From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Jul 9 13:18:00 1992 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!sun-barr!ames!ig!dont-reply-to-path From: wex@ursa-major.spdcc.com (Alan Wexelblat) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Two Great Fantasists Message-ID: <9207071304.AA24559@ursa-major.spdcc.com> Date: 8 Jul 92 00:37:50 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Lines: 104 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) X-Now-Playing: Silence X-Dj-In-The-House: Wex Great Fantasists: James P. Blaylock and Richard Grant Review Copyright (c) 1992 Alan Wexelblat If you've been reading my reviews lately, you know I've been bemoaning the fact that an average paperback these days is $5-$6 and most of the time it's not worth half that. If you've been following my advice, you've saved yourself a few bucks. Well, now it's time to go out and spend those dollars. I have here two of the greatest writers ever; both are fantasists and both are worth every penny their publishers demand. By fantasist, I don't mean your ordinary fantasy writer. No goofy elves, no mighty-thewed barbarians, no Celtic ripoffs. Instead, these two offer us real magic embedded in a believable world much like our own (even if it is... well, _bent_). And with top-notch writing to back up their imaginations, these two get better every time. The Last Coin There are only two problems with a Blaylock novel: first, it moves far too slowly; second, it's over much too soon. Contradiction? Yes. But that's the magic of Blaylock. You see, a Blaylock book starts off slow and easy. He lets you get comfortable inhabiting the skin of his protagonist -- in this case Andrew Vanbergen -- and his world. Once you're in, reading is smooth and east because Blaylock never hurries. Eventually the story comes to its climax, keeping you guessing right up to the end, then suddenly it's over. And if you're like me, you find yourself thinking "hey, wait, more!" You don't want the story to be over because you've become so attached to it and to the characters. In this case, Blaylock is at his absolute best. "The Last Coin" is the best work of his I've read. It deals with an icon that's been largely ignored throughout legend: the thirty pieces of silver Judas Iscariot received for the betrayal of Jesus. The Grail has gotten more than its share of treatments, and pieces of the True Cross have been sold for years by charlatans of all caliber. But what about those coins? What if they had magical powers? And what if you could get more and more power by gathering more of the coins? Of course, since the coins were used for an evil purpose they have evil side effects. And what if... no, I won't tell you. Just go read the book and see how one very ordinary person tries to stand up to the evil represented by the coins and by the man who is trying to possess them all. Blaylock won't disappoint you, I promise. Views From The Oldest House It's rare for me to find a new writer I really like, let alone one with master-class talent. Richard Grant is such a writer. "Views From the Oldest House" takes us on a journey of magic in a future America. We follow one Turner Ashenden as he moves from being just an unhappy student to being a Man with a Destiny. Grant captures the feel of Magic as an ineluctable force of the Universe. People may call themselves names like Black Malachi and may gain glimpses of the way things really are, but in Grant's writing, Magic is the fabric of our being and no one can really escape it. I should also commend the Foundation/Doubleday people who put the Escheresque cover on the large softcover printing of this book. That painting -- depicting people walking and standing on stairways which connect at impossible angles in total defiance of gravity -- really expresses the mood of this novel. And it reminds readers of the house, owned by Black Malachi Pantera and inhabited by him, Turner, and assorted others. That house, the "oldest" of the title, provides us with a base from which we can view this story. Turner's view is one of almost helpless resignation. For the most part he doesn't understand what's going on, nor what people want of him. The people who do, like Malachi and Madame Gwendola -- the Self-Realized Adept, aren't explaining things. Then there are the other views, mostly of Turner. He is a hero, a leader, a friend, a lover, an enemy. People project onto him what they want to see of him. And though he protests each transformation of his character, he goes along to get along, becoming each thing in turn. Along the way, Grant reveals himself to be a real wizard with the English language. I'd rate his wordsmithing skills on a par with John Crowley (high praise from me). I was particularly impressed by the way he handled the narrator's voice in the opening third of the book. Just when you think you've got it figured out, he pulls a great surprise. I realize I have almost totally failed to give you any sense of what this book is about, or what the plot does or who the main players are. This is, I'm afraid, deliberate. One of the joys of reading Grant is letting him reveal each of these things in his own way, at his own pace. The book never drags, and the number of literary tricks that Grant manages to pull off amazed me. I'm afraid you will just have to take my word for the fact that this is a wonderful book and you should all go out and buy it. %T The Last Coin %A James P. Blaylock %I Ace Fantasy Paperback %G ISBN 0-441-47075-0 %D 1988 %O $3.95 %P 328 pp %T Views From the Oldest House %A Richard Grant %I Foundation/Doubleday softcover %O $8.95 %G ISBN 0-385-26428-3 %P 470 pp From /tmp/sf.15692 Tue Mar 30 18:23:53 1993 Path: lysator.liu.se!kth.se!sunic!uunet!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!biosci!ig!dont-reply-to-paths From: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: THROUGH THE HEART by Richard Grant Message-ID: <9301111417.AA29282@media.mit.edu> Date: 13 Jan 93 22:46:38 GMT Sender: mcb@net.bio.net Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Lines: 56 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (temporary rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) X-Now-Playing: Silence X-Dj-In-The-House: Wex Through the Heart by Richard Grant Review Copyright (c) 1993 Alan Wexelblat It wasn't too long ago that I was raving about Grant's "Views from the Oldest House." So when another book with his name on it showed up in my inbox, I pulled it out to read ahead of schedule. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed. Not that this is a bad book. On the contrary, it easily rates in the top five percent of all fantasy I've read. Compared with the other stuff you might spend your six bucks on, this is a superior book. And yet, I was disappointed because it simply is not as good as "Views..." Unfortunately, "Through the Heart" fails exactly where "Views..." succeeded. Both books set up seemingly-simple societies with complex forces moving through them. The main characters get drawn into these forces and attempt to understand them as they attempt to understand themselves. Through this, the reader gains an understanding of the society, the forces, and the characters. Unfortunately, that doesn't quite happen here. Grant sets up the players: Kem (the main character), the Oasis (a mobile city) on which he travels, its mysterious Captain Hand and its Passengers and Investors, and certain important members of the crew. Grant sets up the society: a post-apocalyptic world where straggling remnants of humanity scratch out meager existences and fighting off "the crying" a plague-like sickness with no known cure. But Kem's journey is filled with unexplained events and mysterious occurrences. Grant doesn't reveal his underlying ideas in the slow enticing way he did in "Views..." Instead, this book builds to a climactic confrontation between Kem and Hand where they will inevitably fight not only over the particular matter at hand, but also about the opposing world-views they represent. And, in my opinion, Grant just doesn't pull it off. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the details without giving away the plot entirely Grant's writing is good, clear and lucid throughout the book. But it lacks that spark, the delightfulness which characterized "Views..." Grant is dealing with heavy themes and that seems to weigh down the writing as well as the plot, which moves along too slowly for my taste. With all that said, I think it's important to reiterate that I don't think this is a *bad* book, per se. Rather, I feel disappointed that Grant didn't live up to my expectations. If I had read this book before I had read "Views..." I might have felt differently. As it is, this is still a good cut above the run-of-the-mill fantasy being published today and you can be sure you'll see me reviewing more of Grant's writings in the future. %A Richard Grant %T Through the Heart %I Bantam/Spectra fantasy paperback %C New York %G ISBN 0-553-29320-6 %O US$5.99 %P 376 pp