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Posts Tagged ‘books’

Ten Great Apocalyptic Novels

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

In no particular order:

  • The Stand - Stephen King
  • On The Beach - Nevil Shute
  • Flood - Stephen Baxter
  • The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
  • The Road - Cormac McCarthy
  • Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon
  • The Scarlet Plague - Jack London
  • A Creed for the Third Millenium - Colleen McCullogh
  • The Postman - David Brin
  • I am Legend - Richard Matheson

Of those, even though I am Legend, Swan Song and The Stand are horror novels, the one that stayed with me the most, and made me feel the most uncomfortable, was On The Beach. I’m not sure I could ever cope with rereading it, but it’s a stunningly provocative piece of writing.

At work recently, we’ve been debating the question, “Can you feel happy and sad at the same time?” Cormac McCarthy’s The Road probably came the closest to answering that question for me.

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Ten Great Thrillers

Friday, January 21st, 2011

In no particular order:

1. Archangel - Gerald Seymour
2. Point of Impact - Stephen Hunter
3. A Prayer for the Dying - Jack Higgins
4. First Blood - David Morrell
5. A Time to Kill - John Grisham
6. The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth
7. The Fighting Man - Gerald Seymour
8. The 39 Steps - John Buchan
9. Our Man in Havana -Graham Greene
10. Fatherland - Robert Harris

Gerald Seymour nearly had two more books on this list, but I wanted to include as many different authors as possible. I just couldn’t choose between Archangel and The Fighting Man.

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Fallout From Fantasy Favourites

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

I’ve been thinking about the list of fantasy books I posted. None of them are particularly recent. The most modern is probably Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. I have read some modern fantasy books… Joe Abercrombie, James Barclay, K.J. Parker and Scott Lynch among them, but none have really inspired me as much as David Eddings’s and David Gemmell’s books did. Is that because I’m older than when I first read (and reread) those earlier books, or is it because the genre is not quite as inspiring as it once was?

Joe Abercrombie’s series was good,  but not something I’d ever reread. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower started off well, but all those pages eventually led back to the start. Poor Roland might be condemned to repeat the saga, but I’m free to escape.  Harry Potter was good, but the last book was bizarre, with all the interesting action taking place off stage. Of the new/ish fantasy authors mentioned above, K.J. Parker is probably my favourite, but the ending of his books sometimes fall a little flat. 

The answer to my question, then. Is my disenchantment with the fantasy genre to do with me possibly outgrowing the genre, or is to do with a general and widespread malaise within the genre?

Well…certainly the first. I am growing older, that’s for sure. But I still love a well written fantasy book. Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven was very good, for example. It’s just I can’t find many that appeal to me anymore.

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Ten Fantasy Books I Like

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

For variety’s sake, I’ve treated a series of books as one book.

In no particular order, then:

The Belgariad - David Eddings (5 books)

Legend - David Gemmell

The Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay (3 books)

Mort - Terry Pratchett

Morningstar - David Gemmell

The History of the Runestaff - Michael Moorcock (4 books)

His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman (3 books)

Magician - Raymond E. Feist

The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King

The Elenium - David Eddings ( 3 books)

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Too macho?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

I’m reading the steel remains by Richard Morgan… 200 pages in and although i’m very much enjoying it, I can’t help thinking he’s maybe overplayed the violence side of it all. Because it really is … Detailed… Gritty… Disturbing… Lots of intestine spilling, Impalements and the like, all described in lingering detail.

The tale of the birds is violent, but I glossed over some of what could have been the worst parts. Perhaps not great in terms of realism, but I’m not sure how much delight typical fantasy readers take in magnified close up descriptions of murder and mutilation. Certainly, the very grittiness of the ten thousand by Paul Kearney slightly put me off.

Possibly there’s a place for a bit of sleight of hand when writing violence, maybe even telling not showing, or even just hinting.

Mind you, like I said, I am enjoying the steel remains. But it is very violent.

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