Cicero's comments (member since May 20, 2008)

Cicero's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.

At the time I enjoyed reading the novel to the point that I gave it quite a positive review. I felt that it was good mix of the recognisable and slightly different reasonably well executed. Although looking back I think I was too positive. My main problem I think is the lack of improvement in the sequel which gives me a more negative opinion of the first. I did not enjoy “The Charnel Prince” at all because the elements of the “The Briar King” that had interested me were lacking. Also the cliff-hangers were too contrived for my liking.

To answer the question is the book special I think special has to be defined. For me a special SFF book is one that you would recommend to anyone without reservation even those who are snooty about the genre. “The Briar King” certainly does not fulfil this criteria in my opinion.

This thread is making think about what SFF books I do consider to be special.

The Suvudu website has just added an exciting addition to their free library "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville.

http://www.suvudu.com/freelibrary/index....

Scroll down the page and you will see the information.

I haven't read PSS yet but have been meaning to for a long time. Considering the praise that PSS gets and the so-called New Wierd movement that it was a major part of starting this seems like a good oppurtunity to me at least.

Concerning Kay he has just posted a very interesting synopsis of his next novel "Under Heaven."

" In the novel, Shen Tai is the son of a general who led the forces of imperial Kitai in the empire’s last great war against its western enemies, twenty years before. Forty thousand men, on both sides, were slain by a remote mountain lake. General Shen Gao himself has died recently, having spoken to his son in later years about his sadness in the matter of this terrible battle.

To honour his father’s memory, Tai spends two years in official mourning alone at the battle site by the blue waters of Kuala Nor. Each day he digs graves in hard ground to bury the bones of the dead. At night he can hear the ghosts moan and stir, terrifying voices of anger and lament. Sometimes he realizes that a given voice has ceased its crying, and he knows that is one he has laid to rest.

The dead by the lake are equally Kitan and their Taguran foes; there is no way to tell the bones apart, and he buries them all with honour.

It is during a routine supply visit led by a Taguran officer who has reluctantly come to befriend him that Tai learns that others, much more powerful, have taken note of his vigil. The White Jade Princess Cheng-wan, 17th daughter of the Emperor of Kitai, presents him with two hundred and fifty Sardian horses. They are being given in royal recognition of his courage and piety, and the honour he has done the dead.

You gave a man one of the famed Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You gave him four or five to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank, and earn him jealousy, possibly mortal jealousy. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor.

Tai is in deep waters. He needs to get himself back to court and his own emperor, alive. Riding the first of the Sardian horses, and bringing news of the rest, he starts east towards the glittering, dangerous capital of Kitai, and the Ta-Ming Palace – and gathers his wits for a return from solitude by a mountain lake to his own forever-altered life."

Sounds good to me.

I should preface my opinion of this book with the fact that I have never "got" Gaiman. His books are perfectly readable but I just don't seem to get the warm fuzzies that most people seem to get when reading Gaiman's work.

I read this book at the start of this year and enjoyed the "Jungle Book" parallels and Gaiman's refreshing prose. On the other hand though I was never truly engaged by the story, I never felt the compulsion to pick the book back up.

Definantly I miss for me. Pity I really want to like Gaiman.

Just borrowed a copy of "Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and I can't wait to start it. Soon as I have finished "2666" I will be diving in to it with out hesitation.

I didn't know that it was being filmed in my neck of the woods. Go Belfast!

I can not wait for this to completed but with the inevitable caveat, as long as it does properly.

I am trying to read over the summer holidays all those books I planned and said I would read but for a variety of reasons have not been able to.

"Ship of Destiny" by Robin Hobb
"2666" by Roberto Bolano
"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville
"Baron in the Trees" by Italo Calvino
"The Cloven Viscount and the Non-existant Knight" by Italo Calvino
"Fool's Fate" by Robin Hobb
"Flashman and the Mountain of Light" by George MacDonald Fraser
"Titus Alone" by Mervyn Peake

Keep meaning to check out "Lavinia" as I have never read any Le Guin and I have just spent the last year studying the original latin of "The Aenied" and it would be interesting to see what Le Guin does with her interpretation. Virgil is a big act to follow.

Did not like "Anathem" and did not get past the first 100 pages. I was not really in the mood for it to be honest and so the problem was probably more with me than the novel. All I remember about is that there were far too many made up words.

I am three quarters of the way into "Best Served Cold" and it is so far very good.

Although I would reccommend reading the "First Law Trilogy" first. You could read it and understand the story perfectly without having done so but you would miss the thrill of meeting some of the old characters who had previously had small parts.

I have just finished the second book of four of "The Book of the New Sun" and have currently mixed feelings. I read the first one last year but for some reason never picked up the next volumes.

I cannot doubt the quality of the work, the prose is some of the best I have read this year. Actually I will stick my neck out and say it is the best I have read this year. This is a major statement considering I have read such wordsmiths (although of very contrasting styles) as Orwell and Peake. The characters are strong but I have huge problems emphasing with Severian. He just seems so alien to me.

Also the layers that I have been able to pick up upon I have been subtle, clever and very engaging.

But I just can't seem to get in to it. I really don't feel the need to pick it up again. Although I will reserve my final judgement until I have read the whole series. Probably would improve on re-reading.

I am currently giving Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" another go but it is slow going as there is just so many layers to this series.

Did not get to read as many books as I would have liked to last month due to exams so I still intend to read the following

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
"The Baron in the Trees" by Italo Calvino

I also plan to maybe give "2666" a whirl but it is rather large and daunting and I might want something a bit lighter after my exams.

I must admit I was not completely happy about the sexual relationships in this book. I think the absence of a healthy realtionship was the aspect that caused me the problem although I had not noticed this absence until Jensownzoo pointed it out.

I have not read many short stories but I really enjoyed " A Song for Lya" by George R.R. Martin

Maybe Kay chose music because it was something all the characters in the novel could relate to. Not everyone could have related to poetry or another art form but everyone, to a certain extent, can join in with music.

In my opinion the way that Alessan, Devin et al became one when they played together is possibly meant to represent the ideal of a together Palm.

But in my opinion the previous points about memory and the human spirit are more important to the story as a whole.

Just finished "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelanzy. I was very impressed from the start with Zelanzy's prose and subtle humour. But it is the books orginality that stands out. Humans colonizing a planet and the original crew shaping it into a replica of Hinduism with reincarnation as reality - woah. Definantly worth the Hugo that it won 1967. Also on the point of dates it still feels very fresh; it could have been written yesterday.

Currently reading: "Slaughterhouse 5" by Kurt Vonnegut

To read:-

"To Kill a Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee
"Gormenghast" by Titus Groan
"The Baron in the Trees" by Italo Clavino (if I can hunt down a copy)

I just finished a highly enjoyable re-read of all five books of "The Hitchkiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

I plan to read this month the following:-

"Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay

"The Hedge Knight" and "The Sworn Sword" by George R.R. Martin (these are two novellas set in the world of ASOIAF found in the anthologies Legends I and II edited by Robert Silverberg).

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Stienbeck

I would also like to hear anything about "2666" from anyone who has read it.

I am reading Flashman's Lady by George MacDonald Fraser and am being reminded why I loved the previous Flashman books so much. Great fun.

I plan to hopefully read (depending on availabilty at library and so forth) the following

Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

Brilliant, few books have had such an emotional impact on me. I was scared to pick the book up at times for fear of situations McCarthy was writing about. The prose is staggeringly good (especially if you have not read McCarthy before as I hadn't at the time).

Judging Eye by R.Scott Bakker was awesome. Hit the link to see my review. Even though I am not that good at reviewing I just felt Bakker deserved it.