"Heinlein in Dimension: A Critical Analysis" by Alexei Panshin

An in depth look at the career for the science fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein, that reviews his various stories and give some insight into his personality. This book was published in 1968, and this does limit it's scope somewhat as Heinlein published a number of books after this.

I found the Mr. Panshin's critique to be extremely harsh, and got the feeling that he had a general dislike for Mr. Heinlein for some reason other than his writing. He belabours his points continuously, and while it is true that some of Heinlein's stories were rather simplistic, you have to take into account the fact that some were written for young people (primarily boys at this time in history), and were published by magazines that didn't pay very well. Whether this was a factor in the types of stories I can't say as I wasn't alive when these stories were first published, but I have read most of Mr. Heinlein's books, and found them to be quite entertaining.

Now I first started reading books by RAH when I was about 13 or so. I don't remember what it was that I read first, but all of his stories to me were fascinating. I began reading what are now considered to be his juvenile stories such as (in no particular order) Red Planet (1949), Space Cadet (1948), Tunnel in the Sky (1955), Star Beast (1954), Between Planets (1951), Revolt in 2100 (1953), etc. Some of these I read multiple times, and I still read them now and again because they are simply good stories. Methuselah's Children was one of the ones I read a little later on, and a few years later (about 1979 or so) I read Time Enough for Love (1973).

As he went on Mr. Heinlein's worldview started to show up more in his writing, which is to be expected. And this in the end influenced my worldview as well. Some of his later works were a little difficult to understand, and need to be read a couple of times to get the underlying themes, but it is time well spent. As I mentioned above Mr. Heinlein's book make you think, even his so called juvenile novels typically have a message.

What this comes down to, in my opinion, is that Mr. Panshin's critique which I can only assume he thought was well written, I can only see as a thinly disguised rebuke at both Mr. Heinlein's success, and his outlook on life in general.

"On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-thousand-year History" by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Publisher:New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

ISBN:9780307266422 

Characteristics:xvi, 430 pages :,illustrations ;,25 cm

A very good overview of the history of paper making, and how it was developed. The detail that the author goes into was appreciated, and the fact that he toured many of the places that are mentioned in the book give you a good insight into the history.

"Lexicon" by Max Barry

Publisher:New York : Penguin Group (USA), 2013.

ISBN:9781594205385 

Characteristics:390 pages

Overall this is a very good novel, but the characters in the beginning are somewhat one-dimensional (but not for too long). The author weaves two story lines together to explain what in happening, however at first you aren't aware they are two story lines, so this tends to be a little confusing.

I read some on Mr. Barry's book “Jennifer: Government” some time ago and found it to be not to my liking (so never finished it), but this one while it was the opposite and it was very hard to put down. Well written and is worth your time.

"My Word is My Bond: A Memoir" by Roger Moore

Publisher:New York : Collins, 2008.

Edition:First Collins edition.

ISBN:9780061673887 

Characteristics:336 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates :,illustrations ;,24 cm

An insightful look into the career of a well known actor. He is definitely more than "James Bond" and his long history of work for UNICEF shows this well. In fact he is way more famous throughout Europe as "The Saint" which ran for quite a number of years.

This memoire takes the reader through Sir Roger's early life and his struggles to find work in the theatre, and movies.

"Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

Publisher:New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]

ISBN:9780393609097 

Characteristics:293 pages

A very good retelling of Norse Mythology. The author covers the stories in sequence, which is something that is not frequently done. Most authors emphasize certain stories, and exclude other entirely but this volume was fairly complete. 
The majority of what we know about Norse Mythology / religion has been related to us in "The Prose Edda" by Snori Sturluson, these stories aren't the easiest to read as they are translations from Icelandic, but are quite enjoyable. Mr. Gaiman has adapted them and brings them to life with his typical writing style.
I would like to see companion volumes on Greek & Roman Mythology from Mr. Gaiman as well as I believe this would be invaluable.

"On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century" by Timothy Snyder

Publisher:New York : Tim Duggan Books, [2017]

Edition:First edition.

ISBN:9780804190114 

Characteristics:126 pages

A very good overview of humans passion for inflicting suffering on other humans. Timothy Snyder is a professor of History at Yale, and this book is geared specifically at all the fun and games the American people are being put through by their new president. When Dr. Snyder writes it is really obvious about whom he is speaking about. The links he makes to other historical figures are quite chilling to say the least.

While this book may seem small (it's only 128 pages) each story is packed with references to all the bad stuff you learned in your world history courses in school. Most of which you have probably forgotten or suppressed if you've been out of school for any length of time.

The parallels that Mr. Snyder draws between the Trump administration, and some of his predecessors in other countries such as WW II Germany, Stalinist Russia, etc.

Many people might dismiss the comparisons that Mr. Snyder uses for his examples, but I personally find them chilling and having studied a fair amount of history (as well as taught it in school) I find them quite accurate.

Mr Snyder gives his readers 20 important lessons, that are easy to implement and designed to prevent or at the very least open the minds of the American public how the freedom they famously boast about  could easily be taken from them.

This is a book that I believe all peoples should read (especially those living in the United States). Here's hoping that what could happen, never does!

Create You Writer Platform by Chuck Sambuchino

I recently stumbled upon a book by Chuck Sambuchino, who works for Writers' Digest.

This is an excellent book that will help you get on your way to promoting your book. It is mainly geared towards non-fiction writing, but with a little adaptation all the information is completely transferrable to fiction.

Publisher:    Writer's Digest Books 2012
ISBN:          9781599635750

The review on the Edmonton Public Library website says:

"Creating a platform isn't just beneficial--it's essential ! In today's world of blogging, websites, Twitter feeds, and Facebook updates, building a writer platform from the ground up can seem a daunting task. Never fear--author and editor Chuck Sambuchino provides expert, practical advice for increasing your visibility, selling more books, and launching a successful career. In Create Your Writer Platform , you'll learn: The definition of a platform--and why you should start building one now . How to harness the 12 Fundamental Principles of Platform. "Old School" and "New School" approaches to platform, from article writing and conference speaking to website development, blog posts, and social media avenues. How to develop a platform for nonfiction, fiction, and memoir. In addition to Chuck's invaluable insights, you'll also find 12 case studies from authors with effective platforms, as well as professional advice from literary agents. If you're serious about building a platform tailored to you and your writing --a platform that's going to help you succeed as a writer--look no further than Create Your Writer Platform ."

I found this to be a very helpful book, and can't wait to implement some of Mr. Sambuchino's suggestion when I redesign my website.

Happy Reading!

The Fantasy Dilemma - Is There A Solution?

I originally posted this on the Edmonton Writers' Group Blog way back in January 2012. And while a couple of members (Natasha and Simon) were kind enough to comment on it, I still believe it is a question that needs solving. I haven't posted to this blog in a year, as nothing much has happened, and  I find writing about day-to-day events rather boring, after all this is Twitter.

So anyway here is my question ...

Having just finished the fourth book in the series by Chris Paolini I must say it was an interesting read. I found the world to be fairly well designed, but for the most part the story was way too long. Which brings to mind a bit of a curious question, that has been bugging me for many years and that so far nobody has ever been able to adequately answer. So now that our group has this little blog running, I thought I try once again to solve this little mystery.

Now I realize we don't have a whole lot of fantasy authors in the group, and while this message is directed at this genre, I trust that others will chime in.

So here it is:

"Why is it that fantasy authors (in general) seem to feel the need to create multivolume stories when just about every other genre seems to be able to tell a story in one book?"

Now I know the first thing your going to say is "because they are creating a whole new world" - okay fair enough, but so does every science fiction author, most mystery, adventure, and romance authors. In fact with the exception of historically based novels every author creates a new world to some extent. So why aren't these all multivolume tomes? Are they all trying to emulate J.R.R. Tolkien, or is it something else?

I agree that the Asimov's Foundation Trilogy; A. C. Clarke's 2001, 2010, 2060, & 3001; as well as the series by Ben Bova (one book for each planet) exist. However these are the exception, and I'm not whining about books set in the same universe (like those I just mentioned), I'm talking about those 3+ book series that are essentially one continuous story, sometimes with little or no break between volumes. Virtually every fantasy author seems to churn out multivolume sets - some to ridiculous lengths such as those by David Eddings and his ilk.

So why? Is it a bad case of authorial diarrhea?

Anyway getting back to Chris P. there are numerous examples in this last book where he spent inordinate amounts of time (writing wise that is) detailing each and every movement, that each person made during a fight sequence. This was unnecessary, and at times downright boring to read. In fact it reminds me somewhat of when I used to play Dungeon and Dragons and the rules say that during a fight sequence each round is 10 seconds long - think of life going in slow motion.

So that's my question. Anybody got any words of wisdom that'll solve it?

TTFN