bottom@katadn.DEC (08/08/85)
This book is GREAT! I had never head of Steven Brust before I began to read this newsgroup. I'll skip a formal review since I'm not good at that sort of thing. I just recommend it highly to sf/fantasy readers. One question. In what cronological order do the Book Jerig and Yendig go? I understand that they were written backwards but I would like to read them in cronological order, unless that's not recommended. dave bottom digital augusta maine !dec-rhea!dec-katadn!bottom "Don't make a hobbit of it"
neff@ihuxf.UUCP (Steffen) (08/09/85)
Just to toss out another opinion on this book; this was the worst book that I've ever finished. It wasn't bad enough to make me give up on it completely, I guess I just kept waiting for it to get good. Admittedly fantasy is my least favorite form of fiction but this book borderlined on what Roger Ebert likes to call "The Idiot Plot". If any one of the main characters acted sensibly during the first half of the book, the book would have been over. After all the good things I'd heard about the book, I was definitely disappointed. It does have a great opening sentence though.
chabot@miles.DEC (All God's chillun got guns) (08/13/85)
> Admittedly fantasy is my least favorite form of fiction ... Well, then maybe you shouldn't review it. > ...but this book borderlined on what Roger Ebert likes to call "The Idiot > Plot". Actually, Joanna Russ attributed this coining to Damon Knight long before most of us ever heard of Ebert; maybe Ebert reads Knight, or maybe it is rightfully attributed it to someone else. And anyway, I disagree: I think most of the characters acted in as intelligently as they could. Perhaps they were naive--but then how often had they ever experienced deceit? I felt exuberant when I'd finished the book on a plane flight; it was a real page-turner, and most of the time when I fly I'd rather sleep than read. L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber@decwrl.arpa
chabot@miles.DEC (All God's chillun got guns) (08/14/85)
>> Admittedly fantasy is my least favorite form of fiction ... > >Well, then maybe you shouldn't review it. I want to apologize--I thought M. Steffen was being sarcastic in this ( >> ) expression of preference (I interpreted it to be on the order of "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia"); and I was incorrect in this. Sorry! L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber.dec@decwrl.arpa