stoutfellow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stoutfellow) wrote2010-06-25 10:06 am
stoutfellow) wrote2010-06-25 10:06 am
Books
Last week in San Diego I picked up nine books at Barnes & Noble. I've finished five of them so far, and have a few comments, under the cut.
Demons Are Forever is the third in the Kate Connor series by Julie Kenner. (I just noticed the resemblance of "Kenner" and "Connor". I don't think there's any Mary Sue-ism going on, though.) The books aren't much more than mind candy, though I must say that the ethical pit Connor has been digging for herself is getting pretty deep now.
Triplanetary is, of course, the first book in Doc Smith's Lensman series. That is, retrospectively it became the first book; the original 1934 version was rewritten substantially in 1948 or so to firmly integrate it into the series. While reading it, I was bothered by the absence of several chapters at the beginning. It took me a while (and a Wiki visit) to realize that this was the 1934 edition. Slightly disappointing, but a) the missing section struck me as ludicrous even when I first read it almost forty years ago, and b) this volume also included another story, co-written by Smith and E. E. Evans, which was at least modestly enjoyable.
The Puppet Masters.... I'm not sure why I picked this one up. Of course, it's one of Heinlein's best known stories, and - within its particular subgenre - not a bad one. Unfortunately, this edition was flanked by a Introduction and Afterword written by a pair of RAH acolytes, who spent their pages praising the master for his insight and foresight. Rather tiresome, frankly. In any case, if you wish to complain about the lack of awareness of the USAn public - if you want to tell me that, if I have not studied A, B, and C, then I am failing in my duties as a citizen - then you really shouldn't conclude by attributing one of Lincoln's best lines to Heinlein.
Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. You know, despite Pohl's prominence in the field, I haven't actually read much of his work. Perhaps a few short stories, plus the novels The World at the End of Time and Narabedla, Inc. - both of which I have - and Shakespeare's Planet, which I lost somewhere along the line. I know that the Heechee series is much-praised, so I finally decided to at least start reading it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't quite it. I tend to think of Pohl as a Golden Age writer (well, perhaps Late Golden Age), but it's clear that he actually managed to escape the Golden Age, in a sense in which neither Asimov nor Clarke ever did. (Heinlein did, I think, at least to some extent, and surprisingly early.) More precisely, he is much more skilled at character depiction and development than either of those two were. Gateway is a pretty good blend of sensawunda with serious character analysis, and I'll probably continue with the series.
Mean Streets is an anthology of four occult mysteries, by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, and Thomas E. Sniegoski. It's hit or miss. The Butcher ("The Warrior") was a decent addition to the Dresden canon, and included Dresden's meeting with Uriel, which I'd been curious about. The ending seemed a bit Joan of Arcadia-ish, but it worked well enough. (I loved JoA, but Joan Girardi and Harry Dresden live in very different worlds.) The Green ("The Difference a Day Makes") was - well, it was nasty, at about the level as the other Green I've read. I don't seek him out anymore. The Richardson story, "The Third Death of the Small Clay Dog", was pretty good, and I may look for more of her (his?) work. I'm less enamored of Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans", for various reasons; only the appearance of the angelic order known as the Grigori makes it stand out. (I know I've run into the Grigori before, in a fanfic/role-playing context.jeriendhal's name comes to mind....)
Demons Are Forever is the third in the Kate Connor series by Julie Kenner. (I just noticed the resemblance of "Kenner" and "Connor". I don't think there's any Mary Sue-ism going on, though.) The books aren't much more than mind candy, though I must say that the ethical pit Connor has been digging for herself is getting pretty deep now.
Triplanetary is, of course, the first book in Doc Smith's Lensman series. That is, retrospectively it became the first book; the original 1934 version was rewritten substantially in 1948 or so to firmly integrate it into the series. While reading it, I was bothered by the absence of several chapters at the beginning. It took me a while (and a Wiki visit) to realize that this was the 1934 edition. Slightly disappointing, but a) the missing section struck me as ludicrous even when I first read it almost forty years ago, and b) this volume also included another story, co-written by Smith and E. E. Evans, which was at least modestly enjoyable.
The Puppet Masters.... I'm not sure why I picked this one up. Of course, it's one of Heinlein's best known stories, and - within its particular subgenre - not a bad one. Unfortunately, this edition was flanked by a Introduction and Afterword written by a pair of RAH acolytes, who spent their pages praising the master for his insight and foresight. Rather tiresome, frankly. In any case, if you wish to complain about the lack of awareness of the USAn public - if you want to tell me that, if I have not studied A, B, and C, then I am failing in my duties as a citizen - then you really shouldn't conclude by attributing one of Lincoln's best lines to Heinlein.
Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. You know, despite Pohl's prominence in the field, I haven't actually read much of his work. Perhaps a few short stories, plus the novels The World at the End of Time and Narabedla, Inc. - both of which I have - and Shakespeare's Planet, which I lost somewhere along the line. I know that the Heechee series is much-praised, so I finally decided to at least start reading it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't quite it. I tend to think of Pohl as a Golden Age writer (well, perhaps Late Golden Age), but it's clear that he actually managed to escape the Golden Age, in a sense in which neither Asimov nor Clarke ever did. (Heinlein did, I think, at least to some extent, and surprisingly early.) More precisely, he is much more skilled at character depiction and development than either of those two were. Gateway is a pretty good blend of sensawunda with serious character analysis, and I'll probably continue with the series.
Mean Streets is an anthology of four occult mysteries, by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, and Thomas E. Sniegoski. It's hit or miss. The Butcher ("The Warrior") was a decent addition to the Dresden canon, and included Dresden's meeting with Uriel, which I'd been curious about. The ending seemed a bit Joan of Arcadia-ish, but it worked well enough. (I loved JoA, but Joan Girardi and Harry Dresden live in very different worlds.) The Green ("The Difference a Day Makes") was - well, it was nasty, at about the level as the other Green I've read. I don't seek him out anymore. The Richardson story, "The Third Death of the Small Clay Dog", was pretty good, and I may look for more of her (his?) work. I'm less enamored of Sniegoski's "Noah's Orphans", for various reasons; only the appearance of the angelic order known as the Grigori makes it stand out. (I know I've run into the Grigori before, in a fanfic/role-playing context.
jeriendhal's name comes to mind....)