{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4063", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 4063, "subject": "[OT] Other authors: Lawrence Miles", "messages": 2, "voices": 2, "first": "2003-07-06T01:22:31+00:00", "last": "2003-07-06T22:28:39+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Adam Stephanides", "address": "adamsteph at earthlink.net" }, "date": "2003-07-06T01:22:31+00:00", "subject": "(urth) [OT] Other authors: Lawrence Miles", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "(I meant to post on this to the other authors thread a while back, but never\ngot around to it; but better late than never.)\n\nWhile not in Wolfe's league, Lawrence Miles is a very interesting SF writer,\nand well worth investigating IMO. He'd be a lot better known if it wasn't\nfor the fact that aside from one short story (\"Grass,\" which came out last\nyear iirc and attracted a bit of attention), all his SF afaik has been\nwritten for Dr. Who books and offshoots thereof. That sounds terrible, but\nwriters of Dr. Who books seem to have a good deal more freedom than writers\nof Star Trek books, say; and you don't have to be a Dr. Who fan, or know a\nlot about Dr. Who (I'm not, and don't) to enjoy his books.\n\nAll his books are worth checking out, except perhaps for CHRISTMAS ON A\nRATIONAL PLANET, his first (and THE BOOK OF THE WAR, which I haven't read).\nBut his best are probably DEAD ROMANCE and DOWN (neither of which contain\nDr. Who). While DEAD ROMANCE is better, DOWN does a couple of interesting\nthings with unreliable narration; and for fans of Iain M. Banks, it can be\nseen as a sort of reply to the Culture. For those interested in narrative\ntechnique THE ADVENTURESS OF HENRIETTA STREET is also worth noting; it's one\nof the few novels I've seen which is written almost entirely in the style of\na history or biography (e. g. almost no directly quoted dialogue; sometimes\nproviding contradictory versions of an event from different \"sources\"\nwithout saying which is correct).\n\nThere's also an online sample of his writing at\nhttp://www.gallifreyone.com/fppreview1.htm\n\n--Adam" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Gareth Jelley", "address": "gjelley at btopenworld.com" }, "date": "2003-07-06T22:28:39+00:00", "subject": "Re: (urth) [OT] Other authors: Lawrence Miles", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Adam Stephanides wrote:\nWhile DEAD ROMANCE is better,\nDOWN does a couple of interesting things with unreliable narration;\nand for fans of Iain M. Banks, it can be seen as a sort of reply to\nthe Culture." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "It's worth noting, though, that Miles is building on the novel 'The Also\nPeople' by Ben Aaronovitch, who introduced the 'People' who feature in\n'Down'. Both Aaronovitch and Miles are well worth a look. It was Aaronovitch\nwho originally provided the 'reply' to the Culture.\n\nThe Doctor Who novels, published first by Virgin, then by the BBC, and now\nby both Telos and the BBC, are all worth looking at, selectively, because\nthey are afforded far, far more freedom than any other series of\n'franchise'-related fiction.\n\nAnd when Virgin was publishing them, they were the only SF publisher in the\nUK willing to accept unsolicited manuscript submissions. So the Who list was\na great place for people to begin writing SF.\n\nPaul Magrs has written immensely successful mainstream novels, but began on\n(and is still writing for) the Doctor Who series..." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "For those interested in narrative technique THE\nADVENTURESS OF HENRIETTA STREET is also worth noting; it's one of the\nfew novels I've seen which is written almost entirely in the style of\na history or biography (e. g. almost no directly quoted dialogue;\nsometimes providing contradictory versions of an event from different\n\"sources\" without saying which is correct)." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "My problem with 'Henrietta Street' was that it wasn't *enough* like a\nhistory. It needed an Index, a Contents page, and Introduction, and more\nextensive notes. For the 'trick' of the narrative to work, it needed to\nbecome even more absorbed in the whole exercise... I found it a drag,\nbecause (for me) it fell between too stools...\n\nBut 'Interference' is a fantastic novel, at moments, if far too long. And he\nhas also branched out into Audio Drama, Comic writing, and more, no doubt...\n\nThis http://www.factionparadox.co.uk/ is a treasure-trove.\n\nBut this is the last place I expected to see Miles mentioned :o)\n\nBest,\n\nG." } ] } ] }