≡ [PDF] Viator Plus [jhc] Lucius Shepard 9781848630352 Books

Viator Plus [jhc] Lucius Shepard 9781848630352 Books

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Viator Plus [jhc] Lucius Shepard 9781848630352 Books

I am a longtime fan of Lucius Shepard's work but not of Viator. The long drawn out sentences, although perhaps an attempt at atmosphere and tone, do more to cause them to lose meaning than create mood. Too often, the reader is asked to reread a sentence to stay linear to the story. This choice in style is too against the grain of quality writing for me to swallow. As much as I would love to give Viator a solid review, the writing structure is overly tiresome and self-indulgent. It reads much like the absorbed work of undergraduate romantics than that of Shepard's finer work.

Those familiar with Shepard will likely find some enjoyment here, but I suggest that those unfamiliar start elsewhere.

Product details Hardcover 356 pages Publisher PS Publishing; First edition (December 1, 2009) Language English ISBN-10 1848630352

Tags : Viator Plus [jhc] [Lucius Shepard] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.,Lucius Shepard,Viator Plus [jhc],PS Publishing,1848630352,Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Viator Plus [jhc] Lucius Shepard 9781848630352 Books Reviews

Viator Plus was the first collection I read from Lucius Shepard. I had heard good things about his fiction, so I was eager to read Viator Plus. I was positively surprised when I read it, because it turned to be quite a fascinating collection. I have to say that it was a bit difficult to categorize some of the stories in this collection, because they contained different elements, but in my opinion the stories ranged from mainstream fiction to speculative fiction.

Viator was without a doubt the best and most interesting story in this collection. It was a fantastic short novel about love, madness and strange happenings. Shepard's writing was elegant and his descriptions of the surroundings and the characters were surprisingly vivid and lush. The main character, Wilander, was an interesting and flawed man, who lived and worked aboard the ship called Viator. His relationship with the local woman, Arlene, was fascinating and thoroughly believable. Shepard wrote about difficult subjects (madness, sex etc.) exquisitely - to be honest, Wilander's slow descent into madness was handled amazingly well.

After reading Viator I can say that Lucius Shepard is a gifted writer, who deserves to be more popular. I liked his prose very much. This short story collection is definitely worth reading (if you like well written prose and interesting stories, you must read Viator Plus). I decided to give this collection four stars, because I liked all the stories.
Like the dragon Griaule, Viator (the ship, not the novella) is a hulking city-like force, destructive and powerful, but sedentary - hibernating. Shepard seems to go back to this metaphor in various forms, and in this instance, I think gets closest to the prize. What really works is Wikander's slow descent into the changing world around him, much like a writer - or cartographer - who must leave the shores of the normal world in search of the created one. This process, as anyone who's ever embarked on an artistic mission of any kind, can be terrifying and painful, but ultimately reveals itself to be not only necessary, but essential to life. All the more reason why the slight twist at the end of this tale I found so unfortunate. It's a hard slap against the metaphor's prow, which steers it hard back into the shores of the real world, and of course, completely kills it. Even beyond this thematically relevant disappointment, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour Shepard provided.

My primary criticism, and why Viator (3.75 stars) isn't rated higher, is Wikander's relationship with Arlene. Shepard doesn't do relationships well, at least in anything I've read, and the more sex he puts in the story, the more adolescent the relationship appears. Here, again, like in Valentine and Louisiana Breakdown, Shepard describes what's going on as if from the mind of a horny teenager. Multiple times in this short book we get descriptions of Arlene's breasts, skin, pubic area, and while I certainly have no aversion to erotica of any type (if done well) here it just comes across as male fantasy. And even worse, not super relevant to anything else going on, unless you can tie horniness and creativity together, which hell, maybe you can, but even so, it still didn't work for me.

But I hope that didn't turn you off too much, cause Shepard is an excellent writer, and one I'll keep going back to, though sadly not for much longer as I'm coming to the end of his published works. Hopefully someone will someday collect his film writing from F&SF excellent curmudgeonly stuff.
This is a great book and Lucius Shepard's command of the language paints a picture of this world you will never forget.
I am a longtime fan of Lucius Shepard's work but not of Viator. The long drawn out sentences, although perhaps an attempt at atmosphere and tone, do more to cause them to lose meaning than create mood. Too often, the reader is asked to reread a sentence to stay linear to the story. This choice in style is too against the grain of quality writing for me to swallow. As much as I would love to give Viator a solid review, the writing structure is overly tiresome and self-indulgent. It reads much like the absorbed work of undergraduate romantics than that of Shepard's finer work.

Those familiar with Shepard will likely find some enjoyment here, but I suggest that those unfamiliar start elsewhere.