From: Wu 
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 16:08:01 -0500
Subject: A self-indulgent book rant.

Hello -

Following in the footsteps of some of the other letters you've posted on
your page, I thought I'd deluge you with some of my opinions, and hope
you find them somewhat interesting... (there is no particular order
here)

1. I've just started the first Covenant trilogy, and am just about done
with the second book.  Frankly, I don't see why people have so many
problems with it.  I'm enjoying it a whole lot; sure, Covenant is a
bastard at times, but I actually can identify with him in some
circumstances (which might make me a similarly dislikable person, but
I'd rather not think so).  Being depressed doesn't decrease my enjoyment
of a book, so as a result I'm finding the Covenant trilogy one of the
best fantasies I've read.

2. Have you read the followup Foundation books?  Prelude to Foundation I
found fascinating; haven't gotten around to the others.  I also haven't
gotten around to the Robots series, which I hear recommended highly all
over the place.

3. Your rating of Card's Speaker for the Dead is something most readers
would agree with, but not me... I thought SftD was the best of the
bunch, personally.  Your rating of Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama also
surprised me... that's one of my favorite SF books ever... just be sure
to avoid the sequels.  Also avoid 2061 and 3001, and anything with
Gentry Lee's name on it.

5. About Feist... Riftwar started off well and got predictable, but the
two followup books are decent... the second, The King's Buccaneer, I
really enjoyed.  Also, the "Empire" trilogy (Daughter/Servant/Mistress
of the Empire) is much better than Riftwar.  Haven't read his new
Serpentwar Saga, but I've heard it's pretty good.

6. I believe I actually mentioned this a long time ago in a short note,
but Christopher Hinz does a good job with his sequels to Liege-Killer.
LK is pretty much a typical action SF novel, but the followups add some
pretty interesting twists.  The series ends with quite a bang.

7. Like you said, everyone has an author they rave about... mine is
George R.R. Martin.  You won't be getting into his "Song of Ice and
Fire" anytime soon since there are a planned four books, only one of
which (A Game of Thrones) is out; but I couldn't resist mentioning it.
Great characters, surprising originality given the state of the fantasy
genre these days.  Good stuff.  Also his short stories are good - check
out the collections "Tuf Voyaging" and "Sandkings".

8. Another author I really love who I think is underrated is Charles
Sheffield.  I think he's one of the best hard sci-fi authors out there;
his early stuff in particular is good.  Between the Strokes of Night is
one of my favorite SF books, though most people seem lukewarm about it.
I've heard his early stuff is really good as well.

9. The Lord of the Rings... loved it, but I disagree with you on the
Silmarillion.  I think you just have to get used to the sort of
historical point of view.  Especially if you plan to read the 12-volume
History of Middle-earth.  I haven't read much of it but what I have is
fascinating.

10. Final disagreement.  I really like Varley's Gaean trilogy, except
for the fact that I can't find Demon anywhere (I'm ordering a used copy
ASAP).  It depressed you?  I just found it very interesting, and though
Wizard was a little slow I really enjoyed it.

And the obligatory Robert Jordan note (no, don't stop reading this
e-mail just yet).  I don't think you'd enjoy it a whole lot, judging
from the rest of your reviews.  It starts off very strongly - books 1,
2, and 4 I thought were very good - but quickly degenerates into bloated
(though fun to read, for me and obviously a whole lot of other people)
fluff.  I enjoy it but it's starting to get pretty bad.  The characters
have never been believable; the plot and extremely detailed setting
until about book 6 are pretty engaging, but things have slowed down
big-time.  I still count myself a Wheel of Time fan, but it's got
obvious flaws.

Ok, I'm almost done.  Other recommended books:
Larry Niven - The Integral Trees - very unique setting makes up for weak
plot and characters
Charles Sheffield - Cold As Ice - give your brain a rest and try this
sci-fi mystery novel
Arthur C. Clarke - More Than One Universe - a pretty good selection of
Clarke's short stories
George R.R. Martin - Fevre Dream - a classic no one's heard of; about
vampires
Timothy Zahn - Spinneret - a really great First Contact type yarn
Ben Bova and A.J. Austin - To Save The Sun - I picked it up expecting a
hard sci-fi novel; what it really is is political intrigue; very well
done but avoid the sequel
David Drake - anything (Surface Action, the Northworld trilogy, the
Hammer's Slammers series) - if your brain *really* needs a rest this is
some pretty fun military sci-fi; readable at warp speed :)

Hope I didn't just rehash what others have said... if I've forgotten
anything I'll probably write again.  In any case, I've got a reading
list at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/2064/rlist.html if
you're interested.

Great site -
Brandon Wu

PS. I plan on starting an SF&F amateur magazine, _Intrepid_, later this
year; if you would be interested in seeing some of your reviews
published, I'd be glad to - just e-mail me.  _Intrepid_ is sort of
planned as an expansion of my current zine, _The Sledgehammer_, which
covers a much narrower slice of the genre - the miniatures game
Warhammer 40,000.