Unless I somehow missed a change in discussion dates, I thought the third discussion, over Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, was supposed to have been from March 9-15, but out of the people I remember saying they would participate, I didn't see any posts other than my own on the book.
Did I miss some entries somewhere else? Was the date changed and I wasn't notified?
Just curious and not really irritated or anything by it. Very hard for any informal group to maintain any sense of group identity beyond the initial attempt, especially when said group is online-only. Herding cats has to be easier, though, right?
Although it wasn't meant to be a replacement, I guess one could say that my series of reviews of "classic" SF/F works can stand in for one of the purposes of the apparently-defunct Blogger Book Club, as at least there'll be discussions of some worthwhile books. Perhaps some reading my comments or perhaps voting in the polls on the next selection will feel inclined to read/re-read the selected volumes and maybe even comment about them on their own blogs.
But me being me, I can't close this post without a challenge of some sort. I want someone, anyone, I don't care if you have a blog or not (although if you do, I'd love to see a post, with a link sent to me), to read (and hopefully review on a blog or forum) Patricia McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy. Sadly, it is a wonderfully-written tale that seems to have faded from prominence over the past 20 years or so. It'd be nice if others besides myself (I plan on re-reading it and writing about it in the next few months) would discuss it somewhere, so others in turn might be curious.
Can someone do that for me, please?
The Empirical Approach to Learning
1 day ago
Posts
11 comments:
It was a very nice idea and I had a very good time the first time. Unfortunately the next two books I couldn't aquire in time for the Book Club, due to different objective reasons. But one such reason might be eliminated since I discovered The Book Depository, where the shipping costs to my country are zero :D So, I'll buy the Riddle-Master in a next order.
That makes a lot of sense, Mihai. Hope you are able to receive (and enjoy!) the McKillip.
I am reading Bank's The Algebraist right now and working through some grant applications, but Riddle Master has been on my to-do list for some time. Hopefully next week things will clear up so I can take up the challenge.
I picked up a single-volume copy of Riddlemaster at Half Price Books years ago (back in college when I lived near 3 HP stores) and loved it. I am up for a re-visit and discussion on it.
Also, I didn't check if FantasyBookspot was one that you deleted or not but the page has moved to bookspotcentral.com.
I planned on participating in the Blogger Book Club and even read the book before then, but was sick all of last week so I haven't been blogging very much. Then I hoped to get it up over the weekend but ended up not feeling any better from Saturday night until the present, so I don't know when I'll get to it now. I still think its a fun idea and I did enjoy Parable of the Sower a lot though!
Riddle-Master always sounded good. I'm considering getting it; I do have a lot of money to spend in Amazon and Borders gift cards at the moment.
I knew you had it listed on your monthly reads, Kristen, which is why I was surprised to see you didn't have a review, but I totally understand the illness thing. Hope you feel better soon!
And trust me, McKillip is well worth the expense.
Extra sad given that I didn't even write about my choice. I meant to post about not posting about it (seriously), but I haven't gotten around to that either.
I've been really distracted / scattered with my reading lately. I've had some stuff going on and I'm in the process of a move (two more weeks!) and the prior few weeks were filled with apartment search.
So...yeah. I never got around to it. Probably wouldn't have taken me that long to read, and like you, I was surprised to not run across any other posts besides yours.
Sower is still one of my favorite Octavia Butler novels, though.
I've never read any McKillip...
On a side note, McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld was tighter for me compared to her Riddlemaster trilogy.
Riddlemaster lacks a certain polish for me, not that it makes it a bad book mind you. Just a contrast to her her more recent work.
I´m still writing my review of The Parable of the Sower, though I ended botching up the whole purpose of the Book Club. (I will publish it in the next few days, but I learned to stop promising exact dates a while back, alas.)
As I told you in an earlier e-mail, Larry, I would still like to carry on the Book Club if you want to, even with these occasional bumps in the road. I wouldn´t like to review Riddle-Master, though, so I don´t know how we would go from here to there.
Maybe Mihai, Tim, you and other bloggers will carry the torch and the book club won´t die after all - and I can catch you later (I was just going to suggest a steampunk novel, of all things. :-)
I recently read The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. After reading it, I added Riddle-Master to my wish list, so 'ill probably be reading it anytime soon.
Joe,
That makes perfect sense. Maybe just read/review it when you get the chance, since this can be more flexible than just a single week, right?
Charles,
Haven't read that particular book (shameful omission, I know), but I have read some of her latest work, and yes, I agree that Riddle-Master has its rough edges. But it still is a beautifully-told story, so I can forgive much there.
Fábio,
Well, considering there are so many books that two or more people can agree to discuss for others to read and perhaps go acquire for themselves, perhaps we can just agree on another book and the two of us (with others more than welcome to join) can read/review it in a month or so?
Acrisalves,
Hope you enjoy!
Post a Comment