Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Dunyazadiad: 5
Perseid: 4
Bellerophoniad:2 (a serious struggle to get through)
It gets a 4 on the strength of the first novella and with a little help from the second one. But the last novella almost subtracts more from the overall rating. Bellerophoniad is overlong, difficult to fully comprehend, and seems like one big excuse for the author to talk about himself and his writing. He promotes himself and his accomplishments shamelessly in the last one and it's not enjoyable to read, especially 150 pages of it. He really should just focus more on the mythic elements. All that being said, the first two novellas are great. Dunyazadiad is endlessly creative and poses some really interesting questions concerning originality, authorship, reality vs. fiction, and in what world does literature/fiction exist. I especially enjoyed the discussion of "the container and the contained" and the paradoxical, impossible interchangeability of them. Besides that, it's a strong read from start to finish. Perseid is puzzling to piece together at first, but about halfway things start falling into place and the frames of the story begin to take shape. Then, at the end, the story reaches a satisfying conclusion with Perseus and Medusa in the stars as constellations endlessly retelling their tale to each other. Perseus Loves Andromedusa (I really like that bit of wordplay there). Anyway, two out of three ain't bad. If only he followed the pace and size of the first and hadn't got so self-indulgent.
Perseid: 4
Bellerophoniad:2 (a serious struggle to get through)
It gets a 4 on the strength of the first novella and with a little help from the second one. But the last novella almost subtracts more from the overall rating. Bellerophoniad is overlong, difficult to fully comprehend, and seems like one big excuse for the author to talk about himself and his writing. He promotes himself and his accomplishments shamelessly in the last one and it's not enjoyable to read, especially 150 pages of it. He really should just focus more on the mythic elements. All that being said, the first two novellas are great. Dunyazadiad is endlessly creative and poses some really interesting questions concerning originality, authorship, reality vs. fiction, and in what world does literature/fiction exist. I especially enjoyed the discussion of "the container and the contained" and the paradoxical, impossible interchangeability of them. Besides that, it's a strong read from start to finish. Perseid is puzzling to piece together at first, but about halfway things start falling into place and the frames of the story begin to take shape. Then, at the end, the story reaches a satisfying conclusion with Perseus and Medusa in the stars as constellations endlessly retelling their tale to each other. Perseus Loves Andromedusa (I really like that bit of wordplay there). Anyway, two out of three ain't bad. If only he followed the pace and size of the first and hadn't got so self-indulgent.