Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Ha, I was going to comment that this novel really feels the most of the series like it starts and ends at arbitrary points (which I find charming, as no modern novelist would do so). Or maybe it was the previous, which literally cuts mid-scene. I thought they were really going to go to Chile in this novel, as it was set up as their next voyage in the previous. But come the end of the novel they still haven't got around to it!
I recently read Angel Down, half the gimmick of which was that it pretended to start and end mid-event. It's nonsense of course, the beginning and end points were deliberately chosen by the author and there's a clear narrative arc in between.
The Solar cycle by Gene Wolfe also has a habit of cutting out the transitions between books. Supposedly it was out of protest against a publisher who wouldn't let Wolfe finish his books as he liked, but maybe it pulls double-duty for allowing him to leave out some parts he himself considered boring. Or maybe he just liked leaving more mysteries around. Wouldn't surprise me.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link