Calling all old school sci fan/fantasy readers! - Page 6

[raksmama]

Bump!

Please don't let me be the thread killer!

Just trying to start the first book in the Dark Jewel Trilogy, Daughter of the Blood and am having a really hard time getting into it. This book was recommended by numerous posters here and as well it is dedicated to one of my favourites, Charles De Lint, so it seems like I should like it. Up to now, I don't. I've just finished the 1st chapter.

For those of you who like this series, please convince me why I should keep reading!

[JessicaS]

I tried the first Dark Jewel book and I didn't really like it.

I think there was too much S&M for my reading tastes.

[JessicaS]

I finally broke down and started reading Game of Thrones even though it isn't done yet. I normally have a firm policy against not reading a huge series unless it is complete.

[Cascadian]

[QUOTE=jalilah;15718696]

Originally Posted by Cascadian

For something different - magic realism mixed with fantastical elements, I can recommend Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring (dystopian Toronto future, full of voodoo) and Salt Roads (told from the POV of a slave girl, an African goddess and a 17th C black woman in France).QUOTE]


I am currently reading Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson and loving it! It really is refreshingly different! Thanks for recommending her! I'd never heard of her before!

There are so few spec fic books written from minority POVs that they are like little gems when I find them. I'm glad you're enjoying it!!

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by abimommy

I finally broke down and started reading Game of Thrones even though it isn't done yet. I normally have a firm policy against not reading a huge series unless it is complete.

I heard those recommended by several people and read the first...three, I think? I don't like them. There are too many characters, and there really isn't a main protagonist (which isn't necessarily a failing, but it doesn't work well for me). Most of the characters are very unlikable, imo. It's too dark, and it's too violent, and there's some really twisted up sexual stuff. Oh - and he has one portrayal of an extended nursing relationship that actually makes me feel ill...and I'm not even a serious extended nurser (can't even begin to imagine goine past three years, and have never actually made it 2.5).

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

I heard those recommended by several people and read the first...three, I think? I don't like them. There are too many characters, and there really isn't a main protagonist (which isn't necessarily a failing, but it doesn't work well for me). Most of the characters are very unlikable, imo. It's too dark, and it's too violent, and there's some really twisted up sexual stuff. Oh - and he has one portrayal of an extended nursing relationship that actually makes me feel ill...and I'm not even a serious extended nurser (can't even begin to imagine goine past three years, and have never actually made it 2.5).

My dad knows the author personally. When I read about the extended nursing situation, I was pretty mad.. (it suggests that the boy is being "coddled" by his mother.. and if I remember right, it described her b@@bs as "long" which I didn't really get).. I talked to my dad about it, and iirc, the author doesn't have children.. so I don't think he would "get" extended nursing.. I was still pretty irritated though. He could have taken a moment to do some research.

[raksmama]

Am now reading Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson. It is interesting because I just finished Island beneath the Sea by Isabelle Allende which also is about a slave in Haiti in the 17 hundreds before the revolution. It is not science fiction, but has many magical elements. I find the writing in Salt Roads is not quite as enthralling as Brown Girl in the Ring but is still very good. I am glad I discovered this author!

[QUOTE=Cascadian;15814156]

Originally Posted by jalilah

there are so few spec fic books written from minority POVs that they are like little gems when I find them. I'm glad you're enjoying it!!

Yes, I agree! Another good one is New Mexican Rudolfo Anaya. Many of his works also have many magical and fantasy elements ( Bless me Ultima, Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall , Shaman Winter, Jemez Spring)
But his books always get put in with Chicano literature and therefore he remains relatively unknown which is unfortunate because he is a really good writer.

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by abimommy

I tried the first Dark Jewel book and I didn't really like it.

I think there was too much S&M for my reading tastes.

Glad to know I am not the only one! I really wanted to like this one but gave up after a few chapters.

[Aubergine68]

Anyone read Maureen Mchugh's novel, China Mountain Zhang? In a future America ruled by China, where being pure Chinese means high status and being gay is outlawed, the gay, ethnically mixed protagonist has to deal with passing as a straight pure Chinese man. An unusual pov for SF - definitely a gem.

I'm not a fan of so much S&M/torture in any fiction, either.

[Cascadian]

I heard about China Mtn Zhang and just haven't gotten around to getting it. There are a few alt history type books like that that interest me. I think that's next on my list.

Jalilah - re Nalo Hopkinson's writing: I actually owned BGitR for a few years before I read it I tried to get into it, then before I gave it away thought I'd try again and was captured by the story and the POV. Isabelle Allende is probably one of my favourite writers Her writing is beyond magical...lyrical...poetic

I tried to read Dhalgren and got irritated at the datedness of the writing. I saw that people either loved or hated this classic. Chalk me up for 'meh..'

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Cascadian

I tried to read Dhalgren and got irritated at the datedness of the writing. I saw that people either loved or hated this classic. Chalk me up for 'meh..'

I forced myself through it years ago. I don't know why, because I hated every page. I didn't find it particularly dated - just random, pointless, kind of gross in spots, and the last...third?...is written from two points of view at once (one point of view is inset in smaller type and patched all through the pages). It was just...bad...so, so bad.