Fantasy / Horror Reading in March 2017

[Contrarius]

Good review, Contrarius. I discussed it here: The Ballad of Black Tom.

Thanks!

Tor has put out a number of Lovecraft related novellas, including one I haven't seen yet from Kij Johnson, The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, that looks very interesting, and Caitlin Kiernan's Agents of Dreamland.

I've got Johnson's story on my list to try to get to before the deadline.

 

[Contrarius]

Third novella: The Devil You Know by KJ Parker.

This one was delightful, if you're in the mood for a sensitive and conflicted demon, the world's smartest (and most dishonest) man, and a deal with the devil that may or may not be as ironclad as it seems. The story is not particularly deep; the entire thing consists of slowly revealing why the protagonist signed the deal in the first place, and what he's planning to do about it.

I loved both the MCs in this one. The demon is actually a pretty nice guy -- he enjoys culture, he collects rare books, he gives money to struggling artists, and so on. And the human is a scoundrel of a Renaissance man who has made his living through various types of cons, including amongst other things alchemical discoveries that may or may not be fake, philosophical treatises that are treasured around the world although he himself doesn't believe what he's written in them, and famous musical compositions. He can do it all -- so why did he sign that deal?

I haven't read much Parker, but I've gotten the impression that he usually writes rather dark or at least bloody stuff with lots of action. This is not that at all. This is witty and graceful and humorous and twisty, but nary a drop of blood or gore to be found. The logic doesn't always hold together, but that is so not the point here. And boy, did I love the narration! Speaking of graceful, Will Damron's delivery was pitch perfect and brought both the characters to life. Loved it.

 

[Contrarius]

Next novella: Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan.
My verdict: Ehh. I was: constantly distracted: and irritated: by: the colons: in every: single: paragraph: ARG.

To be fair, the story is interesting enough. A woman finds herself on a slab of rock surrounded by torches and strangers, with a dead bull, its throat cut, at her feet. She has no memory of herself or what she's doing there. The strangers tell her they have summoned her, and she has been bound to bring them blood from the cauldron of Lhian -- but they don't tell her who or what Lhian is, or where the cauldron is, or what she must do to get the blood.

So -- the essence of quest. Here's your goal -- you figure out the details. This is also, in a more explicit way than most quests, a journey of self-discovery, as she gradually finds out who she is and what she's doing there.

Not a complete waste of time. But seriously: enough with: the colons!

 

[Sfinx]

To be fair, the story is interesting enough. A woman finds herself on a slab of rock surrounded by torches and strangers, with a dead bull, its throat cut, at her feet.

Tanith Lee meets Edgar Rice Burroughs Should be worthwhile if indeed well written - fear of the colon invasion has put me off just a bit though...

 

[Contrarius]

Tanith Lee meets Edgar Rice Burroughs Should be worthwhile if indeed well written - fear of the colon invasion has put me off just a bit though...

I must admit I haven't read Tanith Lee -- but I did read lots of good ol' ERB in my youth. And no, sigh, this was not nearly that much fun. Not a bad story, really, and if she makes the character into a series it could have some possibilities. But to me it was tropey and stagey (here we have the Shaman; here we have the Witch; here we have the Traveling Companion; and so on) and not all that interesting.

 

[Sfinx]

I must admit I haven't read Tanith Lee

From Wikipedia's synopsis of the Birthgrave trilogy: "The Birthgrave begins with the unnamed narrator awakening inside a volcano with no idea who she is."

Actually not sure whether I'd recommend her...Birthgrave is a classic in the genre and i really enjoyed her Tales of the Flat Earth - but it's more about the themes/archetypes and the atmosphere she conjures up than the actual writing (which can be pretty longwinded as I recall) which fascinated me I'm afraid - it has been a long, long while since i read Lee. Perhaps others have more recent experience..

 

[Contrarius]

Birthgrave is a classic in the genre

Wow -- how's that for a cover??

 

[Sfinx]

And part II continues in the same vein

 

[Sfinx]

But my favourite is part III:

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Horribly inappropriate covers, all three of them, although they do at least proclaim "Sword & Sorcery" very loudly, which I suppose brought in the readers.

Lee wrote in just about every imaginable subgenre of fantasy and occasionally turned to science fiction as well. Her prose was always elegant, but I feel that it became more eloquent, too, as time went on, and her plots more original. She was amazingly prolific, and as a result the quality of her work can be a bit uneven, but the worst of Lee, in my opinion, is still a much better than average piece of writing, and her best is rather sublime.

 

[Windshadow]

they remind me of the original covers of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Tiers series by Philip José Farmer

The World of Tiers: Volume One

its interesting they are being reused in the current paperbacks that bundle the first 3 into volume 1 and the other three into volume 2

 

[Sfinx]

Perhaps we should move to another thread

 

[Contrarius]

Lee wrote in just about every imaginable subgenre of fantasy and occasionally turned to science fiction as well.

I'm not sure why I never read her, though I have a very very vague memory that I may have read Silver Metal Lover at some point. She was writing at the height of my youthful sff reading (70s-80s), so you'd think I would have gotten to her somewhere in there. Perhaps those covers had something to do with me avoiding her work!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't think I started discovering books of hers (except The Silver Metal Lover) that I liked until around the end of the 80s. And it was really her short fiction that won me over first. By then, she had a big backlist. I could pick and choose the ones that looked like they would appeal to my personal tastes.

 

[Sfinx]

Finished Gene Wolfe's A Borrowed Man.

An interesting read. We're some years into the future and instead of letting the time component / displacement of character play a major role (as it did in Pirate Freedom, Land Across, Home Fires...), the 'twist' here is that we experience the story from the viewpoint of a reclone - more precisely, the uploaded memories of a mystery writer (E.A. Smithe) in a human construct. Although the speech patterns are (perhaps too) familiar, this makes for a very interesting PoV - the protagonist being fundamentally aware that 'he' is no more than a thing, someone's property to be borrowed. The story itself revolves around a murder mystery; which Wolfe spins out in his own intelligent fashion. Well recommended, especially for those who perhaps sometimes may find Wolfe somewhat hard to grasp.

 

[Everett D]

Finished Gene Wolfe's A Borrowed Man.[...]Well recommended, especially for those who perhaps sometimes may find Wolfe somewhat hard to grasp.

Everyone seems to be talking about Gene Wolfe right now, is there some kind of anniversary, or he's won a lifetime achievement something something?

Soldier of Sidon won the World Fantasy, so that was the one I was meaning to try, but then found out it's third in a series. Anyone know if it stands alone?

 

[Hobbit]

Everyone seems to be talking about Gene Wolfe right now, is there some kind of anniversary, or he's won a lifetime achievement something something?

Nope. Just the way it happens, sometimes. A lot of people pick up on a reader that's been mentioned, though, so it may be that. Unless of course,

Spoiler

... its a secret conspiracy!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I'm not sure why I never read her, though I have a very very vague memory that I may have read Silver Metal Lover at some point.

Her finest work, I think.

 

[Contrarius]

Her finest work, I think.

I don't really remember it at all. I should probably reread it one of these days.

 

[Sfinx]

Soldier of Sidon won the World Fantasy, so that was the one I was meaning to try, but then found out it's third in a series. Anyone know if it stands alone?

It could possibly be read as stand-alone, but wouldn't recommend it. "Begin at the beginning (Soldier of the Mist), and go on till you come to the end (Soldier of Sidon): then stop". Or, ofc, continue exploring the other wonderful stuff Wolfe has produced..