From: u2103420@csdvax.csd.unsw.edu.au
Newsgroups: alt.horror
Subject: Dan Simmons and others
Date: 18 Aug 92 16:38:23 +1000
Organization: University of New South Wales

Hi. I'm Only new to this list (i.e. I just looked in here today) and I saw a
couple of articles I thought worth commenting on.

Namely, Dan Simmons.
I have read Song Of Kali, Hyperion, Fall Of Hyperion and started into Carrion
Comfort. I have also read Vanni Fucci Etc. (sp?), Iverson's Pits and, umm, that
one about the cancer vampires...oh yeah, Metastasis.

Song Of Kali was heavy going to start with, but once past chapter 5 I think I
finished it all in one go on a long train trip. It was really really good, IMO.
The three short stories I mentioned were all good, and I liked Vanni Fucci
quite a bit. The one of those three that really stood out for me was Metastasis
(even if I can't remember its name). That, while not an outstanding or truly
original horror story, was one of the few I have read that I have physically
squirmed while reading. The descriptions of the slugs was enough for me to
create a very vivid image of them in my mind, and when they did what they
did...well, it was good. A couple of nice ideas in it, too.

Hyperion & Fall Of H deserve their own paragraph. Very long, not much in the
way of horror, sex, action, or violence, but bits of each spread throughout.
The first book is a long set of six people's stories which gives the background
to this 700-years-from-now universe. A lot is left to the imagination, too, 
which I like (i.e. some things are talked about as assumed knowledge, and are
never given concrete descriptions). The events spoken of in H are tied together
and brought to a conclusion in Fall. Fall is more of the typical novel style,
in that it tells a story, while H is more like Canterbury Tales (sp?)...
pilgrims on a journey telling their story. Fall, in my opinion, is one of the
greatest, all encompassing, thought out science-fiction story I have ever read.
I say this with special reference to a concept he brings into it in the last
200 pages or so and manages to pull it off (it is a pretty huge concept, and I
only think he may have slipped at the end a bit). It is certainly not
everyone's cup of tea, but I sure liked it. The two, ioncidentally, were meant
to be one book, but it is possible, I think, to read Fall without first reading 
Hyperion. You just wouldn't get some of it.

I feel Dan Simmons is a great writer, and he is coming up with some new
concepts, at least (Children Of The Night (??), the new one, looks interesting)
and I fully intend to read every bit of his stuff I can find.

In reference to the King/Koontz/Saul debate, I think Simmons beats them all.
King is very good in the psychological side, & It was great, & Misery was
fantastic, but he may be slipping a little. I do like the Dark Tower series,
tho'. I have read about 4 of Koontz's books...including Phantoms...and thought
Midnight (??) to be the best of those, but he definitely follows a formula, and
I don't find him anywhere near as suspenseful as King. As for Saul, 3 was
enough for me...Creature was the first, but the next two were nearly IDENTICAL.
When this happens, leave them alone, I say.

Well, that's about it for my opinions/mini-reviews(?????)/whatever, and I must
go now. Any response at all would be appreciated, within reason.

==> Matthew Garward.
    u2103420@csdvax.csd.unsw.edu.au
		"What's that blue thing doing here?"
						- TMBG

Newsgroups: alt.horror