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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site hammer.UUCP
Path: utzoo!lsuc!pesnta!hplabs!tektronix!orca!hammer!hutch
From: hutch@hammer.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Spirits of flux & anchor; Jack Chalker
Message-ID: <1720@hammer.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 31-Dec-85 04:12:45 EST
Article-I.D.: hammer.1720
Posted: Tue Dec 31 04:12:45 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 31-Dec-85 18:45:16 EST
References: <1978@watdcsu.UUCP> <2596@umcp-cs.UUCP> <645@calmasd.UUCP> <214@birtch.UUCP>
Reply-To: hutch@hammer.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison)
Distribution: net
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 34
Keywords: Soul Rider series
Summary: 

This magic line will change the gender of the line eater.

In article <214@birtch.UUCP> oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev) writes:
>In article <645@calmasd.UUCP> cjn@calmasd.UUCP (Cheryl Nemeth) writes:
>>I just finished _Soul Rider_.  I get the feeling that Chalker has one
>>general idea and that's where most of his books come from.

Indeed.  He often uses his particular kinky sexual fetishes as "hooks"
since it seems there must be a certain amount of eroticism in a story
for it to mass-market well.  However, the plotlines, without the kinks
and the exploration of wierdness, are often quite interesting as an
investigation of an alternative culture, even if they don't quite work.

>And don't complain about a "less than satisfying" conclusion! Chalker always 
>treats the first 3 volumes of Soul Rider as ONE book! YOu have NOT read the 
>conclusion : it's in vol.3 - "Masters of Flux and Anchor"!

I rather disagree with this.  Although Chalker always hopes for a
trilogy, in this case the publishers made him stretch out a book that
seems like it was a single long novel.  This is an irritating trend,
and it sure looks to me like it wrecked the crafting of this story.
There are rough edges, the characters aren't consistent and lots of
them seem to be introduced as "cardboard character type 4a" for a
particular use, then discarded as soon as he's done with it.

>And for explanations of how thins started and how they work (what is Flux?) --
>read "The Birth of Flux and Anchor", book 4 of Soul Rider (read it last in the
>series!).

Definitely.  The book stands by itself and is very enjoyable.  In fact,
if you would rather, just read it alone and ignore the other three, if you
find that you can't stand the thought of yet another trilogy.

Hutch