[QuickTidal]

Hey all, check out the newest review.

http://icebergink.bl...d-by-felix.html

[polishgenius]

I really enjoyed this. I was already a fan of Gilman though. I do kind of agree that more could have been made of the world beyond the world, but I still properly enjoyed it, and have it as one of my books of 2010.

I like Creedmore as a character. I mean he's not likable but he's interesting to read, and engaging.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 03 January 2011 - 07:05 PM

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 03 January 2011 - 07:04 PM, said:

I really enjoyed this. I was already a fan of Gilman though. I do kind of agree that more could have been made of the world beyond the world, but I still properly enjoyed it, and have it as one of my books of 2010.

I like Creedmore as a character. I mean he's not likable but he's interesting to read, and engaging.

Indeed, and I know that I am fully in the minority with my opinion as most of the folks I know of really enjoyed it as you did. I just couldn't get past my complaints.

That said, I will indeed check out the second book in the hopes it will make a better whole for the story.

[Astra]

Is it a stand alone book?

What about his other two books:
Thunderer
Gears of the City

Are they stand alone or all of them a part of the ongoing series?

[polishgenius]

Thunderer and Gears of the City are a duology; likewise, this is the first of a two-parter. The two duologies are not related to each other at all, though.

Both this and Thunderer could quite happily function as standalones, mind you - but you couldn't read Gears of the City without Thunderer.

[kcf]

I've been meaning to read Gilman for a while and finally got around to it with The Half-Made World. And appropriately, my review has been slowly fermenting in my head for over 2 months now and has finally been pushed out the tap - excerpt below. In short, I enjoyed it.

Quote

In The Half-Made World physical laws don’t really exist to same extent as in most second-world fantasy, instead Gilman builds his world based on thematic laws. The world is only half-made, and the world only becomes made when ‘Western’-style development occurs, when humans expand their control of the world, and the world is most fully made once control moves from the hardy (and unsophisticated) pioneers of the frontier to the full order of the Line. The world is less made, or even un-made where humans haven’t yet penetrated, where the Folk (think indigenous people) exist with their indefinable magic and symbiosis with the land. Opposing the order of the Line is not the disorder of the un-made, but the near-nihilistic (or perhaps anarchistic or libertarian) Order of the Gun.

It’s in this worldbuilding that Gilman really shines – yes, this is a wonderfully built world in the sense of second-world fantasy, but it’s also thematic building. Gilman makes the worldbuilding so much more than just a setting, but a literary exercise in its own right. And at the same time, he playfully subverts himself – for his fully-realized and built world, is only ‘half-made’. The resisting force to order, is the Order of the Gun. This playful use of language to subvert the expected and even what Gilman is attempting to achieve, occurs throughout the book, but is perhaps most recognizable in the first half or so.

Balancing the study on worldbuilding is a study on character, with three focus points, and arguably a fourth. Liv is the equivalent of psychologist focusing on madness who unexpectedly (and irrationally?) journeys west for an opportunity of study. Of course, she is recovering from her own mental illness and has an unrealized addiction to opium. Creedmore is a charming, charismatic, and deadly Agent of the Gun. He fills the role of anti-hero as at times he has an apparent heart of gold, yet he kills with abandon, destruction follows his path, selfishness rules whenever possible, and yet he’s always beholden to his the spirit-like force of the Gun and their agenda. Lowery is member of the Line, he is order, he is conformity, he is the face of the unstoppable force. He struggles with self and the paranoia of completely controlled environment. The wild-west doesn’t just unsettle him and the Line, but is its antithesis. A fourth character is the focus of the quest – The General. The General is mad and damaged beyond repair from the forever war waged by the Line. The General also is in possession of the MacGuffin – something that the Line and the Gun both need to win their ever-ongoing fight and both need to keep out of the hands of their bitter enemy. This knowledge is buried inside his madness.

This character study is not as fully built as the world in terms of the thematic laws that govern Gilman’s creation, though it’s strong enough to support a balance. And it throws into view, something I haven’t really discussed yet – plot. Yes, there is a plot. The plot is strong enough to drive the story, motivate the characters and survive the world, yet it’s arguably not the point. Perhaps the plot is the actual MacGuffin here, I’m not sure. It sort of makes me want wonder what M. John Harrison would think of it all – after all, this book is either a giant ‘FU’ to Harrison’s views on fantasy and genre, or it’s the logical next step. It’s probably both, and it’s a bit weird as well, which generally makes his sort rather pleased. But I digress.

Full Review

[polishgenius]

For those who might have missed it, the second one - The Rise of Ransom City - came out last year. Gilman continued his refusal to dance to the expected tune by making a complete sideways leap with the story: the book takes the form of the journal of one Harry Ransom, mad inventor, minor criminal and all round aimable chap. His life course intersects with the characters from the first, which is where the sequelage comes in, but it also covers a whole lot of other stuff as well.

I found it a better book than the first one - it has the same strengths as the first one did, but adds a lot more life and joy to what was previously a fairly still atmosphere. It's cracking.