From: Magali Mathieu 
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 11:20:06 +0100
Subject: your book page
 
        Hi,
 
I discovered your www page sometimes in december, and read it with interest.
I quickly realised that, whenever we both had read the same book, our opinions
about it where roughly the same. So I decided to give a try to some of the
books that you rated highly which I did not know, and went into heavy buying
and reading... so far, so good !
To give you an idea ('new' means I followed your advice and tried the author),
I agree with you on Adams, Asimov, Brin (new), Brust (new), Clancy, Crichton,
Feist, Gibson, Herbert, Hubbard, Kay, McCaffrey, Moorcock, Niven, Rice(new),
Saberhagen, Silverberg, Tolkien...
 
Hence this mail: I'm sending you some comments on books I read which are not
on your list, plus some comments on books on which I disagree a bit with you.
 
Poul Anderson
                the Time Patrol
        I'm taking a guess at the english title... Collection of short stories
        about a man from the fifties, who gets a job as a time patroller. He's
        supposed to check that history is not altered, or so his bosses from
        the future say... The best book of this author, imho.
 
Willian Fortschen
                The Lost Regiment trilogy
        A northern regiment from the american civil war is displaced on
        another world, where it meets with some russian from the middle age,
        some ancient romans... and some nasty nomadic beings who consider
        them as cattle, to be eating in some gruesome ways... The first book
        is quite good, with lots of tactical consideration made interesting
        and some *very* disgusting descriptions. It gets repetitive after that.
 
C.S. Friedman
                Black Sun Rising
        Very good book set on a planet colonised by human some time ago, and
        where some dark forces are working. It's a fantasy book, where good
        and evil have to ally against a greater danger. Full of ideas, and
        plenty of moral choices for the 'good' guy. Recommanded.
 
Mary Gentle:
                Rats and Gargoyles
        The only reason I finished this book was because I had bought it... and
        I haven't the faintest idea what it was about. There is hardly any
        continuity, it's very painful to read and uninteresting. I heard that
        some of her books were quite good, but it will be some time before
        I ever try one, and I certainly will not buy it!
 
Robert Jordan:
                The Wheel of Time
        Ok, I won't say a thing...:)
 
Richard Matheson
                Bid Time Return
        A man with terminal illness feels in love with a woman from the last
        century and manages to rejoin her... A very poetic and romantic story,
        and a book difficult to put down once you started it. I also recommand
        most books from the same author (alas, I only know the french titles..)
 
Dennis McKiernan
                The Eye of the Hunter
        Fantasy. Nice reading, but I never managed to get in the story, to
        get interest in the characters.
 
Michael Moorcock
                ?
                ?
                The end of all songs
 
        Sadly, I cannot come with the english titles from the first two books
        of this trilogy. It's about some godlike beings who live far in the
        future, when Earth is near its end. One of those being travels in
        time and falls in love with a woman from the Victorian area. It's very
        funny (D.Adams must have read it:), very original, and far above any
        other books from Moorcock, Elric included.
 
Terry Pratchett:
        I haven't read all the books, but I'm planning on it. The best I read:
                Guards! Guards!
                Men at Arms
        those two follow each other, and are, imho, some of the best of
        Pratchett. Very, very funny, with a lot of H.Bogart in it...
 
                Moving pictures
        very funny, but more predictable than the two above, mainly because
        jokes on 'Holy Wood' are quite widespread. Timewise, it goes before
        'Men at Arms'.
 
                Reaper Man
        Death is thrown out of job... But there are no replacement available...
        A surprising role for the oldest wizard of the academy.
 
        Some other good ones I read: Pyramids, Small Gods, Witches abroad...
 
Clifford D. Simak
                City
        The dogs are around the fire, and wonder about what are men, these
        strange beings that appear in their tales... In France, it is
        considered as *the* Simak to read. Strongly recommended. I also
        like all the 'fantasy-like' books from Simak, which take place on
        an almost normal earth.
 
Jack Vance
                the Tschai cycle
        A small ship crashes on a strange planet, and the survivor tries to
        find a way to leave it. The planet is inhabited by various strange
        races, each special in its own way. The best Vance books I've read,
        quite above anything else (I read) he wrote.
 
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
                DragonLance Chronicles
                DragonLance Legends
        those two trilogies are enjoyable fantasy books, with clear-cut but
        interesting characters. Those are the books which started me into
        roleplaying. Forget about all the other DragonLance books, except
        maybe for the Heros serie. Just to give you an idea, these books are
        above any Edding's books in quality (imho of course).
                'Chronicles' is about the War of the Lance, and has some
        frustrating holes in it, but overall a very good read. 'Legends'
        concentrates on some of the characters of 'chronicles', and is an
        even better reading.
 
                The Darksword trilogy
        Let's pack great and original ideas, and let's not exploit them...
        It started well, but just to think about what they could have done
        with those premises...
 
                The Rose of the Prophet trilogy
        Very nice and funny arabic fantasy, where Gods are plotting, and
        using their djinns, angels... and humans to fullfill their objectives.
        I really enjoyed reading it.
 
                The Death Gate
        I bought the first two books in one go, started reading the first and
        got really upset at myself for having bought the two of them. But the
        second one was better, with an intriguing Zifnab character (I guess
        you have to read DragonLance first to be intrigued:), so I bought the
        third book. To my surprise, the quality was much higher, with some
        original new characters. So I decided to buy the whole serie. Quite
        enjoyable overall I must say. Either borrow it, or buy the third one
        (the first four books only loosely follow each other, so I guess this
        should not be a problem) and decide whether you want it all.
 
 
From your list...
Stephen Donaldson
                The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever
        I decided to try it after reading your review. I had some difficulties
        finishing it, mainly because of the writing style, which didn't agree
        with me. I wouldn't say I found it enjoyable, but I really like this
        different viewpoint on fantasy and heroes... To summarize, I will not
        read it again, but I certainly do not regret reading it: kind of an
        obligatory fantasy reading :)
 
Connie Willis
                Doomsday Book
        I quite enjoyed the book. It's not heavy sf or fantasy, but it makes
        a good reading, with a good depiction of middle age. But I also find
        it difficult to believe it won any price.:)
 
 
                Keep filling your home page, and good reading!
                Magali