israel@umcp-cs.UUCP (Bruce Israel) (02/06/86)
In article <695@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> scifi@ukc.UUCP (I.L.Sewell) writes: > >The book may be a good read but in my opinion you read 500+ pages to >get ..well no where really. I agree Dickson is a good writer I >wouldn't have the book otherwise, and he keeps you hooked right to >the end where the book falls flat on its face. Okay there is nothing >wrong with the end but as the culmination of a twelve(?) volume saga >and 500+ pages you expect a bit of a climax. I had heard originally that tFE was to be the climax, but since it's come out I've heard different. Supposedly, before Dickson starts writing the historical and contemporary novels, he's planning on writing two more books set in the future. They are called Chantry Guild and Childe. My guess is that Chantry Guild is going to be set just after the ending of Necromancer, and cover the evolution of the destruction oriented Chantry Guild into the Exotics. I've been wanting more on the Exotics, since I find them a much more interesting culture than either the Dorsai or the Friendlies. Childe, I would guess would be the culmination of the series (especially since its called The Childe Cycle). Hopefully, that will have in it both the final battle between Hal and Bleys, as well as what I was expecting to be in tFE, i.e. the merging together of the Splinter Culture mentalities to form a new and improved form of human being. Bruce -- Bruce Israel University of Maryland, Computer Science Dept. {rlgvax,seismo}!umcp-cs!israel (Usenet) israel@Maryland (Arpanet)
Piersol.PASA@Xerox.COM@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (02/11/86)
From: Kurt Piersol <piersol.pasa@Xerox.COM> Some added pages in the hardbound edition of The Final Encyclopedia confirm your guesses. Childe is indeed to be the culminating novel. I found the Final Encyclopedia an excellent novel in its own right, since it finally succeeded in getting me interested in the Friendlies, who I had earlier considered rather boring. At least it is now clear how they maintained a viable splinter culture when almost everyone else but the Dorsai and Exotic cultures had disappeared. Kurt