Tony’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2018)

Tony’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

I have finished The Book of Lost Tales, Part One. It took a while to read, and cannot be described as something that can be read casually - it does require a reasonable amount of concentration. If you like Tolkien, but found The Silmarillion to be a bit dry, I wouldn't recommend this book.

I have started American Vampire, Vol. 1. This is a graphic novel which collects the first 5 issues of the American Vampire comic (from 2010), which was co-written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King. Despite being a lifelong comics reader, this was King's first go at writing a comic series.

This could fill either the Alternate Form or Features a Vampire Bingo slot.

I have finished The Atlantis World, which completes the Origin Mystery trilogy - and fills the Bingo slot for Completing a Trilogy. It was shaping up to be the best of the three, but the ending seemed a little deus ex machina, and I couldn't tell if the author had planned those events all along, or had written himself into a bit of a corner. Still, it was a fun series that combined sci-fi and thriller vibes.

I have started The Atlantis World, the final book in the Origin Mystery series.

I had hoped to finish The Atlantis Plague before the end of Jan, but life got in the way - well, work mostly, but that is part of life. Anyway, I've finished it, and it fills the Atlantis slot in my Bingo - the first book in this trilogy filled the New Author slot, and the last book will fill the Complete a Trilogy slot.

It's an improvement on the first book - Riddle's writing is a lot tighter, and the book is much more overtly sci-fi than the first book, which started more as a Dan Brown style thriller. Perhaps oddly (perhaps not), this requires less suspension of disbelief than the first book. I guess knowing it's outright SF brings a different mindset.

There was an Australian version of the SFBC, but the selection was never as good as the US one.

I remember when the SFBC was buy one book at full price (usually about $5-$8) and get 3 more for $1 - that's 3 for $1, not $1 each. And they were almost all hardbacks. Even with postage to Australia, it was a good deal. Mind you, this was 50 years ago 😁

Robert wrote: "I have taken up Death Mark which I think is the last DARK SUN novel I have yet to read. I loved that setting back in its heyday (the '90s, kids), too nothing has come of it since."

There were rumours of a revamp of the Dark Sun setting for the latest version of D&D (5e), and that certainly would have led to new novels. But the inclusion of the Greyhawk campaign setting (a personal favourite) in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide means that new Dark Sun stuff will be, at best, delayed.

I am continuing with the Origin Mystery series with The Atlantis Plague.

Having recovered from Covid, and no longer afflicted with brain fog, I have returned to The Book of Lost Tales, Part One, and I am up to tale 8 (out of 10).

I would have loved it if a course on the history of science fiction even existed when I went to uni, but there was nothing like that at ANU (Australian National University), and I don't believe those courses were offered even in Australia's biggest universities - University of Sydney and University of Melbourne - at the time (early 80s). I expect many of the people in my physics classes would have taken it.

I finished The Atlantis Gene. It's the author's first novel - and that shows.

I'm struggling to get much reading done due to having caught Covid again 😒I have made minimal progress in The Book of Lost Tales, Part One - I just can't summon the concentration required for Tolkien. The Atlantis Gene, as a techno thriller / sci fi story, is more my speed at the moment, requiring only a (fairly large) suspension of disbelief, and I'm about halfway through its 600+ pages.

In my opinion (and I believe facts would bear me out), people who read widely, especially those who read SF/F, tend to have a more tolerant outlook. Hmmm, actually, that's not entirely true - I'm quite intolerant of wilful ignorance. But I don't believe in cancelling people's opinions - everyone has the right to an opinion, but I don't have to respect your opinion, and I don't believe in banning books, even if I disagree with their content.

Actually, I don't consider Lovecraft a great writer, but I do think he had an astonishing imagination, and the Cthulhu Mythos is one of the great literary creations of the 20th century. Perhaps I should say that I don't find Lovecraft's style to my taste - there's too much "indescribable horror" 😝 But, as you say Robin, Lovecraft has been hugely influential, however, his racism was certainly of a more intense level than Johns' racism, which was just the accepted societal norm for the time.

Another example would be Sax Rohmer, who wrote the Fu Manchu novels. Those novels were certainly racist, and contained a lot of what would be considered inappropriate cultural appropriation these days - and was certainly considered so by the Chinese government, who issued formal complaints (although that may have been for the Christopher Lee films more than the novels). Yet, Fu Manchu has also had a big influence on 20th century culture.

Robin wrote: "My dad introduced me to 'Lost Horizon,' both the book and the b/w movie version with it's art Deco aesthetic that looked so otherworldly to a kid from a Birmingham council estate. Even though I suppose it might be considered problematic with its cultural appropriation and colonialist attitudes these days."

This raises the point of how much leeway should be given to authors of the early 20th century (or before) with regard to modern societal values? I grew up reading (and loving) the Biggles books - and still enjoy the occasional reread. I now recognise the quite blatant racism and sexism present in the books, which I certainly didn't as a kid. Was Johns being deliberately racist and sexist, or was he writing according to the accepted social values of England at the time? The same can be asked on many authors considered giants of the SF/F genre - Lovecraft chief among them.

"On the cover of one of the now very battered 'High School Exercise Books' in which some of the Lost Tales were composed my father wrote: The Cottage of Lost Play, which introduceth [the] Book of Lost Tales; and on the cover is also written, in my mother's hand, her initials, E.M.T., and a date, Feb. 12th, 1917."

- The Book of Lost Tales part 1, J.R.R. Tolkien

This is the book I started at the end of last year, and am still reading. For the first book I started this year:

"Karl Selig steadied himself on the ship's rail and peered through the binoculars at the massive iceberg."

- The Atlantis Gene, A.G. Riddle

For me, for 2025:

Started this year:
History of Middle Earth
Origin Mystery trilogy

Continued this year:
None yet

Completed this year:
None yet

I'm about halfway through The Book of Lost Tales, Part One and I have started reading The Atlantis Gene, which will certainly go towards my Bingo. As it's the first book in a trilogy, it may fill more than one slot.

Independence Day is a guilty pleasure movie for me as well - I know all the things that are wrong with the plot, but it's just fun 😂 However, unlike you, Georgann, I do rewatch favourite movies, and reread favourite books.

I have to say that I'm impressed by the number of group members who have their Bingo planned so early in the year - I will plan a few early on, but generally I'll see if what I'm reading fills a slot. Then, closer to the end of the year, I will choose books just to fill the remaining slots 😁