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From: BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: SF-LOVERS Digest   V10 #291
Message-ID: <3052@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 2-Aug-85 13:55:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.3052
Posted: Fri Aug  2 13:55:23 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Aug-85 21:34:58 EDT
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From: Bard Bloom <BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA>

>Has anybody read "The Revenants"?  Is it as worthwhile as the True
>Game series?

I didn't like it as much as the True Game books, but this may have been my
mood when I read it.  And there's a long way between ``not liking it as much
as the True Game books'' and ``not liking it''; it's a pretty good book.

It reminded me very much of the True Game books, especially the more
gruesome parts.  Tepper's evil creatures seem to like torturing their
minions.  The plot had some surprises, but fit well into the tradition of
Tolkeinian fantasy.  Some of the characters were very interesting.  There
were a lot of good ideas.

I can't seem to say anything about it except damning it with faint praise,
so I should explain why. Tepper's writing feels (to me) more Literary than
purely for enjoyment; more like MacAvoy and LeGuin than Howard and Asprin.
(I don't know that Tepper intended this.) I don't think it was very good as
a work of Literature, despite its other virtues (e.g., I couldn't
understand the motives of the Evil characters). I would have liked it better
if I didn't think it was Literature.
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