Dry Water Review
I don’t like posting reviews; it seems a little self aggrandizing.
This one, though, made my day because I’m wondering how all the readers of my HALO novels will react to Mortal Coils—not a HALO novel, not even science fiction—fantasy even!
Then I spotted this recent review for Dry Water, one of my previous fantasy books.
"First, I am a "hard sci-fi" kind of reader, preferring space opera to most anything else. But Nyland (sic) captured me with his writing in the first two pages and never let go, with some truly great, descriptive writing and a very steady hand at situational character richness and detail. I like this author as he moves between different types of fiction. The writing is rich, the action is well-paced and engrossing and his characters are individual and engaging. I forgot I was reading a book on sorcery and black arts and got pulled right along in a strong and fast plot. Great read and a very pleasant surprise."
Thanks “J. Burke” whoever you are!
I’ll stop worrying so much and get back to writing.
This one, though, made my day because I’m wondering how all the readers of my HALO novels will react to Mortal Coils—not a HALO novel, not even science fiction—fantasy even!
Then I spotted this recent review for Dry Water, one of my previous fantasy books.
"First, I am a "hard sci-fi" kind of reader, preferring space opera to most anything else. But Nyland (sic) captured me with his writing in the first two pages and never let go, with some truly great, descriptive writing and a very steady hand at situational character richness and detail. I like this author as he moves between different types of fiction. The writing is rich, the action is well-paced and engrossing and his characters are individual and engaging. I forgot I was reading a book on sorcery and black arts and got pulled right along in a strong and fast plot. Great read and a very pleasant surprise."
Thanks “J. Burke” whoever you are!
I’ll stop worrying so much and get back to writing.
posted by Eric Nylund at 7:30 AM
11 Comments:
In my circle I know I've taken part in a few heated debates lately over how sci fi has become nothing but tech manuals and expospeak and we're all pretty much over it. Fantasy is becoming more tolerable because no one is standing there explaining why Gandalf is magic. It's just accepted that he is and we move on with the story. As you're there to read a story, having an actual story there is most optimal. I would think as long as you're telling a story and it's good (which is pretty much what you do) then you've nothing to worry about.
I can only agree.
Allot of sci-fi is filled with gadgets, nano stuff and tech that seems to be there mostly to make the story sci fi.
But I actually think that Eric's Halo books are a class above other Nano-force field - laser- gadget Sci-fi. I have noticed that most tech in the halo novels is there to support the story.
This is such a relief.
Nikoda, Carsten—thanks, and thanks for the discussion points, too.
My opinion is that idea-driven hard SF has its place and I often enjoy it very much...but it’s not the type of novel that I write.
When I started writing I obsessed over ideas, thinking they were most important. Then I shifted to thinking plot was king. Now I think its characters...at least for the kind of stuff I like to write.
And judging from the email I get, say for example, how many people tell me they really connected with Kurt at the end of _Ghosts of Onyx_ (a character moment, btw, painstakingly set up by the ideas and plot throughout the entire novel) I believe more than ever in the power of great characters to win the hearts and minds of readers.
Opinions?
Absolutely. Character and the plots that move them (IMHO) are what stories are and should be about. That is one thing that stuck with me in your halo Novels. I cried when Kurt died, as I also did any time Kelly was in danger.. ;0) I pull my hair out frequently trying to make memorable characters in my meager writing, because it is that connection of the reader with the heroes/heroines/villains that makes them care enough to turn the page. If it isn't there, the story just won't get read.
Eric,
I'm probably one of the few people who read this blog who has not read the Halo books but has read every other book you've written. I have them--just haven't gotten around to them yet (currently reading Charles Stross Accelerando).
I particularly liked Dry Water because although it was a fantasy novel it was fantasy with an almost feather-light touch and a liberal amount of humor.
I think that sci-fi is really hard to write nowadays and has degraded to nothing but 'tech manuals and expospeak', to quote nikoda, simply because we're suffering from a drought of new ideas. Back in the golden age any kind of new technology was really, really new and revolutionary. Now, seventy plus years later, everything has been done a trillion times. Some things, like Halo, do one of those concepts pretty well, but generally everything is super un-original.
I don't agree with dangerusdave, actually. I think there has been some outstanding sci fi written in the last 15 years. Yes, some of it is technobabble, but there are some really creative writers out there.
What about moral lesson(s)?
Are these still being incorporated in today's novels?
I still need to read beyond the sample chapter or so of Mortal Coils. But bare with me as I try to explain my view.
As an opposing view to what I've read here, I have to say I love novels with an origin story or a deep background mythos - as long as it is actually believable or as intricate as an actual history. The Silmarillion is the best example of how this can be done.
***Minor Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series SPOILERS below***
And the "Why" ontology of any given authors Universe is still huge in my mind. Otherwise at the end of the story I can only presume (unless there are pretty major hints) that the author's view is somewhat nihilistic (and inherently meaningless, for instance like Harry Potter's universe). That's not to say that an author who understands nihilism and is trying to communicate it as the guiding mythos of their Universe is out of bounds for me. I do love me some Douglas Adams even though he causes earth and all his characters except the Vogons to cease to exist... but even then a story to me is all about meaning, all about communication, and all about the ethics thereof.
***END Spoilers***
This one, though, made my day because I’m wondering how all the readers of my HALO novels will react to Mortal Coils—not a HALO novel, not even science fiction—fantasy even!
Hey, some of your readers began with Dry Water, and A Signal Shattered and even Pawn's Dream. :)
Dry Water was my introduction to your works. I don't normally read fantasy books (LOTR excluded), but this was an excellent read - magic and real world merging so well together. I have since read all your books (and eagerly awaiting new ones) and noticed that in all of them the flow of familiar and magical is just so well connected that it seems natural and very real. I also wonder if after huge success of LOTR movies that Sci-Fi fans have been more accepting toward fantasy.
Post a Comment
<< Home