I will SOOOO second Gorky Park. I actually cried when I realized this was going to one of those global impact, everyone’s in on the conspiracy except the hero kind of book. I was so disappointed.
BwanaBob perhaps you should go BACK to CK’s post and read for CONTEXT. He said he read the whole thing. And it does appear that rjung had read it as well. Opinions vary but your charge that the word “racist” was used by people who didn’t have the info to back the charge up appears to be rather vacuous to say the least.
Yeah, that was an odd book. I later found out that the first half - the interesting half - was written in the 40s, but put on hold for a long time. It wasn’t until the 70s or 80s that he finished the book up, way, way past his prime. As such, it seemed like some sort of odd 400 page random name dropping with characters from books of his I’d never read.
I wonder if anyone feels this way about Huckleberry Finn? If I recall correctly, Mark Twain abandoned the book for a while after writing perhaps the first third, and then resumed writing during a much more bitter and pessimistic period of his life.
Wrap your mind around this if you’re interested. It boasts a very low percentage of kooks and nuts, and plenty of people who take a Gor-based lifestyle - not merely part-time role-playing - very seriously. I’m not a practitioner myself, but I have been interested in what these people have had to say since I first stumbled across the site while trying to find out whatever had become of John Norman.
See if you can guess what I am known as there
[/hijack]
The criticism of the books, btw, is valid. If you like an enjoyable Barsoom knock-off then the first five in the series, up to Assassin of Gor, will provide it - and Assassin in particular is a terrific read IMHO. After that, the author got a little preoccupied with his philosophical hobby-horse, although lifestylers such as those mentioned above are more interested in the philosophy than the adventure stories.
Reference the thread, I’ll pop Dragonflight on the list. A good beginning with a fine sense of the mysterious, and then later on in the book she paints the characters into a corner and has to use time travel to get them out of it. A shame.
Not once, not twice but three times have a been sorely misled by authors I’d put my trust in. One was David Brin The Postman was wonderful. I bought Glory Season with great anticipation the moment it came out. That was 1993 there’s still a bookmark on page 135. Clive barker had never let me down… then came Galilee… Joan Collins couldn’t have sunk to such drivel, there the bookmanr is on 137. Then Tad Williams, ah, Tad lad, how could you do such a sad thing? After Tail Chasers Song, and the epic fantasy, whose name escapes me at the moment, Otherworld. I tried, God knows I tried 119 as far as I could manage. The Matrix not withstanding, it just wasn’t interesting.
You wouldn’t be referring to the Momory, Sorrow, and Thorn series (AKA The Dragonbone Chair series), would you? Some people have had real trouble reading this series, as it started out so sslllloooooowww… I finished them, but it took some dogged pereverence to get past the first two books.
I liked The Descent too. It was pretty much what I expected from reading the dust jacket, and I thought it was a great read. I wanted a bit more apocalyptic stuff happening topside, but that’s a minor nitpick.
I’m almost ashamed to say this but the last book I put down half-read was Jane Eyre. I know that’s a favorite of many people, but I lost interest shortly after she started living at Rochester’s place. Seemed like she lost her spunk.
AuntiePamYou’ve just let out the dirty little secret every intellectual has. We only BUY classics, no one really reads them! I’m kidding, don’t have me arrested, please.
I really enjoyed the first third or so of Days of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, but it began to go off and the end was really a damp squib.
**VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD. KINDA. **
I just didn’t find Robinson’s history convincing after a while, and I found the reincarnation bits tiresome. It would have been much more interesting if the parallels between characters in different times had only been suggested, rather than made explicit.
Celestine Prophecy – the premise (ancient scrolls from a lost civilisation holding the keys to truth, peace and goodwill on earth) was interesting enough to get me to pick up the book and parts of it remain thought-provoking. The book sets us off with no lesser intent than unlocking the secrets of life, the universe and everything - I eagerly turned the pages as the central character starts to discover that odd coincidences may not be coincidences at all and he embarks on a voyage of discovery and revelation…. Unfortunately the book then develops an annoyingly repetitive format (as though the author was really labouring in the ideas department), full of cardboard characters in unlikely scenarios and it descends into implausible and virtually unreadable fantasy. I persevered to the end, so that I could find out what nuggets of wisdom the final great insights might hold, only to disappointedly come away thinking it was utter bollocks.
I picked up Fata Morgana by Leo Frankowski the other day. It started out quite fun, nothing brilliant but interesting. Then the two heroes have this multi-page rant about how women should know their place, it’s not their fault their tiny brains make them irrational, I blame those perverted lesbians who run women’s lib, blah blah blah, blah blah blah… What bugged me most was how they managed to contradict their own arguments twenty-odd pages later when talking about something else.
Now, it could be that the author’s working to something later, but I really don’t think so. I’m stalled.
Red Tent by Anita Diamant (fictionalized account of the Jacob’s daughter Dinah from the OT) started out incredibly good. And then…it just kind of fell apart. I highly recommend the first half.
The Horse Whisperer started out good, too. And then the author got lazy and sabotaged himself by ending it with an improbable, ridiculous ending.
PunditLisa , I am so glad that someone else feels the same about The Red Tent. It was a total page turner up to the part about the Prince. I read about 10 more pages and said ummmm no I dont think so.
Those of you tht got through Tailchaser’s Song have my admiration… or pity.
Can any sequel be more of a disappointment than The Ringworld Throne? The first two of Niven’s novels were so good that I was eagerly awaiting the third. I actually plodded all the way through it, despite the fact that it was boring and confusing. I just kept expecting it to get better, and maybe, you know, come back to the protagonist, Louis Wu. Instead it was just about a bunch of dull Ringworld natives constantly engaging in rishathra, capped by an impossible-to-follow Pak free for all.
I wish I had given up by page 100 and saved myself a lot of grief.
