Main Menu

Whats everyone reading?

Started by Paul faplad Finch, 30 March, 2009, 10:04:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Mardroid

I confess I quite enjoyed Helter Skelter too. It was one of the earliest Dredd collections that I ever read (borrowed from the library), and I confess I got a bit of a kick out of the cameos and bleeding between worlds, having just read those stories not too long before. Probably a shallow reason to like a story to be fair, but I got a similar kick out of Sinister Dexter's world hopping in one of their more recent stories before they went to Generica.

I'm not too sure of Ennis's Dredd though. A bit too harsh and mean, I think, but that's something some current writers do as well. To my mind Dredd is stern and strict in his carrying out of the law (and yes, he does have a temper, but I think he mainly keeps that suppressed or specifically channeled. He uses it, he rarely loses it. A bit of accidental  poetry there... :lol:).I don't think he is cruel just for the sake of it or the bully he is sometimes portrayed to be.

I don't believe in cherry-picking canon though. I guess I like to think that those tales where he acts that way are exaggerations, stories that grew in the telling through a second hand narrator if you like. This does suit the larger than life view of Dredd as perceived by the citizens.

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: Mardroid on 15 January, 2017, 08:14:00 PM
I'm not too sure of Ennis's Dredd though. A bit too harsh and mean, I think, but that's something some current writers do as well. To my mind Dredd is stern and strict in his carrying out of the law (and yes, he does have a temper, but I think he mainly keeps that suppressed or specifically channeled. He uses it, he rarely loses it. A bit of accidental  poetry there... :lol:).I don't think he is cruel just for the sake of it or the bully he is sometimes portrayed to be.

Yes, I agree completely - I think the younger Ennis missed the mark by a wide margin, but he had Dredd pretty much down to a T in Helter Skelter and MOMB in my opinion.

PS Smith, you whippersnapper, you
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Smith

But I felt a bit cheated by all the cameos;continuing into progs of the day,instead of those guys,I got  Bec and Kawl. :)

JayzusB.Christ

You didn't jump in at a bad time in fairness; you missed a lot of mediocre 90s stuff.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Smith

Thats true,I guess.But from this distance,early 2000's seems almost experimental.
I do remember liking A Love like Blood,finding From Grace really weird,and I dont really remember Tor Cyan at all.

The Adventurer

Bek & Kawl was the best comedy strip of the era.  Survival Geeks wishes it was Bek & Kawl good.

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Smith

Quote from: The Adventurer on 15 January, 2017, 10:05:12 PM
Bek & Kawl was the best comedy strip of the era.  Survival Geeks wishes it was Bek & Kawl good.
That,I agree with.

ming

I'm getting stuck into Terminal World By Alastair Reynolds - so far, so good!  Anyone able to recommend anything more along these lines?

Bolt-01

Love me some Reynolds. Terminal World is a cracker. Personal favourites are Pushing Ice, Century Rain and the Short Story Diamond Dogs.

For last christmas, Mrs Bolt got me a copy of Revenger, signed by the man himself at a signing in the Brum wastes. Very much looking forward to reading that when it gets to the top of the book mountain.

Molch-R

Quote from: ming on 17 January, 2017, 01:58:59 PM
I'm getting stuck into Terminal World By Alastair Reynolds - so far, so good!  Anyone able to recommend anything more along these lines?

Revelation Space
is a corker (kind of half way between the fetishistic science of Baxter and the emotional coolness of Iain M Banks) and the series, despite being diminishing returns, rarely dipped below "good".

Theblazeuk


Mikey

Quote from: ming on 17 January, 2017, 01:58:59 PM
I'm getting stuck into Terminal World By Alastair Reynolds - so far, so good!  Anyone able to recommend anything more along these lines?

I'll second Revelation Space and add a vote for his short fiction - mainly because they're great, but also because I've not read any of his other novels.

(Today I managed to finish the Round the Bend chapter of her poselay withum without too much incident, or indeed, going cornery)
To tell the truth, you can all get screwed.

ming

Thanks for the recommendations, folks - I'll add those to the teetering pile of wordy terror that I aim to work my way through this year.

TordelBack

#5878
Quote from: ming on 18 January, 2017, 09:24:45 AM
Thanks for the recommendations, folks - I'll add those to the teetering pile of wordy terror that I aim to work my way through this year.

If you're thinking of getting the best out of Reynolds, start with Galactic North - it's a collection of (great) short stories where he first introduced the Demarchist/Conjoined/Ultra factions and many of the  characters that crop up again and again in the Revelation Space books.  Interesting author's notes in the back too.

I, Cosh

Quote from: Molch-R on 17 January, 2017, 03:15:28 PM
Quote from: ming on 17 January, 2017, 01:58:59 PM
I'm getting stuck into Terminal World By Alastair Reynolds - so far, so good!  Anyone able to recommend anything more along these lines?
Revelation Space is a corker (kind of half way between the fetishistic science of Baxter and the emotional coolness of Iain M Banks) and the series, despite being diminishing returns, rarely dipped below "good" weighed less than half a ton.
FTFY.

I actually did enjoy Revelation Space but was put off the follow ups by the sheer size. Mr Back is, as ever, spot on with his short story recommendations.
We never really die.