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a_cubedAgain, just a round-up of reading. Not much interesting going on in the watching or playing.
After Kunsken's Quantum trilogy, as discussed in the last reading post, I continued with the heist and read Megan Whalen Turner's "The Thief". This is listed as a young adult series, but doesn't strike me as particularly young adult fare.
The Thief is, indeed, a fantasy heist book and a fun one, with some nice twists. Although one of the main characters (apart from the titluar thief) is called "The Magus" he seems to be just a well educated person rather than one who can actually do magic. Indeed, this is the lowest of low fantasy with no apparent magic in the late medieval/early renaissance style. Oh, except there are gods who do interfere in things occasionally. This is the first of a six book series of which I read all of them. Despite four of them featuring the titular Thief as the main viewpoint character, only the first is a heist novel. The rest are political military thrillers set around a pseudo mediterranean sea, with the action mostly set in a sort of Greek peninsula under threat of domination by European and Middle Eastern empires. My interest varied a bit but they just about kept my interest.
I then tried a book at least one, maybe two, of my online circle here recommended or at least mentioned, "Her Majesty's Royal Coven" by Juno Dawson. I uttered the 8 Deadly Words about a quarter of the way through and gave up.
I then tried Walter Jon Williams Quillifer (again, the start of a series). I've enjoyed WJW work in the past, particularly the Drake Maijstral comedies and his cyberpunk (Hardwired) and Space Opera (Dread Empire's Fall, though I've only read the first three). He's also written a bunch of historical adventurer books and this one is a very low fantasy rather like The Thief, with no magic except Gods apparent. I got about a third of the way through this before giving up. I just didn't like the first person narrator enough to keep on with it.
So, that was two DNFs in a row. I needed a pick me up after that and turned to an old favourite, Roger Zelazny's "Doorways in the Sand". My second favourite Zelazny book after Lord of Light, which is my favourite book by anyone. It's a light, fun, read with a likable academically-oriented first person narrator and a wonderful setup of a galactic civilisation. A bit Cold War influenced, but it was written in '76/'77. Apparently one of Zelazny's own favourites of his own work. I'd like to see someone take this on as a movie or tv show.
I then continued with Zelazny by finally reading "A Night in the Lonesome October" which I've had a copy of for years but never actually read, though I kept meaning to every recent October whenvivdunstan does her annual October read of it. This was published in 1993, not long before Zelazny died far too young in his mid-fifties (not long after being the GoH at the Leeds Uni Unicon where I had the privilege and pleasure of briefly meeting him). I really liked this. A great Victorian fictional character mashup with Lovecraftian elements, a sentient dog narrator and lots of twists and turns.
I then turned to another Zelazny that I've read before and that many rate as his best, or one of them. So far as I can remember I've read this once having failed with it a couple of times before. I failed again this time: Creatures of Light and Darkness. I just can't get past the vicious torture of the first chapter. While Doorways has a torture sequence it's told in an interesting way without becoming horror or torture porn. The Creatures one, to my reading, is both.
I didn't give up on Zelazny re-reads though and am currently working my way through the Amber series. Currently on book 4 (The Hand of Oberon) having zipped through Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, and Sign of the Unicorn. I've read the ten novels before though not the short story collection that I also have, which I might read after the novels if I'm not ambered-out by then.
After Kunsken's Quantum trilogy, as discussed in the last reading post, I continued with the heist and read Megan Whalen Turner's "The Thief". This is listed as a young adult series, but doesn't strike me as particularly young adult fare.
The Thief is, indeed, a fantasy heist book and a fun one, with some nice twists. Although one of the main characters (apart from the titluar thief) is called "The Magus" he seems to be just a well educated person rather than one who can actually do magic. Indeed, this is the lowest of low fantasy with no apparent magic in the late medieval/early renaissance style. Oh, except there are gods who do interfere in things occasionally. This is the first of a six book series of which I read all of them. Despite four of them featuring the titular Thief as the main viewpoint character, only the first is a heist novel. The rest are political military thrillers set around a pseudo mediterranean sea, with the action mostly set in a sort of Greek peninsula under threat of domination by European and Middle Eastern empires. My interest varied a bit but they just about kept my interest.
I then tried a book at least one, maybe two, of my online circle here recommended or at least mentioned, "Her Majesty's Royal Coven" by Juno Dawson. I uttered the 8 Deadly Words about a quarter of the way through and gave up.
I then tried Walter Jon Williams Quillifer (again, the start of a series). I've enjoyed WJW work in the past, particularly the Drake Maijstral comedies and his cyberpunk (Hardwired) and Space Opera (Dread Empire's Fall, though I've only read the first three). He's also written a bunch of historical adventurer books and this one is a very low fantasy rather like The Thief, with no magic except Gods apparent. I got about a third of the way through this before giving up. I just didn't like the first person narrator enough to keep on with it.
So, that was two DNFs in a row. I needed a pick me up after that and turned to an old favourite, Roger Zelazny's "Doorways in the Sand". My second favourite Zelazny book after Lord of Light, which is my favourite book by anyone. It's a light, fun, read with a likable academically-oriented first person narrator and a wonderful setup of a galactic civilisation. A bit Cold War influenced, but it was written in '76/'77. Apparently one of Zelazny's own favourites of his own work. I'd like to see someone take this on as a movie or tv show.
I then continued with Zelazny by finally reading "A Night in the Lonesome October" which I've had a copy of for years but never actually read, though I kept meaning to every recent October when
vivdunstan does her annual October read of it. This was published in 1993, not long before Zelazny died far too young in his mid-fifties (not long after being the GoH at the Leeds Uni Unicon where I had the privilege and pleasure of briefly meeting him). I really liked this. A great Victorian fictional character mashup with Lovecraftian elements, a sentient dog narrator and lots of twists and turns. I then turned to another Zelazny that I've read before and that many rate as his best, or one of them. So far as I can remember I've read this once having failed with it a couple of times before. I failed again this time: Creatures of Light and Darkness. I just can't get past the vicious torture of the first chapter. While Doorways has a torture sequence it's told in an interesting way without becoming horror or torture porn. The Creatures one, to my reading, is both.
I didn't give up on Zelazny re-reads though and am currently working my way through the Amber series. Currently on book 4 (The Hand of Oberon) having zipped through Nine Princes in Amber, The Guns of Avalon, and Sign of the Unicorn. I've read the ten novels before though not the short story collection that I also have, which I might read after the novels if I'm not ambered-out by then.
