tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post5243155313553909816..comments2024-03-17T14:31:27.014-04:00Comments on Fantasy Book Critic: A SF-nal Journey in Books 1987-2011 (by Liviu Suciu)Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15006565422867420980noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-2485525192583395782012-07-20T18:14:40.951-04:002012-07-20T18:14:40.951-04:00Thank you for the comments!Thank you for the comments!Liviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-22010392081704644752012-07-20T08:34:54.116-04:002012-07-20T08:34:54.116-04:00Very nice list. Some I definitely agree with, and ...Very nice list. Some I definitely agree with, and some I've never read (some I've intended to read and now have to read). <br />ThxJ.Curtis Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14572139822914335496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-30058735435737469492012-07-19T11:25:03.113-04:002012-07-19T11:25:03.113-04:00The only thing I’ve read by Cisco is The Narrator ...The only thing I’ve read by Cisco is The Narrator – and greatly enjoyed it, even though it took roughly four times as long to read as most any other book of similar length – and have The Great Lover sitting on one of my “to-read” shelves, next to Avjaz’s The Golden Age and Negarestani’s Cyclonopedia along with a few other works that I’m excited about but really need to find the right mood to process the density of ideas they explore. Especially the Negarestani.<br /><br />I’m excited about Empty Space, but have no idea when I’ll be able to slot it into my reading schedule. I suppose being spoiled for choice is a minor complaint.A. Nonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507655487751766437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-89883908760848657412012-07-19T11:10:25.560-04:002012-07-19T11:10:25.560-04:00In a way book reading became "Darwinian"...In a way book reading became "Darwinian" so I try a lot of books and tend to sort them quickly into "maybe later or not for me" though of course the big asap's (now Empty Space) take precedence and I really enjoy the surprises that come out of nowhere and I cannot stop reading them on opening (this year Last will and Blood Song are such).<br /><br />It also depends on mood and energy/time as I do not want to "read a book just to read it and get a red ball or up my statistics on Goodreads" unless the book is a quick and unimportant read I was interested in for some reason but was not captivated enough by. <br /><br />So a few weeks ago I started on a reading of Michael Cisco's work - bought all the 4 novels i did not have - and finished precisely 1 out of 7 so far, but advanced in 2 more and I plan to read those 2 in the near future when my brain can process them - now the heavy reading is for work - but i do not want to rush them as there is no point. <br /><br />On the other hand Empty Space while not particularly a "beach book" either is something that I expect to finish in a few days as the first few pages are what I expected and more...Liviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-620936141864919032012-07-19T10:13:45.816-04:002012-07-19T10:13:45.816-04:00Yeah, that makes sense. I tend to do the same on ...Yeah, that makes sense. I tend to do the same on some of the books I re-read, especially if I wasn't crazy about particular sections the first time around. It's odd to describe it as such, but Night's Dawn trilogy is one of the handful of series/books that I went through some period of mourning for after I had finished it. Even taking into account the relatively short period of time I spent reading the books, it was such a well-established universe that I felt a sense of loss when I no longer could spend any time exploring - hence the desire to re-read them. I still find myself, years after reading them, thinking about the places and characters, which is suppose is odd.<br /><br />I completely understand the notion of a book talking to you or not - and really appreciated the ONI designation of your last post - as I tend to make fairly quick decisions about if I'm going to enjoy a book or not (about 100 pages). I have too many books waiting to be read to spend time slogging through a book that I'm just not in tune with.<br /><br />Again, thanks for the list, I’m always looking for books that I’ve missed.A. Nonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507655487751766437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-22729496989846191442012-07-19T09:47:54.760-04:002012-07-19T09:47:54.760-04:00When I read a book for the 3rd time or higher, I t...When I read a book for the 3rd time or higher, I tend to stop longer at the passages I enjoyed and go faster or even skip the parts I enjoyed less as I tend to know the book well by that time; so in this specific case I always love reading The Reality Dysfunction end to end as it is still a huge favorite but from the 2nd and 3rd volume I read much less as a lot of the "chase" action is less interesting.<br /><br />There are still favorite parts (generally the parts with Ione, Quinn, Ralph Hiltch's war, the little girl and her alien friends and a few others but the Al Capone part, Louise's part and a few others are mostly skip)<br /><br />As for the list, as mentioned it is what stood out for me across the years, noting that for most authors (not all as for example I do not like Niven/Pournell that much but Beowulf's Children for some reason stayed with me), I read and loved most of their (sff) work as books tend to either talk or not with me, generally based on style, once I am interested in the content of courseLiviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-80916727087247492492012-07-19T09:27:45.768-04:002012-07-19T09:27:45.768-04:00**************A. Nonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507655487751766437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438041449595085165.post-92125634786164846862012-07-19T09:25:08.945-04:002012-07-19T09:25:08.945-04:00So, when you re-read Reality Dysfunction, do you r...So, when you re-read Reality Dysfunction, do you re-read the rest of the Night's Dawn trilogy? I re-read the Commonwealth Saga last year and found I didn't like it as much the second time through, but have been kicking around the thought of re-reading Night's Dawn for a while now.<br /><br />Thanks for this list, I see a large number of my favorite books on here - many of which don't tend to show up on other lists that I've perused - so I'll likely try to seek out the ones I've yet to read (of which there are many)!A. Nonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507655487751766437noreply@blogger.com