Bits, Pieces and Links
A few things that have been keeping me amused recently:
A webcomic aimed at a pretty specific audience: My Elves Are Different. Possibly incomprehensible if you don't spend unhealthy amounts of time paddling about in the virtual pond of sf and fantasy blogs, websites and discussion boards. Funny, if you do.
I finally got around to reading City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer. It's good stuff, a bit like someone put China Mieville, Alasdair Gray, M John Harrison and Mervyn Peake in a blender and asked the resulting soup to write a book. If that sounds like your kind of thing, give it a try.
I've always thought there's a shortage of films about Vikings and Native Americans fighting each other. Seriously, I have, ever since I was a child and found out they'd met each other. Come to think of it, maybe that's part of the reason why the humans and Kyrinin carry on the way they do in Winterbirth: the author giving his childhood self something he always wanted to see? Anyway, a new movie on that very subject is about to appear. I've no idea whether it's any good or not, but the trailer provides a few moments of entertainment and a belated dose of childhood wish fulfilment.
And last, but not least, the first great fantasy written in the (Old) English language. I've been listening to Beowulf on CD, and it's great. Ancient, in its bones, but potent and atmospheric. Never mind your modern heroic fantasy, this is the unrefined, undiluted, unpolluted original. It was always meant to be heard, rather than read, so audio's its natural habitat. There's a film in the offing too (a motion capture effort, rather than live action). I know it doesn't do to get one's hopes up, but hell: Neil Gaiman's got a writing credit and Ray Winstone's playing Beowulf. How bad can it be?
A webcomic aimed at a pretty specific audience: My Elves Are Different. Possibly incomprehensible if you don't spend unhealthy amounts of time paddling about in the virtual pond of sf and fantasy blogs, websites and discussion boards. Funny, if you do.
I finally got around to reading City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer. It's good stuff, a bit like someone put China Mieville, Alasdair Gray, M John Harrison and Mervyn Peake in a blender and asked the resulting soup to write a book. If that sounds like your kind of thing, give it a try.I've always thought there's a shortage of films about Vikings and Native Americans fighting each other. Seriously, I have, ever since I was a child and found out they'd met each other. Come to think of it, maybe that's part of the reason why the humans and Kyrinin carry on the way they do in Winterbirth: the author giving his childhood self something he always wanted to see? Anyway, a new movie on that very subject is about to appear. I've no idea whether it's any good or not, but the trailer provides a few moments of entertainment and a belated dose of childhood wish fulfilment.
And last, but not least, the first great fantasy written in the (Old) English language. I've been listening to Beowulf on CD, and it's great. Ancient, in its bones, but potent and atmospheric. Never mind your modern heroic fantasy, this is the unrefined, undiluted, unpolluted original. It was always meant to be heard, rather than read, so audio's its natural habitat. There's a film in the offing too (a motion capture effort, rather than live action). I know it doesn't do to get one's hopes up, but hell: Neil Gaiman's got a writing credit and Ray Winstone's playing Beowulf. How bad can it be?Labels: Books
posted by Brian Ruckley at 1:44 PM :: Permalink ::
4 Comments:
That's one for my Amazon wishlist, then... the Beowulf CD, I mean. Read City of Saints and Madmen a good while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
On the Vikings-fighting-things front, I'm reading Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead at the moment, which is different enough to make it interesting. Quite liked the movie version as well - can't remember what it was called, had Antonio Banderas in it...
Ages since I saw that Antonio Banderas movie - Thirteenth Warrior, I think? I remember thinking it was OK but not much more than that: got a feeling I was quite enjoying it most of the way through, then found the last third or so a bit of a letdown.
And talking about movies I saw years and years ago, that 'Pathfinder' movie I linked to looks suspiciously like it might be a heavily modified remake of a film from the 1980s - 'Ofelas', supposedly the first film made in the Lapp language, which was called 'Pathfinder' for its international release. It was rather good: worth renting on DVD if you can find it anywhere ...
http://imdb.com/title/tt0093668/plotsummary
I really enjoyed the Seamus Heaney take on Beowulf, especially the way he dropped in some Scots Ulster words in his translation where he thought they fitted. Have you read JOhn Gardner's Beowulf? Gollancz republished it a couple of years back as part of the Fantasy Masterworks series, looks at events from Grendel's point of view, extremely effective writing in a very slim volume.
I loved City of Saints and Madmen - had the pleasure of swapping emails with Jeff since then and he is a very interesting guy to talk to. His new novel, Shriek, is set in Ambergris as well, but is, probably much more accessible than City of Saints for many folks, made my list of my top SF&F for 2006. He has a mini-movie based around Shriek coming up on the web shortly - had a sneak peek a few weeks ago and it's pretty cool (the Church, who did some music for Donnie Darko) did the soundtrack for him.
I know the John Gardner book you mean, but haven't read it. It's one of those that's been bubbling just under my 'must buy' list for ages. I loved the cover of this edition. The new Fantasy Masterworks cover is nice enough, but doesn't really match up if you ask me.
Shriek is one of the numerous books that sit patiently in piles around the house waiting for me to get to them. I'm going through one of those phases when my book-buying has drastically outpaced my book-reading. It's a kind of addiction.
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