I read the entirety of the Neutronium Alchemist series by Hamilton some time ago. It's extremely trashy - sort of "if you want to read a lot about a badly drawn Al Capone having an endless erection ... in space!" trashy. Really, really trashy. As is a commonplace in the trashiest fantasies, several protagonists are violated by "entities" at great length.
And although it was engrossing enough, I certainly haven't been tempted by the idea of more Hamilton. Although Hamilton's hero whose nickname is "Lagrange" because he can accurately solve the three body problem "by instinct alone" is cool.
I wasn't so keen on The Magicians. Another reviewer's quip that Grossman felt as if he was "slumming it" in fantasy seemed to hit home. Unfortunately his plotting, character psychology, and exposition of theme just weren't up to a high "literary" standard - in my opinion
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Ah, yeah, I gathered Hamilton could get trashier. I guess Reynolds and Banks remain unchallenged as my space opera of choice.
The Magicians did leave a slight bad tasted - there is a sense in which his misgivings about escapist fantasy sometimes slips over to a touch of contempt. And I agree that the writing was good but not exceptional, but I think I forgave it some of that for managing to keep up a solid pace as well, it certainly didn't seem flabby or padded at all.
And you are right, there are a few parts that are quite cinematic. I particularly liked the entire geese/antarctic sequence.
Venture Bros. is a favorite of at least three of my friends, who will happily gabble about it at the drop of a hat. Apparently Brian Eno shows up as a villain in later episodes, which is of course catnip to my boys. I've also had at least two friends from Seattle express disappointment in the Cherie Priest book that sounded very similar to yours. Too bad, because it looks cool from a distance.
Eno has only a small showing so far, super-villain rock stars is a recurring gag, especially Bowie (in his first appearance accompanied by Iggy Pop and Klaus Nomi) is a bigger recurring character (and there have been Bowie jokes aplenty in other episodes). I also liked the episode that had a historical flash back to a League of Extraordinary Gentleman style Guild of adventurers that included Oscar Wilde, Samuel Clemens, Aleister Crowley, Fantomas, and Eugene Sandow ('father of modern bodybuilding'), along with an earlier Venture.
The Seatlle setting of Boneshaker might, of course, make it more interesting to a local, but probably won't make the latter half of the book much more interesting.
Things you find out via freecycleedthebankerJune 8 2010, 17:43:31 UTC
We gave away our cushions to someone who wanted them for the first Australian Burning Man. You may already know more but just in case it's an East Coast exclusive...
"a great setting, even coupled with very solid prose, isn't enough for a great book"
That's exactly how I felt about The City & The City, which I didn't finish, so I'll give Boneshaker a miss too in favour of The Magicians. Thanks for the tip.
"one minor character is a combination of Henry Kissinger and Mary Poppins"
I enjoyed The City and The City myself, and I thought that there were new ideas about the setting introduced even quite late in the novel. But I can definitely understand that if its one big idea doesn't grab your enthusiasm, there isn't much else there.
Dr Killinger and his magical murder bag, who sort of does for super-villains what Mary Poppins does for children, is certainly an odd character, even by the standards of the show. My favourite characters remain super-villain The Monarch (whose origin story has him raised by Monarch butterflies) and his girlfriend Dr. Girlfriend (later Dr. Mrs. The Monarch), who as Dr Girlfriend seems to base her supervillain identity on Jacqueline Onassis.
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Still, fixed, even though I would argue it isn't me that has an HTML problem.
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And although it was engrossing enough, I certainly haven't been tempted by the idea of more Hamilton. Although Hamilton's hero whose nickname is "Lagrange" because he can accurately solve the three body problem "by instinct alone" is cool.
I wasn't so keen on The Magicians. Another reviewer's quip that Grossman felt as if he was "slumming it" in fantasy seemed to hit home. Unfortunately his plotting, character psychology, and exposition of theme just weren't up to a high "literary" standard - in my opinion ( ... )
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The Magicians did leave a slight bad tasted - there is a sense in which his misgivings about escapist fantasy sometimes slips over to a touch of contempt. And I agree that the writing was good but not exceptional, but I think I forgave it some of that for managing to keep up a solid pace as well, it certainly didn't seem flabby or padded at all.
And you are right, there are a few parts that are quite cinematic. I particularly liked the entire geese/antarctic sequence.
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The Seatlle setting of Boneshaker might, of course, make it more interesting to a local, but probably won't make the latter half of the book much more interesting.
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Around Sydney Tuesday, Wednesday next week, it might be possible to catch up if you'd like.
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That's exactly how I felt about The City & The City, which I didn't finish, so I'll give Boneshaker a miss too in favour of The Magicians. Thanks for the tip.
"one minor character is a combination of Henry Kissinger and Mary Poppins"
This I have to see!
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Dr Killinger and his magical murder bag, who sort of does for super-villains what Mary Poppins does for children, is certainly an odd character, even by the standards of the show. My favourite characters remain super-villain The Monarch (whose origin story has him raised by Monarch butterflies) and his girlfriend Dr. Girlfriend (later Dr. Mrs. The Monarch), who as Dr Girlfriend seems to base her supervillain identity on Jacqueline Onassis.
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