Reading

[quislibet]

Yesterday I finished reading The Scar by China Miéville, which was a good read. Miéville's "gosh, my setting sure is grim and ugly" style can be a bit much at times -- rain falls like pus, sinister dark clouds are shat out of the sky, that sort of thing -- it makes me roll my eyes in the same way that I do when Siouxsie sings about the "urine-coloured sun" in that one Creatures song -- but the story was engrossing, not just gross-out-ing.

Aren't I clever.

Anyway, this morning I moved on to something as different as possible while still being fantasy-genre stuff, John Barnes' One for the Morning Glory. This is a book I judged by its cover, despite the usual admonitions; it was my hope that Charles Vess wouldn't be associated with a bad novel (and I see from the reviews on Amazon that I was not the only one). So far, it looks like it will be fun. Barnes's stylistic conceit that may become wearing is the whimsical misuse of words (the new Captain of the Guard gives the young prince a "great, heavy festoon for his thirteenth birthday" and takes him "all the way to the Ironic Gap to stalk gazebo" -- although I appreciate the gazebo reference), but we'll see.

So that's what I've been reading.

Like you care.

Comments

[lilithraevyn.livejournal.com]

"You must face the Gazebo alone."

[curtana.livejournal.com]

I similarly bought "One for the Morning Glory" on a whim, and enjoyed it as a light read. I don't recall anything off the top of my head that annoyed me about it, so I hope you find it a nice diversion :)

[astralagos.livejournal.com]

I found One For The Morning Glory wore very thin by the end of the book; the self-referential "We're needed for a GREAT STORY" conceit didn't make up for the misuse, which I did find charming.

If you haven't found it, you might want to try City Of Saints And Madmen (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0809532646/qid=1085532219/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-6213745-0737513?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Jeff Vandermeer. It's urban fantasy like Mieville, but with less of the body-fluid factor. It's also got the greatest novel title of all time: The Torture Squid Beat Up Some Priests.

Also; Mieville's new Novel (Iron Council) is due out stateside in a few months.

[shnells.livejournal.com]

i find china mieville very hard to read. his style is very dense and rather oppressive. however having said that, i enjoyed "king rat" immensely.

[mishak.livejournal.com]

I LOVE John Barnes, I thought Morning Glory was good and cute tho I don't remember that much about it. My favorite book by him is Mother Of Storms, hard near-future sci-fi that explores climatolagy, virtual reality media, global politics, and artificial intelligence/consciousness. And lots of sex. It's totally great.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I did find it a nice diversion, thanks!

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

City Of Saints And Madmen

Thanks for the recommendation!

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Good to know "King Rat" is worthwhile; haven't read that one yet.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I hadn't ever read any other Barnes before; I probably will, now. I ended up enjoying "Morning Glory," so all is well, there.

[shnells.livejournal.com]

i thought it was a good take on the pied piper of hamlin story