Hit or miss authors
Endymion9
seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
others.
Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
Loved:
In the Drift
Vacuum Flowers
Stations of the Tide
Bones of the Earth
Hated:
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
Jack Faust
Who makes your hit or miss list?
--
--
Dennis/Endy9
~Some will sink, but we will float. Grab your coat. Let's get out of here.
You're my witness, I'm your Mutineer.~ Warren Zevon
--
David DeLaney
>In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
>seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
>others.
>
>Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
>Loved: >In the Drift >Vacuum Flowers >Stations of the Tide >Bones of the Earth
>
>Hated: >The Iron Dragon's Daughter >Jack Faust
>
>Who makes your hit or miss list?
The first that springs to mind is Cherryh. I adored her Dreamstone series,
and liked the Morgaine/Gates of Ivrel series, and liked her other fantasy
as well ... but when it comes to her SF, I don't hate it so much as find it
incredibly effortful to slog through. So much so that even though I've been
sort of auto-buying older paperbacks by her because my back-brain says "It's
Cherryh, you like her, she can write good fantasy", I have a stack of about
15 or 20 books by her, I think all SF, that I haven't been able to force
myself to start on when there's other things to read.
Another would be David Drake, I guess. The Lord of the Isles series (which I
note I'm STILL waiting for the last one of to appear in paperback, GRRRR),
hooray; Mountain Magic, Old Nathan, etc., yay. His war books, boo hiss.
And now I'm wondering if there are authors where the division (for me) isn't
because they're writing in different subgenres of the field and I hate one
of the subgenres. I'll see if any come to mind.
[Curiously, even Zelazny had one or two that I felt weren't worth reading -
I disliked Eye of Cat, and I don't even remember why. And at least one of his
four-novellas-make-up-this-book books I couldn't stand one or two of the
stories in... but I can't remember WHICH stories without digging them out.]
Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
David Mitchell
> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring
> for others.
>
> Who makes your hit or miss list?
Stephen Donaldson.
Loved the first two Illearth series, hated the Gap series (bad SF,
horrible people), finding the third Illearth series too angsty and
tedious to be worth reading.
--
=======================================================================
= David --- If you use Microsoft products, you will, inevitably, get
= Mitchell --- viruses, so please don't add me to your address book.
=======================================================================
Gerry Quinn
d...@gatekeeper.vic.com says...
> The first that springs to mind is Cherryh. I adored her Dreamstone series,
> and liked the Morgaine/Gates of Ivrel series, and liked her other fantasy
> as well ... but when it comes to her SF, I don't hate it so much as find it
> incredibly effortful to slog through.
I liked the _Faded Sun_ trilogy, but _Cyteen_ hit the wall on about the
second page. I haven't read much by her; I do recall a book of mixed
fantasy/sf shorts which was quite good (except that the author intros
to each story, which in general I like, achieved heights of self-
congratulation I have rarely seen!).
- Gerry Quinn
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:23:52 -0600, Endymion9 wrote:
>
>> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
>> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring
>> for others.
>>
>> Who makes your hit or miss list?
>
> Stephen Donaldson.
>
> Loved the first two Illearth series,
You mean Covenant, yes? The Illearth Stone only plays a part of
significance in a few places.
> hated the Gap series (bad SF,
> horrible people), finding the third Illearth series too angsty and
> tedious to be worth reading.
You should try his "Mordant's Need" dualogy (Mirror of Her Dreams and A
Man Rides Through); IMCGO, it's the best thing he ever wrote, partially
because it ends better for the heroes (though they still go through
Donaldson's grinder).
>
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com
Gerry Quinn
sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com says...
I think I gave up on that half way through because I felt it was
becoming incredibly repetitive...
- Gerry Quinn
Catherine Jefferson
> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring
> for others.
>
> Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
> Loved:
> In the Drift
> Vacuum Flowers
> Stations of the Tide
> Bones of the Earth
>
> Hated:
> The Iron Dragon's Daughter
> Jack Faust
>
> Who makes your hit or miss list?
Several authors do. I love Jack Vance's short stories (IMHO he's one of
the best writers in that form), and loved his Lyonesse trilogy. I
wasn't fond of Araminta Station or a number of his book-length science
fiction stories, however. Didn't hate them; they just lacked that
incredible, crisp-edged perfection he achieves with shorter works.
Orson Scott Card is another. Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead
rightly won double Nebula/Hugo awards in their respective years. His
short fiction, like that of Vance, is nearly perfect. I loved "Magic
Street" and "Enchantment", his best-known book-length fantasy works.
But the later Ender books and the Memory of Earth series just didn't do
it for me.
--
Catherine Jefferson <ar...@devsite.org>
Personal Home Page * <http://www.devsite.org/>
The SpamBouncer * <http://www.spambouncer.org/>
Andrew Plotkin
> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
> others.
>
> Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
> Loved:
> In the Drift
> Vacuum Flowers
> Stations of the Tide
> Bones of the Earth
>
> Hated:
> The Iron Dragon's Daughter
> Jack Faust
Did you try _Dragons of Babel_? I thought it had all the strengths of
_TIDD_ and then a bunch more strengths, such as great forward
narrative momentum.
As to the question: at some point I noticed that *every* author I like
is hit-or-miss. If you have written no books that I didn't care for,
it's because you *stopped writing* after not too many books or years.
This may be some definition of getting old. But, you know, when I was
young my maximally favorite author -- the one who could do no wrong --
was Spider Robinson. And I *still* didn't know what the hell _Night of
Power_ was doing there.
(I no longer feel that way about Robinson, of course. _Starseed_ and
_Starmind_ done me plenty wrong.)
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
Howard Brazee
<spam...@spambouncer.org> wrote:
>Orson Scott Card is another. Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead
>rightly won double Nebula/Hugo awards in their respective years. His
>short fiction, like that of Vance, is nearly perfect. I loved "Magic
>Street" and "Enchantment", his best-known book-length fantasy works.
>But the later Ender books and the Memory of Earth series just didn't do
>it for me.
Enchantment is a hit, Memory of Earth a miss. I agree with you.
--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."
- James Madison
Endymion9
news:MPG.259443c98...@news.indigo.ie...
I agree on Cherryh. But I didn't care for her fantasy at all, but really
liked some of her sf.
Voyager in Night
Merchanter's Luck
Port Eternity
The Kif Strike Back
Chanur's Homecoming
Really tried to like Downbelow Station but didn't.
Of her fantasy I was liking the concept of Rusalka and the sequel, but found
it got really tedious. Seemed like the main character had a crisus of
conscience over the same issue over and over and over about every 20 pages,
where it began to feel like his should I or shouldn't I dimlemna was exactly
cut and pasted from the one the previous 20 pages ago.
Gene Wirchenko
DeLaney) wrote:
[snip]
>The first that springs to mind is Cherryh. I adored her Dreamstone series,
>and liked the Morgaine/Gates of Ivrel series, and liked her other fantasy
>as well ... but when it comes to her SF, I don't hate it so much as find it
>incredibly effortful to slog through. So much so that even though I've been
>sort of auto-buying older paperbacks by her because my back-brain says "It's
>Cherryh, you like her, she can write good fantasy", I have a stack of about
>15 or 20 books by her, I think all SF, that I haven't been able to force
>myself to start on when there's other things to read.
What is it with Cherryh? I wish she could write. There looks to
be some very strong potential there, but it just does not do it for
me. I think there was a bit of fantasy that was OK, but.
[snip]
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
Gerry Quinn
says...
Well, those that like her seem to like her very much, so I guess one
must simply accept that some authors have a pungent enough flavour that
they will never appeal to more than a portion of the reading
population.
In short, she can write but we don;t happen to like her stuff, and
there's no shame in that on either side.
- Gerry Quinn
Endymion9
>
> In short, she can write but we don;t happen to like her stuff, and
> there's no shame in that on either side.
>
> - Gerry Quinn
>
YMMV is one of the best concepts I've seen in online forums and mainly see
it here. One of the reasons I like this forum so much. 99% of the posters
are respectful of other's opinions and don't bash them for liking something
that the poster doesn't like.
Gene Wirchenko
wrote:
>In article <tmpri5d4bo6spn87u...@4ax.com>, ge...@ocis.net
>says...
[snip]
>> What is it with Cherryh? I wish she could write. There looks to
>> be some very strong potential there, but it just does not do it for
>> me. I think there was a bit of fantasy that was OK, but.
>
>Well, those that like her seem to like her very much, so I guess one
>must simply accept that some authors have a pungent enough flavour that
>they will never appeal to more than a portion of the reading
>population.
>
>In short, she can write but we don;t happen to like her stuff, and
>there's no shame in that on either side.
No. It is not a matter of liking. There is obviously something
there, but somehow, the communication does not really reach me. It is
very puzzling.
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
htn963
She can write. It's just that some of you don't know how to read her.
But then every author can be hit-or-miss to any reader, so this
question is moot.
--
Ht
hughes
Gene Wirchenko <ge...@ocis.net> wrote:
Cherryh is one of my favorite authors, but there's no doubt there's
often a lot more effort involved in parsing her prose than there is for
most authors. When I'm really in "Cherryh mode" I can follow everything
without too much problem, but other times I do find myself rereading
quite a bit to make sense of threads that I seem to have lost track of.
There's a lot of internal dialog and she can shift her references in a
somewhat confusing fashion. Her use of pronouns seems a bit non-standard
-- sometimes it's not always clear to whom they refer without going back
and reconstructing.
When I feel really locked into her peculiar psyche, it's enthralling and
I'm totally absorbed. Other times I'll admit it can be quite a slog.
-- John
Endymion9
> What is it with Cherryh? I wish she could write. There looks to
> be some very strong potential there, but it just does not do it for
> me. I think there was a bit of fantasy that was OK, but.
She can write. It's just that some of you don't know how to read her.
But then every author can be hit-or-miss to any reader, so this
question is moot.
MY RESPONSE:
Every author will have some books you love and some that you don't love as
much. When I started this thread I was thinking of authors where you pick
up some books you love and some you totally hate. So that you don't trust
buying their next book until you hear some word of mouth or a critics review
that makes you think it is more likely to end in the love column than the
hate column.
htn963
> -snip-
>
> > What is it with Cherryh? I wish she could write. There looks to
> > be some very strong potential there, but it just does not do it for
> > me. I think there was a bit of fantasy that was OK, but.
>
> She can write. It's just that some of you don't know how to read her.
>
> But then every author can be hit-or-miss to any reader, so this
> question is moot.
>
> MY RESPONSE:
> Every author will have some books you love and some that you don't love as
> much. When I started this thread I was thinking of authors where you pick
> up some books you love and some you totally hate. So that you don't trust
> buying their next book until you hear some word of mouth or a critics review
> that makes you think it is more likely to end in the love column than the
> hate column.
Well, ok, but I think you should have better phrased the query as
"Authors you have an extreme love/hate relationship with."
Y'know, I don't think I really have an sf author in mind who
infuriates me by being so erratic from one book to the next. Cherryh
doesn't to me, even though her output varies in quality widely,
because I sense that underneath the occasional tangled prose and hyper-
tortured characters, there is genuine substance, and give her a pass.
The only love/hate sf author I have that comes to mind now is
Heinlein, but then that goes for a lot of other readers, who would
rather forget he wrote anything after _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_.
--
Ht
JRStern
>In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
>seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
>others.
>
>Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
>Loved:
>In the Drift
>Vacuum Flowers
>Stations of the Tide
>Bones of the Earth
>
>Hated:
>The Iron Dragon's Daughter
>Jack Faust
>
>Who makes your hit or miss list?
Well, nobody, because for most authors I at least browse the book
before reading, and if it doesn't grab me I never read it.
I agree that Swanwick is in that uneven category, but I've only read
Vacuum Flowers and Stations of the Tide, and passed on The Iron
Dragon's Daughter. I'll have to look at the other two you liked,
thanks.
J.
gary hayenga
> Cherryh
> doesn't to me, even though her output varies in quality widely,
I don't think her output varies in quality so much as in style. She
has 4 or 5 different styles, some of which I like and some of which I
hate.
But the books written in styles I hate are loved by many other people.
Mark
I find it interesting that I'm on the opposite side of almost every
response here except those who demurred to name authors and works.
For instance, Mike Swanwick---I adored The Iron Dragon's Daughter and
Jack Faust, but found the rest of his oeuvre uneven. With Cherryh,
aside from the pseudo-fantasy Morgaine series, I think she's one of
the best SF writers of the 20th Century---hard work to read, I agree,
but worth the effort---and Cyteen was her masterpiece.
Different strokes, etc. It's all a matter of taste.
But along with the spirit of the thread, I find Michael Moorcock one
of the most "hit or miss" authors I've ever read. Can't stand the
Elric stuff, but really enjoyed most of the Jerry Cornelius
books...and I think his one-offs can be brilliant, like Behold The
Man, Mother London, etc.
Mark
author of:
The Secantis Sequence
Remains
www.marktiedemann.com
Michael Stemper
>On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:27:16 -0800, Gene Wirchenko <ge...@ocis.net> wrote:
>> No. It is not a matter of liking. There is obviously something
>>there, but somehow, the communication does not really reach me. It is
>>very puzzling.
I've had that same problem with her work. I was really looking forward to
reading it, based upon what I'd heard about her here. Unfortunately, she
didn't live up to the advance billing for me.
>It is like trying to understand someone with a very heavy foreign accent.
>If I concentrate, I can understand the individual words, but lose the overall
>meaning of what the person is saying.
That's a very good description of how it felt for me.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him talk like Mr. Ed
by rubbing peanut butter on his gums.
Mike Schilling
> In article <6mdti59mqnngufcgp...@4ax.com>, Mike Huskey
> <mik...@example.com> writes:
>> On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:27:16 -0800, Gene Wirchenko <ge...@ocis.net>
>> wrote:
>
>>> No. It is not a matter of liking. There is obviously something
>>> there, but somehow, the communication does not really reach me. It
>>> is very puzzling.
>
> I've had that same problem with her work. I was really looking
> forward to
> reading it, based upon what I'd heard about her here. Unfortunately,
> she
> didn't live up to the advance billing for me.
>
>> It is like trying to understand someone with a very heavy foreign
>> accent.
>> If I concentrate, I can understand the individual words, but lose
>> the overall meaning of what the person is saying.
>
> That's a very good description of how it felt for me.
Who is "she"? (I often get that feeling with Cherryh, myself.)
art...@yahoo.com
> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
> others.
>
> Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
> Loved:
> In the Drift
> Vacuum Flowers
> Stations of the Tide
> Bones of the Earth
>
> Hated:
> The Iron Dragon's Daughter
> Jack Faust
>
> Who makes your hit or miss list?
Patricia Anthony
Brother Termite was great
Cradle of Splendor---not so much
She hasn't written much lately.....
I liked The Iron Dragons Daughter more than either Bones of the Earth
or Vacuum flowers. Haven't read the others.
rexg...@yahoo.co.uk
Great question and i am breaking differently to everyone who has
posted here already
Regards
Rex
Michael Stemper
It must be coincidence, but that's who we were discussing.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
This email is to be read by its intended recipient only. Any other party
reading is required by the EULA to send me $500.00.
Mike Schilling
> In article <hi0gen$d8m$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, "Mike
> Schilling" <mscotts...@hotmail.com> writes:
>> Michael Stemper wrote:
>>> In article <6mdti59mqnngufcgp...@4ax.com>, Mike
>>> Huskey <mik...@example.com> writes:
>>>> On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:27:16 -0800, Gene Wirchenko
>>>> <ge...@ocis.net> wrote:
>
>>> I've had that same problem with her work. I was really looking
>>> forward to
>>> reading it, based upon what I'd heard about her here.
>>> Unfortunately,
>>> she
>>> didn't live up to the advance billing for me.
>>>
>>>> It is like trying to understand someone with a very heavy foreign
>>>> accent.
>>>> If I concentrate, I can understand the individual words, but lose
>>>> the overall meaning of what the person is saying.
>>>
>>> That's a very good description of how it felt for me.
>>
>> Who is "she"? (I often get that feeling with Cherryh, myself.)
>
> It must be coincidence, but that's who we were discussing.
One of the reasons I liked Cyteen so much is that during those WTF
moments, I could refer to the dscussions of it that Jo Walton, Graydon
et al had about it here, and that would usually be enough to get back
on track. I rarely mention this, because the notion that pleasure
reading might involve some work seems to offend people.
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Michael Stemper <mste...@siemens-emis.com> wrote:
>In article <hi0gen$d8m$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, "Mike Schilling"
><mscotts...@hotmail.com> writes:
>>Michael Stemper wrote:
>>> In article <6mdti59mqnngufcgp...@4ax.com>, Mike Huskey
><mik...@example.com> writes:
>>>> On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:27:16 -0800, Gene Wirchenko <ge...@ocis.net> wrote:
>
>>> I've had that same problem with her work. I was really looking
>>> forward to
>>> reading it, based upon what I'd heard about her here. Unfortunately,
>>> she
>>> didn't live up to the advance billing for me.
>>>
>>>> It is like trying to understand someone with a very heavy foreign
>>>> accent.
>>>> If I concentrate, I can understand the individual words, but lose
>>>> the overall meaning of what the person is saying.
>>>
>>> That's a very good description of how it felt for me.
>>
>>Who is "she"? (I often get that feeling with Cherryh, myself.)
>
>It must be coincidence, but that's who we were discussing.
>
While I've really liked some of her work, other books of hers strike
me as painfully oblique. I can't recall which one right now, but I
recall reading a scene and thinkig "wait a minute, did they just
have sex? That would be important." going back and re-reading it
and *still* not being sure..
Ted
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Gerry Quinn
mscotts...@hotmail.com says...
I'm not so much offended as puzzled by the notion that failure to get
the point across to the reader could be seen as anything other than a
defect in a piece of literature.
- Gerry Quinn
Mike Schilling
All books have defects. There are worse ones than: having depth but
being opaque in spots.
rexg...@yahoo.co.uk
> In another thread about Tim Powers, I and others were discussing how he
> seems to be hit or miss for many. Loving some of his books, not caring for
> others.
>
> Another I add to that list for me is Michael Swanwick.
>
> Loved:
> In the Drift
> Vacuum Flowers
> Stations of the Tide
> Bones of the Earth
>
> Hated:
> The Iron Dragon's Daughter
> Jack Faust
>
> Who makes your hit or miss list?
>
>
> --
> Dennis/Endy9
> ~Some will sink, but we will float. Grab your coat. Let's get out of here.
> You're my witness, I'm your Mutineer.~ Warren Zevon
> --
Loved
Stations of the Tide
Vacuum Flowers
The Iron Dragon's Daughter
Promising but no home run
Bones of the Earth
Need to reread
In the Drift
Didn't like at all
Jack Faust
Regards
Rex