The Simak recommendation caught my attention becuase those pulp stories with wild ideas packed into small spaces are getting harder to find these days. Book of the New Sun is definitly worth the intimidation factor, but fair warning it gets denser as it goes and rewards those rereads you mentioned. I had to take breaks between volumes just to let everything percolate. Interesting take on the Avatar discourse too... never thought about how Jake's transformation could read as messianic rather than just ecological fable, but that layering is what seperates spectacle from actual science fiction.
The pacing of New Sun is weird, so I have to keep myself from blitzing thru. So far it's been as advertised. I'm delighted.
As for Avatar, it almost certainly will not be as interesting as I want it to be, but until he starts shutting the doors on my take, I will persist in enjoying it.
Glad you liked Simak! I would love to read your reaction to City, and Why Call Them Back From Heaven.
Ooo, putting them on my list...
The Simak recommendation caught my attention becuase those pulp stories with wild ideas packed into small spaces are getting harder to find these days. Book of the New Sun is definitly worth the intimidation factor, but fair warning it gets denser as it goes and rewards those rereads you mentioned. I had to take breaks between volumes just to let everything percolate. Interesting take on the Avatar discourse too... never thought about how Jake's transformation could read as messianic rather than just ecological fable, but that layering is what seperates spectacle from actual science fiction.
The pacing of New Sun is weird, so I have to keep myself from blitzing thru. So far it's been as advertised. I'm delighted.
As for Avatar, it almost certainly will not be as interesting as I want it to be, but until he starts shutting the doors on my take, I will persist in enjoying it.