Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford | Book Review

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

I'm really into John M. Ford's work and I love that you and others are getting into his work! The Dragon Waiting is definitely a great place to go for your next Ford read, very intricate political fantasy alt-history. I remember it being quite confusing at points (which is often my general "issue" with Ford's work, even in his Trek books), especially not knowing much about the era the book is set in. but there was a pretty helpful website called the Draco Concordans that sort of tracks the references in a reader friendly way. Anyway, hope you enjoy more of his work. Jo Walton did some great reviews of some of his books as well.

[@FinalBlowJoe]

Hearing you speak your thoughts on this made me smile as I knew them but you've elaborated and really made them even more eloquent than they already were. I will be curious to see in the next Ford we read whether he does the same concept with his world building; with only giving out snippets of information and letting the reader create it for themselves.

[@Kalanadi]

I'm very curious about that too, and I wonder how Ford's style and interests are going to translate into fantasy. Can't wait!!

[@Xibalba161]

Oddly enough, I've been looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Dragon Waiting by the same author. I think that's supposed to be his masterpiece but a challenging read. I read the first couple pages and the writing was dense. It reminded me of Book of the New Sun.

[@Kalanadi]

The Dragon Waiting is my next pick by Ford - hopefully I'll get it read in April, but depends on my buddy reader's schedule too... I honestly hated Book of the New Sun, but I can't tell if it's because I disliked the plots/characters/squicky bits or the writing. Realllly hoping for more success with Dragon Waiting if it's similar!

[@maxrockbin]

John M Ford actually wrote a couple of Star Trek novels. "The Final Reflection" is really excellent. Very worth tracking down. ("How Much for Just the Planet" - not so great).

[@Kalanadi]

If I end up liking more of Ford's novels, he will probably be the one and only author to get me to pick up a Star Trek novel, haha! I've heard of "How Much for Just the Planet", and for some reason I just love that title.

[@maxrockbin]

@@Kalanadi I actually had not read a Star Trek novel before either! But after reading another Ford book it was hard to imagine how he would do it. The Final Reflection is a very thoughtful book and he figured out a way of stepping completely out of the regular cast of characters and plots by exploring the Klingon universe completely from their point of view (except for a brief framing device). In some ways it's a bit like the Glass Bead Game but not as navel gazing and self important. I really was looking forward to "How Much for Just the Planet" after that. But it turned out to be an experiment in writing slapstick comedy - which he discusses in an intro - by a guy who just isn't funny in that way. I felt. Reading jokes that go flat gets old fast. Maybe I should've given it a bit more time. DNF.

[@Jay-Kay-Buwembo]

Love a book that packs detail into a small number into small number of words. Really shows that line count says nothing about how rich & detailed a narrative can be. To be honest those modern series with 5+books each 1000 pages have always turned me off.

[@aneweliseonlife]

I am hoping to read his Dragon Waiting (?) one soon! I think I picked it up also in the Tor essentials line! Thank you for the review, I’m not sure how I will feel about the play acting side to it. Because many other books that have Theatre I have bounced off of in some way

[@Kalanadi]

The Dragon Waiting is my next pick too! I really can't judge the theater content in Weightless, since I don't click with that sort of thing in general, but I got the sense that Ford respected it and wanted to show acting as serious work (a potential job), important to the community, and an escape and a fun time... pretty well-rounded! The fantasy role-playing games, though... eh, seemed like an excuse to write some Robin Hood fan fiction, haha!

[@bethd4739]

This does sound interesting! As a former theater kid and as someone who grew up reading the Heinlein juveniles, it sounds like something I would check out. Will let you know!

[@Kalanadi]

I would love to know what you think about it! I found it very interesting how the arts (theater, musical composition, even architecture and design of public spaces) was incorporated into the worldbuilding and story. And I'm really interested to see if those were passions of Ford's that he wove into his other books, because even if I don't love long theater scenes, personally, seeing that in science fictional settings is very cool.

[@bethd4739]

@@Kalanadi Finished it! I wasn't sure about the end, but I did like how the group of friends took the trip--it felt like a last hurrah before graduation, if that makes any sense. I really liked how he worked in the political and personal throughout the story, even when there were parts that I had to re-read to see if I was getting all the details. Definitely planning to read another Ford book--The Dragon Waiting has been on Mount TBR for a while!

[@Verlopil]

Ford is on Gene Wolfe's level in some of his works. I'm thrilled to have his works back in print. I paid so much to get my hands on a few of them prior to this. I couldn't get others at all. But I will be now!

[@Kalanadi]

I have really bounced off of Gene Wolfe's books so far, alas, but I'm very excited that Ford may be a new favorite. Honestly very happy that I pretty much discovered him as soon as his works were becoming available again - how frustrating to want to get them, but not be able too!!

[@Verlopil]

@@Kalanadi The Dragon Waiting is really dense as well. I reminded me a lot of The Book of the New Sun. It's one of those books you want to read with people smarter than you so they can tell you all the references you missed haha.

[@khomo12]

Good review!👍👍🚀🤖🧘

[@charlessmyth]

First I heard of him :-)

[@psikeyhackr6914]

Sounds like Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin. Another Heinlein critic. What did you read by Heinlein that you don't want to read anything else?

[@Kalanadi]

I thought of that similarity too! I quite liked Rite of Passage back in the day too, though I think it was a bit more of a moralistic young adult story than Growing Up Weightless. I've read a sampling of Heinlein's greatest hits from his early and middle periods (yes, I have read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger from a Strange Land). Interestingly, I have preferred his early stuff (1950's - like Double Star, my favorite, and The Door Into Summer, a runner-up for enjoyability). But at this point, I am pretty squicked out by what I remember hating in his later novels. If I go back to his ouvre, it'll probably be his juveniles, though...

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@Kalanadi ROFL The Libertarians have propagandized us way too much about Harsh Mistress. Try: Citizen of the Galaxy I did Door Into Summer in grammar school. Heinlein mentioned LOGLAN six times in Harsh Mistress. Stands for Logical Language. He got interested in General Semantics by Alfred Korzybski in the 1940s along with A E van Vogt. The Worlds of Null A are part of that intellectual exploration. The Tyranny of Words by Stuart Chase is related. Chase wrote A New Deal in 1932. He was a member of FDR's brain trust. There is more depth behind science fiction than a lot of people pay attention to. Don't ignore the man behind the curtain.