Here, Aaron Bergman <abergman@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> _Renegade's Magic_, Robin Hobb
>
> [...] Still, the theme remains that everyone is helpless and they
> should just give in to the magic
Or to God -- same cardboard, different icing.
> and everything will be all right. Very odd and unsatisfying.
Agreed.
> _Thunderer_, Felix Gilman
>
> Was it the "New Weird" that started this trend of setting-based fantasy
> (eg, _Mainspring_, _Scar Night_)?
Yes.
> Thankfully, the gratuitous gross-out and general bizareness seems
> that have been dropped. In this installment, the setting is a
> big-ass city which is continually rearranged and influenced by
> non-anthropomorphic deities. As is usually the case with these
> things, the plot doesn't quite live up to the setting. I can't say I
> remember a tremendous amount about the said plot, really, except
> that I think I found the ending dissatisfying. I guess that's not an
> endorsement.
I still may pick it up. I find this little clique of books
hit-and-miss -- _Mainspring_ was fun, _Scar Night_ was a bore. Going
back to the source, I liked _The Scar_ but didn't give a damn about
_Perdido Street Station_. So, either the plot and characters are
minimally engaging or they're not.
> _Across the Face of the World_,
> _In the Earth Abides the Flame_,
> _The Right Hand of God_, Russell Kirkpatrick
>
> [...] There is almost nothing in these novels that hasn't been
> already been done and done better.
Having read just the first one, I agree. I can stop. (Author says
somewhere that he wanted to set up some cliches in the first novel and
break them down in the second and third. Too late for me, pal.)
> _The Dragons of Babel_, Michael Swanwick
>
> I don't know what to say about this one. I think I should have liked
> it.
I loved it -- see my post from a few weeks back.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
*
When Bush says "Stay the course," what he means is "I don't know what to
do next." He's been saying this for years now.
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