Hey everyone! Out of idle curiosity, now that the anthology's been out for a little while, I'd love to hear from folks who have read Before They Were Giants regarding what their favorite parts were, whose interviews they liked the best, which stories they enjoyed most, etc. Anybody have comments?
Spider Robinson's story was probably my favourite, Salvatore did better work than I expected - it was nice to read something unpretensious (although its a stretch to call it SF). Stross' The Boys was good until the end, and Ginungagap was pretty good SF.
Spider Robinson's story was probably my favourite, Salvatore did better work than I expected - it was nice to read something unpretensious (although its a stretch to call it SF). Stross' The Boys was good until the end, and Ginungagap was pretty good SF.
I tend to use SF to mean "speculative fiction" as a catch-all for science fiction and fantasy... in the end, since most of the stories were science fiction, we went with that on the cover rather than speculative fiction, for fear that the more obscure term wouldn't resonate with people, but I tried to make it clear on the back that it was both.
And yeah, Spider's great--it's pretty amazing that his first story launched the Callahan series! Talk about coming out swinging...
As can be seen from my review, I was disappointed with this book. It was an interesting concept, but all writers improve with experience and reading early attempts can be annoying. My favorite part was Larry Niven's entry. Although, I tend to like his style. I would probably agree that the best story was Ben Bova's "A Long Way Back".
We now have another 9 months on this. Planet Stories subscribers should reply to James' request. I was hoping to engender discussion rather than kill the thread.
Okay, I'll discuss it (although I'm obviously not a subscriber, and in fact, checked this book out of the library.)
I, too, agree that the best story was "A Long Way Back." I also found "Craphound" interesting.
The line in the blurb that made me want to read the book was "what the authors know now about writing that they wish they’d known then." Different authors gave different answers to this (although the question was more like "How would you have written the story differently if you had written it today?") and I found that interesting.
Okay, I'll discuss it (although I'm obviously not a subscriber, and in fact, checked this book out of the library.)
I, too, agree that the best story was "A Long Way Back." I also found "Craphound" interesting.
The line in the blurb that made me want to read the book was "what the authors know now about writing that they wish they’d known then." Different authors gave different answers to this (although the question was more like "How would you have written the story differently if you had written it today?") and I found that interesting.
Thanks for the comments, folks! I also felt that the interviews were the best part of the book, though there were a number of stories that really blew me away. I think my own favorite may be "The Guy with the Eyes," but it's hard to tell how much of that love is for the particular story, and how much for the Callahan's series it spawned. :)
I didn't get to pick this book up, but Spider Robinson is amazing, especially the first three Callahan's books. But I'm a fan of them all, even Lady Slings the Booze all the way to Callahan's Con.
I didn't get to pick this book up, but Spider Robinson is amazing, especially the first three Callahan's books. But I'm a fan of them all, even Lady Slings the Booze all the way to Callahan's Con.
Yeah, Spider's a great author, and a really nice guy. I was glad to get to publish the story of how he got writing--lots of good advice and good humor.