This month's book is The Elfin Ship, by James Blaylock. The author has been around for quite some time and is well known in some circles, but not among those authors who are household names. Blaylock started in a writing group with colleagues Tim Powers and K.W. Jeter, both of whom have gone on to have successful careers. Jeter actually coined the term "steampunk" to describe some of the early work he, Blaylock, and Powers were doing.
I want to thank those of you who decided to join us this month. The Elfin Ship is not so much a conventional fantasy narrative, and copies of it can sometimes be hard to come by, though it looks like the paperback is found online readily enough.
I thought we'd break the book down into four weeks:
Week 1: Chapters 1 through 7
Week 2: Chapters 8 through 14
Week 3: Chapters 15 through 21
Week 4: Chapters 22 through 28
Here are a few preliminary discussion questions for those who have started the book and are maybe a chapter or two in:
1. The Elfin Ship has a narrative style that is uncommon in modern fantasy, particularly in employing a narrator that is omniscient at times and at other times fixed more closely in the mind of the protagonist. What do you think of Blaylock's writing style in this novel?
2. Jonathan Bing is not a stereotypical fantasy protagonist by any stretch of the imagination. What do you make of him?
3. Blaylock gives you detail of the world as it immediately effects the story, and then occasionally adds brief bits about the greater world. What is your view of the setting so far?
I want to thank those of you who decided to join us this month. The Elfin Ship is not so much a conventional fantasy narrative, and copies of it can sometimes be hard to come by, though it looks like the paperback is found online readily enough.
I thought we'd break the book down into four weeks:
Week 1: Chapters 1 through 7
Week 2: Chapters 8 through 14
Week 3: Chapters 15 through 21
Week 4: Chapters 22 through 28
Here are a few preliminary discussion questions for those who have started the book and are maybe a chapter or two in:
1. The Elfin Ship has a narrative style that is uncommon in modern fantasy, particularly in employing a narrator that is omniscient at times and at other times fixed more closely in the mind of the protagonist. What do you think of Blaylock's writing style in this novel?
2. Jonathan Bing is not a stereotypical fantasy protagonist by any stretch of the imagination. What do you make of him?
3. Blaylock gives you detail of the world as it immediately effects the story, and then occasionally adds brief bits about the greater world. What is your view of the setting so far?