Stephan > Recent Status Updates

Man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben, aber bis jetzt ist es für einen KHS erstaunlich problemfrei...

The writing remains meh, but the story remains irresistible...

The story is, of course, incredible, but the book seems over-researched, and Anderson apparently did not want to waste any of that research. So there is a lot of exposition. Also, the book cannot quite decide if it wants to be an adventure novel, a historical report, or a nordic saga....

Bisher eine schöne Sammlung von Erinnerungen an Karl-Herbert Scheer, einen der beiden Väter der Perry-Rhodan-Serie, von Fans und Weggenossen.

It's not particularly high literature, but it's an amazing extrapolation of Nazi ideology for a book written in 1935. And not at all what I expected. But then I was drawn in by the SF Masterworks label ;-).

...getting more painful now!

I was surprised how much the book reminded me of his earlier juveniles - both are first-person novels, and the voice of Johnnie Rico is not much different than the voice of Bill Lermer from "Farmers in the Sky".

I've certainly read a German translation back in the 1980s or so - it's still on my bookshelf. I don't think I ever read the original until now, but so far it's painless...

This is really a carefully crafted and wonderfully written novella. I'm eager to see Silverberg bring it home now...

Die Weltraumszenen lesen sich fast wie ein Jugendroman, aber auf der Erde sind wir eher bei einem dystopischen Dominik. Es ist schon deutlich anders als die beiden Kochs, die ich bisher gelesen habe...

‘But, my opponent protests, we have a God-given mandate to spread enlightenment through the stars, dispensing our own brand of Civilization to the savages. This is the Uncle Remus school of sociology – the good dahkies singin’ spirituals and Old Massa lubbin’ every one of dem! It is a beautiful picture but the frame is too small; it fails to show the whip, the slave block – and the counting house!’

I sometimes have trouble with Heinlein, but this one is excellent (so far).

In the first half of the book, about the only autonomous action of the protagonist was to kiss the beautiful princess. But now he is firing atomic pistols, smashing skulls, and operating subspectrum radio transmitters like a pro ;-).

On the one hand, this feels a little bit simplistic for its 1947/49 publication date. But on the other hand, this is really Space Opera in the Soap Opera sense, and quite a bit of fun. I do hope the protagonists gets to to a bit more agere, though - up to now he's mostly just on a fantastic ride...

Kaum angefangen, schon liegt ein laktonisches Raumschiff im Kreuzfeuer der Diskus-Schiffe der Orathonen, und wird wie von einer gigantischen Faust durchgeschüttelt! So gehört Science Fiction! ;-)

This is certainly a fascinating world with interesting implications. I would have liked a bit more of an arc of suspense, but things have been picking up in the second half.

Through with the second book in the book. The writing is good, and the scenery is excellent. But I have the feeling that the purpose of the characters is mostly that of a moving camera, providing perspective, but with a rather minimal personal arc...

The first of the three books in the book is done. It's great fun, especially the combination of a essentially modern worldview with 16th century knowledge and beliefs - everything is new and fresh, every hypothesis needs to be tested.

Wow!

A fast-paced start through a quite short book....so far its fun!

Ich mache mal eine Pause bei Quicksilver und schiebe das hier ein - bis jetzt macht es Spass! Eher ein YA-Feel, aber der Protagonist ist in den 50ern ;-).

It's full of wonderful descriptions of historical people and events, and most of it even checks out against real history. But I wonder if Stephenson is eventually getting somewhere...

Interesting perspective on an interesting time. A bit on the slow side, so far...

It starts with an info-dump on 17th century European politics. It's well-written, of course, but I wonder how much the publisher made Stephenson add this to get the reader up tp speed ;-).

This is really multi-facetted and gives the reader a fascinating look at The Culture and the galaxy it's embedded in.

This is really multi-facetted and gives the reader a fascinating look at The Culture and the galaxy it's embedded in.

Only 10% in, and it's still somewhat fragmentary, but it's really good and engaging!

This is really pulpy pulp. But the author throws us into a fairly rich (if bog-standard) universe that feels a bit like a hand-me-down from Anderson (Flandry) or Andre Norton (Witches). And the main protagonist feels a bit like James Bond in his most Connery moments... ;-)