[Nimea]

Thanks, Jeff, that's good to know. :)

And thanks Rocket Sheep for posing the "fantasy vs sf" question. Had similar thoughts . . .

[AuntiePam]

Darn it! I finished my other book and was all excited to start Veniss. I'm reading the dust jacket (inside and out) and wondering why there's no mention of the characters you folks are talking about.

I take another look, and my book isn't Veniss, it's City of Saints and Madmen.

I'm an idiot. Hoping to see you all in a City thread sometime. :o

[Erfael]

Auntie, you and I can discuss City while everyone else has their fun with Veniss. We'll have such an interesting discussion they'll all become jealous and then we can pity them instead of them us. :)

[AuntiePam]

Maybe we should nominate it for March. :D

[Rocket Sheep]

Many of Andre Norton's novels were set in the far future and involved flying to other planets which resembled fantasy worlds - medieval marketplaces with exotic creatures... intelligent talking animals... some even taken straight from fantasy. Almost more fantasy than sf. No assassin meerkats tho.

Mr Vander"meer"... was a "meer"kat an animal you felt an affinity for? Kind of like me and sheep. Or is there some special intelligence or social behaviour that attracted them to you as the creature for Veniss Underground.

Blue ganeshas I understand. Anyone who's spent time hanging out around hindu temples falls in love with the paintings and brightly painted ganeshas, and they kind of stick with you.

[JeffVan]

Medieval market places?! *Shudder*

Meerkats are very social, clever animals. Very interdependent. I thought they'd be a perfect candidate for intelligence, since already highly socialized. Turned out I was wrong...but aren't we close to spoilers here for folks who haven't finished the book?

Ganeshas are a tip of the hat to MacDonald's Out on Blue Six. There's a Robert Reed critter in there, too. Turns out Quin's read some SF.

Cheers,

Jeff VanderMeerkat

PS In Wales, on a nature trail, we saw little tufts of white attached to the bushes. What are these, seed pods?, we asked our guide. No, not seed pods. From sheep. Which delighted us. But which is my only sheep anecdote.

PPS City of Saints is out in mass market in the UK in March, which I guess means in Australia by May-June? I understand they literally ship the copies by freighter?

[Rocket Sheep]

Everything takes longer to get here. You know our movies are all second hand from the US? Hoyts etc, buy them from the big movie houses there once they're finished with them. By the time they get to the small private cinema round the corner from my place they are third hand and at least 6 months old. At least we know what's worth seeing/buying by the time it gets here.

Sheep don't grown on trees... those welsh buggers were pulling yer leg. ;)

I thought we were allowed to discuss the book since the countdown went off and we have these
dinky di little spoiler tags to hide important stuff. Was the assassin meerkat bit spoiler worthy?

[FicusFan]

Yeah we always discuss the full text, in here once the month starts. It is reader beware, though some do announce there are spoilers ahead, and some even use the big black block from hell :D.

This month just seems a bit more disjointed than usual. Not sure why.

[JeffVan]

Okay, cool--just wanted to make sure. The spoiler situation is now clear.

LOL! They may not grow on trees, but they apparently grow on bushes.

It's 11pm here. G'night.

Jeff

[JeffVan]

Clearly, talk of sheep has killed this thread. I promise: no more sheeptalk.

Here's something more relevant: One thing that hasn't come up much in reviews is how Veniss is in some ways an examination of cruelty. Also, the phantasmagorical approach in the book--which most reviewers have noticed--perhaps disguises the fact that most of the cruelest parts of Veniss are taken directly from real-life events or genetic experiments in our current milieu.

JeffV