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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,080
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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This was another section that I had to read twice to follow the various twists and turns. Other thoughts... we had a quick flash forward to a later ceremony of mysterious import. I'd forgotten about the green man (foolishly, as we were promised he…
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The Other Wind is (IMHO, naturally) totally awesome, both as a story in its own right, and also as both a culmination and subversion of the whole mythology Ursula LeGuin carefully set up in the earlier books. Since at a guess we are two years away f…
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(Quote) "All the glory of mortality was in [the dragons'] flight. Their beauty was made up of terrible strength, and utter wildness, and the grace of reason. For these were thinking creatures, with speech, and ancient wisdom: in the patterns of…
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This thread is a good a place as any to comment, that every time I reread the EarthSea books I am somewhat overwhelmed by Ursula LeGuin's capacity with language. I find books 2, 3 and 5 profoundly emotionally stirring (it's a long time sine I read #…
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Nothing much to say here: adding a comment so I see what others contribute.
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The people of the open sea, with their raft-based life, were hugely evocative for me or the transience and splendour of life: "The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss". And the Dragon's Run, with the dr…
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It has always seemed to me that magic in EarthSea is intimately connected to language. There's the obvious way in that the key thing in any struggle is to be able to accurately and correctly name your opponent,. Also as you go further away from the …
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There are occasional comments about sundry great deeds that he has performed between books 2 and 3, for example, capping the Black Well of Fundaur (whatever that is :) ). So we can assume that he has quite adequately proved his competence... but my …
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I think there are several complexities in the picture. One is that it is perennially unclear who is leading and who is following. Sparrowhawk insists on numerous occasions that Arren must lead, since otherwise he wil not know which way to go. This …
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> @NeilNjae said: > (Quote) > Yes, but who (or what) actually are the leviathans? What do they want? Why are they using Nessus and Ascians as tools in their struggles? I don't think the books have yet been clear on the matter. > I…
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These chapters were seriously dense! I read them twice over to try and sort out all the many twists and turns, and also looked back at the Azure House episode in book 1. Re the latter, I can now see some clues that support the connection, but I can'…
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This extract from Brave New Worlds "This seemingly paradoxical situation can arise because, in a dystopia, the society often gives up A in exchange for B, but the benefit of B blinds the society to the loss of A; it is often not until many yea…
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Looking forward to reading this one
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That'll give me time to finish it as well :)
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BTW, not related to this particular group of chapters, but a general point... going for a walk yesterday in our frosty fells here brought home to me again just how good, in an unobtrusive way, Gene Wolfe is at describing a nearly-dead world. Only ve…
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> @Apocryphal said: > Also, the the flying wheels not make you think of Ezekiel? I thought it was pretty cool how they were described. > From Ezekiel's first vision: "This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They spa…
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> @clash_bowley said: >. The fighting units were what made no sense to me. They looked like they came out of a pre-game set up session using random tables of people, mounts, weapons, and accoutrements. Yes, that captures it very well. Eith…
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Totally chaotic, and deliberately so on Gene Wolfe's part I think. The oddness for me was in the lack of any understanding of the big picture (and for me this made it, as @NeilNjae says, Napoleonic). Each unit seemed oblivious of the whole, though o…
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In a weird piece of synchronicity I got posted this link by a friend yesterday... https://www.tor.com/2019/11/20/michael-moorcocks-elric-saga-optioned-for-tv/
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> @Apocryphal said: > (Quote) > Clear as mud! :-) > Hoho yes! I'll try again... So going with the time-like-a-river metaphor, and looking forward, the future becomes more and more blurry. The same set of starting conditions migh…
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I liked the exploration of time in these chapters... these various places we have met before are actually layering through time as well as space, brought into particular focus with the house. I reread the Hut in the Jungle portion from book 1, and t…
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> @Apocryphal said: > LEXICON > > (Quote) > Isangoma: We looked this up at the time (back in the first book) and discovered that an Isangoma is a Zulu Witch-doctor. > > I wonder why Wolfe is calling our attention back to…
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> @Apocryphal said: > LEXICON > > (Quote) > Merychip: We've had this before, maybe in the first book. Merychippus is an extinct proto-horse. > So I guess we should be saying meryc-hip rather than (as I have been) mery-chi…
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Indeed, I hope you and your partner get back on an even keel again soon. If I was judging I'd give the prize to Foila. No doubt about it in my mind. What will Severian choose? The trip to the house reminded me of an ancient world storytelling …
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(Quote) and presumably finish what you're saying sometime next year
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And, of course, infinite are the arguments of mages...
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I've wanted to reread Brave New World for a long time, I've not heard of the other two and don't have strong feelings pro or anti
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(Quote) I imagine it's Darmok? Back with the chapters, the conversation with Ava the Pellerine raises the interesting possibility that Severian has a sister - indeed, if I am interpreting her phrase "brother-sister names" correctly, a twi…
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(Quote) This reads as though Chin ultimately came to accept the view that Sarah Canary was a wild woman / wolf child, permanently unable to integrate socially with others. I guess at some stage he abandoned the faint hope that she would be his spiri…
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Aha! Recursion ! Love it!! I don't mind the Emily Dickinson ones - firstly they are chapter heads rather than in-narrative passages, and secondly her work could (slightly implausibly given her lack of in-lifetime publication) have been known in the…