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Does anyone else dig Simon R. Green? Perhaps the polar opposite of people like Mieville -- no deliberate style at all, action at a comic book pace, a lot to think about if you slow down. (R.A. Lafferty calls this kind of fiction "shaggy" and "wooly.")
Just re-read Shadows Fall, for maybe the third or fourth time. I may be mad, but it struck me that it's a punk version of Lewis's Narnia . . . the book seems to follow the same path as The Last Battle, and it seems to end the same way, too. He expands the ideas in the Deathstalker series -- Grand Guignol, with the Forces Of Good (and forgiveness) winning out in the end.
If nothing else, Scottie the Wee Terror, Bruin Bear, and (above all) the Sea Goat are people who would be right at home in SE's world . . .
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Simon R. Green
#2
ObsoleteResolve 
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Posted 16 July 2006 - 02:21 AM
Shadows Fall, the entire Deathstalker Saga, the Nightside novels, the Haven novels...
Yeah. Whenever I see a new book of his out, I definitely read it. Fun, exciting, usually (outside of his now finished Nightside novels-- I liked how Shadows Fall and the Nightside books were set in the same world) somewhat long (the haven collections; Deathstalker).
I like'im.
And, **** if you don't think Valentine rawks in the Deathstalker series...
What in the ****?
Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth seemed to pretty well end the Nightside series.
WTF is Hell to Pay?
Hell To Pay
????/
Yeah. Whenever I see a new book of his out, I definitely read it. Fun, exciting, usually (outside of his now finished Nightside novels-- I liked how Shadows Fall and the Nightside books were set in the same world) somewhat long (the haven collections; Deathstalker).
I like'im.
And, **** if you don't think Valentine rawks in the Deathstalker series...
What in the ****?
Sharper Than A Serpents Tooth seemed to pretty well end the Nightside series.
WTF is Hell to Pay?
Hell To Pay
????/
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile!"- Kurt Vonnegut
#3 Guest_pres_north_*
Posted 19 July 2006 - 05:09 AM
Valentine is a great character, a big effin' goof, and literally dissolves into what he deserves at the end. Which is what usually happens to SRG's bad guys: like Lionstone, they don't get carried off to Hell, they just end up looking extremely silly, living or dead.
As for the Serpent's Tooth: Walt Kelly spent a couple of weeks manoeuvring one of his characters in Pogo to the punch line, "Ah, how sharper than a child's tooth it is, to have a thankless serpent . . ." (I think this was P.T. Bridgeport's bitter comment on Snavely the alcoholic snake)
As for the Serpent's Tooth: Walt Kelly spent a couple of weeks manoeuvring one of his characters in Pogo to the punch line, "Ah, how sharper than a child's tooth it is, to have a thankless serpent . . ." (I think this was P.T. Bridgeport's bitter comment on Snavely the alcoholic snake)
#4
drinksinbars
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Posted 20 July 2006 - 10:06 AM
have only read the deathstalker books and they are great fun! there are so many insane characters, i especailly liked finlay,(thats right aint it?) and the professional rebel was a dude as well:)
#5 Guest_pres_north_*
Posted 21 July 2006 - 05:27 AM
Everyone, no matter how weird and/or awful, is doing the best they can in the Deathstalker books. I think Green was trying to find good in the cracks of society, after Maggie Thatcher reset Britain's ethical switch from "good" to "evil."
Even Shub, the "enemies of humanity," turns out to have just missed the point. And even Shub starts developing a sense of humour in the last analysis.
Even Shub, the "enemies of humanity," turns out to have just missed the point. And even Shub starts developing a sense of humour in the last analysis.
#7 Guest_pres_north_*
Posted 27 July 2006 - 06:13 AM
The Nightside things are slight, but they're good. Rather like Glen Cook's Garrett books, except the hero is Philip Marlowe, rather than Archie Goodwin, and there's no dead-elephant version of Nero Wolfe . . .
#8
werewolfv2
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Posted 27 July 2006 - 09:54 PM
good to hear
green has been on my "to buy" list for some time but he keeps getting bumped, maybe I will move him up a bit now
green has been on my "to buy" list for some time but he keeps getting bumped, maybe I will move him up a bit now
Would it be difficult if I read those first?
#10 Guest_pres_north_*
Posted 28 July 2006 - 04:32 AM
You can start anywhere with Green, and you will probably come back for more.
I've been thinking about the China Mieville thread. It makes a certain amount of sense to notice the writing style first of all, if you yourself are trying to learn how to write. For most readers, though, the starting point is going to be the characters, and after that the plot. Style has its own beauties, but the average reader is not going to appreciate them unless the book engages her/his attention long enough to dig the way the story is being told.
Green, SE, and (in his own way) Cook do a great job of writing, but the main point is that they drag the reader into their worlds, and only then do a few of the readers start digging the way they use English prose.
I've been thinking about the China Mieville thread. It makes a certain amount of sense to notice the writing style first of all, if you yourself are trying to learn how to write. For most readers, though, the starting point is going to be the characters, and after that the plot. Style has its own beauties, but the average reader is not going to appreciate them unless the book engages her/his attention long enough to dig the way the story is being told.
Green, SE, and (in his own way) Cook do a great job of writing, but the main point is that they drag the reader into their worlds, and only then do a few of the readers start digging the way they use English prose.
#11
Wry
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Posted 28 July 2006 - 04:36 AM
pres_north said:
I've been thinking about the China Mieville thread. It makes a certain amount of sense to notice the writing style first of all, if you yourself are trying to learn how to write. For most readers, though, the starting point is going to be the characters, and after that the plot. Style has its own beauties, but the average reader is not going to appreciate them unless the book engages her/his attention long enough to dig the way the story is being told.
I'm not sure i agree with that, i mean the style is apparent after a couple of paragraphs where as the plot or characters can take chapters. Surely the way the author tell his sorty is the first thing you notice - like when someone talks to you, you hear the sound of their voice and then interperet what that sound means.
“Arm yourself, Watson, there is an evil hand afoot ahead"
#12 Guest_pres_north_*
Posted 28 July 2006 - 05:38 AM
Wry: You are probably a writer, whether you know it or not, and good on yer! Us non-writers tend to notice the characters and story first, and if that works, start thinking about how the author is doing it. (If you don't care what's going on in the first place, then why would you be interested in the narrative technique?)
Example: I've never managed to get more than 40 pages into anything by Henry James or Steven R. Donaldson. That's my problem, certainly, but generalize it to other readers and writers. If you don't care about the people or the situation, you're not very likely to hang around and appreciate the beautiful way the cat isn't saying anything. Unless you are a writer, and (again) more power to you, if so.
Example: I've never managed to get more than 40 pages into anything by Henry James or Steven R. Donaldson. That's my problem, certainly, but generalize it to other readers and writers. If you don't care about the people or the situation, you're not very likely to hang around and appreciate the beautiful way the cat isn't saying anything. Unless you are a writer, and (again) more power to you, if so.
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