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A book in a long line - throughout my life - that I hated when I first started reading it that ended up being among my favorite books of all time. Reading a Harrison book offers that rare transition readers of SF/F go through, where each and every time we start reading a book we have that moment we switch switch gears when we realize (or not) - holy shit this writer has talent! Or as B & B would have said, ummm…like this guy can write and stuff. This is essentially a grand Space Opera that doesn’t seem like a Space Opera, only because it’s good, and our perceptions of the term hasn’t dug itself out of the stigma even with the best efforts of others like Reynolds, Wright, and Macleod among others. Go visit the Circus of Pathet Lao and tell me Harrison isn’t the best SF writer in the field - either that or he is thumb wrestling Gene Wolfe for honors. |
Lack of ability by myself, just makes me want to use the word ‘perfection’ for all of these. For me, this is the standard for SF collections in the last ten years. It balances being accessible because the stories seem to adapt and speak to the individual. This collection had garnered incredible praise before I read it, and while I certainly agreed with the conclusions, I found my own attachments the stories for different reasons. It’s the best of literature, everyone is invited, all you have to do is bring yourself. This is the book I use when trying to explain to others (who may indeed be passive fans of SF or not at all ) what type of SF I enjoy - and none have read it and could muster dispute afterwards. It’s a collection that exceeds the most lavish possible expectations granted to it beforehand. |
This book at times take the form of a fictional dictionary, but is the ultimate view of an outsider of the fictional village of Maqiao. It reminded me of reading a book by Pavic who was passing through Macondo - which is probably enough to get anyone who knows what I’m talking about to pick the book up today. |
If you read my blog, no doubt you already know I’m a simple person who just reads a lot of books, and my highest compliment after reading a book by an author I had not previously read is - after reading the last page - is, “This guy is a gangster” (I tend to go with more formal - some say gangsta, I say gangster). Stepan Chapman is a gangster. The method to attain this status varies but Chapman merits top shelf because he spins a tale that logically defies logic, and then when it stop spinning it makes even less sense so he gives it a twirl the other way just to let the reader catch up and we find out we are still running the wrong way. |
The book most responsible for expanding my own reading in SF/F and redefining my own view of fantasy. I have no delusions, this type of works existed before - and perhaps even better examples of - but the assumption that Mieville’s ascension to semi-rock star status in the field didn’t introduce more people than myself to greener pastures is - I think - a sound one. There are a lot of authors who are getting new readers try out their work because they saw this new author on the shelf a few years ago being published by the same publisher who published a known quantity (even if in negative fashion) like a Terry Brooks. I love the big ideas (The Weaver) and the quite moments (Lin why did you look?). |
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Speaking of gangsters. Carey is the last of the authors on my list that was what I call my Vandeermeerian File (not to be confused with Zamilon File). Dude has indirectly led me to some great reads. In recognition to that, the best person to tell you about the novel is Jeff himself - and it kills two birds with one stone, as linking to Locus is the little guy giving thanks to the godfathers of the online SF/F world letting the little guys like myself (and FBS) eat (sometimes). |
The artisan in a world that being such is no longer viable in the face of technological advancement, and even worse it’s called progress. In every work Sarmago bring the human being to the forefront, and it begs the reader to ask the question why is this notion nothing more than a political punchline in our own society? Fiction that make you ponder the world you live in - I like that gimmick. |
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If I’m not mistaken (someone please correct me if I’m wrong) this is Plascencia’s debut which seems almost impossible. I read this, put down my pen, and went back to practicing my origami, because if people are writing debuts like this, people like me need to find our real calling because we are unworthy (although this hasn’t stopped numerous others - so maybe I still have a chance). A lot of people see the term experimental fiction and turn away but this experiment was a success. You will laugh, you will cringe, you may even catch a contact buzz from flipping the pages, but like all of the best works of fiction - particularly Science Fiction and the Fantastic - the liberal use of the absurd, weird, and fabulous, aren’t so thick to hide the penetrating themes that all of us recognize as part of any reality even in the midst of Rita Hayworth, paper people, Baby Nostradamus, mechanized amphibians, and something close to nacho libre. After reading this book, when someone threatens to paper cut you - you will run - or shank them first. |
Every now and then even Harold Bloom is right. Who is to say who the best author in the world is? Certainly not me, but I’m in the Saramago line. More than anyone else Saramago is able to get to the heart of a character, the heart of the man, not relying on the crutch of where the character lives or what bubble he fills in on his standardized test denoting his origins even while writing a book that studies one’s life and the proof of one’s life and the loneliness of both. |
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