Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site birtch.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!qantel!hplabs!sdcrdcf!trwrb!scgvaxd!felix!birtch!oleg From: oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev x258) Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers,net.books Subject: Re: JHEREG by Stephen Brust Message-ID: <130@birtch.UUCP> Date: Mon, 30-Sep-85 17:58:18 EDT Article-I.D.: birtch.130 Posted: Mon Sep 30 17:58:18 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 7-Oct-85 03:25:45 EDT References: <1211@mtgzz.UUCP> Organization: Birtcher, Santa Ana, Ca. Lines: 51 Xref: watmath net.sf-lovers:10449 net.books:2378 In his review of JHEREG by Stephen Brust Mark R. Leeper writes > In a world where magic works, a man who > is basically a cheap detective of the Sam Spade sort is given a single task > not too different from one he might be given in our world. Oh, come on! The guy was running a protection racket! He was a gangster and a part-time assassin. That was one of the interesting things about JHEREG -- a gangster/private eye in the world where magic works! > Brust has created a world where different rules work. Characters who > are killed may or may not come back, characters teleport at will--there are > a number of differences. But the world is self-consistent and with some > substitutions not really very different from ours. Well, thanks for figuring *that* out! The world of JHEREG (and YENDI) is one of the most consistent systems ever to appear in fantasy/sf. It is a *very* well done system with *very* few loose ends. > Aside from the multiplicity of unfamiliar names--probably not a > drawback for most other readers--the story is fairly well-written. I did, > however, all too often come up confused as to who was who in the book and > because of that, did not enjoy the book as much as I might have. Rate the > book a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. Oh, poor you! I bet you put away Zelazny's "Lord of Light" after the first few pages. And how often do you read historical books? Especially the ones on times and lands quite remote. I am sure you've never read any of the Russian great writers -- because you couldn't remember the names and places... JHEREG does not sport an overwhelming cast of characters. Their names are easily remembered and pronunciation is given. Next time why don't you set up a list of names of characters you encounter in a book and who they are and just give them plain English names ( for your own benefit) like "Joe", "Pete", "One eyed pirate", " A paraplegic beggar", etc. and think of everything in those terms. you could do same with places and cities : Boston, New York, Phili instead of the goblety-gook names the silly authors insist on. And as long as we are at it why not replace magic with something else. Like cabs instead of teleports... CPR instead of "raise dead" spell... If the story doesn't make any sense after all these transformations -- I guess it wasn't good enough to start with... Mark, my advise to you : quit sf/fantasy reading and concentrate on NY Times Top 10 bestseller list. They will not have all the strange names and masses of characters ( else how would they have *ever* made it into the top 10?). As far as my opinion on Steven Brust's writing : I think he is one of the finest new authors in fantasy/sf. JHEREG (and its sequel YENDI) are enjoyable reading. His "To Reign in Hell" was an exellent analysis of an old story and is a very pleasant book.