urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:e_dan Daniel Daniel 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:e_dan:29232 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z Bill Joel, 'You may be right' I'm pretty sure that it was Matt Reilly who was one of the guest speakers at Swan Con last year - and I liked him. This means that I was prejudiced towards liking his books, which are kinda techno-thriller types.<br /><br />Just finished 'Ice Station', and am about halfway through 'Area 7'.<br /><br />They are, alas, almost unreadably bad :(<br /><br />I really wanted to like them! But they commit that particular sin in that all the action and even character development is just an analogue of 'screen' action. The action is described visually, not in any of the visceral, innovative ways that are the domain solely of the author.<br /><br />Also, [do lj cleverness] prk would be gnawing his arm to a stump at the 'science' - my current favourite bit being where a deep sea diving bell massively implodes because of the HUGE water pressure...except that what ruptures its integrity is a dude just outside it with a harpoon gun - not in any protective gear! Also not wearing breathing apparatus as near as I can tell but that's another story.<br /><br />Shame :(