OT-Black Company

[JimMorrison]

Piers Anthony? Say it ain't so! The only thing I ever read, that filled my gut with a sense of ill-ease deeper than Gulliver's Travels could inflict me with, was a brief passage from some atrocious Xanth novel that a friend considered hilarious. Okay, deep breaths..... He just thinks he's some sort of high octane version of Dr Seuss, it drives me mad.

Okay, sorry. I guess reading these latest posts made me want so badly to be the reviewer that kicks a writer's teeth in, I feel better now.


I think the thing with Russian vs English fiction is a deeper and more subtle issue, really. I've been very entertained by much of the Russian fiction I've been exposed to - recently watched Daywatch/Nightwatch, and I've gotten a few Russian made CRPGs that are fun - but I can't say that I very highly rate the writing. And I think really, translation just does terrible things for any profound writing - because that precisely special combination of words that strikes something in you, well the other language may not even have them at all, or the translator may substitute a word that has additional connotations that weren't intended, or if it is your second language, some nuances simply may be missed. I think this issue is even greater when it involves the English language, as we have borrowed so many words from so many other languages, that for example if you enter "wise" into thesaurus.reference.com, you get a truncated list of 50 synonyms. Many translators may not know what all of the subtle differences are, and in creative writing, sometimes one word is substituted for another not on merit of connotation, but simply because of the shape and sound of the word. You lose poetic nuances like that the moment it is translated.

Fiction is a fickle mistress. At the point that someone says "I don't get it", the artistic expression is lost, and it has spelled doom for the story. People will generally tend to hold in higher regard the earlier things that they read and digested, because even if they are a bit trite or underdone, they'll still express many new concepts, and broaden one's horizons. So maybe if Piers Anthony was the first fiction I read, I'd like him - and maybe recommend him to people on some basis - but luckily, that is not the case. <3

[MaxWilson]

Don't judge Piers Anthony's writing by the never-ending Xanth series. Some of his books (Macroscope) and the first few (2-3) Xanth books are sort of mildly good. The never-ending Xanth stories are a money machine which he apparently thinks he'd be a fool not to milk--think of them as his day job.

-Max

[HoneyBadger]

Yeah, you'll notice that I took the time to clarify that I take my Piers Anthony strictly non-Xanth. As long as you avoid them, and any other series he's written, past say the third or fourth book, you'll be ok. Some of his series I've read farther than that, but I don't take responsibility for the quality. He may not be consistently great, and he's certainly not everybody's cup of tea, but what can I say? he writes well to teenaged males, and I used to be a very troubled teenager (I've since matured into a very troubled adult). Him and Tom Deitz are the first two authors that I'd point any hormonal adolescent towards, were I forced kicking and screaming into near proximity with them. I'd add Harry Harrison, but the sad fact is that a lot of his best early work hasn't aged all that well.

One thing that Piers Anthony does, that I really approve of, is that he always (or almost always) includes an Author's Note at the end of his books, taking the time to actually explain something of what was going on in his head or whatever, when he was writing the book. I for one appreciate having a little insight into my authors and their writing process, and it sets him apart from others mentioned, as much as any factor of his writing quality.