tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post5569720690350266319..comments2024-03-26T21:58:50.501-04:00Comments on MPorcius Fiction Log: The Devil Is Dead by R. A. LaffertyMPorciushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15515742639389937221noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-55199425335097868432014-04-20T10:02:16.047-04:002014-04-20T10:02:16.047-04:00Sorry, I meant that I've read most of his publ...Sorry, I meant that I've read most of his published work. Obviously, I read all of Past Master - several times.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00736646523990103303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-26018012485598474622014-04-20T10:00:42.120-04:002014-04-20T10:00:42.120-04:00Like Kevin, I'm a huge Lafferty fan. (In fact...Like Kevin, I'm a huge Lafferty fan. (In fact, I found your blog through a post on a Lafferty fan group on FaceBook.) AFAIK, I have all of his published work including that published by several small presses that sprung up specifically to bring unpublished Lafferty into print. I met him once at a Worldcon and got him to sign an HC copy of Past Master (even though I already had the original Ace 1st edition) that I bought specifically for the purpose. I've read most of it. My favorite novels are Past Master, Fourth Mansions, Arrive at Easterwine and, of course, the magnificent (but not SF/F) Okla Hannali. I finally got The Fall of Rome via an Amazon auction, but I haven't read it yet. The Devil is Dead is the middle part of a trilogy, but it's the only one of the three books published by a mainstream house. 8 years after Avon published it, Manuscript Press published the 1st part, Archipelago. 21 years later, the third was published in 3 fairly expensive HC chapbooks by United Mythologies Press. Its name as a complete novel is More Than Melchisedech, but UMP named the 3 parts Tales of Chicago, Tales of Midnight and Argo. The religious allegorical nature of the story only really becomes clear in Melchisedech. BTW, I'm enjoying reading other posts on your blog.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00736646523990103303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-76500812895433889492013-12-12T18:53:02.402-05:002013-12-12T18:53:02.402-05:00Thanks for the interesting comments!
I have Reefs...Thanks for the interesting comments!<br /><br />I have <i>Reefs of Earth</i> and <i>Past Master</i> and will read them relatively soon. MPorciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515742639389937221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-48389910951098129312013-12-12T16:39:33.691-05:002013-12-12T16:39:33.691-05:00Thank you for posting this review! The Devil is De...Thank you for posting this review! <i>The Devil is Dead</i> is among my favorite novels, and Lafferty is by far my favorite author. It took me 2 1/2 readings to unravel the plot. As he says in the Promantia, this is a do it yourself nightmare. You have to understand how the parts work before you can assemble them in an order that makes some form of sense. <br /><br />My other Lafferty recommendations: <br /> - <i>Fourth Mansions</i> an everyman's journey through a time of turmoil in our nation as various external forces (in the form of secret societies with perhaps a few supernatural powers) try to take control of Humanity's destiny and try to prevent us from evolving into the next step of spiritual and social consciousness. This was based on the writings of Santa Teresa de Avila and her book <i>Interior Castle</i>.<br /> - <i>Okla Hannali</i> possibly Lafferty's single greatest book, and the only one still in print (though Centipede Press is releasing a collection of his short stories later this month). It is the tale of the Choctaw Indians over the course of the 19th century. It is the story of the Trail of Tears and the forced relocation of most Native American nations to India Territory (modern day Oklahoma). It is also the story of Hannali Innominee, a fictional buffalo bull of a man, who embodies the stories and characteristics of dozens of real Choctaws and who represents an indomitable force for life, laughter, love, and survival. If you can read this book without both chuckling and crying, you are made of much sterner stuff than I. It is simultaneously funny, sad, and beautiful.<br /> - Any collection of his short stories you can find, especially <i>Nine Hundred Grandmothers</i>.<br />Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04415345283350861149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-8104541295565527632013-12-05T19:46:44.874-05:002013-12-05T19:46:44.874-05:00....goes and picks it up now. Although there will.......goes and picks it up now. Although there will be at least two reviews (Bishop's A Funeral for the Eyes of Fire and Sheckley's Immortality, inc. up before it)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-88112371829297255132013-12-05T12:57:07.947-05:002013-12-05T12:57:07.947-05:00I've read a few of Lafferty's short storie...I've read a few of Lafferty's short stories and written about some of them on this blog, but <i>The Devil is Dead</i> is the first Lafferty novel I have read. I have two other Lafferty novels, <i>Reefs of Earth</i> and <i>Past Master</i> which I may read soon. Then I'll have a better sense of Lafferty's larger body of SF work. And maybe soon we'll be hearing from Joachim about <i>Fourth Mansions</i>! MPorciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515742639389937221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-3071826952280454022013-12-05T06:06:14.782-05:002013-12-05T06:06:14.782-05:00Lafferty is a name that I hear bandied about vario...Lafferty is a name that I hear bandied about various, more informed discussion on sci-fi, but an author who I know nothing about. Have you read any of his other books? What I'm driving at is, is <i>The Devil Is Dead</i> a representative work, i.e. are all of his works so... bizarre? No shame in being bizarre, just curious whether this might be a good starting place.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07796098208589965362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259460772864393968.post-36172012707521969792013-12-04T12:24:30.497-05:002013-12-04T12:24:30.497-05:00I really should pick up Fourth Mansions.... It wa...I really should pick up Fourth Mansions.... It wants to be read! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com