Bear, Greg: Darwin's Radio

[calico_reaction]

Comments

[aliciaaudrey]

That's an quite interesting observation about voice. The rule I use with terms to whether or not I'm going to find such a hop jarring: the closer I'm supposed to be, as a reader, to tagging along in protagonist's or POV's head, the less you should haul me out of the protagonist's or POV's head to describe something POV can't see. Don't fudge or hop just because you think Jim Bob looks FREAKING AWESOME as he does this ONE THINGIE and then NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

Martin's really good about this. He will never describe how, say, Cersei sees Ned Stark, even though he's not giving us Ned in first person. We don't hear Ned in first person, but clearly we're hanging around in his space and he lacks the ability to remote view himself. :)

Why yes, I am all excited about the Game of Thrones previews we're seeing for the HBO show. How could you tell?

[calico_reaction]

Martin is certainly a master at limited third-person POV.

And here's an exception to appearance: if the book is of the romantic sort, I tend to forgive it, because that's what readers WANT. And also, romance readers are usually pretty good about describe the heroine from the heroine's POV. Often, it's with a mirror, but the way women tend to over-analyze their appearance, it works. I don't necessarily think the technique is a masterpiece, mind you, but I'm more forgiving of it.

Oh, and speaking of HBO? I think my hubby's resigned himself to buying that channel when A Game of Thrones comes out. :)

[aliciaaudrey]

I agree that genre rules may trump. If I am reading a fighter space plane thing I expect the fighter space plane thing to be described even if my POV character, since he is sitting in it, can't see it.

I don't read fighter space plane things these days but if I did....

[aliciaaudrey]

Also, I can't read mass market for the greatest public consumption fantasy anymore so I totally see your point

[hildebabble]

I remember having similar thoughts about the prose, especially the use of physical description. Every character seemed to get the same treatment, and IIRC there was a huge supporting cast in this book.

[calico_reaction]

Whew! Sounds like I dodged a bullet. The section I quoted wasn't even the first time it happened either. :-/

[hildebabble]

Yeah. But as you said, the premise was interesting. I'll stick it out with prose if a story carries me.

When I tried the sequel to this one, though, I didn't come close to finishing it. The plot took a weird, unpleasant turn.

[calico_reaction]

I really think I would've had better luck reading this had I read it when I first got it, when I was originally interested. Because by now, the interest is non-existent. I just remember that I used to be interested in it, you know? :)

[tenaya_owlcat]

I remember reading Darwin's Radio back when it first came out and wasn't all that impressed with it. I'm also about to review his most recent book, Hull Zero Three, and I had about the same reaction to it. Too much detail when it wasn't needed, not enough when it was, and a huge dollop of "WTF is all this about?" in the bargain. I almost wonder if Bear would do much better by taking these stories and doing them as novellas--HZT certainly might have benefitted from some editorial chopping.

[calico_reaction]

I was wondering about Hull Zero Three, so thank you very much for your thoughts!

Have you read anything else by Bear?

[tenaya_owlcat]

Let's see... *thinks*... I read the sequel to Darwin's Radio for my reviewing job. Didn't like it much. Also read Dead Lines... review over here. I seem to remember reading Eon and liking it, for the most part, although it's been a long time and I don't remember much about it.

[calico_reaction]

Thanks!

[temporaryworlds]

"He glanced at Kaye with soft brown eyes in a finely wrinkled sun-browned face, lifted his cigarette over the steering wheel, and jutted out his chin"

There is so much wrong with that sentence. Seriously, even beyond the weird POV. Does Kaye have the soft brown eyes and the finely wrinkled sun-browned face? Or is Lado gazing with HIS soft brown eyes? Not to mention that there are way to many actions happening simultaneously. Gazing, lifting, jutting. Ugh.

Anyway, it's a good thing this didn't turn out to be our January book club selection then. I remember it being up for the poll.

[calico_reaction]

Oh, Lado's definitely describing his own eyes. :)

[ardys_the_ghoul]

I'm writing a book in limited third person right now--basically, I describe what the main character sees and leave it at that. I did describe the main character once, at the beginning, in a limited way, but only because the main character is a geeky teenaged girl and uncomfortable with her own appearance (I think I referred to her as "tall and gawky," maybe referred to long brown hair, but that's it).

I'm not sure whether I hate the point-of-view switch or the old mirror cliche more. You'll never catch me using either one (not at this stage in my life, anyway--a few years ago it might have been a different story, bleh).

Have you read the "Dark is Rising" books? I've heard good things about them, but I'm having a hard time getting into them for some reason.

[calico_reaction]

Regarding using limited third to describe the POV's appearance, I've always relied on tactics like, "She wrapped a strand of blond hair around her finger." or "His eyes were blue, but not as blue as hers." Stuff that's KIND of plausible a person would think, you know?

I've heard of the Dark is Rising books, but I've never grabbed them, despite hearing good things. Have you tried PaperbackSwap.com?

[ardys_the_ghoul]

I haven't. I have this weird thing about books--if I buy them, I have to keep them. I even still have all my books from college.

I'm not sure what's bother me about The Dark is Rising. It isn't that the premise isn't interesting, because it is. I think it's the characters--they seem a little one-dimensional to me, so it's difficult to become invested in their plight. I've only just started the second book in the series, and there are five of them, so hopefully that will change as it goes along--the second one introduces a new main character, and I'm finding him more interesting than the characters from the first book.

I sure hope a devoted fan doesn't see this and burn me at the stake!