Re: A few more (only my own opinion) - Edit 1
Before modification by Ouranid at 30/04/2012 10:48:05 PM
China Mieville's The City and The City- glorious, like a slightly ambiguously sci-fi Crime and Punishment but somehow real
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman- is there any piece of literature quite like the mythology with a Shakespearean feel that Gaiman creates in this of all media. The key is how much Neil only alludes to, in my opinion, which gives us the impression of getting a brief look into a reality he has fully created and the unanswered questions add just as much as the answered ones.
Peake's Gorgemhast- the story where the setting is the main character
I'm sure I'll think of others- mostly reading "New Weird" at the moment
I disagree with a couple of yours- Atlas Shrugged was very thought-provoking if flawed but no more so than other doorstoppers, and Dune probably was special but I read it after homages like WoT which probably detracted from it a little
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman- is there any piece of literature quite like the mythology with a Shakespearean feel that Gaiman creates in this of all media. The key is how much Neil only alludes to, in my opinion, which gives us the impression of getting a brief look into a reality he has fully created and the unanswered questions add just as much as the answered ones.
Peake's Gorgemhast- the story where the setting is the main character
I'm sure I'll think of others- mostly reading "New Weird" at the moment
I disagree with a couple of yours- Atlas Shrugged was very thought-provoking if flawed but no more so than other doorstoppers, and Dune probably was special but I read it after homages like WoT which probably detracted from it a little
The Sandman, yes. The only thing that's comparable is the spin-off, Lucifer, and while I prefer that series in many respects, it doesn't have the density and rich allusions of Sandman. I've only read the first book of the Gormenghast trilogy, and enjoyed it.
It's interesting that you disagree with the works you do, I wasn't sure about them. But I think the sheer violent, humorless intensity of the tone and characterization, married to Rand's philosophy, creates a sort of hyper-pulp I haven't come across anywhere else (excepting, perhaps, the Sword of Truth series, fittingly enough). And while the surface elements of Dune are derivative, and have been emulated in later works, his vision of the übermensch and how it manifests and affects the plot strikes me as something unique. Again, though, the choices are entirely personal.
What New Weird books are you reading? It's a contentious label, but the books generally included are among my favourites, like Miévilles Bas-Lag novels, City of saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer, and The Etched City by K. J. Bishop. Novels of mutations and transformations, and the pervading influence of the city.