Miévillians discussion
Other authors that we enjoy
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Other authors that Mievillians enjoy
message 51:
by
Ian
(new)
Apr 13, 2013 08:48PM
I wasn't planning on reading The Scar, but I might change my mind, if you think it's that good.
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I've decided to look out for all three of the Le Guins. I think I've missed out on something special, by not reading her yet.
Ian wrote: "I wasn't planning on reading The Scar, but I might change my mind, if you think it's that good."I'm among the few who think it's the best work by CM - the majority disagrees. Without giving away much, he focuses much more on the Remade - the horrific concept of Crobuzonian justice that was pushed to the background of 'Perdido Street Station' - and, among other things, it just struck a chord with me. It's the story of possibility and potentiality - and that was what I loved, too.
Ian wrote: "I've decided to look out for all three of the Le Guins. I think I've missed out on something special, by not reading her yet."Le Guin is an exceptional writer. I only discovered her books last year, and read only a few of them - but I plan to continue with her works.
Nataliya wrote: "Ian wrote: "I wasn't planning on reading The Scar, but I might change my mind, if you think it's that good."I'm among the few who think it's the best work by CM - the majority disagrees. Without ..."
I enjoyed it, too. I may have said this before, but the setting of the new city really intrigued me, plus it seemed much more self-contained but with that thought provoking philosophy etched into it that Mieville's always good at. And it seemed more deeply character focused.
Much as I've enjoyed discussions in this group, enjoyed TC&TC, and loved Embassytown, I won't reread The Scar - at least not in the next few years.
No,no, don't worry, we wont' torture you that much Cecily, but it would be nice if you popped in with Le Guin. I do have a feeling she might tickle your speculative senses.Looks like Left Hand is the winner. I'll officially announce it by week's end, and then why not grab a copy and see where you can squish it in?
just finished reading the iron dragons daughter by michael swanwick which was very meivillish - also plenty to like with tim powers - also agree with the alistair reynolds guys especially terminal world which is like a version of the scar but in the sky using dirigables :)
Thanks, Timday, will check those out! Have I mentioned that Mievilllians might enjoy Jeff VanderMeer ?
Traveller wrote: "Thanks, Timday, will check those out! Have I mentioned that Mievilllians might enjoy Jeff VanderMeer ?"recently read vennis underground and loved it and can see the mievelesque link - similar in structure to richard calder
Traveller wrote: "Thanks, Timday, will check those out! Have I mentioned that Mievilllians might enjoy Jeff VanderMeer ?"And I just said, moments ago in another group, that VanderMeer was one of those authors I know I have to get to...
Well, then: shall we make VanderMeer our next "other author"?
Shall we set up another poll? ..and then I'd have to have a look and see which of VanderMeers' works. Hmm, what do you guys think, a poll featuring the authors mentioned in this thread first?
What we could do, of course, is to in any case read one or two of VanderMeer's shorter stories- he wrote a few longer short stories (or short novellas, depending how you look at it).
People, in some other discussions, some members have mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay and a desire to try him out. Tigana was suggested. I have personally read Under Heaven and liked it.Shall I put up a poll to see if there is any interest in reading a Kay?
Haven't heard of Kay but (or rather, thus) I'm game. :)
I have MAJOR interest in Kay, specifically TIGANA (I own it). I cracked it open and read about 25 pages and was super impressed with the beginning!
Cool! GGK Guy Gavriel Kay tends to write history parallels couched in light fantasy, sort of almost historical fiction, but he changes the names of the places and people.For example, Tigana, which takes place in a setting analogous to medieval Italy, features a wealth of detail, everything from religion to politics to warfare to culture to interpersonal relationships. http://www.challengingdestiny.com/rev...
Tigana is the most fantastical of his tales, because it contains wizards. Most of his books don't contain elements quite so fantastical, though I am told that Tigana is still more 'realistic' than the fantasy genre in general.
The book that I had read, Under Heaven, is set in a fantasied Tang Dynasty China. The novel is based on a fictionalized version of the An Shi Rebellion. (In which he remains quite true to this interesting piece of history).
One of his other books that I have my eye on, is The Lions of al-Rassan, which is based upon Moorish Spain. As per Wikipedia, the novel concentrates on the relationships between the three peoples: the Kindath (based on the Jews), the Asharites (based on the Muslims), and the Jaddites (based on the Christians). (The actual religions of the Kindath, Asharites, and Jaddites, as described in the novel, bear no relation to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.)
The three protagonists in the novel are from each of these three races and religions: Jehane bet Ishak, a Kindath physician in Fezana (loosely based on Rebecca of York); Rodrigo Belmonte, a Jaddite captain of a company of cavalry (loosely based on El Cid); and Ammar ibn Khairan, an Asharite poet, mercenary, and advisor to King Almalik of Cartada (loosely based on ibn Ammar).
My vote's for
Tigana
, but when I went to cast the actual vote, I got this message: "Sorry, we couldn't find that poll." I'll vote for it when I can!
Oops, yes, I was fiddling around and deleted one of the polls, hadn't realized that someone had already voted!Let me re-send an invite...
Or you can go straight to the poll here: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/88...
My deepest and sincerest apologies, Joseph, I hope you and other inconvenienced members can forgive my poll-setting up klutziness... :S
Cecily wrote: "Much as I've enjoyed discussions in this group, enjoyed TC&TC, and loved Embassytown, I won't reread The Scar - at least not in the next few years."Yay! Having recently upset someone over our disagreement about the relative value of Arthur C. Clarke vs. Alistair Reynolds, who I know Cecily likes, it's good to be back to a subject we agree on!
Jeff VanderMeer: I'm in the middle of Errata, which is possibly not the right place to start with VanderMeer. Makes Miéville's wierdest seem positively tame. But free to read on tor.com.
Kay. I adore Guy Kay. And he's Canadian. General consensus amongst his fans seems to be that Tigana is his best work. But I would read absolutely anything again (and as I just said to Trav, I just picked up River of Stars this afternoon. I think I liked The Lions of al-Rassan best, myself.
I love historical novels, and history itself, and fantasy, and comparative religions, and Kay tends to tie all those in very well in varyingly fantastical settings. I felt Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt was trying to achieve the same thing Kay does, but he fell far short.
But… why would we be reading him in Miévillans? I don't see the connection.
Derek wrote: "But… why would we be reading him in Miévillans? I don't see the connection...."
Because many people who like to read Mieville also like to read Kay?
In any case, I think it's time that we start folders for the other authors we like, and then we can post topic treads for books of theirs that we enjoyed in there.
From my own POV, Mievillians is quiet enough as it is, and is the only place where I can relax and let my hair down and chat about fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction with friends who are of like mind. :)
I hope this is going to work out... I've now moved this into a folder of it's own, and now we can make author topics as we please, and chat about them. I hope you approve.
Oh good! Although 'non-moderators' can't add folders, I'm pretty sure you can add topics, so if you think of an author we all seem inclined to enjoy, go ahead!
I think it would be fun to discuss Blindsight by Peter Watts. Hard sci-fi with tons of science and philosophy references. There are many layers to this book which makes it fun for discussion.
Michele wrote: "I think it would be fun to discuss Blindsight by Peter Watts. Hard sci-fi with tons of science and philosophy references. There are many layers to this book which makes it fun for discussion."Thanks for the reminder, Michele! Let's see if we can find it on GR:Blindsight
It's been two months since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they burned. The heavens have been silent since - until a derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us. Who to send to meet the alien, when the alien doesn't want to meet?
Send a linguist with multiple-personality disorder, and a biologist so spliced to machinery he can't feel his own flesh. Send a pacifist warrior, and a vampire recalled from the grave by the voodoo of paleogenetics. Send a man with half his mind gone since childhood. Send them to the edge of the solar system, praying you can trust such freaks and monsters with the fate of a world.
You fear they may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find - but you'd give anything for that to be true, if you knew what was waiting for them.
Well, "Send a linguist with multiple-personality disorder, and a biologist so spliced to machinery he can't feel his own flesh." sounds quite Mievillian indeed!
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Michele, it definitely looks like a Mievillian must-read. :) We can add it to our schedule once we have the next two or three books down.
Another cool thing is it is available via Creative Commons License at http://manybooks.net/titles/wattspoth...
Ooooo, Blindsight sounds like lots of fun. I can find a copy, I am up for that.
Well, how lucky that its available on that site you linked to, thanks Michele! Grabbed my copy already. :D
You had me at "linguist with personality disorder" ...
Exactly! We have to read this sometime! ;)But, guys, I really need to read "WE" first. Ugh, I haven't done a proper ... is there anyone here who will go with me on We ?
C'mon, it's classic and it's the basis that 1984 was built on.
Oh, I missed the link the first time. Thanks for pointing it out, Traveler. I got it now, so I'm in.
Joseph wrote: "Blindsight is EXCELLENT!!"I hope it's better than that blurb. The concept sounds good, but the writing is stilted.
I'm up for We
Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Blindsight is EXCELLENT!!"I hope it's better than that blurb. The concept sounds good, but the writing is stilted.
I'm up for We"
Michele wrote: "I will do WE."
Yaye, that's enough of an excuse for me to tell the entire group that some members want to do it, and so I'll send out a general invite. Thanks guys!
Traveller just drew my attention to a couple of reviews of Babel-17. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... certainly make connections to Miéville.I stopped reading Delany as a teenager when I ran into something that was just totally incomprehensible. I don't recall which one it was! But forty years might make all the difference, and it looks like I ought to like it!
Well, Derek, when I saw you'd posted here, I was hoping it was going to be about Gibson, because I'm fast developing amorous feelings towards his prose, though I know I shouldn't talk too soon, because SC also had me giggling at the start....Man, I wish I'd never started reading Delany's Hogg . Honestly, it has sullied the image of Delany in my mind forever more, although I've always heard what a good author he is. I really wish I'd started with him on a different foot...
But yes, I also thought that perhaps the linguistic connotations to Babel-17 might do the trick in breaking the ice with Delany's more, erm... 'clean'? (I hope!) work?
Babel-17/Empire Star are so great! Those are the 2 books I started with. Nova is fantastic too! (Just getting ready to dive [back] into Dhalgren, actually!)
(n.b. Dhalgren is probably the aforementioned incomprehensible one.*)
I've read both Blindsight and We; love both!
I can gush about Gibson all you want :-) I've loved his stories since Neuromancer was fresh off the press. I love the prose, too, but it was his vision of cyberspace that really drew me. I've always hoped that somebody would design an operating system desktop that worked in that paradigm. When Windows introduced "active desktops" (way back in 3.1), and MS "Bob", it was widely panned, but I just couldn't help thinking: that's it! The beginnings of Gibson's computing. It crashed and burned.…And he's always had strong female characters.
Joseph wrote: "(n.b. Dhalgren is probably the aforementioned incomprehensible one.*)"I think you're probably right. I know I read Nova, first, and enjoyed it. I think Triton was next, and less interesting (well, I was a hetero- male teenager—not the right time for that), then the next one just turned me right off.
Okay, before we get carried away with Delany, we still need to do We and King Rat.Derek, would you mind if I did We in March and then you do King Rat in April?
I kind of feel I need a break in February, what do you guys say?
And then maybe Babel-17 in May and I'll give Kraken a go for July unless someone else volunteers for it.Maybe we could discuss Neuromancer a bit later in Feb, since most of us have read it already? and then We, and then King Rat?
April's good for me for King Rat
Usually Babel-17 comes with Empire Star in a single volume. I'd be up for discussing both if everyone has the dual copy.
That schedule sounds good to me. Looking forward to King Rat since it's (nearly?) the last CM novel to be read for me. Trav, on Kraken, thinking right now that I'd be willing to help out with the discussion - never done that before so you get what you pay for :) - but I'd like to wait until closer to that time before committing.
Miévillians
Books mentioned in this topic
Three Moments of an Explosion (other topics)Nova (other topics)
Triton (other topics)
Neuromancer (other topics)
Hogg (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Kim Stanley Robinson (other topics)Jeff VanderMeer (other topics)
Arthur C. Clarke (other topics)
Alastair Reynolds (other topics)
Guy Gavriel Kay (other topics)
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