From: Iron Czar 
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 02:47:34 -0500
Subject: On a Very Good Reviews Page

I just checked out your reviews page--overall, very well done, and
reasonably comprehensive.

I found myself nodding in agreement on reading many of the reviews (Dan
Simmons, for example--I just finished _Endymion_ tonight and think as
highly of it as I did of the first two)--and disagreeing wildly with
others (Weis and Hickman rate the same as _Lord of Light_?  Come on!)
Still, I enjoyed going over your reviews very much.  The numerical
ratings occasionally seemed inconsistent with the write-up, though.

Here's a couple of throwaway recommendations of stuff I've enjoyed:

1.  Poul Anderson's Time Patrol stuff.  Available in two volumes in pb.
Probably the definitive Time Travel stories.  (The best of the bunch,
IMO, is 'The Sorrow of Odin the Goth,' in _The Time Patrol_.)

2.  Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.  I'm something of a Howard
purist--I don't care very much for the Conan stuff written by knock-off
writers, and the current series of novels from Tor, so far as I've read
is utter garbage.  But the *original* Howard stuff is very good (if not
deep) reading.

3.  Poul Anderson's _Tau Zero_, which may be difficult to find, though I
gather that you (like me) frequent used book-shops, so you shouldn't
have too much trouble.  An excellent novel dealing with the effects of
relativity (on the grandest scale!) and isolation on the human psyche.
There's also a wealth of technical detail, as fans of Anderson should
expect by now.  This novel has character development and big ideas.

4.  Two novels by M. A. R. Barker, _The Man of Gold_ and _Flamesong_.
These are not a series, really, though they are set in the same world
and touch upon many of the same events.  The latter is reminiscent of
Edgar Rice Burroughs at his best.  In my opinion, Barker's world,
Tekumel, is the most original fantasy world ever created.  No kidding.
It's got a depth and richness almost unparallelled in fantasy fiction,
and is the equal of Middle-Earth in this respect--and it's *far* more
original.  (Not that I am slighting Tolkien, mind you!)  The
characterization is a bit lacking, perhaps (though I wouldn't go so far
as to call this a Realy Big Flaw,) but the texture of the setting makes
up for it.

5.  C. S. Freidman's _In Conquest Born_.  I love this book, and have
read it several times.  Really exceptional when you consider that it was
Freidman's first published work.

6.  Heinlein's _To Sail Beyond the Sunset_.  This is a very different
book, especially viewed in the light of RAH's early work.  It's
essentially an autobiography of Lazarus Long's mother.

7.  Larry Niven's _Ringworld_.  Great Big Idea book.  _Ringworld
Engineers_ wasn't as good, but was certainly readable.  I've heard
*really* negative stuff about _Ringworld Throne_, though--believable
after reading the atrocious _The Gripping Hand_.

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on Donaldson's _Gap_
series--finished it myself not too long ago, and enjoyed it the way I
usually enjoy Donaldson's stuff--with a kind of horrified facination.

8.  Fred Saberhagen's _Swords_ trilogy (The First Book of Swords, The
Second Book of Swords, etc.)  Interesting idea, pretty good writing.
The gods make a set of magical weapons and distribute them among mankind
to amuse themselves by all the blood spilled over them.  Trouble is, it
turns out that the swords can kill the gods themselves.  A problem I had
with this series was that Saberhagen's pantheon of Gods is made up all
all of the mythological gods of earth's past (Vulcan, Zeus, Ishtar,
Thor, and so on.)  I'd have preferred to see an original pantheon.
Still, the books are fairly enjoyable.  The later books are less so, but
the first two of the 'Lost Swords' books make up a single story and are
entertaining in their own right.

9.  The prequel to the Swords books, _Empire of the East_.  Probably
better, actually.  Set some centuries before the swords books, and
entirely separate from them in term of story and characters (though a
single character *does* appear in both series.)

10.  Jordan's _Wheel of Time_.  Yes, I know you're not going to read it
until it's finished (which may be quite a ways off), but I'll throw
another recommendation on the pile anyhow.  Huge, complex and inspired.
I noted that one of your letter-writers (I forget which one) claims that
Jordan ripped off Brooks.  That's pretty laughable, really.  *No* author
writing today is going to rip off Terry Brooks, trust me--they'd be
laughed at.

11.  George R. R. Martin's _A Game of Thrones_.  The first in a series
of four.  Only the first is out, so you'll be wanting to wait, but you
might as well let those recommendations start piling up--I think we're
going to be seeing a lot of talk on this one once the second book comes
out next year.

12.  Isaac Asimov's _The End of Eternity_.  Not sure if this is still in
print or not, but it shouldn't be too hard to find.  One of Asimov's
best, the story of a *culture* that uses time travel and it's
ramifications for mankind.  Great ending, I thought.

13.  Sean Russell's _The Initiate Brother_ and _Gatherer of Clouds_ make
up what is essentially a single long novel.  Good reading.  It's an epic
fantasy which draws on the cultures of the Orient rather than those of
the West.  Refreshing and well-written.

14.  I heartily endorse tracking down all of the Hugo Winners volumes,
of which there are seven, I think.  These are shorter-than-novel-length
award winners, and harbor numerous great stories.  I don't care for
*all* of them, of course, but a great many are worth reading.  Arthur C.
Clarke's "The Star" is probably the finest SF short I've ever read, and
David Brin's "The Crystal Spheres" is brilliant.  I could, no doubt,
name other great stories, but I don't have the books in front of me.
I've been picking up a lot of these types of anthologies lately.

15.  Joe Haldeman's _The Forever War_.  Sort of a counterpoint to
_Starship Troopers_, showing what happens when a military is handled the
*wrong* way.  Great book, winner of both Hugo and Nebula.

16.  Marion Zimmer Bradley's _The Mists of Avalon_.  This book kicked
off the whole trend of what I call 'Wymmin's' fantasy, filed with
sympathetic females, bastardly males, and neo-pagan pap.  Nevertheless,
*this* particular specimen happens to be a very good book.

Well, hope that helps.  I'll probably throw some more picks your way at
some point.  Right now I'm reading Poul Anderson's _Harvest of Stars_
and am pretty satisfied with it so far.

Later,

--
Iron Czar
Gary N. Mengle
ironczar@erienet.net

Check out the Czar's Homepage at:
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