Kevin's Watch

Re-reading "I Am Alive and You Are Dead". A biography of Philip K Dick.

I never thought I'd say this as a straight man, but I can't get enough Dick.

Cail wrote:Re-reading "I Am Alive and You Are Dead". A biography of Philip K Dick.

I never thought I'd say this as a straight man, but I can't get enough Dick.

Out of context quote of the year.....

Edit: Now that I've caught my breath....

I'm reading "A Fortress of Grey Ice", the follow-up to Cavern of Black Ice.

Dragonlily wrote:Oh, good! That was my favorite read of last year, LM. How far along are you?

Marjorie was out riding the horses with her family and she saw the Hippae in the distance.

You've got a long way to go, then.

What did you think of that opening sequence? The first Hunt?

Exceptionally well written.

Suspensefully mysterious, too, I think. There were some very powerful forces in action, and I couldn't wait to learn what they were.

I have begun ER Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros. Old-style language can be confusing at times, but it seems alright.

Finished reading "A Fortress of Grey Ice" and will be starting Mary Gentle's "Rats and Gargoyles" today.

I'm still making my way through A Clash of Kings.

Catherynne M. Valente's Yume Me Hon: Book of Dreams

A Dark & Hungry God Arises, by some little-known author.

Warmark wrote:I'm still making my way through A Clash of Kings.

Ditto!

Hi guys!

In my last book review, I commented that it had taken me quite some time to finally give this second trilogy of prequels a chance because the previous series left a lot to be desired. The Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson duo was, in my humble opinion, not up to the task of tackling an enormous project such as Dune. Hence, you can imagine my surprise when I realized that Dune: The Butlerian Jihad more than lived up to the hype.

Thus impressed by the first volume, I was eager to read its sequel. Unfortunately, Dune: The Machine Crusade is a major disappointment. How, after writing a very good opening chapter in this saga, the authors could come up with such a letdown, such a lackluster effort, I'll never know.

Other than seeing a number of plotlines that will ultimately converge in Dune, this book basically falls short on ever level.

The characterizations are, for the most part, mediocre. Vorian Atreides, Xaver Harkonnen, Serena Butler, Iblis Ginjo, characters that were so interesting in the previous novel, become cardboard characters with absolutely no depth. The new concepts such as Omnius, Erasmus, the Titans, the Cogitors, etc, lose all their appeal. The potential was definitely there, but poor execution by the writers precludes anything good from emerging from those ideas.

Like the characterizations, the dialogues go nowhere. And since you don't believe in the characters, the whole "religious" aspect of the Butlerian Jihad doesn't fly too high. And since that "holy war" is the driving force of this series, you can imagine what negative repercussions this has on the tale. There is an expression: "All killer, no filler." Well, Dune: The Machine Crusade is just filler.

All in all, quite a disappointment. Probably as bad as Dune: House Corrino. I will read the final volume, but will have absolutely no expectations. . .

For more, you can always check out the blog.

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Started Zindell's Neverness last night, courtesy of Edge, (Thanks again man).

A quarter way into it, and it already looks like I'm gonna have to agree with Danlo's assessment. It's looking pretty damn good. And some very interesting ideas too. And it certainly gets going quickly.

The only reason I stopped when I did was because I had to get some sleep if I planned on working today.

Looking forward to finishing it tonight.

--Avatar

OOHH! OOHH! Can I get a copy too, Edge? I meant to ask when you originally offered, but it slipped my mind.

GO AVATAR!!!!!
I don't recommend anything, not even TCTC, higher than the four Neverness books!!!!

Go Av! (have some tolache on me! )

I'm switching back and forth between the middle of The Deadhouse Gates and Black Jade (the 3rd book in Zindell's fantasy series The Ea Cycle). I've read 1 and 1/2 chapters of Jade and it's already rocking big time--I love Atara!!

Third book of Chalker's Watchers At the Well trilogy. It's all one big, suspenseful novel, not easy to put down for long. This one is GODS OF THE WELL OF SOULS.

Fist and Faith wrote:GO AVATAR!!!!!
I don't recommend anything, not even TCTC, higher than the four Neverness books!!!!

This type of comment is making me tempted to read Neverness...

Yep, Neverness is as good as it gets. (Don't ask Edge, though. grrrrrrr heh)