What are thou Reading?

[𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr]

I thought I'd start this thread as I have just started and stopped reading after five pages (Only three really) a book called The Constant Star by Dorothy Norris Foote.
It sounded promising, "A novel of the Elizabethan Age, of of Sidney and Essex, two of its greatest men, and of Frances Walsingham, the enigmatic woman who gave her love to both."
The reason I stopped was as follows (examples):

"By the wart on my buttocks, will ye leave me like this?"

"Twill be a week before I'm fit to bed a wench," he muttered.

As the author might put it, I beseech thee not to read it, twill test thy mettle.

[Shrink Proof]

I'm having more luck with "The Dusk". Described as "an anthology of twenty pieces of weird fiction set in various interstitial locations ranging from the not-so-bucolic countryside to the deepest and dirtiest urban dystopias", it's a very good read. Well, so far, I'm about half way through it. It manages to be both varied (in terms of styles, story locales, etc.) and consistent (in terms of quality). Doubtless Vault recidivists will recognise some, maybe all, of the writers. And any book containing a story with the marvellous title "Mr Spongy Fingers" is worth a look...


• The Illimitable — Charles Wilkinson
• The Measurer Of All Things — Benjamin Tweddell
• She Sells Sunsets — Douglas Thompson
• Saturn’s Moon Moth — Jia-An Lee
• The Southern Strain — Rebecca Lloyd
• The Circus Of Mister Chivers — Colin Insole
• The Living Scaffold — Jonathan Wood
• The Servant — Santiago Caruso
• You Should Never Go Back — Kevin Patrick McCann
• Mr Spongy Fingers — Katherine Haynes
• Another Invisible Collection — Louis Marvick
• Home Before Dark — David Surface
• The Twilight’s Crown — Stephen J. Clark
• Snow — Peter Bell
• Seven Spirits — Michael Chislett
• Mister Twilight — Victoria Day
• The Sunset Blush Of Corday — Steve Duffy
• Voices Of The Grove — Christian Farrell
• The Silver Field — R. Ostermeier
• The Isis Confessional — Martin Locker

[pbsplatter]

I just picked up the 1200 page behemoth The Essential Ellison, but there’s surely no way I’m going to handle over a thousand pages of Harlan Ellison in one go so I’m more dipping in and out. Doing the same with the almost equally massive Complete Stories of JG Ballard which I’ve had for a while but, perversely, never actually read much of

I’ve been on a John Shirley kick—just read his In Extremis (a bunch of “extreme” crime/horror/sf stories) and this morning I started his early 80s New York City horror romp Cellars but not sure I’m in the mood. It’s much more straightforward than his later offerings with a sort of James Herbert style to the prose. Which is fine but I think I need a little more sizzle right now.

[helrunar]

Interesting. I looked on the interwebs and the current release date for Last Dangerous Visions is now Sept. 2024. Since it was announced around 3 or more years ago that J. Michael Straczynski was "finally" going to release this legendary failed project, I have to wonder how that's going for him. I suppose time will tell; or not.

H.

[andydecker]

Mar 11, 2023 23:54:37 GMT pbsplatter said:

I just picked up the 1200 page behemoth The Essential Ellison, but there’s surely no way I’m going to handle over a thousand pages of Harlan Ellison in one go so I’m more dipping in and out. Doing the same with the almost equally massive Complete Stories of JG Ballard which I’ve had for a while but, perversely, never actually read much of

I’ve been on a John Shirley kick—just read his In Extremis (a bunch of “extreme” crime/horror/sf stories) and this morning I started his early 80s New York City horror romp Cellars but not sure I’m in the mood. It’s much more straightforward than his later offerings with a sort of James Herbert style to the prose. Which is fine but I think I need a little more sizzle right now.

Coincidentally I also started Shirley's Cellars when I was ill these past weeks. I have it for ages, but in translation only. I made it through half until now, I was quite disappointed. Considering his reputation I expected much more outrageousness and splatter, and this is very limp. To much teasing and not delivering so far.

Ellison never clicked with me. So I'll pass. I also have both Ballard books, and slowly I make progress. Maybe a story a month or so.

[𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr]

I started Mandricardo. Further Adventures in Terra Magica Volum III. by Lin Carter, but gave up after one page after reading this:

It had started to snow quite soon after sunrise and by now the snow had clogged the trail, almost hiding it, and the going had become difficult. The man and the woman were well-mounted, but their horses (as well as the plump, frisky little mule who trotted obediently behind them, loaded with their luggage) were finding their footing slippery and uncertain. The snow was coming down quite heavily now, in thick, wet, fat, white flakes that always seemed to fly directly into their eyes, blinding them, or into their noses, making them sneeze. And it was piling up in slushy drifts that would probably have reminded the travelers of scoops of vanilla ice cream, except that vanilla ice cream had not been invented yet here in Terra Magica, the world next door to our own.

Is it aimed at younger readers?

Updated to say browsing through the pages it seems to be, so maybe it works for that audience.

[Swampirella]

Nov 17, 2023 12:10:34 GMT 𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr said:

I started Mandricardo. Further Adventures in Terra Magica Volum III. by Lin Carter, but gave up after one page after reading this:

It had started to snow quite soon after sunrise and by now the snow had clogged the trail, almost hiding it, and the going had become difficult. The man and the woman were well-mounted, but their horses (as well as the plump, frisky little mule who trotted obediently behind them, loaded with their luggage) were finding their footing slippery and uncertain. The snow was coming down quite heavily now, in thick, wet, fat, white flakes that always seemed to fly directly into their eyes, blinding them, or into their noses, making them sneeze. And it was piling up in slushy drifts that would probably have reminded the travelers of scoops of vanilla ice cream, except that vanilla ice cream had not been invented yet here in Terra Magica, the world next door to our own.

Is it aimed at younger readers?

If that last sentence had been first, it would be a good candidate for the Bulwer-Lytton bad writing contest.

[helrunar]

I looked at the entries for this series on goodreads. The first novel, Kesrick, was subtitled "an Adult Fantasy." Apparently the "adult" element was provided by a heroine who spent the entire book nude. 

It would seem that these books were written in part as 'delightfully tongue-in-cheek parodies of heroic fantasy,' to paraphrase, sort of, a blurb.

I thought this short review by a reader whose handle is RedSteve was perceptive:

Your basic wacky fantasy novel. Writing style is tongue in cheek - entertaining but not brilliant. What I found interesting is that Carter's fantasy world (Terra Magica) is almost entirely based on 16th Century (and earlier) sources - Spenser's THE FAERIE QUEEN, Herodotus' THE HISTORIES, Ariosto's ORLANDO FURIOSO, Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, Mandeville's VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, Malory's LE MORTE D'ARTHUR, Hesiod's THEOGONY, as well as assorted Greek and Norse myths, and Medieval legends (with nary a breath of LotR or Conan) - with all of these legendary (and semi-legendary) lands slapped together without regard to geography or period. Barely 3 stars.

Hel.

[𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr]

Nov 17, 2023 14:04:55 GMT helrunar said:

It would seem that these books were written in part as 'delightfully tongue-in-cheek parodies of heroic fantasy,' to paraphrase, sort of, a blurb.



Hel.

Drop the delightfully bit and it might work.

[PeterC]

Shrink, can you supply more details about ‘The Dusk'? I can’t trace it on Amazon. Many thanks.

[helrunar]

The Dusk, edited by John Hirschhorn-Smith, appears to be long OP and sells for large sums, although this page says it was just published this year. 

www.siderealpress.co.uk/2008/04/out-of-print-collected-ghost-stories-by.html

Perhaps this is one of those boutique presses where the books go instantly OP upon issue as they only print the pre-orders plus 10 or 20 more copies.

Hel.

[Shrink Proof]

Nov 17, 2023 22:30:30 GMT PeterC said:

Shrink, can you supply more details about ‘The Dusk'? I can’t trace it on Amazon. Many thanks.

Well, it's pretty much as Helrunar said. Side Real Press publish interesting stuff but in frustratingly short print runs, usually just 300 copies per title. Not only does this hugely restrict the potential audience for great writers (yes Peter Bell, I'm looking at you), it also means that if you don't get to know about a forthcoming publication ASAP it's gone. Well not gone for good, but out of reach - gone to that Limboland where second hand books are offered for sale at prices that would worry the Sultan of Brunei.

Yes, I do appreciate a well made, beautifully bound item that looks great on the bookshelf, and Side Real are experts at this, but primarily I buy a book to read the wretched thing. Perhaps a way forward that satisfies both the interior decor freaks who like a good looking bookshelf as a conversation piece at their dinner parties, AND actual readers without deep pockets would be to produce the beautiful volumes as now but also print a cheaper version alongside. A paperback, maybe? Just a thought.

Anyway, rant aside, it's a first rate anthology. Interesting stuff, all well written. The sort of collection that, as you read through it, you keep wondering if you should read the next story or reread the one you've just finished as it was that good. Which is why its restricted availabilty is a blow to Vault inmates who like to read well-written horror.

[helrunar]

Malcolm, it's SO frustrating that we have this phenomenon now of expensive, beautifully produced publications that instantly go OP and then get sold for these giant prices by vendors in the online used book market. I get regular email from another press that produces this kind of material. The authors sound interesting but even new, each book costs around 60 to 70 bucks. So it makes one reluctant to give a potentially great, but previously unknown writer a shot.

There are a couple of small publishers I know of in the esoteric field (Witchcraft, occult, etc) who do exactly what you describe--70 copies hand bound in the skin of goats slaughtered in Upper Tooting Bec at the dark of the moon, etc.--and paperbacks for those who just want to read the book. And those publishers actually keep what they put out IN PRINT. 

cheers, Steve

[sadako]

I struggle with fiction any longer than early Guy N Smith 110-page wonders. But if it’s all solid research, I can steam through non-fiction doorstops like this - David Skal’s Something In The Blood, a wonderful biography of Bram Stoker, by a genre expert.

[jamesdoig]

'Lot No. 249' in preparation for Lot No. 249. While there are lots of opportunities for scariness, the ending is disappointing - it'll be interesting to see if it's changed at all.