World Enough and Time: The Life of Andrew Marvell

Customer Reviews:

A Chameleon's Life.......2001-07-16

Marvell's is not an easy life to write. His remarkable caution in a remarkable time led to a dearth of biographical source material. Murray, at times, seems to have limited sympathy for Marvell, and the thinness of his source material sometimes gives the impression of 'slightness' to his treatment. But in the last third of the book, I got a glimpse of a Marvell I'd never seen anywhere else - tough, fearless and at risk in ways we can't imagine. I give the book THREE STARS, but relative to other available biographies on Marvell, it probably deserves FOUR. If you're interested in Marvell, it's well worth reading.

Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction

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Prequels and sequels
A great collection of stories
Words Enough
Great Stories
A Simmons fan necessity

Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction
Dan Simmons
Manufacturer: Eos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060506040
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Book Description

An extraordinary artist with few rivals in his chosen arena, Dan Simmons possesses a restless talent that continually presses boundaries while tantalizing the mind and touching the soul. Now he offers us a superb quintet of novellas -- five dazzling masterworks of speculative fiction, including "Orphans of the Helix," his award-winning return to the Hyperion Universe -- that demonstrates the unique mastery, breathtaking invention, and flawless craftsmanship of one of contemporary fiction's true greats.

Human colonists seeking something other than godhood encounter their long-lost "cousins"...and an ancient scourge.

A devastated man in suicide's embrace is caught up in a bizarre cat-and-mouse game with a young woman possessing a world-ending power.

The distant descendants of a once-oppressed people learn a chilling lesson about the persistence of the past.

A terrifying ascent up the frigid, snow-swept slopes of K2 shatters preconceptions and reveals the true natures of four climbers, one of whom is not human.

At the intersection of a grand past and a threadbare present, an aging American in Russia confronts his own mortality as he glimpses a wondrous future.

Customer Reviews:

Prequels and sequels.......2006-11-14

Some new ground covered and some old ground uncovered. The world of Endymion revisited in a short story and the seeds of the Olympos world uncovered. All from the Simmon's parallax view of the universe he creates. Simmon's introduction to each story both enlighten and befuddle but he does admit to being more comfortable with the worlds of his own creation rather than writing about himself or writing introductions. However, with that aside and despite a tedious story about a mountain climb with a boring alien, the compilation of work is well worth adding to your collection.

A great collection of stories.......2006-07-16

I recently finished Dan Simmons' Worlds Enough and Time, a collection of 5 tales of "speculative fiction" (that's what it says on the cover). As you may know from my review earlier this year of his novel Ilium, I've been a fan of his work for quite some time. He's inventive, and always has interesting, flawed characters.

I quite enjoyed reading these stories. They were all just long enough to read one before sleeping. The stories are:

Looking for Kelly Dahl - one day, while attempting suicide, a teacher's life, and universe, changes
Orphans of the Helix - a return to the Hyperion universe
The Ninth of Av - I noticed this as a kind of prequel to Ilium
On K2 with Kanakaredes - mountain-climbing, with an alien
The End of Gravity - an American investigating, and reminiscing, on the Russian space program

For fans of Simmon's work, this is definitely worth a read!

Words Enough .......2005-11-08

Dan Simmon's writing is always great, even in disposable pulp fiction like his Joe Kurtz novels, and in this volume he's got the goods when it comes to the stories. He chose to include the commentaries for all stories as well and he makes his short and lucid entries interesting and relevant.
Stylistically and thematically the stories are varied- in "Looking for Kelly Dahl" Simmons is looking for Philip K.D. but even with the shades of Ubik, this is a good one; The End of Gravity didn't make any particular impression on me, but it's not bad either.
What is more interesting is the other three stories: The Orphans of Helix, set in the post-world of Simmons' Hyperion series- nice work and a useful thing if you have just finished reading/emerged breathless from Hyperion world and need a fix. The "The Ninth of Av" was at first a strange and confusing tale when I read it, but now, with a benefit of hindsight, I see that it is an essential reading before delving into the world of Illium and Olympos, Simmons' latest saga. And finally, "On K2 with Kanakaredes" is a sci-fi gem, with a big emotional punch; stories don't come better than this.
This collection is a must for Simmons fans, but it works just as well as a standalone, excellent introduction to one of the best writers in the field- though after his excursions into horror, thriller and such, exactly which field it is, it's hard to say at his point. In hard core sci-fi, Simmons holds steady as one of the biggest stars. Even his cover art is slightly improved here- this galactic picture was used in hundreds other works, on a Pearl Jam album cover recently, but it's better than the usual cheapo paintings of the lurid sci-fi nature that the publishers love to slap on Simmons. Put some duck tape on these and keep reading...

Great Stories.......2004-12-15

Dan Simmons has written a masterfull work. I have marked down four stars when I really give it 4 1/2. This is wonderfull to read. Simmons also writes an anecdote to each story about the story or his connection to writing the story. In his anecdotes, you find that he loves where he lives and loves the annual neighborhood get togethers. He also loves writing, but not necessarily the business of writing. Taken together, they add a nice depth to his writing and gives you a greater appreciation to his stories. There are five here and not one of them is a dud. He returns to Hyperion in one of the stories and the reader would enjoy the story more if they had read the series, but the story still stands on its own legs. He also writes about mountain climbing with aliens and the brotherhood that develops with such an activity whether you are human or not. The "End of Gravity" is about an American writer going to Russia to look at their space accompishments. The "Ninth of Av" is about Jewish decendents going through another dark period of history.

If you are new to Dan Simmons, then this is a good book to start with becasue you get a wide variety of his style and abilities. Highly Recommended.

A Simmons fan necessity.......2004-08-21

Overall, if you are a fan of Simmons, this book is a must have as 2 of the stories touch upon worlds seen in his larger works. Specifically "The Ninth of Av" is a prequel to Ilium, and "Orphans of the Helix" is a sequel set in the Hyperion universe. I was not overly impressed by the opening story of "Kelly Dahl" about a man trying to kill himself and an enigmatic former student of his with world changing powers. I never felt for the main character nor did I care if he killed himself or not. "Orphans of the Helix" was a nice revisiting of a far flung colony of Ousters and Templars set many years after the events in the Endymion duology. I thought the resolution of the dilemma in the story was a little forced though, abrupt even. "The Ninth of Av" was a mildly interesting story set just before the Final Fax that is mentioned in Ilium. It sheds some light on those events and flows a little better into its parent universe than "Orphans" which was more of a stand alone story just happening to appear in the Hyperion universe. It made me want to re-read Ilium. "On K2 with Kanakaredes" was a great story about a company of climbers on the slopes of K2 (go figure) who for political reasons must take an alien with them. This was my favorite story out of the 5. I must have missed the point of "The End of Gravity" because it was only average to me. An american writer is sent to Russia for a story on the russian interests in the International Space Station. It shows the russians as proud of their space achievements in a way that America has not been for a long time. More interesting to me and a high point of this book were the anecdotal introductions to each of the stories. They give a glimpse into the life of Simmons that I enjoyed more than some of the stories. I will admit though I am not a huge fan of the shorter fiction. I prefer novel length stories so take this review that that grain of salt. Every once and a while a story really captivates me and makes me remember it, but I can't say that any story in this collection had that effect on my except "K2". So I will agree with a previous reviewer and recommend this to any Simmons fans for sure, but if you are new to him, start with some of his novels which I think are much better (at least the 5 I have read are). I would rate this as 3.5 out of 5.

World Enough and Time (Voices of the South)

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Disillusionment in early Kentucky
Penn Warren's Other Masterpiece
Too Dark for My Taste

World Enough and Time (Voices of the South)
Robert Penn Warren
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807124788

Customer Reviews:

Disillusionment in early Kentucky.......2006-04-02

This novel, one of Warren's best, is set in Kentucky in 1825, and is concerned with power and redemption - and also what may or may not be the truth. Jeremiah Beaumont, an idealistic lawyer and promising politician, becomes disillusioned with his benefactor (Cassius Fort) when he learns that Fort has seduced a young girl (Rachel Jordan). Beaumont "rescues" Rachel and proposes marriage to her; she accepts only if he promises to kill Fort. But Fort refuses to fight Beaumont, and in an excellent piece of character development, Warren shows the betrayal and weakness this refusal instills in Beaumont. He and Rachel marry anyway, but when Beaumont reads a political handbill revealing the affair between Rachel and Fort, he thinks Fort wrote it to end his political ambitions. Now he kills Fort and is arrested. He escapes from jail and learns that another character, Wilkie Barron, had written the handbill, not Fort. Rachel commits suicide and Beaumont is murdered while trying to get the truth told.

Warren, as part of his narrative method, uses a number of letters and diaries and a manuscript written by Beaumont found amongst his papers as a means of conveying the story. But, of course, these represent only Beaumont's side of the story and may not be "the truth" at all. Warren's characters are strongly drawn; the ambitious and evil manipulator, Wilkie Barron, is particularly good. The suicide of Rachel is a bit melodramatic, though it's tempered somewhat by the unhappiness and trials she faces living with Beaumont. Warren based the novel on a true story. A highly regarded work, it's among the best of his novels.

Penn Warren's Other Masterpiece.......2005-10-27

This novel is one of the big sleepers in 20th century American fiction, and adds a twin peak to Penn Warren's other novelistic masterpiece, All the King's Men.

On the surface, the story traces the rise, career, love, and misadventures of Jeremiah Beaumont in the early days of Kentucky and of this republic. Simultaneously it is a meditation on the process of history, and its strangeness to the eyes and ears of later generations. Unlike All the King's Men, wherein there is 1st person narrative by a main character, Jack Burden, who fairly almost drowns in history, here the narrative is 3rd person and objective. We are immediately distanced by the narrator/historian, who holds in his hands the letters and court documents relating to Jeremiah, in the 1st sentence: "I can show you what is left." Indeed, the story is largely based on actual material discovered by Katherine Ann Porter and given to Warren.

From here a fascinating narrative opens as we are immediately dropped into frontier Kentucky with the young lawyer's assistant Jeramiah. The passion and violence of the setting is made palpable, along with Jeremiah's youthful lust and apparent idealism, and the manner in which they affect his relationship with his employer -- but to go into details would spoil this engrossing and fascinating story. The merit is the confidence with which Penn Warren engages the strangeness of this world, without the usual method in "historical fiction" of merely dressing up contemporary figures in old costume. These people are puzzles, and the burden of the text is to unwind them. Yet they are so alive on the page, so true, that we are able to follow deeply into their bizarre depths and the alien wonder of early America.

In the end, the reader will have lived in early western Kentucky and emerged back in the contemporary world stunned. Penn Warren's passionate engagement with the American psyche carries one through the several hundred pages effortlessly. The book is many things -- straight realism, philosophical speculation, moral tale, melodrama, psychological portrait. Finally, it is simply one of the few 20th century novels to take up the multi-faceted challenge of Herman Melville to plunge into the national heart, with no pre-established goal except to come back home with as much truth as two arms can carry.

Too Dark for My Taste.......2005-09-12

This book was in my library for a number of years and I had not read it. Most of my reading time was taken with non-fiction. Finally, I decided that any book by an American author that had received three Pulitzer prizes including prose and poetry, must be worth reading.

If fact, this book is very well written. The character development is excellent, dialog is as I remember it when working in the rural areas of Kentucky during summer vacations from college in the 50's. The plot is well developed and the story is interesting and thought provoking.

On the surface, this is the story of Jeremiah Beaumont and his larger-than-life difficulties. Beneath the surface, this is a story of integrity, morals, truth and justice. It is not a story of "hope". The final sentence pretty well sums it up: "Was all for naught?

Worlds Enough and Time: The Conclusion of the Worlds Trilogy

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Worlds Enough and Time: The Conclusion of the Worlds Trilogy
Joe Haldeman
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0688090257

Average customer rating:

more sociology than plot
Space, Tribes, and God

Worlds Enough and Time
Joe Haldeman
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0380708019

Customer Reviews:

more sociology than plot.......2007-02-21

Like many trilogies, the Worlds books start off strong but go downhill. The first one was excellent. The second manage to hold my attention. This one was a bit tedious. Most of the book is spent describing life aboard an interstellar starship, including the unique politics, problems and tensions involved with living in a closed and isolated environment. I think Haldeman did a good job imagining and depicting this environment, and it was interesting... for a while. Then I really wanted more of a plot line. There are random catastrophes that occur from time to time, but I don't really consider that a plot. The book began to feel too much like a lesson in sociology and civics. Things got interesting against when the starship reached its destination. 3 stars because on balance I did enjoy the book. But no more than that because there were long stretches where I had to force myself to keep reading.

Space, Tribes, and God.......2006-12-04

This story rambles a bit more than its prequel "Worlds" did, but it is still an interesting story that moves along at a good clip and leaves one with some disturbing insights into human character.

It is now time for O'Hara and other residents of New New York to move out beyond the Solar System, this in an attempt to mitigate any future potential of war and war's ability to render Homo sap extinct. The main theme is still there, only magnified now across light years: Human cultures keep dividing into tribes, which ultimately come in conflict with each other. Human history has already proved that tribal fanaticism and the desire to prevail often overshadows a more basic instinct, which is to preserve the species. Through a light-years-long journey, Haldeman explores how even rational human beings divide themselves into tribes, first between the residents of New New York and Earth, New New York and other "worlds", New New York and its starship to Epsilon, and then between the passengers and crew of the starship itself. Society has already divided itself into career "tracks", engineering and policy, and these "tracks" are further muddled by multi-spouse family lines, those in and out of suspended animation, an emergent fundamentalist religion, and finally, those who prefer to remain aboard the ship and those who migrate down to the new planet below.

Once planet-side the humans follow an all-too-familiar pattern, which is, attempting to wipe out a threatening species before that species is fully understood. The species turns out to be not only sentient, but omniscient as well, and O'Hara must play the role of Job, brutally tested in order to save her own species from annihilation. The Old-Testament God/Aliens have power over time and space, have wiped out undeserving species in the past, and appear a little bored as they put O'Hara through her trials. In the end, people tighten up a bit, become less aggressive toward each other, and look toward a more sensible sociological future. All of this seems to reinforce the messages of philosophers from Plato to George Washington to Karl Marx: Plato, who believed that the masses could only be governed by a ruling elite, George Washington, who added "so help me God" to the oath of office in hopes of unifying the scattered interests of the nascent United States, and Karl Marx, who called religion the "opiate of the masses" and was partially correct, at least in that observation--which leaves the reader to wonder if human beings can ever remain peacefully unified, given worlds enough and time.

World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versus Relational Theories of Space and Time (Bradford Books)

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World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versus Relational Theories of Space and Time (Bradford Books)
John Earman
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Metaphysics | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0262550210

Book Description

Earman introduces and clarifies the historical and philosophical development of the clash between Newton's absolute conception of space and Leibniz's relative one. He separates the issues and provides new perspectives on absolute versus rational accounts of motion and substantive versus rational accounts of the ontology of spacetime, revitalizing the connection of the debate to contemporary science.

John Earman is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.

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Andrew Marvell: World Enough and Time
Nicholas Murray
Manufacturer: Little, Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0316648639

All the King's Men, World Enough and Time, Band of Angels, a three volume set

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All the King's Men, World Enough and Time, Band of Angels, a three volume set
Robert Penn Warren
Manufacturer: Random House and HBJ
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Anniversary printing of three of Warren's books including the Pulitzer Prize winner All the King's Men. Each is bound in red and navy blue boards.

Charles Bruce: A Literary Biography (World Enough and Time)

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Charles Bruce: A Literary Biography (World Enough and Time)
Andy Wainwright
Manufacturer: Formac
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0887800645
Release Date: 1988-01-01

Book Description

A biography of one of Canada's most distinguished writers, winner of the 1951 Governor General's Award for poetry.

Had We but World Enough and Time (Linford Romance Library)

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Had We but World Enough and Time (Linford Romance Library)
Jean Ure
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0708964397

Book Description

They are the half-bloods, the broken, the unforgiven.
They failed themselves and their people.
They are outcasts.

Then, in the bitter wilds of Rashemen, they receive a desperate plea they alone can answer.

If they succeed, it could mean their redemption. But if they fail, a troubled past will be the least of their problems.

About the Author

Keith Francis Strohm is the current Chief Operating Officer of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Publisher of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of Pokemon®, the Director of the Roleplaying and Miniatures categories, and the Brand Manager for Dungeons & Dragons®--all at Wizards of the Coast. He is the author of the Greyhawk® novel The Tomb of Horrors, and he has written three short stories for the Forgotten Realms. This is his second novel.

Customer Reviews:

Not Good.......2007-01-17

Bladesinger features a Half-Elven outcast getting pointlessly involved in an internal struggle in the land of Rashemen. The book has two distinct parts, the Rashemen part (75% of the book ) taking place in year 1372 DR, and five flashback chapters dealing with main character's past, taking place earlier.

The protagonists in this book are fairly interesting, especially the main character Taen the Bladesinger. Actually, those five flashback chapters are the only thing I enjoyed in this book. It is an interesting but tragic story of his past. The author does a decent job of describing the land of Rashemen, and that is about it on the good side.

The plot is totally pointless, and the mentioned bladesinger acts as a sidekick for the most of the book. The plot has all elements of pulp fantasy: lots of pointless fighting, a silly romance, weak attempts of comic relief, villains that are evil just for the sake of it, and of course, a cliché ending. What this book does not contain, on the other hand, is a single plot twist, believe it or not. Actually, for the most of the book, I had a feeling of reading a transcript of someone's poorly written D&D dungeon-crawling session. And even the traditionally good WotC editing has disappeared from this book, leaving a number of plot inconsistencies and logical errors.

I still can't believe that this book is written by a single person. The difference between terrible Rashemen chapters and interesting history chapters is enormous. Unfortunately, the good chapters take only about a quarter of this novel.

If not for the main character and his history, this would have been a clear one star book. As it is, it barely gets two stars. Enjoy!

Woefully average "pulp".......2007-01-02

The villains are more suited to one of those Saturday morning kid shows that takes footage from bad Japanese TV shows and splices it with pretty kids in California who can't act. The pacing is so rhythmic and formulae that nothing surprises. Taen's thoughts read like the lyric sheet for an half-elf Emo band and his fellow angsty adventurers are as wholly uninteresting as the book's plot. Finally: Whoever edited this book deserves to be drawn and quartered.

whiney.......2006-12-13

the main character is whiney. the hero is annoying and their attemp at a love story fails. not a good book at all.

Grade: D .......2006-08-24

This is not a terrible book, but it's not great either. Is their a plot and was there and editor? Well, maybe a plot, it was slow, and failed to grab hold, nor did it make much sense, and what there was well used and done before. An editor, I think not, too many logic errors, the pacing was weird, the dialogue disjointed and insipid. Taen's close to the witch when she cast a spell at him, but he has to run across a cavern floor full of stalactites to hit at her? AND WHY IS THE COMBAT TURN BASED, IT'S A BOOK, NOT A COMPUTER GAME!

OVERALL SCORE: (D)
PLOT: (C-), CHARATERS: (D-), DIALOGUE: (D-), SETTING: (C-), ACTION/COMBAT: (F-), ANTAGONISTS: (C-), ROMANCE: (C-), AGE LEVEL: (PG)

Complex & Gritty. Awesome Book,.......2006-06-05

I found this book riveting and full of complex characters. The main characters are not your cliche heroes. They are gritty and rough around the edges. Taen, the main character, has a background that unfolds throughout the story that really makes the book hard to put down. His companions are not portrayed as deeply, because they are side characters, but they are also not your run of the mill happy go lucky heroes.

In addition to the quick moving plot and complex main character, the action in the book is purposeful. Not only that, but Taen's character behaves differently from major battle to major battle as he handles his own inner conflicts. Another thing I liked was that the heroes actually got hurt during battles - I don't think they came out of any fight completely unscathed.

In all, I hope all FR and fantasy readers give this book a chance. It features a main character who is very interesting, and I sincerely hope Wizards writes more about him.

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