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Jeremy P Lakatos <afn39111 at afn.org> wrote:
Hardly. Though there are swords, and sorcery, there are no quests to be won, no dragons to battle, no evil overlords to overthrow. It isn't Swords and Sorcery, it's fantasy (but then, scifi is fantasy too).
I'd agree - an original fantasy reminiscent of Jack Vance's Dying Earth. If you didn't like that, you probably won't like New Sun either.
Michael Wen <mswen at worldnet.att.net at postoffice.worldnet.att.net> writes:
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some colony world that's lost contact with civilization and had degenerated. Am I right?
I don't expect this to be a major spoiler, but Urth -is- Earth in some far off time (hence the name).
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What I would really like to know is why this series is so popular.
I'll concur with most of what Jeremy wrote. While there's more action later on, I think it's main attraction is the richness of the prose, the strangeness of the setting, and the puzzles that are Urth and its inhabitants.
I adore the Book of the New Sun but realize it's not for everybody. In fact, the first time I read it, I didn't know whether I liked it or not, but I just -had- to keep reading.