As I'm currently living in the UK, I decided to get out a subscription to Interzone. I read a lot of short fiction, mostly online, and beyond the anthologies I buy don't really make much of a contribution back. So I figured this was my chance.
My first Interzone arrived today (#220) and I must admit to being excited. I love the cover and it has that glorious smell of printed paper. It reminds me of when I was younger and my subscription of Cricket used to arrive. Anyways, so I'm feeling very excited about digging into Interzone. Hopefully, it will live up to my expectations as I've taken out a year's subscription!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Putting Down the Masters
Severian is an apprentice torturer with a perfect memory who runs into trouble when he falls in love with one of his guild's 'clients', as they are euphemistically known.
I picked up Gene Wolfe's collected works which make up the "Book of the New Sun" with great excitement after very much enjoying his award-winning novella "Memorare". But I must admit to being gravely disappointed.
The book is touted as a classic work of science fantasy in particular and speculative fiction in general. And it is well-written and has many subtle quirks. The worldbuilding is grand in scale and the ideas are intriguing. But, for me, examining a society where torturers have a guild and executioners seen as some kind of artists, is bait, not meat.
I found the jargon invented for the world alienating, rather than immersive. The plot twists and turns like an out of control snake and while all of these diversions may serve some higher purpose, perhaps thematic, it didn't hold my interest.
And the primary thing that I loved in "Memorare" is absent in "The Shadow of the Torturer". Gene Wolfe's characters and their interactions were so true-to-life and real in "Memorare" but in the book, it always felt like I was separated from them by a wall of water. I don't 'get' Severian or anyone else he interacts with. Possibly with the exception of Severian's initial infatuation with Thecla, I found the romantic interludes dull. Everything in the story felt unfamiliar.
And maybe that's the point and what other people love about the book. Recently, I came across a study group which is month-by-month reading these books of Gene Wolfe. And I would take nothing away from him as a writer - his prose is incredible and he clearly is some people's cup-of-tea.
But he's not mine. All the same, it's been hard to put the book done - not because I was engaged, but because I felt guilty. Putting down literary classics that bored me (like Dickens) has never really bothered me but there's something about putting down a speculative fiction classic that bothers me. This is supposed to be my genre.
Then I remember how many books there are that I'll never get around to reading. How many classics there are and how many I do enjoy. It's alright if there are some authors (or in this case, books) that I don't enjoy and whose work I can't get through. Even if they are good.
I picked up Gene Wolfe's collected works which make up the "Book of the New Sun" with great excitement after very much enjoying his award-winning novella "Memorare". But I must admit to being gravely disappointed.
The book is touted as a classic work of science fantasy in particular and speculative fiction in general. And it is well-written and has many subtle quirks. The worldbuilding is grand in scale and the ideas are intriguing. But, for me, examining a society where torturers have a guild and executioners seen as some kind of artists, is bait, not meat.
I found the jargon invented for the world alienating, rather than immersive. The plot twists and turns like an out of control snake and while all of these diversions may serve some higher purpose, perhaps thematic, it didn't hold my interest.
And the primary thing that I loved in "Memorare" is absent in "The Shadow of the Torturer". Gene Wolfe's characters and their interactions were so true-to-life and real in "Memorare" but in the book, it always felt like I was separated from them by a wall of water. I don't 'get' Severian or anyone else he interacts with. Possibly with the exception of Severian's initial infatuation with Thecla, I found the romantic interludes dull. Everything in the story felt unfamiliar.
And maybe that's the point and what other people love about the book. Recently, I came across a study group which is month-by-month reading these books of Gene Wolfe. And I would take nothing away from him as a writer - his prose is incredible and he clearly is some people's cup-of-tea.
But he's not mine. All the same, it's been hard to put the book done - not because I was engaged, but because I felt guilty. Putting down literary classics that bored me (like Dickens) has never really bothered me but there's something about putting down a speculative fiction classic that bothers me. This is supposed to be my genre.
Then I remember how many books there are that I'll never get around to reading. How many classics there are and how many I do enjoy. It's alright if there are some authors (or in this case, books) that I don't enjoy and whose work I can't get through. Even if they are good.
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