posted
Foster can surprise me, because I don't have a high opinion of most of his scifi, but some of his books have surprised me. I thought his novelization of The Last Starfighter was better than the movie--okay, not saying much, but it was actually quite good--and, of course, Splinter of the Mind's Eye remains one of the most fondly remembered Star Wars novels, for those of us old enough to remember that there were Star Wars novels before Timothy Zahn. I have mentally pegged Foster as someone who can do a good job writing in someone else's universe--the highest level fanfic, if you like (and suddenly "Luke slash Leia" pops into my head . . .)--but has a harder time creating his own. This might explain why you feel that he writes well outside of the genre: in realism he doesn't have to create the universe either.
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posted
You may have heard him on NPR, but the two books of his I found were very good. I am refering to Baxter Black--cowboy poet.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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She wrote Nobilis and a number of White Wolf sourcebooks. She has the wierdest imagination I've come across.
Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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quote: BTW I HATE Chalker, he writes horribly and most of his books are just poor set ups for his warped sexual fantasys.
Kwea,
that really isn't descriptive of Chalker's books at all, with the exception of the "Flux and Anchor" books you mentioned - I'd blotted them out of memory. Some of Chalker's work hardly has any sexual content at all - and most of the others don't have more sex - sicko or otherwise - than authors such as Robin Hobb or George RR Martin.
(The bad writing? That can be a highly subjective thing, so I won't argue it.)
I recommend the following by Jack Chalker:
THE WELL WORLD SERIES (grouped accordingly)
1. Midnight at the Well of Souls
2. Exiles at the Well of Souls 3. Quest for the Well of Souls
4. The Return of Nathan Brazil 5. Twilight at the Well of Souls
THE FOUR LORDS OF THE DIAMOND
1. Lilith: A Snake in the Grass 2. Cerberus: A Wolf in the Fold 3. Charon: A Dragon at the Gate 4. Medusa: A Tiger by the Tale
(a personal favorite)
And the Devil Will Drag You Under
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
sndrake, I get what you are saying, but I can't even blot those books out of my memory, in part because they had such potential. I read most of the Well World books, and they were OK. I liked them enough toread them all, but the ideas interested me a lot more than his writing style, which I found to be repetitive and dull.
Then i found Flux and Anchor....adn I couldn't stand him at all.
. . . . . In those books he constantly uses the Flux, which is the magic part of the books, to sexually abuse and control the female characters. They are repeatedly raped, sexually abused, and physically modified to service others. Their minds are changed so that they become willing sex slaves.
And part of the message of those books seemed to be that in the end they were getting what they wanted and deserved. One of the main characters at the end even chooses to stay modified, and to remain with the man who did that to her...imlpying that she really enjoyed the whole thing.
She was the character that was physically modified to have a huge male organ, larger than a donkey, and with an increase in sexual drive that REQUIRED her to have sex every few hours.
She liked it so much that she wanted to stay that way?
So I refuse to spend a dime of my money on his books, and if I were to meet him I would be torn on if I should hit him or spit at his feet and walk away.
And if you think that those books are the only one s that are devient, try reading the Changewinds books, they aren't much better.
I like sex in books, it odesn't phase me at all. I even understand that sometimes the shock value in rape or sexual domination can be used to futher a good story....
But when the entire series revolves around it and there doesn't seem to have a god point, when the people doing these vile things are the HEROES of the story, then I have a problem
It felt like I was reading someones dirty diary, and I was revolted.
Enjoy him if you want, but I will never try anything he ever writes again.
I read the Well World stuff, and the Changewinds, and the River of the Dancing Gods stuff, and the Flux and Anchor stuff.....so I was familier with a lot of his work before I realized his intent.
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