(no subject)
World-Building bit
I was minding my own business on a thread about world-building yesterday when it became frighteningly obvious that art is often -- maybe even always -- imperfect. As we say on the intertube, ZOMG!!!
Tolkien left out commerce, Bakker forgot women*, Jordan thought everybody spoke American and so on. Some writers take no account of sex; some ignore going to the toilet -- for hundreds of pages and years and years at a time. Those poor characters (quaffing wine in every chapter) must be bursting, bursting, I tell you.
World-buiding, like fine art, is not, or does not have to be all about photo-realism. You can have impressionist worlds such as in some of Ursula Le Guin's short stories. You can have nightmarish or dreamlike ones that make metaphorical sense only. I could go on. Don't worry, today I refrain.
Hugo Awards bit
No, I didn't forget to vote. I just wish I'd spent more time thinking about all the books I read last year.
Reviews bit
A few more insanely positive reviews of The Inferior to report.
Karin's Book Nook gave us five pairs of sunglasses out of five.
Mari Olson of The Daily Republic says "The second your eyes reach the first page, you’re thrown into this deadly reality and the pace never ends. O’Guilin does an amazing job matching momentum of the situation to dialogue and action - there really isn’t a good time to draw breath for the characters, or the reader."
My lj friend ildrinn has also been overly kind on sandstorm reviews. Read it and weep. Or just weep, see if I care!
"The various alien races are all full of inventive nastiness, and it's an interesting exploration of the ethics and mechanics of survival in some very adverse circumstances. This is very reminiscent of old-school sci-fi, down to the mild but unfortunate sexism, so there's nothing particularly ground-breaking about the book, but the story is very entertaining, the world compelling and unusual, and it's certainly worth a read. Unless you're particularly squeamish about cannibals..."
Dirty bits
You've come to the wrong blog. Move along, nothing to see here.
Edited bits
I've added in another review...
*A very controversial point, so don't ask.
I was minding my own business on a thread about world-building yesterday when it became frighteningly obvious that art is often -- maybe even always -- imperfect. As we say on the intertube, ZOMG!!!
Tolkien left out commerce, Bakker forgot women*, Jordan thought everybody spoke American and so on. Some writers take no account of sex; some ignore going to the toilet -- for hundreds of pages and years and years at a time. Those poor characters (quaffing wine in every chapter) must be bursting, bursting, I tell you.
World-buiding, like fine art, is not, or does not have to be all about photo-realism. You can have impressionist worlds such as in some of Ursula Le Guin's short stories. You can have nightmarish or dreamlike ones that make metaphorical sense only. I could go on. Don't worry, today I refrain.
Hugo Awards bit
No, I didn't forget to vote. I just wish I'd spent more time thinking about all the books I read last year.
Reviews bit
A few more insanely positive reviews of The Inferior to report.
Karin's Book Nook gave us five pairs of sunglasses out of five.
Mari Olson of The Daily Republic says "The second your eyes reach the first page, you’re thrown into this deadly reality and the pace never ends. O’Guilin does an amazing job matching momentum of the situation to dialogue and action - there really isn’t a good time to draw breath for the characters, or the reader."
My lj friend ildrinn has also been overly kind on sandstorm reviews. Read it and weep. Or just weep, see if I care!
"The various alien races are all full of inventive nastiness, and it's an interesting exploration of the ethics and mechanics of survival in some very adverse circumstances. This is very reminiscent of old-school sci-fi, down to the mild but unfortunate sexism, so there's nothing particularly ground-breaking about the book, but the story is very entertaining, the world compelling and unusual, and it's certainly worth a read. Unless you're particularly squeamish about cannibals..."
Dirty bits
You've come to the wrong blog. Move along, nothing to see here.
Edited bits
I've added in another review...
*A very controversial point, so don't ask.