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Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

494.0. "vote for UnEvEn authors" by BISTRO::WATSON (this must be the place) Thu Jun 25 1987 04:58

    Any views on most uneven authors?
    
    I thought of this while replying to a note on LeGuin. The middle
    period LeGuin (approx City of Illusions to Word For World is Forest)
    I think is great. Before and after that, well...
    
    Most people seem to agree that Herbert's standards have varied
    enormously within the Dune series.
    
    The most extreme example for me is Gene Wolff. I found the Book
    of the New Sun almost impossible to put down and everything else
    by him I've attempted very difficult to get thru.
    
    Or is it the reader who is inconsistent :-) ?
    
    	Andrew.
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494.1Silverberg and MoorcockDSSDEV::WALSHThe sinners are much more funMon Jun 29 1987 18:529
    My votes for uneven authors are Silverberg and Moorcock.
    
    Silverberg, because I don't share his obsession with death, and when
    he gets gloomy he gets terrible.  
    
    Moorcock, because the man who can do Elric and "Behold the Man" also
    does all that other DREADFUL stuff.
    
    - Chris
494.2two moreSTUBBI::B_REINKEthe hidden laughter of children in the treesThu Jul 02 1987 19:362
    Two others that I find uneven are Peirs Anthony and Alan Dean
    Foster - Foster's adaptations of movies are especially awful.
494.3AKOV68::BOYAJIANI want a hat with cherriesFri Jul 03 1987 05:0311
    re:.2
    
    *Most* of his novelizations are awful. THE BLACK HOLE wasn't
    too bad (a *lot* better than the movie), ALIENS was pretty
    good (ALIEN, on the other hand, was terrible), and THE THING
    was *very* good.
    
    On the other hand, I tend not to care that much for his regular
    work.
    
    --- jerry
494.4small quibbleVOLGA::B_REINKElaughter of children in the treesMon Jul 06 1987 16:101
    re .3 Well I like the books set in the Humanx worlds....
494.5INK::KALLISHallowe'en should be legal holidayMon Jul 06 1987 18:418
    Re .3:
    
    >        ...                          THE BLACK HOLE wasn't
    >too bad (a *lot* better than the movie) ... 
    
    What isn't?
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
494.6GLORY::GORDONDoug Gordon, ECA ConsultantTue Jul 07 1987 13:0512
    	I think that David Gerrold has been very inconsistent over the
    years.  His "Deathbeast" and "The Man Who Folded Himself" were
    original (new twists on old themes) and generally well written.
    The Chtorr series, on the other hand, seems to me to be an example
    of stories that were made up as he went along, with unlikely plot
    turns, and seemed to have needed a couple more revision passes.
    Maybe he just needed the money quickly.
    
    	An older author that was also sometimes difficult to get through
    was Philip K. Dick.  I could never quite figure out if some of his
    stuff was poorly written or if I was just too dense to understand
    it 8^).
494.7AKOV75::BOYAJIANI want a hat with cherriesWed Jul 08 1987 05:2911
    re:.6
    
    On the contrary, Gerrold did *not* rush along with the Chtorr
    series. He'd been planning it for years before it finally
    came out. I'd been to a number of conventions where Gerrold
    would have an informal group discussion (really informal ---
    usually off in a corner during a party) to bounce ideas for
    the series off of people and get feedback. I'd participated
    in about 3 of these discussions.
    
    --- jerry
494.8The chicken or the egg?SSDEVO::YOUNGERI haven't lost my mind - it's Backed-up on tape somewhereSat Jul 11 1987 03:574
    re: .3,.4,.5 -- don't kick me too hard, but my understanding on
    the (admittedly) awful book/movie _The_Black_Hole_ was that he wrote
    the book first, and then did the scrrenplay.  I think they had the
    same SFX team as "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (yes, the movie).
494.9Variety has its Drawbacks ...COMICS::DOYLEMon Jul 13 1987 13:408
    A lot of the quoted authors produce a considerable variety of
    output.People like Moorcock,Dick and Silverberg have produced fiction
    that ranges over a wide selection of subject matter (Moorcock being
    particularly eclectic - Jerry Cornelius,Elric,Pyat etc.).This type
    of author will surely tend to appeal to different people with different
    works/styles.Certainly this seems to be true amongst most of my
    acquaintances.I admit,though,that I find most of Dick and Moorcock's
    books fascinating.
494.10NopeAKOV68::BOYAJIANI want a hat with cherriesTue Jul 14 1987 08:595
    re:.8
    
    The BLACK HOLE movie came first and begat the book.
    
    --- jerry