The man who ....

[Skyweir]

Take it from here Danlo ..

[danlo]

who (rocks) who, who!? (naughty) who, who, who (owl) who, who, who, who!!! (tigger) WHO is Reed Stephens?

For I am a bear of small brains and long words bother me...

--A.A. Milne

[aliantha]

What is Reed Stephens?

When is Reed Stephens?

Where is Reed Stephens?

How is Reed Stephens?

And above all, WHY is Reed Stephens??

[Skyweir]

who is Steed Revens??

[robo]

This is the same reviewer as in Crossing the Gap. After reading I really think I should keep my distance from these writings of Donaldson's. Go to the link below:

homepages.ihug.co.nz/~gperry/AxFiles.htm

[Skyweir]

Gavrielle Perry is a highly entertaining critic .. I really enjoyed reading this article!! Very funny! .. I just hope she is not as accurate in her appraisal as she is witty .. though I will admit to not being a little drawn to these 'Man who...' books ..

After TCTC and the Gap it is hard to conceptualise any of SRD's works being without merit .. and of performing at a lesser level than his earlier works ..

was a cool read anyhoo

[danlo]

but 4 some reason alot of Fantasy & Sci-Fi readers just can't get in2 detective or mystery novels. Y should we? We'd all be reading Naigo Marsh, John LeCarre and that book puker factory: John Grisham (hehehehe!! how do u like that Dad!?) instead of all this good stuff! No we don't want 2 read about the REAL world! Anyway, I'm going 2 put The Man Who Fought Alone back on my, already xtensive, reading list (hopefully it will come out in paperback<cheep, cheep!> soon) and I'll get back 2 y'all w/my thoughts after I read it--whenever that will b...

[aliantha]

The only mystery writer that I read anymore is Tony Hillerman, and that's mainly because I like his characters...

[danlo]

Hillerman's great! (even my Dad likes him..coff,coff) All the best characters come from NM--even me!

[aliantha]

Yes, yes, Danlo... <aliantha pats Danlo on head>

[Hearthcoal]

If you like Hillerman, you might like Margaret Coel. She has four (maybe five, by now) mysteries out, set among the Arapaho on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Her main characters are a priest, Father John, and Vicky Holden, an Arapaho woman and a lawyer.

Good stuff! Like Hillerman, Coel develops her characters. So while each mystery stands on its own, if you read the books chronologically, you get to enjoy the character development and not just that of the main characters but the whole supporting cast.

Amazon.com should have all the info on this series that you could wish for.

- Hearthcoal

[danlo]

One of the coolest!!! Things I've read in awhile is the Anasazi Mystery Series (The Visitant, The Summoning God & Bone Walker) by William & Kathleen Geer--they r both very well respected anthropologists (from Wyoming, btw) these books r about forensic anthropoligists in the present day tying 2 solve a series murders that happened in the 1,100s as the great and mysterious Anasazi culture was starting 2 die out in northwestern NM. So it switches back and 4th from our time 2 their time--it is amazing stuff not only r u constantly on the edge of ur seat but u learn alot about their history and alot about anthroplogy and NM1 yea! Now get ur butts back 2 "What r u reading in general?" and leave po' ol' Reed Stephens alone!!!

[Hearthcoal]

We're going, we're going...sheesh!!! Sensitive, ain't he!


Before I leave though, here are a few links back to the ODB

Reed Stephens Discussion

The Reed Stephens Lending Library

new discussion page Forum proposal: Reed Stephens

[caamora]

I went to the bookstore today and none of the "Man Who..." books are available even special order! "The Man Who Fought Alone" is coming out in paperback on October 28, or so I was informed by Barnes & Noble.

[Ryzel]

Having read the four books titled "The man who...." I feel entitled to write a short piece about them.

Let me start right away by saying the SRD is not among the greatest mystery writers. Actually the most mysterious thing about some of the books is how the main character can actually avoid seeing the truth for so long. But having read the chronicles I guess I do not need any further explanations.

But when that is said I must say that the books have the same entrancing quality that all the other SRD works I have read have. (I might make an exception for "Mirror of her Dreams", but I will not.)

Once again SRD exercises his talent to create interesting characters whose fates are interesting enough to me to keep reading just to see what happens to them. And yes, the books contain a lot of pain. In one of the books the protagonist gets shot in the gut, and he carries through the next two books with this pain as a constant companion. (Sound familiar.)

I will mention the last book, especially, mostly because it is the last one I read but also because there you get to see mystery novel set in something as unusual as a martial arts tournament. Apparently SRD's Shotokan Karate training has paid off in this regard at least.

I recommend these books, of course, but know that they do not contain any fantastic elements.