I loved Ghostwheel as well, Keith, and I have as much affection for Merlin's arc as I do for Corwin's, because Zelazny went deeper into the internecine nature of family politics. Merle's having to deal with the fact that Luke, the closest thing he head to a friend, was the person trying to kill him every Walpurgisnacht, his little brother Jurt's obvious jealousy driving him into evil, his older brother Mandorallen subtly manipulating him along the path, trying to get him on the throne of Amber even though he wanted no part of it.
On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 1:27 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > I need to reread the Merlin books. For some reason I didn't like them as > much as the first five dealing with Corwin. They seemed a tad less > interesting, and perhaps not quite as engaging. I did love Merlin's creation > Ghost Wheel, though. He/it was awesome. Your thoughts? > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxt...@gmail.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 7:16:43 AM > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky > > > > Seconding Keith's recommendation, Angela. I first found the Amber novels > when I was a junior in HS, and I've since wondered what my life would be > like if I hadn't fallen across the first five in the series (technically, > there are ten, the first five with Corwin of Amber as the protag, the next > with his son Merlin -- don't let it faze you, because they read as smooth as > silk; just bought a new set, because I wore out my old one). > > Oh, Angela -- FINISH THAT BOOK. I'm on about the twentieth rewrite of mine, > but it's love that keeps me at the page. > > On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 10:02 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net > > wrote: > >> >> >> You bet. If you want to ease into Zelazny to see if you like him, check >> out one of his books of short stories, such as "The Doors of His Face, The >> Lamps of His Mouth". You get the full flavor of his writing style. >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Short_story_collections_by_Roger_Zelazny >> >> >> Or check out the first of the Amber novels to see if you like it. It takes >> Amber a while for you to get what's going on, but it's awesome. It's about a >> royal family that lives and rules in a reality called Amber, considered the >> one "true" reality, of which all other realites, including our Earth are >> just reflections--"Shadows". The members of this family have the ability to >> "Walk in Shadow", meaning they can move through adjacent parallel realities. >> Amber is a land where no science as we know it works, a place of constancy >> and stability, and can be thought of as the endpoint and anchor of Order. As >> a member of the family moves through Shadow, he/she can in time walk further >> "away" from Amber, into realities where things like science (guns, >> electronics, etc) start working. As there are an infinite number of >> alternate realities, a walker can literally find any universe he/she wants >> and live there. A family member can find a reality, for example, where he >> has a counterpart that rules all of Earth, then kill that doppelganger and >> take his place. They can envision an Earth where giant space fleets have >> conquered the galaxy, and go there--whatever they want. The members tend to >> walk in one direction, then shift reality around them bit by bit. For >> example, you might start walking down the street of your city, and shift >> things so that it's fall instead of late summer, then shift it so that it's >> snowing instead of just cold, then shift to a city where there are fewer >> people on the streets, etc. The more subtle the shifts, the easier it is to >> move through Shadow. For example, you could start out in a modern Boston and >> desire to go to a Boston circa 1766 populated by purple simians, but the >> jump from now to then would be tougher than slowly walking through Shadow to >> that reality. >> >> In time, if the person so chooses, he/she can walk so far "away" from >> Amber, that they start approaching realities where true magic works. They >> enter realms where faerie walk the Earth, where the stars literally dance in >> the heavens, where everyone in the world uses incantations like we use >> speech, where trees talk and water sings, etc. In short, the Order that is >> Amber is being left behind toward the other pole of reality, anchored in a >> place called The Courts of Chaos. Magic is seen as something wild and >> unsteady, and as one gets closer to Chaos, magic and magical creatures >> become the rule. At the Courts, all laws as we know them don't really exist, >> and reality can be bent by one's will. >> >> The first Amber novels deal with Corwin, a scion of the family royal who >> wants to rule Amber,and gets involved in murder, battles, and struggles with >> the royal family of the Courts of Chaos. See, as cool as it is to be able to >> rule any reality you want, since everyone knows Amber is the "real" reality, >> then any alternate one is always thought of as a pale imitation. Even if >> one were to rule a very close reality with nigh perfect duplicates of Amber >> itself, it'd be seen as a poor substitute. It's a fascinating series >> dealing with magic, war, internecine battles, the nature of reality, greed >> and lust for power. >> >> Highly, highly recommend it. >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "angelababycat" <asrobin...@mindspring.com> >> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 9:14:51 PM >> Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky >> >> >> >> Yes, I really appreciate good writing (like so many of us, I have 200 >> pages of a novel I'll probably never finish writing shoved in a closet). So >> I'll check out Lord of Light. If it's not already in the pile of sci-fi >> books I got from the library. Thanks. >> >> --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com>, Martin >> Baxter <martinbaxt...@...> wrote: >> > >> > (seconding the Wise Man's words) >> > >> > On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ >> ...>wrote: >> > >> > > >> > > >> > > I think a lot of Niven's stuff is like that. He is still primarily a >> hard >> > > scifi guy, and sometimes characterizations aren't as strong as you may >> like. >> > > at least, that's my memory of him. I haven't read one of his books in >> at >> > > least a decade. >> > > Now if you want good characters and prose that flows like poetry, full >> of >> > > sardonic wit and cleverness, try Roger Zelazny's stuff. His Amber >> > > chronicles--a kind of scifi/fantasy mix--are great. His book "Lord of >> Light" >> > > is one of the best reads of my life. It deals with a planet settled by >> > > humans in which an elite class has given themselves super powers, and >> rules >> > > the populace posing as the Hindi gods. This thing has demons, zombies, >> > > existential questions, and action. It is really, really good. >> > > >> > > >> > > ----- Original Message ----- >> > > From: "angelababycat" <asrobin...@...> >> > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com> >> > > Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:21:21 PM >> > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > Not too scifi heavy, but just didn't flow. I also didn't connect with >> the >> > > main characters so I didn't care who decided to get on the space ship >> or >> > > not. By the time they were in the ship and approached by those 5 >> lights or >> > > whatever (around page 60), I was a little confused and disinterested. >> In >> > > contrast, I'm already half way through Pebbles. >> > > >> > > Did I give up too soon on Ringworld? >> > > >> > > Angela >> > > >> > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> > > <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com><scifinoir2% >> 40yahoogroups.com>, Keith >> > > Johnson <KeithBJohnson@> wrote: >> > > > >> > > > Was Ringworld too scifi heavy for you? What didn't you like about >> it? >> > > > >> > > > ----- Original Message ----- >> > > > From: "angelababycat" <asrobinson@> >> > > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> > > > <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com><scifinoir2% >> 40yahoogroups.com> >> > > > Sent: Sunday, August 8, 2010 10:17:28 PM >> > > > Subject: [scifinoir2] From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > So Niven's Ringworld really wasn't doing it for me. Moved on to a >> basic >> > > classic: Asimov's first book, "A Pebble in the Sky." I read like the >> first >> > > 60 pages just yesterday. How do folks think it will compare to his >> late >> > > works like Foundation, etc.? >> > > > >> > > > Angela >> > > > >> > > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> > > > <scifinoir2%40yahoogroups.com><scifinoir2% >> 40yahoogroups.com> , >> > > "angelababycat" <asrobinson@> wrote: >> > > > > >> > > > > Just finished reading Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" -- the >> > > first sci-fi novel I've made time to sit down and enjoy in a long >> time. Felt >> > > good. I forgot how much I liked Le Guin's writing too. A great place >> to >> > > start. >> > > > > >> > > > > Next in the pile is "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. I have the list of >> > > suggested reading from the group, but I was at the book store and just >> > > pulled a few titles from what was in stock. And a librarian handed me >> > > Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" last weekend, but I still >> haven't >> > > recovered from seeing "The Road" on PPV so I don't know about that >> one... >> > > > > >> > > > > Anyone read any of these? >> > > > > >> > > > > Angela >> > > > > >> > > > > P.S. -- Here's Wikipedia's summary of Left Hand if anyone's >> curious: >> > > > > >> > > > > The basic principle of The Left Hand of Darkness is one that >> started in >> > > Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel in 1966 and runs through several of >> her >> > > early works: that of the interplanetary expansion started by the first >> race >> > > of humanity on the planet Hain and expanded across the universe, >> forming the >> > > League of All Worlds, eventually expanding to the eighty-three world >> > > collective called the Ekumen. This novel takes place in the year 4870 >> and >> > > concerns an envoy, Genly Ai, who is on a planet called Winter >> ("Gethen" in >> > > the language of its own people) to convince the citizens to join the >> Ekumen. >> > > Winter is, as its name indicates, a planet that is always cold, and >> its >> > > citizens are neither female nor male: they only have gender identities >> or >> > > sexual urges once a month. These conditions have affected the ways >> that >> > > civilizations on Winter have developed, with the most notable effect >> being >> > > that there has never been a war on the planet. There are, however, >> arcane >> > > rules of politics and diplomacy that the envoy must learn in order to >> > > survive. His fortune changes quickly, according to what political >> faction is >> > > in power at the time in the country he is residing in: in one country, >> for >> > > instance, the Prime Minister arranges an audience with the king for >> him, but >> > > the next day the Prime Minister is exiled for treason; in another he >> has >> > > trouble determining which factions among the thirty-three Heads of >> Districts >> > > support him and which want to use him to gain political power. The >> struggle >> > > of Genly Ai as he tries to understand the ways of these people and >> survive >> > > on this hostile planet gives Le Guin the chance to explore what life >> would >> > > be like without the dualities, such as summer and winter or male and >> female, >> > > that form our way of thinking: the book's title comes from a Gethen >> poem, >> > > which begins, "Light is The Left Hand of Darkness … " >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody >> hell >> > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant >> > >> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik >> > >> >> > > > -- > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
