Robert Appleton's Blog - Posts Tagged "adventure"
Books I've Read Recently
For whatever reason, the first half of 2011 was my busiest reading period ever, by a long, long way. Plenty of re-reads, a lot of first-try authors, and some bona fide masterworks. Science fiction dominated, but I managed to squeeze in a few historical, romantic, horror and adventure books in there as well. Here's a selection (in no particular order):
Dune by Frank Herbert (SF, Novel) - Brilliant, epic worldbuilding. A SF triumph.
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian (Historical Fiction, Novel) - Book 4 in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Excellent as always.
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (SF, Novel) - Sequel to Ender's Game. Much more mature and complex. Ingenious story, but not quite as compelling as EG.
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell (Steampunk Romance, Novella) - Wickedly funny time travel story with heroine I'd like to read more of.
Barsoom Series 1-4 by Edgar Rice Burroughs (SF/F, Novels) - Yearly re-read of first three, plus Thuvia, Maid of Mars for first time. Phantom bowmen are sublime creations, but overall Book 4 not as memorable.
The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt (Fantasy Romance, Novella) - Offbeat, irreverent reimagining of Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Bawdy and funny, with a big-hearted heroine. Charming.
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (Steampunk Romance, Novel) - Big, brassy steampunk adventure with a tempestuous romance and some clever worldbuilding. Not sure about the nanotech, though. Excellent writer.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Steampunk, Novel) - Grungy, grimy steampunk horror that improves as it goes. Top marks for author vision. Not one of my favourites but very solid.
Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley (Space Opera Romance, Novella) - Firefly-esque SF with a fast pace and a wildly unpredictable heroine. Fun stuff. Ms. Dooley has a nice feel for space opera.
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (SF, Novel) - Another intelligent, provocative future tale from Clarke. Ingeniously wrought, but ultimately one to admire rather than love. My reaction to the ending was extremely ambivalent.
Next by Michael Crichton (SF Futuristic, Novel) - Cluttered but always interesting eugenics story. Crichton's tone is nicely satirical at times, and full of his cautionary touches.
At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft (Fantasy/Horror, Novella) - Imaginative, atmospheric and creepy as hell. Set in the ruins of an ancient, long-dead civilization in the mists of Antarctica. Lovecraft builds an air of dread on a massive scale. Loved it.
People of the Mist by H Rider Haggard (Adventure, Novel) - Typical Haggard adventure. In other words, a joy to read and soak up his eloquent prose and pulpy derring-do. Classic stuff.
Dune by Frank Herbert (SF, Novel) - Brilliant, epic worldbuilding. A SF triumph.
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian (Historical Fiction, Novel) - Book 4 in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Excellent as always.
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (SF, Novel) - Sequel to Ender's Game. Much more mature and complex. Ingenious story, but not quite as compelling as EG.
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell (Steampunk Romance, Novella) - Wickedly funny time travel story with heroine I'd like to read more of.
Barsoom Series 1-4 by Edgar Rice Burroughs (SF/F, Novels) - Yearly re-read of first three, plus Thuvia, Maid of Mars for first time. Phantom bowmen are sublime creations, but overall Book 4 not as memorable.
The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt (Fantasy Romance, Novella) - Offbeat, irreverent reimagining of Sleeping Beauty fairytale. Bawdy and funny, with a big-hearted heroine. Charming.
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (Steampunk Romance, Novel) - Big, brassy steampunk adventure with a tempestuous romance and some clever worldbuilding. Not sure about the nanotech, though. Excellent writer.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Steampunk, Novel) - Grungy, grimy steampunk horror that improves as it goes. Top marks for author vision. Not one of my favourites but very solid.
Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley (Space Opera Romance, Novella) - Firefly-esque SF with a fast pace and a wildly unpredictable heroine. Fun stuff. Ms. Dooley has a nice feel for space opera.
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (SF, Novel) - Another intelligent, provocative future tale from Clarke. Ingeniously wrought, but ultimately one to admire rather than love. My reaction to the ending was extremely ambivalent.
Next by Michael Crichton (SF Futuristic, Novel) - Cluttered but always interesting eugenics story. Crichton's tone is nicely satirical at times, and full of his cautionary touches.
At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft (Fantasy/Horror, Novella) - Imaginative, atmospheric and creepy as hell. Set in the ruins of an ancient, long-dead civilization in the mists of Antarctica. Lovecraft builds an air of dread on a massive scale. Loved it.
People of the Mist by H Rider Haggard (Adventure, Novel) - Typical Haggard adventure. In other words, a joy to read and soak up his eloquent prose and pulpy derring-do. Classic stuff.
Back to Verne
A century and a half later, Jules Verne's enthusiasm for adventure remains infectious. I suspect it always will. From daring hot air balloon escapades to dazzling submarine odysseys, his speculative stories are some of the purest I've ever read in terms of science, curiosity, and imagination.
His didactic approach to any subject he tackles fascinates as much as it sometimes overbears; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea often reads like an oceanographer's handbook rather than a work of dramatic fiction, while From the Earth to the Moon isn't so much a story as a bold how-to prediction of the method by which we might achieve that goal. I'd say Verne's a visionary more than anything. His characters are often broad and grandiose, his stories high-concept, even pulpy, but he's able to bring to life these amazing journeys with an almost juvenile passion for escapism, and a teacher's passion for gathering and imparting knowledge.
He builds these stories from the ground up, detail by detail, the way his castaway survivors in The Mysterious Island cobble together the resources available to them, first into necessary tools, then into ever more elaborate and daring experiments to recapture the civilization they left behind. He's hoping, dreaming, planning ahead for us. We buy into Verne's speculations because of his building block approach to them; leaps of logic are rare; usually if there's a gap in his explanations, it's because he's waiting for science to catch up with him.
A few of my favourite Verne novels I've read recently are:
Journey to the Center of the Earth -- One of his most naive science fictions, but it's still a great example of Verne's infectious appetite for exploration, sprinkled with geology, geography, cryptology, and just plain old addictive adventuring. I re-read this one quite a lot.
Five Weeks in a Balloon -- Like most of the classic Victorian adventures set in Africa, it hasn't aged well in terms of racism--in fact, it's one of the most offensive I've read. But that aside, I enjoyed the heck out of Five Weeks in a Balloon. It's a simple, pure, high-concept extravaganza featuring a voyage over some of the most remote regions of the Dark Continent.
The Mysterious Island -- An epic Robinson Crusoe-esque survival tale featuring a group of Civil War escapees marooned on a desert island. The ingenuity of the hero, Cyrus Smith, and his frankly mind-boggling engineering skills are what make this a page-turner for me. I love seeing what he comes up with next! Then there's the Granite House, the pirates, the touching relationships, the return of Nemo, the volcano. This one has it all. It's an absolute keeper.
I start writing Subterranean Clock, the sequel to my steampunk adventure Prehistoric Clock tomorrow, and I can't think of a better way to get me in the mood. Verne is king!
His didactic approach to any subject he tackles fascinates as much as it sometimes overbears; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea often reads like an oceanographer's handbook rather than a work of dramatic fiction, while From the Earth to the Moon isn't so much a story as a bold how-to prediction of the method by which we might achieve that goal. I'd say Verne's a visionary more than anything. His characters are often broad and grandiose, his stories high-concept, even pulpy, but he's able to bring to life these amazing journeys with an almost juvenile passion for escapism, and a teacher's passion for gathering and imparting knowledge.
He builds these stories from the ground up, detail by detail, the way his castaway survivors in The Mysterious Island cobble together the resources available to them, first into necessary tools, then into ever more elaborate and daring experiments to recapture the civilization they left behind. He's hoping, dreaming, planning ahead for us. We buy into Verne's speculations because of his building block approach to them; leaps of logic are rare; usually if there's a gap in his explanations, it's because he's waiting for science to catch up with him.
A few of my favourite Verne novels I've read recently are:
Journey to the Center of the Earth -- One of his most naive science fictions, but it's still a great example of Verne's infectious appetite for exploration, sprinkled with geology, geography, cryptology, and just plain old addictive adventuring. I re-read this one quite a lot.
Five Weeks in a Balloon -- Like most of the classic Victorian adventures set in Africa, it hasn't aged well in terms of racism--in fact, it's one of the most offensive I've read. But that aside, I enjoyed the heck out of Five Weeks in a Balloon. It's a simple, pure, high-concept extravaganza featuring a voyage over some of the most remote regions of the Dark Continent.
The Mysterious Island -- An epic Robinson Crusoe-esque survival tale featuring a group of Civil War escapees marooned on a desert island. The ingenuity of the hero, Cyrus Smith, and his frankly mind-boggling engineering skills are what make this a page-turner for me. I love seeing what he comes up with next! Then there's the Granite House, the pirates, the touching relationships, the return of Nemo, the volcano. This one has it all. It's an absolute keeper.
I start writing Subterranean Clock, the sequel to my steampunk adventure Prehistoric Clock tomorrow, and I can't think of a better way to get me in the mood. Verne is king!
