Old Laurie Marks books.

[snarp]

I'm re-reading Watcher's Mask - which I like - and a few years ago I read Delan the Mislaid - which I didn't. And it occurred to me that man, Marks's earlier stuff was way grimmer than the Elemental Logic series. And it's not like Elemental Logic is exactly unicorns and fluffy bunnies and Mercedes Lackey when she's not being edited! It doesn't approach Carol Berg or Susan R. Matthews levels of cruelty, but there are definitely places where it creeps up on Barbara Hambly.

Whereas I think Watcher's Mask actually shoots past Berg. (Matthews still reigns as champion.) Maybe something happened just before Fire Logic? Or maybe I should read Dancing Jack to confirm that the shift didn't happen somewhere in there.

-

In an unrelated literary mystery, I've read four-and-a-half of her books now, and at this point I've got to admit that I just don't get C. J. Cherryh. She always seems to have a clear picture of where she wants to go with a book, and I think she gets there - but I rarely have any idea what she found compelling about the locale. It's similar to my reaction to Akihabara.

The half-a-book is Regenesis, which I'm reading now. If it were any other writer, I'd be beginning to suspect that our protagonists would be safer if they read more fiction and knew how to recognize the villain. Since it's Cherryh, I've got no idea what the hell she's doing. Maybe the whole cast'll turn into bats next chapter. There'll be some obvious thematic reason for it.

Comments

[holyschist]

I'm...not convinced Cherryh is a very good writer. She has interestingideas, but I found Cyteen plodding and the the characterization unbelievable and dull.

/unpopular opinion

[chomiji]

I don't think it's a matter of quality. She has a very distinctive style, and either it grabs you or it really, really doesn't. Ages ago, I was in an RPG campaign that used her Chanur series as background, and most of us either really loved it or found her completely unreadable.

[holyschist]

Well, it's subjective to some extent, but on the other hand, I'm not sure that writing everyone's dialogue with the same speech patterns and the same obscenities-as-punctuation, from ages 12 to 120 can be considered "good writing." I couldn't tell her Cyteen characters apart by dialogue; perhaps she was trying to make some point about conformity, but I don't think it's a realistic one.

[chomiji]

Interesting.

That wasn't my observation when I was going through Heavy Time and Hellburner in detail for a Yuletide story. But they aren't Cyteen, of course.

[holyschist]

I am fully prepared to believe my issues were Cyteen-specific...I just found Cyteen so irritating I haven't brought myself to try one of her other books yet.

[chomiji]

No worries - the days are long past when I used to assume that everyone I liked and/or respected had to enjoy my favorite books. No CJC for you - end of story.