Terry Pratchett

 Imaginary Interviewer: What's up next for the reading list?

Me: Next up is 'Small Gods' by Terry Pratchett. 

II: What should we know about Pratchett? 

Me: Well, he's best known for the Discworld series. He published a couple of books a year and (per Wikipedia) the UK's best selling author of the 90's. The Discworld series consists of 41 different novels, of which our book, 'Small Gods' is one of them. 

II: Tell me about the Discworld. 

Me: Discworld is a flat earth style planet. It is on the back of a gigantic, cosmic turtle. It is a world with different lands and different cultures. Magic works there and gods exist. Also, the personification of Death appears in most every story, including this one. 

II: Is it a 3S book?

Me: It most certainly is. 3S (for any that don't know) stands for Swords Sorcery and Series. The Discworld books fit all three qualifications. On the plus side, my understanding is that most of the books can be read by themselves. In other words you can dip in and out and not feel like picking one up commits you to the other 40 titles. 

II: Have you read any others in the series? 

Me: A very long time ago I read 'Mort', which deals with Death. I don't remember any of the specifics but I enjoyed it. I also read 'Good Omens' which isn't a Discworld book but was written by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Enjoyed that as well. 

II: How would you describe the style?

Me: Pratchett is a very witty writer. Not quite on Douglas Adams' level but close. You'll frequently crack a smile while reading his books and might laugh out loud a couple of times. One other thing you should know, he doesn't write in traditional chapters. If you say to yourself "I'll just finish this chapter up", you'll be there until the end of the book. In short, enjoyable and hard to put down. 

Piers Anthony

 Imaginary Interviewer: And on to the next book. Who are we reading now?

Humble Writer: We're reading something by Piers Anthony. The selection is for the Xanth Series of books. The first one, which is our sole target, is called 'A Spell for Chameleon'. 

II: What should we know about Anthony?

HW: Prior to 1977 he had published a dozen or so books. In '77 he started the Xanth series and that's almost exclusively what he's been writing. Wikipedia has a quote where he says that this is all that his publishers have wanted from him. 

II: Does it constitute a lot of books?

HW: Oh yes. per Wikipedia there are now 46 books in the series with two more announced. 

II: 46?

HW: Yes. If each one is around 300 pages (a guess on my part), then the series is just short of 14,000 pages long. 

II: Wow. Any good?

HW: Well, I haven't read any of the Xanth books until this project. I've seen a huge number of them in used bookstores over the years, so I'm sure collecting a large number of them would be easy enough. So they're obviously very popular and have a dedicated fan base. That speaks to some level of quality. 

II: But what do you think?

HW: Having dipped my toe in only, I can tell you that I'm pretty pleased with what I've read. The Xanth region is one where (most) everyone has some level of magic. Anthony plays with this premise in a joyful way. He's obviously having fun with this writing and that makes the reading easier. 

II: Hard magic or soft magic?

HW: Oh, very much driven by rules so hard magic. 

II: Anything else we should know? 

HW: In the print edition, the book starts out with a map (as the best ones do.) The area for Xanth is clearly modeled after the state of Florida. I got a kick out of this and I'm sure Anthony did too. 

II: Recommended?

HW: Yes. At least try the first 100 or so pages. 

Terry Goodkind

 Imaginary Interviewer: It's that time again, or, well, actually a day late, but you know what we mean. Who are we reading for November?

Humble Writer: This month we're doing 'Wizard's First Rule' by Terry Goodkind. I winced when this book came up but I'm really enjoying it.

II: Why did you wince?

HW: I've got this book mentally tagged as a "3S" book. That stands for Swords, Sorcery and Series. This isn't my favorite genre. 

II: Why not? 

HW: It's the third S that gets me. 'Wizard's First Rule' is the first book in the 'Sword of Truth' series. According to Wikipedia the series spans 21 novels and 6 novellas. The first book is over 800 pages. The entire series is probably close to 20,000 pages. If you read 100 pages a day, this would take you nearly 7 months to read. That's a lot.

II: Have you read anything by Goodkind before this?

HW: I had not. I'm sure I saw the books in bookstores but they look very 3S so I avoided them. Looking at Wikipedia, I don't see much to his career outside of the 'Sword of Truth' books. Not that he needed a lot more than them. More than 25 million copies have been sold in the series and it's been translated into more than 20 languages. That alone is a pretty meaty career. 

II: And you're enjoying it?

HW: I am! My personal rule is to give a book at least 100 pages before giving up on it and I'm afraid that the 3S doorstops might hit that rule frequently. But I'm currently about 600 pages into 'Wizard's First Rule' and still going. The story is interesting, the writing is fine (if plain). What really gets me, though, are the characters. The main character is Richard Cypher and he's fascinating. Time and time again, the book puts him in a difficult position where he must untie some knotty problem and he keeps navigating them in surprising and virtuous ways! It's good stuff!

II: So you'd recommend it. 

HW: I very much would. I'd certainly try giving it 100 pages and see if it catches you.

II: And the rest of the series?

HW: Yeah, that's the rub. Absent someone paying me to do it, I can't envision what would compel me to happily commit to 20,000 pages. But the first one, at least, is good and worth your time!

Peter Beagle

 Imaginary Interviewer: Another month, another new book! What are we reading this time?

Humble Writer: We're reading 'The Last Unicorn' by Peter Beagle. 

II: Was a movie made from this book?

HW: Yes. I watched it recently on Tubi. The movie was also written by Beagle and stays very faithfully to the book.

II: What do you know about Beagle?

HW: Nothing, really. I remembered the title of the movie from the early 80s. That's all.

II: So, you haven't read 'The Last Unicorn' before?

HW: I haven't. I've started it already, though, and I can tell you that it's very good.

II: What else is Beagle known for?

HW: Scanning his Wikipedia page, I see some praise for a book called 'A Fine and Private Place' but I haven't heard of it before. Apparently he did some screenwriting for the Bakshi animated version of 'The Lord of the Rings' and did some writing for Star Trek:TNG. 

II: What can you tell us about 'The Last Unicorn'?

HW: It came out in 1968 and it feels absolutely like fantasy that was written in the 60s or 70s. By which I mean that it is clever and unexpected but not mean or cynical. It has some darkness and some joy. I recommend it.

II: Anything else?

HW: The book isn't that long. Only a couple of hundred pages. Pick it up and give it a try!

Salman Rushdie

 We're on to a new year in the Science Fiction/Fantasy reading. By request we're going to detour just a bit and read some Salman Rushdie. Given the horrific attack on him, this seems appropriate. 

Imaginary Interviewer: What should we know about Salman Rushdie?

Me: He's a very accomplished writer. That's the first thing you should know. His overall story is bigger than his writing, but we shouldn't let that overshadow his writing talent. 

II: And the overall story?

Me: In the late 80's he wrote 'The Satanic Verses'. Some people read parts of the book as an attack on Islam. A price was put on his head and some extremists wanted him dead. As a result, he went into hiding for many years. I'm not familiar enough with Islam to judge the anti-Islam criticism. I strongly feel that authors should be able to punish work that criticizes large subjects such as religion, sex, politics, etc. 

II: Have you read it?

Me: It was the first Rushdie that I read and it was some years back. My memory of it is favorable. 

II: Have you read any of his other books?

Me: Yes, six or eight of them. My favorite is 'Midnight's Children', which I've read three or four times. When it came out it was awarded the Booker Prize and then later judged as the best of the Booker Prize winners. 

II: And what are you reading this month?

Me: We're reading 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'. It's a little easier than some of his other works and it's a pure fantasy novel, so it fits better with what we're reading. 

II: Anything you'd like to say about it?

Me: Sure. In some ways the book reminds me of 'The Phantom Tollbooth' where a young boy goes to a fantasy world and has to understand it in all of its allegorical wonder. The book is about stories and storytelling. It's about where stories come from and *most importantly* what threatens good storytelling. I highly recommend it. 

Neal Stephenson

 Imaginary Interviewer: What's the next book?

Humble Writer: It's a book by Neal Stephenson, 'The Diamond Age, or 'A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'. 

II: Have you read it before?

HW: Several times. It's one of my all time favorites. A genuine classic. This book won both the Hugo and Locus awards when it came out in 1995. 

II: What can you tell us about the author?

HW: Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite living authors. His writing is incredibly intelligent. As a reader, I often have to stop and think about the setting and circumstances that he has put together. He's a tremendous world-builder. His futuristic works seem very possible and his historical works feel like he understood the period better than those inside of it.

II: Historical works?

HW: I first came to Stephenson through a trilogy that he wrote called 'The Baroque Cycle'. The books take place in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They involve everything from the workings of England's natural philosophers, the beginnings of modern finance, cryptography, royal politics and a lovable rogue named Half Cocked Jack. I'm a huge fan. A word of caution though, each book is nearly 1000 pages. 

II: That's a lot. How big is 'The Diamond Age'?

HW: Only about 500 pages. My rule of thumb for books is that I give them 100 pages to hook me. If they fail in that span, then I set them down. I've easily passed that mark in all of Stephenson's works. 

II: Is Stephenson well regarded? 

HW: Uh yes, but he does have his detractors. His last few books have criticized both sides of the culture wars, which I'm guessing did not make him many friends. To go along with that, not everyone appreciates the doorstop size of his works. And to top all of that, several of his books end without a climax. The story stops at a point when it absolutely could have gone forward. This isn't a way to make fans happy. 

II: Anything else we should know?

HW: Yes. The man is an absolute master at writing info-dumps. These happen when an author needs to explain something to the reader. A new concept, a technology, a crucial bit of history, that kind of thing. Stephenson is better at this than virtually any other author that I know of. I've heard it said that reading a different book of his, 'Cryptonomicon', makes you the smartest person in your vicinity. There is something to that. I hope you enjoy 'The Diamond Age'!

H G Wells

 Imaginary Interviewer: Well, now we're on to one of the biggies, HG Wells. What can you tell me about him?

Humble Writer: Wells is indeed one of the biggest names in science fiction. Along with Jules Verne, he developed some of the most popular types of science fiction stories. 

II: Kind of invented them?

HW: Uh...that's not quite how I'd put it. Other people may have written stories about time travelers, for instance, but virtually every time travel story of today owes more to 'The Time Machine' than they do to any earlier work. 

II: His work is that revered?

HW: Without a doubt. Not only because other writers were influenced by him, but also because so many people read him that the value of science fiction, as a genre, was proved. 

II: And what are you reading this month?

HW: We're reading 'The Time Machine', the tale of a time traveler who has built his own time machine and used it...perhaps unwisely. 

II: What else should we know about Wells?

HW: His works are often political in nature, sometimes in a way that isn't obvious to us now because the political discussions have moved on. He was a Socialist, but that term in Great Britain in the 1890s simply didn't mean that same thing that it does now. If he were around today, he would almost certainly be left of center, but I'd hesitate to pin him down more than that. 

II: Have you read any of his work before?

HW: I've read his biggest works, 'The Time Machine', 'War of the Worlds' and 'The Invisible Man'. I've read a large chunk of his 'The Outline of History' but that was a while ago and I don't remember it anymore. 

II: Enjoyable?

HW: Oh yes, I think so. I mean, his writing is 19th century, so be prepared for long paragraphs of text. But he's a very good writer and he makes it work. I remember preferring 'War of the Worlds' to 'The Time Machine' but I don't know how that memory will stand up. 

II: Anything else?

HW: This is one of the shorter works that we'll read. So if you don't enjoy it, at least it won't take that long!