*What book are you reading? (part 2)

[october_lost]

Advanced dodgy doings...or dungeons and dragons, take your pick.

 

[TruXta]

If AD&D existed in a world where there was an industrial revolution maybe. He loves his bestiaries, ha admitted that much in interview but theres no adherence to the semi-racist mythos of elves, dwarves an 'high' men is there

No, but the structuring of the Bas-Lag mythos is essentially 3/4s fairly standard RPG, with classes, races, gods, demons and so on, and 1/4th (a bit more in the case of Iron Council) marxism. Sure he doesn't crib the vulgar Tolkienism of AD&D, but a lot of the epic syntax is similar.

 

[DotCommunist]

I'll give you 80% of that but I still think he avoids the grammar of fantasy despite the whole races thing. Class is what reigns, as when we see posh vodyanoui working in the river for THE MAN against plotters while working water sprites are in league with other rebellious elements in a co-ordinated attempt for general strike

 

[TruXta]

Hmmm. Like Erikson he purports to subvert/revert/avoid a lot of the cliches while at the same time pumping them for all they're worth. Not complaining mind you.

ETA He does a better job of just doing his own thing in City and the City I think. The Bas-Lag novels is where the above holds most true I think.

 

[ringo]

China came to prominence through 'Perdio Street Station' which blends technology and magic (thuamuturges) and was considered part of a british genre movement they called 'the New Weird'

Thing is Perdido Street Station and City& The City are fantasy- they are just fantasies that don't conform to tolkienesque paths. Perdido Street Station is quite literally an industrial revolution era fantasy and New Crobozun is an 'other London' from the other london tradition of fantasy like neverwhere (gaiman) and Borrovilles.

City & the City is a post-ussr city essentially, a fantasy set in the urban that China loves to write. It's dressed in the tropes of a detective novel. Borlu, the weary middle years man. Streetwise copper from the rank and file who just wants to catch his man etc

The difficulty award givers like the Hugo and its ilk have is that trad fantasy and trad sci fi is definable and slottable whereas the likes of China are not so easily defined with traditional genre labels.

Nothing new though, I mean where would one place Aldiss'Helliconia' cycle? Where would on place the dark horrors of Harlan Ellison? Can you really call stuff like Swiftly by adam roberts sci fi?

Enough to just enjoy the spec fic and let others worry about labels imo!

iswym, but of course in that sense you could term anything fictitious as fantasy. Anyway, I like the blurring and difficulty of pigeonholing, makes it easier to stop judging by genre and just enjoy it being a bloody good novel.

 

[rubbershoes]

With the old breed by Eugene Sledge

An excellent memoir of a front line marine in the WW2 pacific campaign

Part of the Spielberg series The Pacific was based on it.

After reading it I really want to go diving on Palau

 

[marty21]

With the old breed by Eugene Sledge

An excellent memoir of a front line marine in the WW2 pacific campaign

Part of the Spielberg series The Pacific was based on it.

After reading it I really want to go diving on Palau

that is an excellent book, there's another book which they also used as source material - Helmet for my Pillow - Robert Leckie - which is also worth a read.

 

[rubbershoes]

I'll look out for that one for the future

I've had enough war reading for now though

 

[marty21]

I'll look out for that one for the future

I've had enough war reading for now though

war is hell tbf

 

[belboid]

Ismail Kadare - The Successor

Based on a true story about the planned Successor to Enver Hoxha in Albania, who mysteriously committed suicide...or was he murdered? Mentioned on a blog as beng disturbingly prescient im relation to the current farce/disgrace/situation in the SWP. It really does fit, and when your organisation can be compared to the country that makes Stalin look reasonable...

It is really well written as well, and a very entertaining read.

 

[Blagsta]

Richard Bentall - Doctoring the Mind

 

[seventh bullet]

Ismail Kadare - The Successor

Based on a true story about the planned Successor to Enver Hoxha in Albania, who mysteriously committed suicide...or was he murdered? Mentioned on a blog as beng disturbingly prescient im relation to the current farce/disgrace/situation in the SWP. It really does fit, and when your organisation can be compared to the country that makes Stalin look reasonable...

It is really well written as well, and a very entertaining read.

Hoxha was just a fanboy. Could never match Joe.

 

[DotCommunist]

his worshipful memoirs of meeting with the steel giant are comedy gold

 

[Greebo]

Cheating somewhat with an (audio) unabridged version of "the way we live now".

No way was I going to have enough time otherwise.

 

[seventh bullet]

his worshipful memoirs of meeting with the steel giant are comedy gold

Reading such things and official publications can be useful and interesting when serious shit happened in the wider Communist-ruled world between governments and parties, and in the official pubs they used the same terms. A lot of the time, though, it's dull as fuck.

 

[TruXta]

his worshipful memoirs of meeting with the steel giant are comedy gold

I saw one of his holiday villas on Lake Bled in Slovenia a few years ago. Fackin nice it was.

 

[seventh bullet]

Eh? Hardcore Stalinist Hoxha had a holiday villa in Titoite Yugoslavia?

 

[belboid]

Eh? Hardcore Stalinist Hoxha had a holiday villa in Titoite Yugoslavia?

there were various brief thaws in the relationship, inbetween fallings out with china and moscow

 

[TruXta]

Eh? Hardcore Stalinist Hoxha had a holiday villa in Titoite Yugoslavia?

My bad, am getting my socialist dictators mixed up!

 

[seventh bullet]

there were various brief thaws in the relationship, inbetween fallings out with china and moscow

I'm aware of that, just teasing Truxta (it was Tito's villa). Albania-Yugo relations were mostly hostile apart from a brief period in the late 1960s. But that was largely due to the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, and mutual fears about the threat posed by the 'social imperialists' in Moscow and their Warsaw Pact allies. For PRC-aligned Tirana the Chinese were too far away in the event of a military attack, so timid feelers for cooperation were put out. And all those bunkers would've come in handy.

 

[DotCommunist]

this stuff is surely going to be your specialist subject round when you go on mastermind

 

[colbhoy]

With the old breed by Eugene Sledge

An excellent memoir of a front line marine in the WW2 pacific campaign

Part of the Spielberg series The Pacific was based on it.

After reading it I really want to go diving on Palau

Thoroughly enjoyed it as well, have still to read Leckie's book.

 

[colbhoy]

Just started Lullaby Town by Robert Crais. The Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels are really good reads.

 

[idumea]

I'm a big Mieville fan. I think I'm due a re-read of Embassytown, it's incredible.

I've been searching for good sci-fi of late and come up with nothing. Read some Cory Doctorow: beyond terrible.
I had hopes for the new Ken Macleod (Intrusion) as I've loved his other stuff - a big fat meh. I was actively bored throughout the whole thing.

I'm off on holiday this week so I've picked up some random books to keep me occupied- Charles Stross's Accelerando, and the last two books of Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. I could do with some good contemporary new fiction but I've found fuck all that I enjoy recently. I'm getting old.

 

[idumea]

I was just recommended Harrison's recent book, Light, as it happens.

I also really recommend The Course of the Heart - it's my favourite thing Harrison has ever written. I didn't find Light that mindblowing. I've got a big stack of 'new weird' / 'slipsteam' fiction if you ever want to borrow some btw.

 

[Anonymous1]

Just started "Unpatriotic history of the second world war" by James Heartfield.

 

[starfish]

A German Requiem by Philip Kerr. Post-War Bernie Gunther.

 

[october_lost]

Just started "Unpatriotic history of the second world war" by James Heartfield.

This looks really good. He wrote some decent articles in Mute covering war time strikes.

Have to hunt this down.

 

[DotCommunist]

Count Zero- William Gibson

thought I'd covered all his work, missed this 1987 one somehow. Been wading through a lot of crap 80 sci fi atm so its nice to find a gem.

 

[TruXta]

Count Zero- William Gibson

thought I'd covered all his work, missed this 1987 one somehow. Been wading through a lot of crap 80 sci fi atm so its nice to find a gem.

Mmmm hm. Might revisit some early Gibson, been ages.

I've been searching for good sci-fi of late and come up with nothing.

Read Dhalgren? Roadside Picnic?