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| Faery In Shadow | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 29 2007, 05:42 AM (439 Views) | |
| Theta9 | Dec 29 2007, 05:42 AM Post #1 |
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Muffin Top
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Just finished reading this tonight; it's taken a couple of months. I can now understand those who say that they enjoy :cherryh:'s sci-fi but bounce hard off her fantasy. Though I liked the prequel story "Brothers" okay, I found Faery to be a hard slog that I only finished by telling myself that every page I read brought me one page closer to the end. I'm now wondering whether it's worth my time to try The Dreaming Tree, The Goblin Mirror, or the "Fortress" series. How do the rest of you rate Faery and :cherryh:'s other fantasy work? |
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| starexplorer | Dec 29 2007, 05:50 AM Post #2 |
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First Contact Assassin
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I salute your perseverence, stePH. While I cannot claim to have read a lot of her fantasy, I did give Faery in Shadow a fair try. We are of like mind. Your slogging skills exceed my own. |
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| hrhspence | Dec 29 2007, 06:05 AM Post #3 |
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Hani Assassin
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I never did try Faery, but found the Fortress series palatable. You must, however, judge that on the fact that I like Chanur better than Cyteen. I suggest you try the first fortress book and see if it's any better than faery. If not, dump the series and her fantasy in general. |
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| Kokipy | Dec 29 2007, 11:29 AM Post #4 |
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I think the Fortress books are much better than Faery, the Dreaming Tree and the Goblin Mirror. They have a lot of the hard headed politics at which she excels, and less of the muddled magic making that I dislike in the others. So my suggestion would be to try the first Fortress one and if you dont like it forget the rest of the fantasy. |
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| Tuuli | Dec 29 2007, 02:43 PM Post #5 |
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I think I've read much more Cherryh's fantasy than her science fiction (well, on closer thought, maybe that's not quite true anymore... but for a long time the only scifi from her I'd read was the Foreigner series.) Maybe that's just because in general, I'm more a fantasy person than scifi person. Actually, I've read appallingly little scifi... maybe I should ask people here for some recommendations - what would be a part of Basic Studies in Science Fiction? :lol: Anyway, that's a bit off-topic... I've read Faery In Shadow and thought that it was... ok, at best. Fortress series I've enjoyed, but as for me I simply :salad: The Dreaming Tree. :salad: :salad: :salad: I'm not quite sure if I can say why, but... there's just something in that book that keeps me enchanted. :wub: I got it originally from the library, but hadn't even finished reading it before I bought it. ^^; But anyway, I think I agree with Kokipy: if you don't like the Fortress books, you most likely wont like Her other fantasy. (Though who knows. I've noticed that people sometimes like the most surprising things.) |
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| Surtac | Dec 29 2007, 10:27 PM Post #6 |
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Antipodean Assassin
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I tend to agree with the majority here - try the Fortress books. The only caveat I'd put on it is that the first one is slow to get moving - perfectly understandable when you start to consider Tristen's provenance and nature - but it may be a little off-putting to some. But overall, I like Her fantasy almost as well as I do Her SF - there is something in Her description of magic across Her fantasy works that appeals to me for some reason I can't quite fathom. And Tuuli - I too :salad: The Dreaming Tree! :invert |
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| Resa | Dec 30 2007, 01:30 AM Post #7 |
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Drawer of Stuff
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I've read the Goblin Mirror and liked it very much. The female witch in it gave me twitches of wanting to smack her one, but the Goblin fellow was very amusing. I'll have to look up The Dreaming Tree and the Fortress books books. |
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| Reading_fox | Jan 7 2008, 03:42 PM Post #8 |
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The Fortress series is more erratic than some of her work. I liek the first but the next couple bog down a bit. Dragons is back up again, and Ice somewhere inbetween. The feel is definetly closer to Chanur than Foreigner, and has less of the explicit cultural explanations that either. But I find them very enjoyable. Dreaming tree is slower without the action but I found it to be entralling, but not brilliant. A take on the sidhe legends, so its probably useful if you've some idea of the average concepts before trying :cherryh: unique view of them. Overal I seem to give her fantasy 4* out of 5 with the SF probably closer to 4+ |
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| moira | Jan 16 2008, 04:01 AM Post #9 |
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Senior Bujavid Security
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I've not read Faery or Dreaming Tree, etc. all I can contribute is that I've read Fortress and enjoyed those; agreeing that the politics is as present (and is as nicely done as in Chanur) as the magic. I like Tristen, though; I like his theme. that's a carrying point for me. have you read Rusalka? I think the Fortress series is not unlike Rusalka in the magic aspect, and it was mentioned (in the Rusalka discussion when it was book of the month) how Rusalka's Sasha and Fortress' Tristen were like explorations of a similar theme (and how it seemed R's Pyetr and Chanur's Tully could almost be compared in the same light). if you do try The Dreaming Tree, etc, be sure to let me know what you think. I obvioulsy haven't gotten much into her fantasy yet. (I'm just now starting on Morgaine!) |
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| Serendipity | Jan 16 2008, 02:07 PM Post #10 |
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Avenging Minion
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I, too, had trouble with Faery and Rusalka books. I much prefer Chanur, Faded Sun, Morgaine, Fortress (although while I was reading the most recent book, Ice, I had to keep restraining myself from kicking motions toward the two boys), and Alliance-Union. :ot2 On a side note, anyone read the "Merlin" books by Mary Stewart? I fell in love with her version of the story, and now can't cope with any other telling of Merlin, King Arthur, Mordred, etc. |
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| cicely58 | Jan 16 2008, 03:29 PM Post #11 |
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Chaos Elemental
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I'll raise my hand to having read Mary Stewart's Merlin books. In my opinion, the first three books are the definitive retellling of that tail; but the fourth book, The Wicked Day, loses steam about the time Arthur goes to Less Britain, leaving Mordred as regent. I find it a bit of a trudge to the end. I just now, in popping over to Wiki, found that there's another book, The Prince and the Pilgrim, listed as a part of the Merlin series. Has anyone read it? |
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| Kokipy | Jan 16 2008, 04:02 PM Post #12 |
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I haven't read that one, Cecily, but I also loved the first three, and my copies are very worn indeed. Except I hardly ever read the Wicked Day. I can't bear the ending. |
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