power vacuum other captains would like to have filled. But Jack is from another, more civilized and more tactically minded era. He successfully (perhaps too successfully) leads his fleet to safety where he whips them into a rudimentary fighting trim.
The unfortunate question often raised by Space Opera sits in the plot like a hyena waiting for sunset. Aliens are the fairies of the space age, the ghosts of the self-acclaimed rationally minded. But it's an unavoidable question and I guess Campbell is duty bound to acknowledge it. We'll see.
I will likely read the next book in the series, hoping that it gets better as it goes. Not that Dauntless was bad, no it was a fun read. However, the time investment in a series this long should hold out the promise of a bigger payoff than adventurous mind candy. The civilized sentiments of the book are not quite enough to carry it forever, but if the story grows in the telling, it will be worth continuing....more
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