fpw Wrote:A LOT of these questions will be answered in RJ10. (I need a title, dammit.)How about Untitled ?
:p
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. ... The piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
~ Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Anders Monsen Wrote:I just finished re-reading ALL THE RAGE, and do not remember "Ba and Dr. Bulmer." Where do they appear? I did notice the reference to an "infernal machine" and FREAK SHOW, so I may need to re-read that book, too.
They are their, but vague! Brett M has it on the good docters activity. And he is so close to the Ba reference it hurts! Reread the part when Jack get's in the accident.
KRW
KRW Wrote:They are their, but vague! Brett M has it on the good docters activity. And he is so close to the Ba reference it hurts! Reread the part when Jack get's in the accident.
KRW
If I remember correctly, when Jack first goes to the Osmond's (or whomever's) Freak Show, he gets directions from or notices an odd guy by a shack near the water. I suspect this is the person from Tenants, who Jack must visit to have Glaken's sword rebuilt in Nightworld.
All The Rage is a great novel, but I have a special fondness for Conspiracies since I live in Shoreham, not far from Tesla's lab (it is still there).
Pleiades Wrote:If I remember correctly, when Jack first goes to the Osmond's (or whomever's) Freak Show, he gets directions from or notices an odd guy by a shack near the water. I suspect this is the person from Tenants, who Jack must visit to have Glaken's sword rebuilt in Nightworld.
All The Rage is a great novel, but I have a special fondness for Conspiracies since I live in Shoreham, not far from Tesla's lab (it is still there).
I have a very special fondness for Tesla! He was brilliant, no wait, he was light years ahead of us! My opinion, Edison didn't have a clue, but he was one hell of a salesman! But Tesla, was a genious!
As far as "All The Rage" That was definatly George Haskins. He couldn't make ends meet with just poems, so he rents a lot out to Oz for extra money. He's the one that tells Jack where they went when the side show moved on!
As far as Ba, I'll still say him and Jack almost meet by accident!
By the way, Welcome to the Board Pleaides! Cosmic name!
KRW
Pleiades Wrote:If I remember correctly, when Jack first goes to the Osmond's (or whomever's) Freak Show, he gets directions from or notices an odd guy by a shack near the water. I suspect this is the person from Tenants, who Jack must visit to have Glaken's sword rebuilt in Nightworld.
All The Rage is a great novel, but I have a special fondness for Conspiracies since I live in Shoreham, not far from Tesla's lab (it is still there).
Ozymandias Prather, I believe, is the man in charge of the Freak Show. Good old Oz.
"Conspiracies" ranks high for me, too, for the very same reason. My summers were spent in that area, and I loved all the references to places I know. Howdy, neighbor Pleiades, and welcome to the board!
Reading is freedom.
The mind soars, no earthly cares,
no limitations.
A Maggers Haiku, 2005
Years ago my mother used to say to me... "In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart or oh so pleasant."
Well, for years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.
You may quote me.
Elwood P. Dowd
Just returned from the US where my new, incscribed copy of Infernal was waiting. (Thanks for the inscription, fpw!! 
) Read it today. (Should have been doing other things, but, read it anyway!) GREAT!!! THANKS!!!!
I want MORE!
) Read it today. (Should have been doing other things, but, read it anyway!) GREAT!!! THANKS!!!! I want MORE!
Just finished Infernal this morning. Unlike other RJ books, this one took me a long time to read. I've even read two other books and started two more during the time I read Infernal. Not that it was difficult to read, but that it wasn't as engrossing as it could be.
That said, I must explain a bit. The beginning was a stunner. Upon reading that Jack's dad died, I had to pause for a bit and catch my breath. I didn't expect that at all. The introduction to Tom was necessary, and to quote Lisa, he was quite the "asshat." Didn't like him much at all as a person, but loved him as a character. He never delved into the necessary evils Jack has, but dove head first into a messed up world of his own. But, the trek to Bermuda was a long, dry trip. It seemed a bit out of place, and I was surprised that the Bermuda Triangle wasn't mentioned as part of the Otherness. Maybe two other Infernals were dumped at sea?
Lastly, (though I could put more here if not at work and feeling guilty about not being productive) the ending was inevitable. Only Tom could take the stain, Jack needs to stay put, Gia and Vicky need to survive until something really nasty happens (could it involve Gia passing gas?), etc.
I can't honestly say I'm disappointed with the book (one can never be truly disappointed with an FPW novel), but it did seem incomplete: a prologue to the next one. A "harbinger" of things to come, as it were.
That said, I must explain a bit. The beginning was a stunner. Upon reading that Jack's dad died, I had to pause for a bit and catch my breath. I didn't expect that at all. The introduction to Tom was necessary, and to quote Lisa, he was quite the "asshat." Didn't like him much at all as a person, but loved him as a character. He never delved into the necessary evils Jack has, but dove head first into a messed up world of his own. But, the trek to Bermuda was a long, dry trip. It seemed a bit out of place, and I was surprised that the Bermuda Triangle wasn't mentioned as part of the Otherness. Maybe two other Infernals were dumped at sea?
Lastly, (though I could put more here if not at work and feeling guilty about not being productive) the ending was inevitable. Only Tom could take the stain, Jack needs to stay put, Gia and Vicky need to survive until something really nasty happens (could it involve Gia passing gas?), etc.
I can't honestly say I'm disappointed with the book (one can never be truly disappointed with an FPW novel), but it did seem incomplete: a prologue to the next one. A "harbinger" of things to come, as it were.
Scott Hajek
[i]"A beer right now would sound good, but I'd rather drink one than listen to it."[/i]
I agree that Infernal was disappointing for the most part. I just didn't get into as much as the other Jack books. It's not to say that it was bad it was just a bit unexpected when compared to Crisscross and Gateways. I thought there were definately some interesting points in the story with the Wrath of Allah as well as the Infernal Device from The Compendium of Srem. However i don't think those angles were used in way that could have really grabbed a readers attention (especially the Wrath of Allah). When Jack found out who was responsible for his his fathers death i expected some real fireworks and was somewhat disappointed. All that being said i am still a HUGE FPW fan and JACK fan as well. I can't wait for the next RJ book.
ALowerDeep
ALowerDeep
t4terrific Wrote:Well that was more of a nod to the once famous, now defunct, professional wrestling organization known as ECW. ECW was well known for having the most rabid fans in the business. When the fans got really exctited at live ECW events they began to chant (among other things, some not quotable on this site) what sounded like "E-C-Dub!" "E-C-Dub!" "E-C-Dub!".I actually saw ECW back in the ole days of wrestling. Got to say Sandman was my favorite.
Spoiler***Spoiler***Spoiler
As for Infernal, I really enjoyed it. I was a little bumbed when Jack's father passed so soon into the book. I got to say, I was so pumped at the thought of another wacky Jack and his father adventure. Just a simple gun wound too, I was totally banking on some kind of coverup that he was still alive for a few pages in.
I am agreeing that a lot of Tom's character got a little repetative. I did get a little tired of hearing his selfish remarks. I found myself reading through his parts a little faster to get back to the characters I have grown to love, and enjoy. The book was obviously different than any RJ book from recent days, and although it lacked the usual high tense adventure scenes it kept my interest just same as other books. Actually I finished this one in a little over a day.
The gun scene with Wrath of Islam was a little tarnished. I didn't feel like that was put together right. Seemed like they really were not sure if these were all the guys, but they mowed them down anyway. Joey was a fun character, but just seemed a little wierd how that went down.
Other than a few little complaints here and there, it was pretty good read for me.
This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 05:30 PM by mike36799.
It's an FPW book, so that pretty much means I'm gonna like it. But I do definitely have hang-ups.
First and foremost, as far as I could tell there were no mentions of either the phrase 'cheek by jowl' or the all-time-favourite word, 'maw'.
That was not good! Get your act together - some things should always remain a constant!
On a more serious note, most of the comments on this thread I agree with.
Specifically:
Tom was a despicable character (Junior, not Senior, obviously) throughout the book and so his sudden change of heart right at the end just didn't sit well with me.
And nor did the 'let's confuse the lilitongue' routine. It had survived for hundreds of years, it could hover and float and unleash the mark of death, but it couldn't tell Tom and Jack apart? Hmmmmm.
I don't want to go down the route of saying how it should have been done - hell, if I could do that, you'd all be worshiping at my alter, not FPW's. But usually when I finish an FPW book, I'm not left thinking to myself, "Well, he should have done that, or this, or the other." One of the things that makes FPW stand out as a writer (to me) is that at the end of one of his books there simply aren't ways it could have been done better. Sure, there are always different ways to do things, but that's the 'I wish' factor: I wish he'd done that differently, not he should have done it differently.
But I did still enjoy it. Hell, there was even a 'moist eye' moment (well, more than a few, actually!) when Jack was telling Vicky that he had to go away. That was done brilliantly.
And another good thing: maybe I was just reading too fast, but has FPW gone and got himself a new proof reader? Usually his books are littered with typos but I don't think I saw a single one!
First and foremost, as far as I could tell there were no mentions of either the phrase 'cheek by jowl' or the all-time-favourite word, 'maw'.
That was not good! Get your act together - some things should always remain a constant!
On a more serious note, most of the comments on this thread I agree with.
Specifically:
Tom was a despicable character (Junior, not Senior, obviously) throughout the book and so his sudden change of heart right at the end just didn't sit well with me.
And nor did the 'let's confuse the lilitongue' routine. It had survived for hundreds of years, it could hover and float and unleash the mark of death, but it couldn't tell Tom and Jack apart? Hmmmmm.
I don't want to go down the route of saying how it should have been done - hell, if I could do that, you'd all be worshiping at my alter, not FPW's. But usually when I finish an FPW book, I'm not left thinking to myself, "Well, he should have done that, or this, or the other." One of the things that makes FPW stand out as a writer (to me) is that at the end of one of his books there simply aren't ways it could have been done better. Sure, there are always different ways to do things, but that's the 'I wish' factor: I wish he'd done that differently, not he should have done it differently.
But I did still enjoy it. Hell, there was even a 'moist eye' moment (well, more than a few, actually!) when Jack was telling Vicky that he had to go away. That was done brilliantly.
And another good thing: maybe I was just reading too fast, but has FPW gone and got himself a new proof reader? Usually his books are littered with typos but I don't think I saw a single one!