tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post8180722572723980893..comments2024-03-24T00:19:48.310-07:00Comments on Delta Vector: Paul Kearney - the best fantasy author you've never readevilleMonkeighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998198938697175335noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post-18506618386478724662015-12-08T15:10:05.288-08:002015-12-08T15:10:05.288-08:00It's book 5 that is the let down. Even Kearney...It's book 5 that is the let down. Even Kearney himself didn't like it. It feels like a rushed attempt to tie off loose ends that didn't need tying, skipping forward decades at times. <br /><br />GRR Martin did have zing. Up until about book #3. However he's fallen in love with himself, his fame, and his universe that it's now just rambling filler with no plot in sight. (Or plot buried beneath so much meaningless filler it may as well be nonexistent)<br /><br />He's a good author, possibly a great one. However he needs an editor with the balls to give him a kick up the bum and get him back on track. (Something no editor seems willing to do, given the amount of 800+ page fantasies with a 250-page plot I see of late - they don't even seem willing to fix poor English)evilleMonkeighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11998198938697175335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post-74559834218573258872015-12-08T15:00:56.896-08:002015-12-08T15:00:56.896-08:00Your memory is obviously much fresher than mine. I...Your memory is obviously much fresher than mine. I may have only read three of the books - I think there are five? It's a shame if the conclusion is an anti-climax, as there was a lot which kept me reading. It's rather similar to what I said elsewhere about Joe Abercrombies books (before the recent trilogy). I was so intrigued by the hints of a greater conflict in the background that I'd feel cheated to discover that it was all a tease, and he's not going to reveal what it is all about. I've no idea what he's working on now - his website reveals nothing.<br /><br />I'll admit I haven't read the last volume of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (actually two volumes in the paperback edition)but enjoyed what I did read, though it may not quite have the 'zing' of Abercrombie & Martin (not that you'd agree with the latter).<br />Jon Snow?https://www.blogger.com/profile/18349064979919474482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post-80736649465645631472015-12-08T14:49:31.225-08:002015-12-08T14:49:31.225-08:00I agree the Aekir = Constantinople, both for setti...I agree the Aekir = Constantinople, both for setting (this fantasy, along with "The Religion" actually got me interested in the siege of Malta and I also enjoyed the history "Empires of the Sea"). The Sultanate is the Ottomans, sure. <br /><br />Though on the other hand I do think the city Aekir itself as Jerusalem as it is a "holy city" and the "Patriach" (yes, Eastern Orthodox) is more like the pope in the way the Western nations are concerned.<br /><br />I keep trying to re-read the Tad Williams books but they just seem to be a bit dry to get into, and I remember them being solid, but not amazing...<br /> <br />....no, the Sea Beggars has not been completed. <br /><br />If you haven't read the last of the Monarchies books, don't bother. It's kinda like the dragged out LoTR endings, or the unecessary 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies...evilleMonkeighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11998198938697175335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post-47040047437015981992015-12-08T13:59:43.142-08:002015-12-08T13:59:43.142-08:00Ah, success! Truly, the gods of cyberbuggery have ...Ah, success! Truly, the gods of cyberbuggery have not yet abandoned me. To resume:<br /><br />Without wishing to fall prey to the odious practice of one-upmanship, I feel bound to point out that I discovered Mr Kearney quite early, having read the majority of The Monarchies of God - the true name of what you dub the Hawkwood series - back in the 90's, in their original hard cover incarnations. Unfortunately I never managed to get hold of the final volume. For a long time I've wanted to reread the series straight through - as you point out, the books can be read quickly, being not only relatively short but also fast-paced - but, in the absence of the final volume, this has proven impracticable. I may just have to forego perfectionism and acquire the paperback omnibus editions.<br /><br />Anyway, I quite agree with your assessment of Kearney's strengths, and found the tale very compelling, with a pleasing combination of military action, the supernatural, and political intrigue. The comparisons with Martin and Abercrombie seem quite apposite, and I can't help wondering whether their respective sagas were in part modelled on this. (Martin acknowledges a debt to Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which seems similarly underappreciated).<br /><br />For what it's worth, I took what you be an read as the equivalent of Jerusalem to be an analogue of Constantinople, for the simple reason that this is a much closer historical parallel, both in terms of the 'period' in which the alternative history is set, as well as the prototypical events. (Jerusalem fell to the Saracens in 1187, Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, and it was the latter who menaced Europe during the following two centuries). This hardly matters, however.<br /><br />I've not read the subsequent series. Has the Sea Beggars been completed yet?<br /> Jon Snow?https://www.blogger.com/profile/18349064979919474482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394074963215462822.post-22107847442096724622015-12-08T13:37:31.416-08:002015-12-08T13:37:31.416-08:00I appear to be afflicted with either very bad luck...I appear to be afflicted with either very bad luck or extreme technical competence as far as this blog is concerned, as not only has the search function failed to work for the past few weeks, leaving me unable to find particular posts other than by laborious scrolling and persistence, but I have today composed two comments, one of which failed to appear due to an unspecified error, while the last effort had no sooner been completed than Firefox crashed, leaving this box void of my lovingly composed musings. <br /><br />Perhaps, however, you are more interested in hearing my opinions on Kearney, which I will attempt to reconstruct from memory. First of all, however, I will attempt to publish this as it stands, in order to determine whether there is any point in persisting further.Jon Snow?https://www.blogger.com/profile/18349064979919474482noreply@blogger.com