Finished Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons and have nothing additional to say. All in all, definitely not as good as a fantasy ficiton book. With the modern setting it's just fiction, not fantasy fiction, no matter these creatures with their Ability. The creatures aren't really interesting anyway. And there's no mystery.
The Blade Itself (Book one) by Joe Abercrombie
Like the sample. Told from the point of view (first person-good) of a torturer, who's in the middle of torturing someone. What is it about torture that's so nice to read about? Have I ever read a book with torture in it that I didn't like? Geez.
I should make a list of all the books I've read that had torture in it, that I liked. I should probably put a torture scene in the book I'm "writing".
Off the top of my head, Hobb's Farseer, etc series, Vance's emphryio, Leiber's Grey Mouser, Abercrombie's Blade Itself.... eh. It's there over and over again but it's strange how little a lasting impression, something so ghastly leaves. I've surely forgotten it over and over again. Drizzt and Brent Weeks must have surely had it...
Showing posts with label Simmons (Dan). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simmons (Dan). Show all posts
Friday, February 10, 2012
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Called one of the three best/scariest? books ever by Steven King. It's a long book and a page turner. Not perfect. He doesn't set a scene like King would. At times it has impressive character insights/detail. In particular when in the mind of Melanie Fuller. And she is rather chilling. Hard to know what to say really. 75% in. The FBI action scenes are a bit drawn out. In general the whole thing is starting to feel a bit drawn out. Long books should have a certain decadent feel to them. Dan Simmons ultimately just doesn't come across like a very decadent guy. Not like Steven King at times, or Anne Rice could manage. This ultimately doesn't have quite the feel to warrant it just going on and on. It's not that fun being in the hero's skin. The setting isn't escapist or nostalgic. It is a page turner though. Still, I think that alone doesn't warrant it going on and on like it's doing.
Called a vampire book on that best fantasy books list site. I wouldn't call it that. The important thing to me for being a vampire is virtual immortality. These creatures only maybe live a little bit longer than the norm. Or at least that's what appears to be the case as of 75% in. Although Fuller is suspecting otherwise, but she's perhaps just crazy.
Called one of the three best/scariest? books ever by Steven King. It's a long book and a page turner. Not perfect. He doesn't set a scene like King would. At times it has impressive character insights/detail. In particular when in the mind of Melanie Fuller. And she is rather chilling. Hard to know what to say really. 75% in. The FBI action scenes are a bit drawn out. In general the whole thing is starting to feel a bit drawn out. Long books should have a certain decadent feel to them. Dan Simmons ultimately just doesn't come across like a very decadent guy. Not like Steven King at times, or Anne Rice could manage. This ultimately doesn't have quite the feel to warrant it just going on and on. It's not that fun being in the hero's skin. The setting isn't escapist or nostalgic. It is a page turner though. Still, I think that alone doesn't warrant it going on and on like it's doing.
Called a vampire book on that best fantasy books list site. I wouldn't call it that. The important thing to me for being a vampire is virtual immortality. These creatures only maybe live a little bit longer than the norm. Or at least that's what appears to be the case as of 75% in. Although Fuller is suspecting otherwise, but she's perhaps just crazy.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Firefly Island by Daniel Arenson
Typical sort of fantasy. Girl has super powers that are undeveloped. (the hidden ace up the sleeve.) She's a slave for an ogre.
Started kind of nice but just too light. Stopped reading 70% in. Feel silly for having gone that far.
Drood: A Novel by Dan Simmons
Love the subject matter. Charles Dickens out prowling around through dark parts of London. Also loved Simmons' book The Terror. But the problem here is that no one is likable. Complex characters are one thing, but you've really got to make someone who's actually likable. The main fellow here isn't. And the way he's portraying Dickens makes him also not. Of course his POV may just be wrong. But it's pretty much all we've got to work with.
So I'm not even 25% in (of a long book) and straying away. Straying to a couple biographies of Dickens as I'm curious to see where he got this negative attitude about Dickens. What I've found is gushing in praise. Perhaps Simmons just wanted to be contrary? Also started reading (again) Bleak House.
And have been thinking about why Dickens was a writer and I'm not. Such things as him perhaps having instilled in him a lifelong desire to prove himself? Ever since taken out of school at 12 to work 60 hour weeks in a factory for over a year while money was found to send his sister to a pretigious music academy. That also giving him a direction for his writing.
But then he lived before TV, cars, radio and he lived in London. The world was full of people actually interacting so, so much more and being so much more into books. And he took very closely from his actual life.
Me taking from my actual life would be sad fare indeed. Well 'meagre' would be a better word. And that which I really want to communicate most of all happens to be impossible.
But, told my dad I'm going to start writing his biography. Thinking I need to write based on actual life, and so I want him to just relate stories from his life. Absolutely NO outline. Nothing chronological. Done like Twain did.
Also looking at a biography of Clive Barker. Too soon to know what to think other than wanting to download some books that Barker really liked. Also seeing how from a young age he was constantly making stories and I wasn't.
Typical sort of fantasy. Girl has super powers that are undeveloped. (the hidden ace up the sleeve.) She's a slave for an ogre.
Started kind of nice but just too light. Stopped reading 70% in. Feel silly for having gone that far.
Drood: A Novel by Dan Simmons
Love the subject matter. Charles Dickens out prowling around through dark parts of London. Also loved Simmons' book The Terror. But the problem here is that no one is likable. Complex characters are one thing, but you've really got to make someone who's actually likable. The main fellow here isn't. And the way he's portraying Dickens makes him also not. Of course his POV may just be wrong. But it's pretty much all we've got to work with.
So I'm not even 25% in (of a long book) and straying away. Straying to a couple biographies of Dickens as I'm curious to see where he got this negative attitude about Dickens. What I've found is gushing in praise. Perhaps Simmons just wanted to be contrary? Also started reading (again) Bleak House.
And have been thinking about why Dickens was a writer and I'm not. Such things as him perhaps having instilled in him a lifelong desire to prove himself? Ever since taken out of school at 12 to work 60 hour weeks in a factory for over a year while money was found to send his sister to a pretigious music academy. That also giving him a direction for his writing.
But then he lived before TV, cars, radio and he lived in London. The world was full of people actually interacting so, so much more and being so much more into books. And he took very closely from his actual life.
Me taking from my actual life would be sad fare indeed. Well 'meagre' would be a better word. And that which I really want to communicate most of all happens to be impossible.
But, told my dad I'm going to start writing his biography. Thinking I need to write based on actual life, and so I want him to just relate stories from his life. Absolutely NO outline. Nothing chronological. Done like Twain did.
Also looking at a biography of Clive Barker. Too soon to know what to think other than wanting to download some books that Barker really liked. Also seeing how from a young age he was constantly making stories and I wasn't.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Based on actual events with some fantasy thrown in. 1845 expedition trying to find the North West Passage near the North Pole. Enjoyed this quite a bit, although felt like the ending was a let down somehow. No idea though what other ending could have been done. It was ultimately moored to reality. Loved the bit about Sophia Cracroft. Had some social norms nuance. Had a ton of technical knowledge. Simmons in fact cites 30 or so books, etc he read for research in writing this. The mystery surrounding the monster had to finally be revealed in some way. Didn't like the way in which it was done. I guess more of a telling than a showing.
At parts fell into formula a bit much. Hickey seemed slapped in there somehow... As if more than halfway into the book Simmons realized he needed more than extremely cold weather as an adversity. Then it seemed like he threw in a good gay man rather late exactly to counter Hickey being so evil along with being up to that point the only character that was gay.
No heroes with aces here. Liked how depressed Crozier was. Life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Checked out a sample of Simmons' Hyperion series. I suppose I liked that the character was playing Rachmaninov's Prelude in C sharp minor to start (was my favorite to play back when I had a piano.) But so quickly the plot seems extremely contrived and also space fiction just doesn't work for me so well (unless it's Jack Vance.) Immediately get mired in so many technical things that are all invented and irrelevant, perhaps.
Based on actual events with some fantasy thrown in. 1845 expedition trying to find the North West Passage near the North Pole. Enjoyed this quite a bit, although felt like the ending was a let down somehow. No idea though what other ending could have been done. It was ultimately moored to reality. Loved the bit about Sophia Cracroft. Had some social norms nuance. Had a ton of technical knowledge. Simmons in fact cites 30 or so books, etc he read for research in writing this. The mystery surrounding the monster had to finally be revealed in some way. Didn't like the way in which it was done. I guess more of a telling than a showing.
At parts fell into formula a bit much. Hickey seemed slapped in there somehow... As if more than halfway into the book Simmons realized he needed more than extremely cold weather as an adversity. Then it seemed like he threw in a good gay man rather late exactly to counter Hickey being so evil along with being up to that point the only character that was gay.
No heroes with aces here. Liked how depressed Crozier was. Life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Checked out a sample of Simmons' Hyperion series. I suppose I liked that the character was playing Rachmaninov's Prelude in C sharp minor to start (was my favorite to play back when I had a piano.) But so quickly the plot seems extremely contrived and also space fiction just doesn't work for me so well (unless it's Jack Vance.) Immediately get mired in so many technical things that are all invented and irrelevant, perhaps.
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