james_nicoll

Is there any real reason to think it won't be awful?

That song is going to stick in my head for days.

HoOoOoOope!

Hadn't heard that band in eons... a friend in high school was a huge fan.

Can a book be inconsistent with its own inconsistency? If so, how could one tell? serious question.

You got...well, not chocolate in my peanut butter, but.

Hey, has anyone else here read Christopher Priest's latest (or at least latest to be published in the US, The Islanders)? Because I have Some Thoughts but I would like to hear others' Thoughts if they have any, and James and his commentariat seem like pretty much the only people whose Thoughts I care to hear on these topics of late.

I read it; I was actually reading it when Priest had his showdown with the Clarke Awards.

I'm not sure how well-formed my Thoughts are, though. I liked the overall conceit of the structure a lot, and many of the bits were well-written, but I thought the book was a bit too long for its idea. The sudden "reveal" at the end, the final narrative of the two characters, didn't go very well; it read like the literary-fiction version of getting Gritty and Real. Rather than tying together the rest of the book, it somewhat undermined the much more graceful touch Priest used in the earlier parts; it turned the thing into a much more conventional story about genius artists and their wacky obsessions (a story type I fundamentally disbelieve in, by the way). I would have actually have preferred less of a resolution to the ending that existed. Plus, I couldn't tell if Priest had dodgy gender issues, or if his attempt to show big artistic personalities with big flaws was just a bit of a flop.

That said, I thought it was one of the more interesting books I've read this past year. Definitely an Accomplishment of some kind, and worth talking about.

I loved the structure, but once I puzzled out the narratives I was bummed by how banal and penisy they were. All of the artists' stories wound up being about magical penises, imo.

I finished it last night.

While discussing this book with friends, I managed to read (for the first time) James' comments about Beyond the Fall of Night.

I'm so glad I was finally able to get some enjoyment due to that book.

I...I had no idea that entry existed.

I read the book myself, years ago. I didn't think it was that bad, at least to use those words...but, Lord, it wasn't good.

Nice cover, though.

More information about the book and the notion of big dumb object vs big smart object here:

http://www.luckybatbooks.com/2012/01/interview-with-gregory-benford/

and still more information here:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/07/mind_meld_whats_your_favorite_big_dumb_object_in_sf/

thank you for sharing?

It's because he cares.