Bjtriton's comments (member since Mar 29, 2009)

Bjtriton's comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I just read Air by Geoff Ryman. I'm not sure what to think about it yet... It was a long slow read for me, but not bad. It just is a slowly unwinding story in an unusual setting (a small village somewhere in Asia/Russia) and has very little sci-fi in it. Just one major sci-fi element, actually and then the story unfolds from there. It was... different.
I'm on to read Charline Harris (Stackhouse) for a while I think for some quick light reading (and to get them out of my TBR pile!!)

I just started Air by G Ryman--so far so good. I feel a little guilty because I've been ignoring this group... but I just have to get through a chunk of my TBR pile so I can get them out of the apartment! they're taking too much space so I've been spending the last few months just trying to read through some of them. I'll get back to the BOTMs at some point though!

Diane wrote: "I didn't see BJTriton's reply to my post about The Gate to Women's Country before the topic was closed down, but I thought perhaps it warrants its own discussion...

oy! and I didn't see this discussion until today! :-)

I also found The Female Man difficult to enjoy. But it seems so "serious" and like "real literature" (I had to read it in college) that its still the first thing that comes to mind when I think of FemSF!

I *love* Octavia Butler, as well as LeGuin--both are fab. But I have a special love for Butler... I think she takes gender & race issues and twists them into difficult places to get you to think hard about things we don't like thinking about. I miss her!

these from your list have been on my TBR list for some time:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
Air Or, Have Not Have Geoff Ryman

Beggars in Spain (Kress) is awesome, but Fem? I'm not sure about that...I thought it more about minorities vs the majority conflicts.

I just finished Cyteen recently--and I so loved the world building and character development but can't help but think "what happened to the plot??" It just seemed to be a big build up for the real plot line... which never happened. I'll read the sequel, though, and look forward to more of her work (this was my first).

Ammonite by Nicola Griffith totally irritated me--I thought it was so one-sided and narrow. I kept thinking this is why people hate the term "feminist".

Which brings me to the term "feminist"... it really does sadden me that its become such a negative word in a lot of ways. I don't understand how people can say they believe in equal rights but don't want to be called a feminist. (I'm not at all picking on you, Kevis--I have met a lot of women, usually younger than me, that say this same thing). I always think of femisist=equal rights, but I think somehow the term has become warped over the years to mean something else (femi-nazis and such) to a lot of different people.

I think you all are right, though... this is a charged topic, and always evolving!

this is kinda a quick response to something I should think about more! but I'm juggling auditors this week, and its crazy. :-)

Diane wrote: "Reading The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper. Catching up on a the FeministSF reading list.

Reading Scardown by Elizabeth Bear ..."

I read "Gate to Women's Country" many years ago... it reminds me of how much I like Tepper (I loved "Grass") but I haven't read her in so many years. I should pick her up again (after I get through my huge TBR!)

what other fem SF lit are you reading? What about Joanna Russ (The Female Man)? that always comes to mind for me in femSF stuff.

Scardown would be tough to read out loud I think... good book though.

I'm almost down with the 2nd Cyteen book now... I've ran into some other issues which has kept me away from reading for a while. :-(

It always surprises me how much detail I forget between readings.

I'm with you Jane! Any book that I really like I have to reread it to get the full sense of it since when I really love them I read them way too fast "too see what happens" and I don't mull over the little details. Nabokov famously once said something to the effect of you can't read a book, only reread it.

I have all of Morgan's books on my shelf waiting to be re-read. Maybe I should start with Steel Remains! :-)

I had ordered the book many months ago when it was available on the UK Amazon (I'm in the US) so its been a while since I've read it--I haven't had a chance to re-read it this month.
I'm not ready yet to give a review of it (I need to refresh myself on the details) but Shanon, its not really at all like his other books. This is the first book he has written that was fantasy, everything else of his so far has been sci-fi...very noir style, dark sci-fi. But all his books are all very hard core, violent and fairly blunt/brutal (and I *love* them!), I think, with strong & deep messages about people, social structures, community, etc. This is an author that has something to say and is not shy about getting to the point.
The first book of his I ever read was Altered Carbon, and I was hooked immediately--I highly recommend him.

ETA. oh, the other thing that is different about this book, imho, compared to his others is that all his others are really self contained stories (even the Altered Carbon trilogy) where the Steel Remains really felt to me like a more classic trilogy, where clearly its just part of a bigger story. I believe he said in interviews that he tried to make the book as self-contained as his others, and feels that he did so... but I wasn't quite sold on that point. Just my 2 cents, though.

Mosca,
I have not read anyother Cherryh books... I'm looking forward to more. I am really enjoying this one, although its a very slow read for me. I hoped to start reading the Bujold series at the same time for the group, but this Cyteen is going to need my full attention at the moment. If I had read other books from her Union world, would this set-up come a little easier to me? As it is, Cyteen starts with a huge info-dump of world building that I am struggling to keep straight. I do like cynical world views though, and this book is promising to be fabulous. Its great to discover a new & fabulous author!

Kelly, I absolutely think you should give Red Mars another try, but its clearly a polorizing book. Many from this group didn't like it and tossed it. Its not an easy book, its very heavy & wordy--not a quick action read. But I enjoyed it a lot and think its an amazing work.

I just started Cyteen by CJ Cherryh--and so far so good. I'm just barely into it, but it reminds me in some ways of the Robinson's Mars trilogy with a huge complex social/political/science structure as a backdrop for the story. I love it so far!

Hi--I finally finished this (and was out of town for a week, so I'm just back to comment)...
I ended up being rather disappointed in this book. I really wanted to like it, and like a lot of elements about it. but it just doesn't hang together right. I liked the harliquins generally; the martial arts stuff; Maya and her lonely, existential angst; the church & DNP; and of course the motorcycle rides.
but it just wasn't enough. The text was so oddly repetitive--it kept saying the same things (mostly about the brethren & the vast machine stuff) over and over without really saying anything! I still don't really get (or buy into) the very shallow reasons for the bad guys wanting to kill the travelers. I just don't understand why they would spend all this time and energy to kill them (and now to be just like them!). and who really cares about these other worlds--what was the whole point?
so, I don't plan on reading any further with this series...

Stefan--people told me to start with Chasm City by Reynolds, and I did enjoy it. I have yet to read anything more by him, but at some point (when my TBR pile gets smaller) I'll be going back to him.

eta--I just tried the literature map with Richard Morgan & Richard K Morgan (the same person) and got two totally different groups--and each showed the other Richard on the map, but not closely. odd!

Sisimka wrote: "LOL! I'm sorry, I was thinking about the other book...I had the same problem with the combat scenes in His Majesty's Dragon..."

haha! I've done that before too. I'm glad to know you didn't totally miss all the motorcycle riding! :-)

Its an interesting point you brought up about the combat scenes from HMD--I think since I have no true combat experience, I don't worry about pinning down the details on something like that. I'm fine with getting the gist of it and the outcome. But since I do know something about riding motorcycles, it was more distracting for me. That probably means I'm not a terribly careful reader on some things (like HMD), especially the first time around.

Sisimka wrote: "I don't actually remember anyone riding a motorcycle in the book. ..."

there's a bunch of riding scenes, actually. Early on Gabriel rides a lot to clear his head. But its only later when he is getting chased that it struck me as odd. At a quick glance (I'd have to spend a little time to go find them all) I found a couple: -page 179 in my edition has one guy chasing Gab and reloading what looks to be a flare gun--it said he had "fallen back" (I thought he slowed down, but maybe that meant he he pulled over?) and on the same page another rider "was holding a flare gun in his right hand while he gripped the handle bar with his left..." [this scene is observed by Maya as she is chasing the people chasing Gab at what looks to be a high speeds:]
--page 253 Maya is following Gab again (Maya in the van, Gab on the bike) and it says "the moment they left California, Gabriel pulled off his motorcycle helmet and tossed it into the van. He slipped on some sunglasses and roared ahead of Maya..."

Maybe I'm over-thinking these things but it just doesn't seem possible. I can put sunglasses on when I ride, but load a gun? take off my helmet? not while I'm actually moving! Unless people are pulling over to do these things but the narrative doesn't say that.

I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't want to join the main discussion yet... but I have a question. I like motorcycles, and I've owned and rode them for many years. but I just can't visualize how this author describes someone on a bike going at high speeds (I assume speeding, but the bike is at least moving) and doing things at the same time: like the rider is using his right hand to load and shoot a gun (the right hand for you non-riders is the hand that controls acceleration), or is riding down the highway and taking his helmet off at the same time, etc. I just am not getting how this riders are doing all this stuff at the same time they are riding a motorcycle. Amy I just mis-reading this? Can anyone explain how this is possible? I can occasionally take my hands off the handle bars if I'm coasting and totally balanced, but I really can't imagine doing too much like what this author describes. I dunno.

Stefan--as far as writer taking liberties, for me its not a problem if I think of the book as very light reading. I put comic books, graphic novels and the like in the same category. For this group of books, it just doesn't bother me if the story isn't perfect, I'm reading them for lite entertainment--they make me laugh-- which is different how I read most other books (whether it be sci-fi, fantasy or whatever other genre). It may not be to everyone's taste, but that's why the perceived gaps in these books didn't bother me. But that's just me.

that being said, I still felt that Temeraire left at least in part because of his strong bond with Laurence. Of course Laurence gave him a choice because Laurence is a Good Guy [tm:], but ultimately nothing could trump that bond, so Temeraire gave up the lady and went with Laurence. Its been quite a while since I read it (and I don't own a copy to refresh my memory), but I don't remember that being such an obvious problem for me.

Honestly, since the whole book is improbably (flying, talking dragons?) the ending didn't bother me. I read these books as such light reading, that I just didn't think too hard about it.
But ultimately I suppose Temeraire is clearly smarter than most dragons at his age and bonded to Laurence... so I could see him going with Laurence no matter what the cost.

I love Morgan's work, and the violence has never bothered me. I am much more bothered by sugar-coated violence (usually in movies) where it seems to be so accepted and glorified. Morgan's work always seems to show complex characters struggling with layers of issues and problems surrounding the violence and I find it honest and thought-provoking. And frankly, I read books ultimately to find these thought provoking jems... and I watch TV when I just want the sugar coating.

I hugely appreciated when he joined our group to discuss Thirteen--he's clearly thought a lot about these issues, and is well versed in so much of the politics & issues he is working with in his books. He's clear and articulate, and seems to enjoy a good (respectful) debate. I have a lot of respect for him.

And Jane, I agree with you... I want him cloned too! Market Forces was my least favorite, but I understand it was originally written as a screenplay, which is how it felt reading it.

I like this idea, too. especially if, as Stefan says, its a relatively slow pace.

I love the Amber books and can always re-read them. And I have Bujold & Cherryh in my TBR pile.

Some day I would love to re-read the ASOIAF but its unlikely I'd do that until its finished (so, in about 30 years?)

Sisimka wrote: "Sandi wrote: "C. wrote: "Reading Possession by A.S. Byatt."
I couldn't get through that one.
I couldn't get through it either... :("

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I read this years ago and thought it was a beautiful book. Not the standard SFF, but really wonderful. I may have to read this again at some point...

...try to make it a habit to not start a series till I own all the books and the author is done with the series. ..."

hey Kathi, I'm totally the same way so I know what you're saying. These books are definately a series, but they do tell a complete story in and of themselves, so I didn't mind reading these with some distance apart. While there are some overall story that runs through all the books, I remember the end of each wrapped up the main threads pretty well--

its been a while since I read them... maybe someone else can confirm this.

Octavia Butler for sure! and I wouldn't mind new Zelazny stuff (even an outline to how *he* would have finished the Amber series!)