Re: Hugo Shortlist 2008

Gene Ward Smith <gene@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>David T. Bilek <davidbilek@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
>news:tfu7u3pu6hrj4gfkc5ainbmth1dq0pce2g@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> Lynch is clearly ready for the big show while the others are still in
>> AAA ball honing their skills.  To pick one example, Kowal's website
>> says she is a "puppeteer who moonlights as a writer", while Lynch's
>> website is all about him actually being a writer.
>> 
>> I think that's pretty telling. 
>> 
>
>I think it's fairly useless, and doesn't allow us to conclude even she, 
>much less the rest, are still honing their skills. I haven't read any of 
>these, but I did a web survey. Some, including Lynch, stood out to the 
>extent of having a Wikipedia article, for what that is worth. In no case 
>did what I read tell me something which would allow me to guess I would 
>like the author. The description of the plot for The Lies of Locke Lamora

>made it sound unappealing, in the sense of being a probable candidate for

>eight deadly words. Unfortunately, you are the wrong guy to ask if the 
>protag is of the sort that you would like to give him a pair of concrete 
>galoshes.
>
>So--David or anyone--what about any of these authors, and Lynch in 
>particular, struck you as good?

Speaking mostly about his first book, _The Lies of Locke Lamora_, I
think he successfully combines a kind of sly humor like WJW's
Maijstral books with a much more realistic sense of the harsh, often
brutal reality of being a criminal.  A witty, charming criminal with
panache, sure, but panache doesn't stop crossbow bolts or protect your
friends when people come looking for you.

I thought LLL was clever, exciting, and that Lynch is almost as good a
writer as he thinks he is.  And as Andrew Plotkin said, he clearly
thinks he's a pretty damn good writer.

The only people I wouldn't suggest it to are those looking for Gene
Wolfe or M. John Harrison or that sort of prose driven literary style
of novel.

-David