At this point, I think I have had my fill of Dune for a while and I don't know IF I will ever go back to it.
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At this point, I think I have had my fill of Dune for a while and I don't know IF I will ever go back to it.
If it was simply a matter of cover finishes and author pic, I'd imagine that they would be able to make a November or December publication date (which would have enabled them to have cashed in on the Christmas market, too).
I'm a published author (of history), and I recall doing the final edits of the proofs in July/August for a work that was published that November.
I would guess that she could be at the final - or penultimate - editing of proof stage, as otherwise, they would be able to make a December date.
There are two other possible reasons for the delay: The first would be that they intend to devote considerable resources to it - which might not be possible in the run up to Christmas.
And the second could be to do with Hilary Mantel's own health issues - she has had health issues in the past, and might need to be able to be in a position to promote the book next year..
Ha ha, yes of course.... Personally, I was really surprised by a March date... There's probably been a bit of grumpiness in the marketing and sales teams over that one. I would have had it down as a slam dunk xmas title rather than a holiday read but hey ho... It'll sell (eventually) anyway.
Likewise.
However, the only reasons I can think of for the delay, are final editing stuff (and rewrites) to be carried out by Hilary Mantel, or ill health (possibly requiring a procedure) - she has been plagued by physical ill-health - suffered by the author.
But, yes, agreed: A Christmas date of publication would caused sales to further soar - anyone who has a friend or family member who likes history, historical fiction, - someone like me, in other words - would have a guaranteed winner of a present.
Moreover, the book trade can see up to 80-90% of their annual sales around Christmas, so it would make enormous sense to publish The Mirror and the Light then; the whispers I heard around a month ago were thinking in terms of a December release.
And agreed, too, that the marketing and sales teams could well be a bit grumpy.
Now, it'll certainly sell - but maybe not in the numbers it would have, had it been published in December.
Bear in mind that each of the two earlier books in the trilogy (Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies) won the Booker Prize.
Mantel will want to bring this one home in style - it is the work she will be judged on and remembered for.
Disagree, I've read them all and loved them
I think that is the difference, you loved them, while myself and @MacDawg did not. I know there is an audience for them and I know folks love em or like them a lot. It didn't do much for me.
So on to the next book, which ever that might be, still haven't made up my mind lol.
Agreed.
Disagree, I've read them all and loved them
Tastes differ; I have read a lot of fantasy, liked quite a lot of it, loved some of it, but Dune never did it for me.
Again, agreed.
Disagree, I've read them all and loved them
I didn't hate them, they just didn't live up to the expectations I had based on them being a part of literally every SciFi list of greatest books of all time
I had the same feeling about Asimov's Foundation series TBH
It might have been different if I had read them when I was younger, but I much prefer the Expanse series to either of those
You should try the "Bobiverse". Easy to read, but kind of hardcore SF. I haven't heard anyone say they disliked it yet! It's a trilogy and pretty good! You might also like the Murderbot novellas. They were really entertaining!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35014337-we-are-legion-we-are-bob
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32758901-all-systems-red
Also,,, thanks!
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Meant to say, I didn't love it, and by your reaction, I assumed you didn't love them either. The very reason you mentioned is why I wanted to read it also and like you, it didn't live up to my expectations either.
Dune can be a hard read for some folks. Even I slogged through the last of them. What I did enjoy, immensely, was Brian Herbert's and Kevin J. Anderson's "Dune" books that expanded the Dune universe. They were much easier to read and thoroughly entertaining. Hardcore Dune-ophiles hated them, but those of us who just like SF enjoyed them. YMMV. They are broken up into different eras and give a great insight to how Dune came to be.
The KJA-BH books are very good in my opinion, action-packed. The Butlerian Jihad's trilogy is a page turner. I didn't like the mid-original Dune books (Paul of Dune, Winds of Dune).
@yaxomoxay, with Dune the bottom line was not just that I didn't much care for the books, but worse, I didn't even like Paul - (didn't like Frodo either, but that is a different story and argument).
If you don't like (or vaguely empathise with) the protagonist (the Hero), well, then, I respectfully submit, that you may have issues with the series.
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Well, if you don't like the hero, so be it... even in the book not everyone was Paul's follower (yes, I am basically calling you a heretic
).
I read "Dune" when in my early twenties and enjoyed it a lot BUT it was long and feel it could have been shortened and tightened up by losing 150-200 pages. I also read the next two Dune books as they kind of make up a trilogy. All the books after those just seem to be milking the franchise.
As an aside, I still enjoy the original movie, it was a lot to boil down into a couple of hours. My sister, who knew NOTHING about Dune also enjoyed the movie very much, to bad it didn’t do well. Look forward to next version of it.
The fourth book (God-Emperor of Dune) is the best of the series in my opinion. Some people really hate it, I found it an impressively good introspection on power, solitude, etc.
Kissinger on Kissinger (2019) by Winston Lord (w/ Kissinger's intro).
At ~160 pages, this is definitely the shortest book on the subject. It is also the only oral history on and by Kissinger. It is quite interesting, readable.
The book contains a some interesting lore, I'll mention three episodes:
At ~160 pages, this is definitely the shortest book on the subject. It is also the only oral history on and by Kissinger. It is quite interesting, readable.
The book contains a some interesting lore, I'll mention three episodes:
- Kissinger mentions that during US-North Vietnamese peace talks, Le Duc Tho opened each meeting with a 45 minute long opening speech. The opening speech was always the same, word for word, and it always ended with "if you take great steps today, we will do great things tomorrow," except for once when Le Duc Tho said "if you take great steps today, we will do things tomorrow." Kissinger, immediately asked to the N Vietnamese diplomat why the word "great" was dropped. Le Duc Tho answer was a cold, "we did great things yesterday, and you just took steps."
- Kissinger also mentions that once he really needed to pee, so he asked for a "much needed and objective break," only to find out that Le Duc Tho interpreted the request ideologically, so before agreeing to the restroom break he went into another 40 minute long ideological speech.
- An interesting point is how much domestic policy influences foreign policy. During one of his visits to the Soviet Union he went to the Kremlin to talk to Brezhnev. As he started receiving some requests from the Soviet leader, Kissinger told him that he could not agree on anything without first talking to Nixon. To the American diplomat's surprise, as soon as he mentioned Nixon's name Brezhnev handed Kissinger a telegram by Nixon stating that "Kissinger has full negotiating powers." Outraged by the telegram (as he lost an important delaying weapon), he called the White House Chief of Staff (Haldeman) to receive clarification on the unprecedented initiative by Nixon. Mr. Haldeman coldly said to a screaming Kissinger "deal with it, I have problems on my own" to which Kissinger replied "what problem could you possibly have in Washington, on a Saturday night?"... it was the Saturday Night Massacre night.
I've signed up for Audible and have used my first credit on the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft. I've only finished The Alchemist and At the Mountains of Madness so far. I wish I had read these before now, I've found them extremely predictable but it's probably because so many works used Lovecraft stories as inspirations.
It's probably not as scary now as it was back then or even 30-40 years ago. It is interesting to see just how many stories have been influenced by HPL. I also often get the same feeling when reading Fantasy works (who are all clearly inspired by Tolkien).
It's probably not as scary now as it was back then or even 30-40 years ago. It is interesting to see just how many stories have been influenced by HPL. I also often get the same feeling when reading Fantasy works (who are all clearly inspired by Tolkien).
I've listened to a few audio books, and while they were ok, I don't really like them. For me at least, they take longer to listen to than for me to read the book. Also, I find my mind has a tendency to wander while listening to them.
I don't have as much time to read actual books as before, but I always have headphones on at work so listening to audiobooks while doing easy tasks lets me get back to books.
But generally I agree that actually reading the book is better.
Actually, I think many of the earlier generations of fantasy writers were influenced by, or inspired by, Tolkien, but, over time, the better ones moved away from that and found their own voices and developed the genre considerably.
Personally, I prefer books to audio.
I admit that outside of a number of Dungeon & Dragons books (stories themselves, not the game) I have not read that many books in the fantasy genre.