Spotlight on Authors
Micheal Crichton is sadly dead. Unceremoniously dead; he passed out of existence with very little fanfare. Here's some posthumous fanfare: “Aw, that's sad. He wrote good.” “Gee, I never knew he was alive. I thought he was a myth.” “Dang! I loved Jurassic Park!” “E. R. was exciting!” “Was that the guy who wrote 'Sphere'?” Fireworks, boom, bam.
That being said, his latest book 'Pirate Latitudes' was a lot like all of his later books, crappy and written primarily with a movie deal in the works. O.K, it had some interesting characters and a plot (sort of) and stuff happened. If that's all that you expect from a book, then this is for you.
Crichton's best work came before Jurassic Park (which wasn't a great literary work, but was a terrific read). He was a staple on the Best Seller's lists for 20 years, and well deserved. He wrote candy for the masses and made millions—we should all be so lucky.
I wish this manuscript had gotten lost in a storm, swept out to sea and drowned. And I hope no more surprises surface over the next post Crichton years. Is that too harsh?
Now, for any Science Fiction fans out there, I give a big nod to China Mieville. His latest book is The City & the City. I read about half of this book before I sent it back to the library. But his earlier books Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council are Sci-fi/fantasy masterpieces together or alone.
Together they make up a trilogy of some of the weirdest creatures, landscapes and societies that anyone ever dreamed up. Ask Mieville what he thinks of Tolkien; “the wen on the arse of fantasy literature.” I don't know what that means, but Mieville is Tolkien on steroids. Perdido is Dungeons and Dragons after an 'electric acid Kool Aid trip'. Mieville doesn't stop with Perdido, though; with The Scar he moves out of the city of New Crobuzon into the sea. More creatures and weird machine-people and twisted love. Most writers would be content to create a universe and throw the people within it at each others throats and the throats of evil monsters. Mieville goes beyond that with issues and ups the ante with even weirder stuff and weirder creatures. He caps it with Iron Council—I say caps, but I pray he isn't done.
No, this isn't your father's Tolki
en, it's different; it's a fantasy for the new millennium and for grown ups. Don't let your 12 year old read these, but if you grew up reading about orcs and wizards, then you just might enjoy what Mieville has to offer.
Brought to you by the Egyptian Sphinxter and Capt. Generic, bad reviewers of all books; good, bad, evil or indifferent. ha ha, not really.
Micheal Crichton is sadly dead. Unceremoniously dead; he passed out of existence with very little fanfare. Here's some posthumous fanfare: “Aw, that's sad. He wrote good.” “Gee, I never knew he was alive. I thought he was a myth.” “Dang! I loved Jurassic Park!” “E. R. was exciting!” “Was that the guy who wrote 'Sphere'?” Fireworks, boom, bam.
That being said, his latest book 'Pirate Latitudes' was a lot like all of his later books, crappy and written primarily with a movie deal in the works. O.K, it had some interesting characters and a plot (sort of) and stuff happened. If that's all that you expect from a book, then this is for you.
Crichton's best work came before Jurassic Park (which wasn't a great literary work, but was a terrific read). He was a staple on the Best Seller's lists for 20 years, and well deserved. He wrote candy for the masses and made millions—we should all be so lucky.
I wish this manuscript had gotten lost in a storm, swept out to sea and drowned. And I hope no more surprises surface over the next post Crichton years. Is that too harsh?
Now, for any Science Fiction fans out there, I give a big nod to China Mieville. His latest book is The City & the City. I read about half of this book before I sent it back to the library. But his earlier books Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council are Sci-fi/fantasy masterpieces together or alone.
Together they make up a trilogy of some of the weirdest creatures, landscapes and societies that anyone ever dreamed up. Ask Mieville what he thinks of Tolkien; “the wen on the arse of fantasy literature.” I don't know what that means, but Mieville is Tolkien on steroids. Perdido is Dungeons and Dragons after an 'electric acid Kool Aid trip'. Mieville doesn't stop with Perdido, though; with The Scar he moves out of the city of New Crobuzon into the sea. More creatures and weird machine-people and twisted love. Most writers would be content to create a universe and throw the people within it at each others throats and the throats of evil monsters. Mieville goes beyond that with issues and ups the ante with even weirder stuff and weirder creatures. He caps it with Iron Council—I say caps, but I pray he isn't done.
No, this isn't your father's Tolki
en, it's different; it's a fantasy for the new millennium and for grown ups. Don't let your 12 year old read these, but if you grew up reading about orcs and wizards, then you just might enjoy what Mieville has to offer.Brought to you by the Egyptian Sphinxter and Capt. Generic, bad reviewers of all books; good, bad, evil or indifferent. ha ha, not really.
18 comments:
nice. will def check out the science fiction work...
I grew up reading wizards and the like, but stopped when I arrived at adulthood. I need to revisit my earlier passion for this stuff. I am going to look for your recommendation.
Ha well for a poor conversationalist, you did China Mieville a treat. I actually enjoyed the Jurassic park series but then I read them after the movie. Not sure about sci fi. I struggled with Dune and bending time . . .then if you're recommending it . . maybeeeeeee!
i'm kindof burnt out on the fantasy side, but i've always have a thing for good hard sci-fi...
Amy and Brian, if you have the time, you'll probably love mieville.
Helen, dune is sort of the king of science fiction novels...my all time favorite, but i love the foundation series, too. You might like mieville, can't hurt to give it a try.
Michael Crichton books were always a little too scientific for my liking. I felt like I was reading a school book half of the time.
Cool. Available in electronic format. I am switching to ereading so that I can carry my library with me. Books are HEAVY.
...i'm not ready for e-reading. As long as i can get good books from the library...i imagine there'll come a day when that will pass.
Ooh that sounds like it's right up my alley. Thanks very much Tom!
I wrote a eulogy for Michael Crichton when he died, so nyah.
But, you're right, his later fare lacked any literary value. Although I liked Rising Sun.
I'll check out that sci-fi.
oh that does sound very appealing, Tolkein on steroids
sad about michael Crichton
(I love Dune - my 15 year old is just reading it)
so this is the source of your inspiration...
I can't say I have read any Crichton but my goodness the man was tall...in stature that is...I often saw him jogging along the road where I stay in Kauai and where he had an estate...beachfront acreage of course...
Happy days
I Havnt read any of these.....I will take your advice and check out.
Thanks for the tip!
Michael's younger sister is a very close friend of mine. She says that as a boy, he always created the scenarios for their group of friends for imaginary games. The group would gather and ask Michael, "What world are we in today?"
She and the rest of her family was totally devastated when he died, which might be why I feel such a connection to him, though I never met him. He was a beautiful person, definitely.
My favorite by him is Timeline. Love that book!!
wow...cool that some of you actually have some sort of tie to M.C...i'm positive he was a very interesting man...and smart.
Interesting, I'll have to look it up.
I believe wen (something like a goiter) is meant to be uncomplimentary, I;ll always look at someone who's knocking the grey eminences...
how thoughtful you are,
impressive stuff!
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