Conference noted::sf

    _Silverlock_ is quite wonderful -- it's almost a test. If you can get
    all his allusions, you qualify for a degree in English Lit. somewhere
    :-)
    				- hbm

    
    	I read this book at least 10 years ago and truly enjoyed it.
    After reading it, I lent it to my brother, who lent it to a friend,
    who lent it to a friend.....it ended up that I got it back many
    months later. Turns out that most of the people who read it, were
    turned on to SF and Fantasy for the first time and most are now
    avid readers.
    
    Charlie

    
    
    	He has another novel (_very_ strange and hard to read) call
    The Moons Daughter or some time like that.
    
    Charlie

    That's THE MOON'S FIRE-EATING DAUGHTER. These are the only fantasy
    novels he's written. He's written a number of western and mainstream
    novels, though, as well as non-fiction.
    
    I don't know of anyone who's gotten all of the allusions found in
    SILVERLOCK. I've heard tell of a concordance to the book that
    details all of the references, but i've yet to find a copy.
    
    --- jerry

>     That's THE MOON'S FIRE-EATING DAUGHTER. These are the only fantasy
>     novels he's written. ...

One more, I think -- I recall reading _The Harp and the Blade_ a
few years back.  I can't give more detail than that, since it
wasn't very memorable....

I do remember being very disappointed in it, and in _The Moon's
Fire-eating Daughter_, considering how wonderful _Silverlock_
was. (I am of the opinion that no English major should receive a
degree without reading _Silverlock_ and identifying a certain
percentage of the characters!  But then I'm not sure if *I* would
have graduated...  ;-) )

-- Cathy

    re .5 (Cathy):
    
>One more, I think -- I recall reading _The Harp and the Blade_ a
>few years back.  I can't give more detail than that, since it
>wasn't very memorable....
 
    Well, that hardly classified as a "fantasy."  With the exception
    of being put under a curse, the rest of it is an action-adventure
    story of the Medieval period.  The hero's something of a poet.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.   

    Well, I'm willing to give it another try, maybe, but I (for a lonely
    one) really disliked "Silverlock", even though I was an English
    minor and think I did a pretty good job of identifying allusions.
    The allusions are a gimmick I could live without -- I don't care
    for mixing all those folk together, out of their familiar context.
    And without them I didn't think there was a story worth my time.
    
    But maybe I'm remembering wrong.
    
    Oh well!
    
    Sherry

Re .6
    
>     Well, that hardly classified as a "fantasy."  With the exception
>     of being put under a curse, the rest of it is an action-adventure
>     story of the Medieval period.  The hero's something of a poet.
    
Like I said, Steve, I didn't find it very memorable.... though
one of the few things I recall was that there was a (secondary?)
character named Conan...?  Or am I remembering it wrong?

-- Cathy

    Re .9 (Cathy):
    
>Like I said, Steve, I didn't find it very memorable.... though
>one of the few things I recall was that there was a (secondary?)
>character named Conan...?  Or am I remembering it wrong?
 
    You're not remembering it wrong.  He was one of the focal points
    for crystallizing a litytle civilization out of the relative chaos
    of the time.
    
    It's light summer reading, no more.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.   

Article: 338
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews
Subject: REPOST: Belated Reviews #14: "Silverlock"
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: 25 Aug 93 01:21:29 GMT
 
		Belated Reviews #14:  "Silverlock"
 
"Silverlock" (****-), by John Myers Myers, is as much a game as a fantasy.
It is the story of A. Clarence Shandon, an obnoxious Chicagonian who is
washed ashore in the Commonwealth of Letters, and his adventures there.
Those adventures, in themselves, make an enjoyable book, but half the fun
in reading "Silverlock" is to identify the people and places he encounters,
because every single one of them is borrowed from previous literature.
 
Myers is fair, and provides a nice mix of characters, from the obscure to
the readily identifiable, from those freely named to those whose identities
are only hinted at.  (I though I was well-read, but when I read "Silverlock"
I recognized fewer than a third of the characters.)  Characters such as
(to give you a handful at which to try your hand) Lucius, who accidentally
changes himself into a donkey with a magic ointment; Janet, who attempts to
win her bespelled lover back at Miles Cross; Pangloss, who is sure that his
being taken by slavers is all for the best; Miss Emma Watson (surely you 
remember her?); and Sir Despard Murgatroyd, who's cursed to perform an evil
deed every day.
 
You'll notice a third aspect to the book:  Most of the people and places
(all but one (two?) in the above examples) come from those classics which 
are antecedents of modern fantasy -- the great works of imagination that
came before a genre was set aside for them.  In a way, "Silverlock" is
a tour of the bedrock upon which modern fantasy is built.
 
Reviews and introductions don't do the book justice.  (The 1985 Ace reprint
has *two* introductions, and they seem to do the book more harm than good.)
Yes, it's as much a game as a novel, but it's a good game (thrilling, in a 
way) and a good novel, and well worth the time.  Perhaps it's just that the
framework seems flimsy:  A story about a man who enters a place called the
Commonwealth of Letters and meets people from other books does sound a bit 
as if it belongs on Sesame Street or, at best, as if it's like "The Never-
Ending Story" -- a cute idea that doesn't work so well in practice.  What 
makes "Silverlock" more than that is the skill and knowledge which Myers 
brings to it, and that's not something a review or introduction can readily
convey.
 
The more you bring to this book the more you'll take from it.  Conversely, 
a reader who has read little enough might not see what the fuss is about. 
And I recently had a friend for whom this was *not* an issue dislike it 
because of the character's obnoxious attitude towards women (though it 
improves).  You may not like it either -- but if you enjoy reading, there's 
a good chance you will.
 
"Silverlock" was written in 1949.  "The Moon's Fire-Eating Daughter",
written in 1981, is a thematic sequel, but readers who loved the first
book tend to be disappointed by the second.	
 
%A  Myers, John Myers
%T  Silverlock
%I  Ace
%D  1967 (?)
%P  347 pages
%O  The most commonly available edition is the 1981 Ace edition.
%O  I listed the earlier Ace edition because I know its page count.
 
Standard introduction and disclaimer for Belated Reviews follows.

Belated Reviews cover science fiction and fantasy of earlier decades.
They're for newer readers who have wondered about the older titles on the
shelves, or who are interested in what sf/f was like in its younger days.
The emphasis is on helping interested readers identify books to try first, 
not on discussing the books in depth.
 
A general caveat is in order:  Most of the classics of yesteryear have not
aged well.  If you didn't encounter them back when, or in your early teens,
they will probably not give you the unforced pleasure they gave their
original audiences.  You may find yourself having to make allowances for
writing you consider shallow or politics you consider regressive.  When I
name specific titles, I'll often rate them using the following scale:
 
**** Recommended.
***  An old favorite that hasn't aged well, and wouldn't get a good
	reception if it were written today.  Enjoyable on its own terms.
**   A solid book, worth reading if you like the author's works.
*    Nothing special.
 
Additional disclaimers:  Authors are not chosen for review in any particular
order.  The reviews don't attempt to be comprehensive.  No distinction is 
made between books which are still in print and books which are not.
 
-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com
 
  The surface of the strange, forbidden planet was roughly textured and green,
  much like cottage cheese gets way after the date on the lid says it is all 
  right to buy it.--Scott Jones