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Apocryphal
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Comments
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I mentioned the Aubri Mahallan :: Aubrey-Maturin link elsewhere. In general, this whole air-ships age of aether-sail thing is extremely common these days, and seems to have risen with the whole steam-punk fad. This isn't exactly a steam-punk novel, …
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Yes and no. I did like this inversion from a story perspective, but the world-building was such that it felt to me like the inside made much more sense as a VR experience than the outside. What I don't understand is why the outside world can't alre…
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I haven't read The Integral Trees or The Smoke Ring, but aspects of this setting sure did remind me of the cover of The Smoke Ring. (Image) I found the setting to be quite intriguing, but not really all that convincing, and not nearly as well dra…
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I really liked how the characters were not just one thing - that is, they all exhibited change, and I don't necessarily mean change over the course of the story since for some of them that change happened in their past (eg Chaison's relationship wit…
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I thought the story was fine - a fairly rollicking ride that didn't try to do too much, but nothing groundbreaking either. Standard adventure fare. I don't have any complaints, but am also not especially excited by it. (I think 'story' is seldom the…
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Haven’t even started yet, but I guess I should. I’m in a bit of a reading slump.
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David Bowie - both *The Man Who Fell to Earth* and *Aladdin Sane.*
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I only vaguely remember this story from my childhood. I don’t remember Aladdin being a wastrel; possibly he was and I didn’t remark upon it. It seems to me to make sense that he is, given the theme of reversals by chance among the stories. Altho…
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I rather like the descriptions. As you might have noticed, I read a lot of books about far off places - distant lands (Central Asia and South Asia of special interest), distant times (ancient history, medieval history, and the near and far future), …
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We are also complicit for giving them a credibility they don’t deserve. The only awards I give any credence to these days are panelled (not necessarily by experts, but at least thoughtful people one hopes) and everyone on the panel must read the …
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I own a copy already. I’m surprised it’s not on kindle, though.
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> @clash_bowley said: > (Quote) > Anyone interested in Varley's Titan? A book I loved when it came out, but haven't read in a loooooong time... If not there are newer books I could be reading... Very interested. I hear great things, an…
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Ha! True.
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This second part of Pari Banu was the most languid story yet, wasn’t it? I found the Sultan’s, the witch’s, and Pari Baby’s motives all rather suspect, in that I kept thinking there were ulterior motives behind their actions. But I was never quit…
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And I really enjoyed the Ulysses Voyage. I’m thinking of making The Jason Voyage my next pick…
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> @NeilNjae said: > there's nothing stopping her renouncing Islam and abandoning Marjana. But, in this setting, I feel like there should be; societal pressure. Everybody’s a maverick in this book, aren’t they? (I’m struggling to convey why…
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https://timseverin.net/the-sindbad-voyage/
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Fair enough - my error then. I can only say my memory isn’t what it was.
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I could in turn ask which aspects of South Arabian culture you found most interesting/compelling. What are your takeaways about medieval South Arabia from this book?
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The complete lack of acknowledgement for religion, or for tradition in society (eg no mention I can recall of local jurisprudence schools or debate). And the dialogue itself reflected modern western concerns and tones. Judging by this book, if I’d g…
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(Poor Richard will be considering his words extra carefully by now, I expect… 😉)
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No, I didn’t think you were criticizing me. I was more worried you might think the same. I tend to approach these modern fantasies the same - hoping I’ll like this one, but prepared to be let down. This one let me down. Most do. But not all! I re…
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True, it reads more like an RPG campaign summary than like historical fiction. In gaming, it’s ok to expect this kind of thing because you can never get a group of diverse players at the table to play historical characters like you can in a novel. A…
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Ok, that’s roughly what I was thinking.
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I thought the book was adequately self-contained, so I wasn’t bothered. I read all contemporary fiction with the understanding that it will be part of a series. That’s just the way the wind blows these days. However I’m not motivated to read more - …
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I didn’t find the setting especially well drawn. I think it’s an interesting one or explore, but I’m not convinced she got to the specifics of Aden or Socotra culture. She does have a list of sources available on the publisher website - I’m really c…
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I guess my first though was that many of these characters are cliches. But maybe ‘archetypes’ is a better (and more charitable) word. Falco, for sure, did not seem like any real person to me. His only real reason for existence is to be an antagonist…
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I can see your point about entrapment and I think it’s an interesting one. When I had lunch with @BarnerCobblewood over Christmas, he said some very interesting things to me about religion and community, in the sense that both present a degree of co…
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I do think this was the most interesting part of the novel, but I can’t really get past the the fact that these are modern relations being explored in a historical setting. Exploring these relationships in a historical context would have been much m…
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Ten years ago Clash and I liked all the same books, but these days we disagree on all the books LOL. In this case, what I was hoping to get was, if not a historical fiction, then a fantasy that explored the historical milieu in its own terms, and…