Patrick
asked
Scott Hawkins:
I just finished The Library at Mount Char. It was weird and perfect. I was wondering what else you could recommend in a similar vein to what you wrote to hold me over until your next book?
Scott Hawkins
Hey Patrick,
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
So, I did the goodreads "compare books" thing and you didn't have a ton listed. There may be some overlap here with stuff you've already read.
If you haven't already read more or less everything by Neil Gaiman, that's a good place to start. I personally like his illustrated stuff better, but Ocean at the End of the Lane is my favorite novel of his. My overall favorite is probably Books of Magic.
Millenium by John Varley - This was just brilliant. It's one of those where after I read the last page I flipped back to the front and started again. It's technically SF, but weird enough to make the top your head flip off. If you end up liking it, you might pick up the John Varley Reader (a collection of short fiction).
About ten years ago I read a novella called Awake In the Night Land. I came across it in one of the Dozois Year's Best anthologies, but I'm fairly sure you can also get it on kindle. It's about a far future earth when the sun is dead and the few people still alive spend their time trying not to get munched by monsters. The story has a cult following along the lines of H.P. Lovecraft fans, but nowhere near as popular. So, like, other writers will set stories in the world and so on. There were a couple of nods to it in Mt. Char--"pneumovores" and "the black pyramid at the end of time." Also, Steve's last name (Hodgson) was a nod to the author of the original Night Land.
The thing is, the original Night Land was written in an an extremely very aLot 19th century style. It can be tough to read. My suggestion is to try "Awake In the Night Land" and see if you like it. The style in Awake kind of nods to the original without clubbing you over the head with a bunch of sentences that run on for two pages or more. (I wish i was kidding) If you do like the story, a guy named James Stoddard edited-slash-updated the original novel The Night Land to make it more accessible to modern readers. It's never going to be for everybody, but the people who love it (myself included) really love it.
Lovecraft is similarly not for everybody, but At the Mountains of Madness is awesome. The Stand is probably my favorite book ever. There's a graphic novel called Black Hole that brings the suburban weird in a big way.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds will swat you in the face with cosmic grandeur. There's one called We Need to Talk About Kevin that's not at all SF/F (more of a family drama, sort of) but it's a real page turner, beautifully written, and absolutely pitch black.
Actually, while we're on the topic, I've got a question for you : I see you read Night Vale. I keep hearing about it, but I've never listened to the podcast. Will the book make sense without it?
Anyway, HTH
Scott
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
So, I did the goodreads "compare books" thing and you didn't have a ton listed. There may be some overlap here with stuff you've already read.
If you haven't already read more or less everything by Neil Gaiman, that's a good place to start. I personally like his illustrated stuff better, but Ocean at the End of the Lane is my favorite novel of his. My overall favorite is probably Books of Magic.
Millenium by John Varley - This was just brilliant. It's one of those where after I read the last page I flipped back to the front and started again. It's technically SF, but weird enough to make the top your head flip off. If you end up liking it, you might pick up the John Varley Reader (a collection of short fiction).
About ten years ago I read a novella called Awake In the Night Land. I came across it in one of the Dozois Year's Best anthologies, but I'm fairly sure you can also get it on kindle. It's about a far future earth when the sun is dead and the few people still alive spend their time trying not to get munched by monsters. The story has a cult following along the lines of H.P. Lovecraft fans, but nowhere near as popular. So, like, other writers will set stories in the world and so on. There were a couple of nods to it in Mt. Char--"pneumovores" and "the black pyramid at the end of time." Also, Steve's last name (Hodgson) was a nod to the author of the original Night Land.
The thing is, the original Night Land was written in an an extremely very aLot 19th century style. It can be tough to read. My suggestion is to try "Awake In the Night Land" and see if you like it. The style in Awake kind of nods to the original without clubbing you over the head with a bunch of sentences that run on for two pages or more. (I wish i was kidding) If you do like the story, a guy named James Stoddard edited-slash-updated the original novel The Night Land to make it more accessible to modern readers. It's never going to be for everybody, but the people who love it (myself included) really love it.
Lovecraft is similarly not for everybody, but At the Mountains of Madness is awesome. The Stand is probably my favorite book ever. There's a graphic novel called Black Hole that brings the suburban weird in a big way.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds will swat you in the face with cosmic grandeur. There's one called We Need to Talk About Kevin that's not at all SF/F (more of a family drama, sort of) but it's a real page turner, beautifully written, and absolutely pitch black.
Actually, while we're on the topic, I've got a question for you : I see you read Night Vale. I keep hearing about it, but I've never listened to the podcast. Will the book make sense without it?
Anyway, HTH
Scott
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Mar 31, 2016 08:12PM