Kevin's Watch

Redshirts by John Scalzi. It's terrific. Hope I remember something about it by the time we discuss it in the KW Book Club.

aliantha wrote:Redshirts by John Scalzi. It's terrific. Hope I remember something about it by the time we discuss it in the KW Book Club.

That's next on my list. Now if I could just see the title without getting an annoying filk song stuck in my head...

Nice to hear you're enjoying it. I'm waiting until later in the month so I'm not posting a review weeks before discussion starts.

Finished and enjoyed The Left Hand of Darkness. It's a shame the authour is so unprolific, it's going to be extremely hard to get any of her other books if I want to read them.

I need to read more LeGuin. I need a new edition of Earthsea, and I ought to read The Dispossessed.

So, I've started The Saga Of Seven Suns. Book 1, The Hidden Empire.

Hoping it lives up to my memory of the 1st 3, because now I have all seven.

--A

Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler. Never heard of it, or her. But I did a search for fantasy books with psionic powers, and her Patternmaster popped up. Wild Seed was the fourth novel published in the series, but first in the internal chronology. Set in the times of American slavery. Doro is an immortal who jumps from body to body. He's been selectively breeding people for thousands of years, developing various powers. Anyanwu is another immortal, but only a few hundred years old. She's a shapeshifter, with amazing control over all aspects of her body. Not unlike the Bene Gesserit in her ability to control her chemistry, pain, etc.

Butler's a very highly acclaimed writer. One on the names that I always intend to try some day.

I read one book by her. I never can remember which one it was, tho, without looking it up.

aliantha wrote:I read one book by her. I never can remember which one it was, tho, without looking it up.

All I can say is...do NOT read "Kindred"
I've read a couple other things that are not bad...
And even "Kindred" has a thing or two to say [potentially]...but it is
impossibly boring writing.

[wild seed seems an awkward place to start...it is third or 4th in a 5 or 6 book series]

Vraith wrote:[wild seed seems an awkward place to start...it is third or 4th in a 5 or 6 book series]

That's in publishing order. But I guess it would be called a prequel. It's the beginning of it all.

Fist and Faith wrote:

Vraith wrote:[wild seed seems an awkward place to start...it is third or 4th in a 5 or 6 book series]

That's in publishing order. But I guess it would be called a prequel. It's the beginning of it all.

Well, yea...
my problem with that kind of thing [besides the fact that I just abhor prequels] is that it usually ruins the integrity of the originals.
theoretically it should be possible to do large scale works flitting about [after all, much of the best lit. begins in media res. It's a great thing for many reasons.] BUT
...usually those prequel things don't happen for that reason, they don't happen intentionally to fill out/enhance the story.
They happen cuz someone with authority says "HOLY SHIT! They LOVE Darth Vader! [BTW, What the FUCK is so special about Star Wars, in general, Darth in freaking PARTICULAR? I was young, male, SF fan, etc. when the first came out...and I was BORED by EVERYTHING...story, tech, cinematics, acting...it all sucked]. Can we make money off that??? I mean, EEEAAASSSY money, cuz we already know people like it and all the important plot-lines."

You gotta lighten up, man.

I'm not at all familiar with this story and seeing, besides the first half of WS, so I don't even know which characters are the Darths that people loved, bringing about prequels. Doro is interesting, though. I can easily understand a human becoming like him after millennia of body-jumping.

I'd recommend Butler's Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents.

I actually enjoyed Kindred - though I agree with Vraith that the writing wasn't anything to write home about - but I would say avoid Fledgling at all costs. It was awful.

Fist, I'll be interested to hear how you go with Wild Seed. I've got Lilith's Brood - Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago - on my shelf, but haven't read yet.

Orlion, yep, she's like the Emily Bronte of sci-fi, LHoD was her only book then TB got her. Such a shame.

Shaun das Schaf wrote:
Orlion, yep, she's like the Emily Bronte of sci-fi, LHoD was her only book then TB got her. Such a shame.

The consumption always takes the most promising writers

Oh, what other books she would have written! We can only imagine...

What are you talking about? Left Hand of Darkness? I feel like I've missed something here. Ursula LeGuin is in her 80s and still writing...

Yes she is. And yes, you have missed something

Running joke in this thread about Orlion reading the work of an author none of us would know, who hasn't written much and isn't at all famous.

Well I figured it was a joke early on, but when you start saying she wrote one book then died of TB it seems a bit too specific.

The 'one book followed by TB-death' was in relation to Emily Bronte who wrote one book. And then died of TB.

Sorry if you got confused. Or thought Ursula died of tuberculosis. Blame Orlion, he started it.

Subtle British humour... you Americans wouldn't understand