Seth Tisue’s Reviews > Shoat Rumblin: His Sensations and Ideas > Status Update

How's this so far? I'm a bit wary after Valley of the Spiders.

I can’t imagine someone who didn’t like “Valley” (or “Dark Reflections”) liking this one any better.

There are differences, to be sure. The whole thing is written in Shoat’s voice (and he’s none too smart, as he often reminds us). It’s heavier on dialogue and lighter on description, including of sex. The sex in “Valley” becomes tiresome; here it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The SF aspect is missing, as are the ruminations on aging. It’s a more modest novel, structurally and philosophically, despite its length, than “Valley” or “Mad Man”. (There’s next to nothing in it like the Spinoza thread that runs through “Valley”, or the material on academia that runs through “Mad Man”, or the reflections on the life of a creative writer in “Dark Reflections”.)

It’s good, but I wouldn't say it adds a new dimension to Delany’s oeuvre.