Montivalan Special Forces penetrate a besieged city through a secret tunnel. I have been reading this kind of fiction for over six decades and hope to continue reading it for another - four? But it is no longer sufficient merely to read. Now we can blog and not just about fight scenes. A narrative that was just one battle after another would not hold my attention indefinitely. In fact, some of the characters are becoming impatient to finish this war once and for all. I want to know more about these "Powers of the Void" (back cover blurb) that possess some of the enemy leaders. What is the metaphysical basis of this conflict? Continue reading...
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can sympathize with the impatience some readers can have for series possibly extended over too many volumes. An author has to be very good and ingenious if he wishes to retain the interest of his readers in cases like that. I think, by and large, S.M. Stirling succeeds in keeping his readers interested and willing to buy the Emberverse books.
And before the rise of the Internet and blogging, readers and critics wrote letters, essays, articles, etc., about the science fiction books which interested them--to be published in SF magazines. Some, like myself and you, wrote directly to authors like Poul Anderson and JRR Tolkien. I mention these men because they were among the writers who LIKED to hear from their readers, and often wrote replies to fan letters.
One of the books I have is a selection of the letters written by Tolkien. By the last years of his life it was impossible for him to keep up with his fans letters, much to his regret. Poul Anderson mentioned in one of his letters to me that was never a problem for him, that he never got the sheer volume of letters Heinlein, for example, received. I hope someday some of Anderson's letters will be collected and pub. the way it happened to Tolkien and Heinlein.
But, of course, blogging and emails has replaced old fashioned snail mail letters. Somewhat to my regret!
Sean
Post a Comment