Comments on: Greg Bear's amazing slideshow for City at the End of Time, a novel set at the death of the universe

By: dubitable

dubitable — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

No, actually, that wasn’t that good at all. Sounds like an interesting idea though…which I got in spite of the slide-show, rather than because of it.

By: The Unusual Suspect

The Unusual Suspect — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

rosyatrandom, there’s still time to get in a Moorcock reference about Dancers at the End of Time.

“is the restaurant at the end of the universe situated in the city at the end of time?”

Not any longer.

By: mythos

mythos — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“It looks like the trailer for a very classy science-fiction movie.”

the slide show looks cheap and poorly constructed.

By: gd23

gd23 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Still have fond memories of Eon, so will have to check this book out.

By: Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m not too keen on the typeface or on the slideshow effects, but I do like the photography.

My main problem, though, is that I totally don’t have the attention span to watch the whole thing.

I think it’d work better as a web site I can click around in.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Greg Bear! So many great books! I’ve read Queen of Angles at least eight times. So many ideas in one book and so much literary experimentation. Everyone stand up and clap for the Bear!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Greg Bear is awesome, I asked him if he would read one of my short stories when I was a kid, and he took the time to read it and provide feedback.

Very cool

By: Rocking_Horse_With_No_Name

Rocking_Horse_With_No_Name — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Have to agree with the above unimpressed. The trailer is in no way an exciting or engaging use of the medium, and it's way too long.

Moreover, Greg Bear is an uneven writer at best. FORGE OF GOD and ANVIL OF STARS have some interesting ideas but the characters, dialogue and descriptive prose are strictly from hunger.

C'mon Cory, you if anyone know what good writing is. What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it...?

By: wylkyn

wylkyn — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@15 – I agree with you in spirit, but the slideshow didn’t give me the impression that the amateurish quality was an artistic choice. It rather seemed like a result of the limited chops of those who put it together. Not everything has to be slick, but not everything poorly done qualifies as “experimental” either.

There were some images that grabbed my attention, and I am compelled to give the book a try, but I stuck with the slideshow more out of a desire to see if it got more interesting than anything else.

By: monstrinho_do_biscoito

monstrinho_do_biscoito — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

is the restaurant at the end of the universe situated in the city at the end of time?

By: scartol

scartol — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Classy? I don’t know if a Flash slideshow featuring vertical-only images and Times New Roman is all that classy. (And I have to be honest — the photos didn’t really dazzle me.)

By: Torley

Torley — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Terran McCanna” sounds almost like Terrence McKenna. ;)

I liked the ambient noises at the end of the slideshow â€” I was distinctly reminded of HyperCard and similar presentations I’ve seen in some Flash games. I would’ve gone with a different typeface too (looked like Times New Roman), but the Amazon description sounds epic.

BTW, cool that Stephen King likes it! His Duma Key has a rather awesome trailer:

Â» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC7WGD8PaP4

Ah, book trailers. Let’s bring more on!

Greg, I celebrate your and your collaborators’ creativity. And nice to see you in the comments!

The rest of the website is worth a browse too; I haven’t been compelled by the “extended packaging” around a novel in some time like this… thanks for the experience!

By: padster123

padster123 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Looks worth a read… I’ll look out for it. Nice to see a family effort :)

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I find it so odd that Iâ€™ll be thinking of something â€œoddâ€ and then I see it on BoingBoing that day. So, I was just thinking (about an hour ago) that it was time that Greg Bear came out with a new one. Coincidence doesnâ€™t have to mean anything, and yet it can still feel important. I guess I need to go buy the book. Thanks for the good news.

By: asimov111

asimov111 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m about two thirds through the novel and thoroughly enjoying it. I’m sure people will have already seen, but there’s also a blog (I guess written by Bear?) as well as a Flickr stream by Max Glaucous (one of the characters in the novel).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxglaucous

http://hhodgson.livejournal.com/2008/06/23

By: Antinous

Antinous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The negative comments on the slideshow interest, but don’t surprise, me. Xeni posted an experimental film in BBTV the other day, and it got a similar reaction. I’m afraid that people have gotten so used to seeing blockbuster films, that they can’t let go of that slick image, and see something for what it is. Does every promo piece have to look like a trailer for Batman Begins? I found this evocative, but them I’m not a fanboy.

By: rosyatrandom

rosyatrandom — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

5 comments already posted, but I somehow knew there’s no way I could be first with a Douglas Adams reference….

By: Rokesmith

Rokesmith — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Splendid writer, Greg Bear.
But – put together: a world which is our own – till suddenly it isn’t… epic future heat death of the universe… huge prehistoric insects crawling around… I’m sure it’s a very original book, but this blurb – Robert Charles Wilson’s “Darwinia” anyone?

By: Corydon

Corydon — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I hate to be negative, but no, it doesn’t look like the trailer to a classy SF movie. It looks like a slideshow put together by some internet crank, trying to get folks to join his movement against the saucer people. Bear is a good writer, and I’m sure the book is good too, but that slideshow does NOT make me want to read it.

By: Greg Bear

Greg Bear — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Great to see all the comments! Kvetchers and other creative folks are invited to submit their own mix of images–or new images–to the web site. We’re looking for anything like a dream or vision of the far future. And if you’d like to remix my photo images in a better way, or even do your own 3D Industrial Light and Magic-quality trailer, tell me about your work and send me the results at my website, gregbear.com For a far superior batch of trailers and CGI efforts, take a look at the CGSociety EON Challenge, http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/eon/

These artists are truly marvelous.