Almost 20 years ago, I got grounded for a bad report card. No TV, video games, etc. The only thing I was allowed to do was read. So, one day I was at a dollar store with my mom, and I picked up a random book with an interesting cover.
I remember that I really enjoyed it, and have been wanting to read it again. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the name of the book, or the author.
Today, as soon as I woke up, the name of the book randomly popped into my head. I hopped out of bed, grabbed my phone, and googled it. Sure enough! It was the correct title!!
The book was “Dark Waters”, by Robert S. Stone. Turns out it was a sequel to a book named “Hazards Price”, that I’ve never read. I’ve ordered both books and cannot wait to read them.
There was no real point to this post, other than wanting to share my excitement. Not being able to remember that book has driven me CRAZY for YEARS!!! Anyone else familiar with it?
I know this sub is usually about books, movies and shows but I was showing one of my line cooks at work the Deltron 3030 album because he had never heard of it. He is also a huge nerd. He said something about how well this album sets up world building and I had to agree with him.
If you haven’t listened to it before the best way I can describe it is that it is a late 90’s rap supergroup that creates a space opera.
It is 21 songs and it builds a world, characters and plot… along with being some of the best hip hop out there.
From Wikipedia:
“Deliver Us from Evil” is about Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.
“Damnation” is about The Kingkiller Chronicle, a fantasy series written by Patrick Rothfuss.
“Secrets of the American Gods” references Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel American Gods.
“Violent Shadows” is about Kaladin Stormblessed and his life as a bridgeman in Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novel series The Stormlight Archives.
“Life Beyond the Spheres” is about the creation of the universe, (The Big Bang specifically) the first moments after the beginning of everything, and the evolution of space and time.
“Architects of Doom” references the science fiction franchise Battlestar Galactica.
“Let It Be No More” deals with the death of frontman Hansi Kürsch’s mother, as well as The Leftovers.
“Blood of the Elves” references the first novel in The Witcher series, Blood of Elves, written by …
Is there a certain sense of wonder to knights and castles? Is it just tradition because Tolkein’s works were vaguely medieval. I personally love medieval settings in fantasies, but I’m not even sure why. Maybe it’s the simplicity, or the limited spread of information that allows for so much mystery?
Why do you guys like the setting (if you do) and why do y’all think it is so popular?
EDIT: So many amazing, thought provoking comments covering so many different angles! Never gave this topic so much thought and am glad to have raised the question! This is fascinating!
For me, Wizard of Earthsea and LOTR continues to be great after many years. The Farseer series and Harry Potter, not so much.
Her choice of perspective, especially when expounding on her early years, creates an immediacy of experience where you feel like you’re right there with this poor kid as she tries in vain to be perfect for her abusive mother. Yet she is a clear-eyed adult recounting these horrors and the extent of her healing is evident from the degree to which she is able to articulate her story now. Not to mention how she can turn moments of pain into hilarious turns of phrase that I laughed at with guilt and shame.
It’s most definitely not an easy read, and anyone with a history of eating disorders or abusive trauma should tread carefully, but it is absolutely worth adding to your reading list.
I’m not going to lie, I saw the trailer for the new show that’s an adaptation of the book. That’s why I revisited it.
I know that it’s required reading in a lot of education systems, and I’m glad. I remember being a young boy in 9/11/01 and struggling to understand how or why such a thing could happen. I remember the fear, and saw first hand how easily fear turns to anger, and anger turns to violence. A few years later I attended a high school that had an ROTC program. Like a lot of young Americans that had been spoon fed propaganda throughout their childhood, I joined. I felt that my country had been wronged in a horrific way and I wanted desperately to set it right. I was THAT kid, I quit my position in football and I tested well. I was exactly the kind of kid that program sought out.
I think my language arts teacher noticed, when it came time to read this book she told me that it was a war book and that I’d like it and I should pay special …
I have had some recommendations over the years or have liked an author and looked for other works in their catalog, only to get turned off by the cover art. I’ve thought that the author has input to the art, so if I don’t like the creative process that created the art, I won’t like the creative process that generated the content.
Is that generally true? I’d hate to think I’ve missed out in good literary experiences because someone in the publishing house has poor taste!
Edit: Thank you for all the replies! So interesting to read everyone’s take 🤓
I’m still struggling to find the words to describe how I feel after finishing this book. I originally dove into it knowing almost nothing about the story (I didn’t even glance at the back resume). It was recommended to me after I asked for suggestions for some good ghost stories, so I began my reading thinking apparitions and dead people would pop up at some point. I think the person who recommended it to me was right: it is a ghost story, just not in the way you would expect.
If you haven’t read it yet, I warmly recommend it. Just know that it’s probably one of these books you’ll think about for days and feel all sad about once you’ve finished it.
And if you have read it, what is your opinion on it?
+ English isn’t my native language so I apologize for potential mistakes.
My new pet theory is that Le Guin will be at the top of many lists for the best sci fi writers of the last 50 years or so. My interests in sci fi lie more in the philosophical/literary/award bait style.
A lot of the writers I have read more of, like Ballard, DeLillo, Gibson, et cetera, rely so much on vernacular and jargon that I’m not sure how well they will age.
Le Guin, on the other hand, communicates such deep concepts with such simplicity and ease that I think her works will age better than pretty much anyone else I can think of in the sci fi world. I’ve only read two of her novels and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” though. I did teach “Omelas” this past semester and the students seemed to rely enjoy it and understand it, many of the papers they turned in focused on that story, probably more than other story I assigned.
What do y’all think?
I love first contact type SciFi books. Pretty much all SciFi I’ve read either involves first contact with ET life. Project hail mary is probably the best I’ve read so far. Definitely best as a standalone book. Saturn run was also really good and filled the gap after finishing project hail Mary. I also really enjoyed the three body problem series (best book series I’ve ever read), Contact, and the long winter series (by ag riddle).
What should I read next? I tend to prefer hard SciFi.
I’ve read a fair bit of hard sf and I’ve never seen one. Has any author tried to tackle the problem?
I just started reading longer chapter type books to my 5yo and we just finished Charlotte’s Web, which was perfect bc she really enjoyed it, and was 180 pages which took us a few weeks to get through and not to long.
I’ve always enjoyed reading SF and want to share that with my kids, but I don’t have any kid friendly SF books laying around. Does anybody have any good SF recommendations for that age? Thanks
I can’t for the life of me understand why Kevin Hart keeps getting roles in triple A movies along side some very established actors. IMO he’s an average B movie actor at best. Don’t get me wrong I like the guy but his acting seems incredibly forced and I am just getting a bit sick of seeing him in films.
More examples include Adam Sandler in anything serious, Steve Carrell in Foxcatcher, Kristen Stewart as Diana, Pattinson as Batman, and the list goes on!
What were the ones that critics said just wouldn’t work … and they were right?
Only one that immediately comes to mind is Emma Stone in Aloha and MAYBE ScarJo in Ghost in the Shell (I enjoyed it!)
NOTE: This is not Who was a bad actor in a big role? This is Who did critics correctly predict would not fit the part?