S.K.-- no, the other one.

Sure, they share the two initials.  They also share a work called The Shining.  But the S.K. I want to talk about is...(drumroll) Stanley Kubrick.

There are a handful of directors whose movies I will watch, without a clue as to their content, sight unseen.  Darren Aronofsky is one.  Paul Thomas Anderson is another.  There's David Lynch.  And, of course, Kubrick.

I discovered Kubrick when I saw Eyes Wide Shut on cable back in 2000.  Sure, I'd seen the trailers, and thought they were annoying.  Hey, I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan.  I mean he's a decent actor, but actors in general don't really interest me.  Let me revise that a bit.  Celebrities don't interest me.  I hate celebrity culture.  And to me, then and now, Cruise is a big part of that.  Anyway, I saw the movie because my wife kept telling me how cool it was.  She and I have watched many movies over the years and she knows what I like.  I like to think about what I'm watching.  I like intelligent films, strange and dark films.  Complex films.  So, I watched it.  At first, it seemed like a boring movie about yuppies.  But it soon morphed into something unique, something all its own.  I watched it again and noticed things I'd missed the first time.  It was then I decided I must see more Kubrick movies.

We watched 2001: A Space Odyssey soon after.  I remember seeing the rating on the back of the DVD case: rated G.  I wondered how the man who'd made Eyes Wide Shut had made a G movie.  Then I saw it.  It truly is a masterpiece.  From start to finish.  I knew right away after finishing the movie that I'd missed a LOT of stuff.  So I watched it again, too.  So many observations can be made about 2001.  Hell, a guy named Jay Weidner has written articles and made a documentary about 2001 and its relation to alchemy.  Yes, you read that right.

As of now I have seen all of Kubrick's work.  Each film has its own mood, its own look, but they all look and feel like Kubrick films.  Each one seems to have a depth that is unique to themselves.  They have more in common with literature than with other movies.  So, if you have never seen anything by Kubrick, you know what to do.  And be sure to check out those links I included.  Interesting stuff, even if you don't agree with it.

Jack Vance, the master.

Ah, Jack Vance.  There is not much I can say about the man that hasn't been said, and better, by better writers than I.  But I feel the need to leave a record of my feelings on Vance and his fiction,  if for no other reason than in the hope that even one person might read this post and go on to read something by Mr. Vance.

I first heard of Jack Vance back around 2000, when I was waist deep in A Song of Ice and Fire and a regular visitor to George R.R. Martin's site.  On his favorite books page was listed something called The Dying Earth by someone named Jack Vance.  Bleh, I thought.  I'm not into SF, only fantasy.  See how crazy was my 22 years-old self?  Years passed and I would come across the title and the name from time to time, but never in any way that caught my interest.

In 2005 I discovered the fiction of Gene Wolfe (that's another post) and found myself in awe of it.  As is my habit when discovering something that affects me so, I found out everything I could about Mr. Wolfe--his bibliography, his age, biographical details, and his influences.  And on that list was a somewhat familiar name and title:

Jack Vance.  The Dying Earth.

Well, thought I, if this book had any influence on The Book of the New Sun, I must read it.
So I did.

Fast forward three months or so, and the entire bottom shelf of my bookcase is heaving with the works of one author.  Wanna guess his name?   Right.  Oh, and that silly aversion to SF?  Gone, transformed into love by the pages of Vance's Tschai series, the Alastor Cluster books, Big Planet, The Demon Princes, and others.  As was the case with Gene Wolfe, I found out everything about Vance that I could.  I learned a bit.  Firstly, that Vance was not and never had been interested in doing interviews, going to cons, or having his picture taken.  The available info was rather scant in comparison to "modern" SF/F writers.  I also learned that Vance's fans are the most loyal and intelligent bunch I have ever had the honor of joining.  Hell, I still visit the Jack Vance Message Board.  There I met yet another amazing writer who is also a hell of a nice guy.  That guy is Matthew Hughes, creator of the awesome Archonate series.

Anyway, this past winter, I finally got the opportunity to speak to Mr. Vance.  While it was not in person, I was thrilled.  I got his number from a mutual friend, and I just stared at it for several minutes.  My heart rate increased, my palms sweated.  I just knew I was about to make a fool of myself.  Ah, to hell with it, I thought.  I dialed the numbers.

And Vance picked up.

Wow.  We talked for well over an hour and-a-half  about all sorts of things, from aliens and ghosts to favorite mystery writers to restaurants.  He was friendly, enthusiastic, encouraging, didactic, everything I had hoped he would be.

And he invited me to call him back any time I wanted.

I'm still waiting for the courage...

Glen Cook

I discovered Glen Cook after I read an interview with Steven Erikson back in 2005.  At the time I had just gotten into the Malazan series and had yet to discover Jack Vance or Gene Wolfe.  I did a search for Glen and up came the Black Company books.  So that very day, off I went to my (semi) local bookstore and bought the first three books in the BC series.

I was instantly infatuated.

The first book was a revelation to me, who had only read "fat" fantasy before that.  Writers like Jordan, Martin, Tad Williams.  The fact that Mr. Cook had accomplished the world and characters of the Black Company in so few pages was amazing to me. I hadn't been so enthralled with a book since Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. What do you mean there are no lame descriptions of clothing?  Where is the braid-pulling, the sniffing, the farm boy with his painfully slow realizations and country bumpkin sensibilities?  Why, they're nowhere to be found!

 I quickly devoured the second and third installments, Shadows Linger and The White Rose.  In the coming days I located a few more in used bookstores and the remainder online.  And before I knew it, there was no more BC.  Damn, I thought.  Now what?  Easy answer: More Cook!  I found The Swordbearer, The Tower of Fear, the Dread Empire books (before the omnibuses by Nightshade), and the Garrett books (from the old SFBC).  I also discovered The Tyranny of the Night quite by accident, and bought it in hardcover without a second thought.  I had enough Glen Cook to last me...

...THREE WEEKS?!?


Fairly recently, Mr. Cook had a BC story in an anthology titled Swords and Dark Magic (which contains many good S&S short stories by many great writers).  To my surprise the story took place sometime after the first book and before the second.  The Limper was back!  And the Captain!  This was great.  And a few months after I had said goodbye to the North, I watch an interview with Glen Cook on You Tube, and learn that the next BC book, in its entirety, will take place in between books one and two.  Wow.  I, for one, cannot wait.

For those of you who have never read Cook, I'm sure this post seems rather fan-boyish.  It is.  I am.  And you should stop reading this and go read some Glen Cook.

First post

So this is my first post...  Hi.  Here I will be writing about my favorite things.  Fantasy/SF books and writers, movies of many genres, TV series, and who knows what all else?  I will probably do some book reviews, some rants, and just general palaver.  So visit again sometime.  That is all.