Sequels to The Point Man

[Sandy Hausler]

Back in 1980, Steve Englehart wrote a fantasy novel called The Point Man about a DJ Vietnmn vet, who becomes an alchemist. Now, 30 years later, a series of sequels to that book have been coming out. I was wondering if any of you have read them and what you think.

Sandy Hausler

[Shellhead]

I really enjoyed The Point Man, but was unaware of any sequels until now. Have to look into that soon.

[berk]

Bought the first of the new sequels, The Long Man, but haven't read it yet. I remember enjoying The Point Man back when it came out, but can't recall the details of the story, so I picked up the new edition of that one too so I could re-read it. Should have got to these by now but I'm really behind on my contemporary reading.

[Shellhead]

I just checked out The Long Man from the library yesterday. Then I pulled The Point Man from my bookcase to re-read it first. Since that book starts on December 26, I'm going to start re-reading it on the 26th, just because. So I will report back here in a couple of weeks about what I thought about The Long Man. My expectations are high, because I loved The Point Man. My copy is worn and battered after more than 30 years of ownership, surviving several readings and ten moving days.

[Calamas]

I’ve read both The Point Man--but haven’t re-read it since it was first published--and The Long Man. I enjoyed The Point Man but it was clear that Englehart was learning a new facet to the craft of writing. The novel’s structure was disjointed, a couple of token minorities were carefully cast as positive but unimportant characters, and the action scenes were comic book action scenes. They would have played much better illustrated than described.

Although, as far as I know, Englehart hasn’t produced any prose work between the Max August novels, he has a much improved command of the art form.

Only the comic book action remains: instant control of the elements, mystic ray beam battles, floors dropping away into other dimensions. The first of such scenes happens fairly early in the novel, in a flashback. If this kind of thing jars you out of a story, the timing should allow you to accept its presence and enjoy the book.

I did. I liked The Point Man. I really liked The Long Man. Interesting characters, interesting situations, fascinating discussions on the nature, philosophy, and practice of wizardry. The villains are global without falling into the trap of everybody and their aunt being a part of the conspiracy. And Englehart avoids the trappings of the genre. He creates new mystic monsters and brings in old standbys like zombies without falling into cliché. My only other complaint, an admittedly minor one, is my dislike of slang in a narrative that isn’t First Person Singular. I wince when I read lines like: “The other zombie was back in the game.” But it doesn’t happen often.

I was most impressed with the pace. The story moved along briskly when appropriate and slowed to a break when necessary. It allowed for character exploration and philosophic debate without ever bogging down into tedium. At times I felt as if Donald Hamilton had been reincarnated and had set about exploring a different genre. From me that is high praise; Hamilton is solidly in my top five favorite writers.

I’m looking forward to The Plain Man.

[Sandy Hausler]

I’m looking forward to The Plain Man.

Just for the record, The Plain Man is out and has been for months. The Arena Man is next. Don't know when that is coming out.

Sandy Hausler

[Calamas]

Thanks. I'll look into it.

[Shellhead]

I re-read The Point Man last week, trying to synch up the days of the story with the days I was reading. I pulled it off until I got near the end, and then went ahead and read the January 1 part on December 31. Anyway, it was still a really good read.

Today, I finished reading The Long Man. The title is an odd choice, in that I can't remember seeing even one reference to it within the story. Knowing that the next book will be The Plain Man, I got the idea that this might be a geometry thing. Start with a point. Two points define a line, which could be a reference to the "long" man, showing that he has extended his abilities. The Plain Man could be a deliberate mis-spelling, to allude indirectly to a "plane" which is defined by three points. I expected that a fourth book might be called The Pyramid Man, due to a few Egyptian references in The Long Man, and because you could define a pyramid with as few as four points. The Arena Man title ruins that theory.

Anyway, I really enjoyed The Long Man. It's packed with ideas, but the exposition is generally delivered in reasonable chunks with natural-sounding dialogue. New characters are introduced and developed well. There is a definite plot that moves along well, punctuated by some well-written action scenes. However, I'm glad that I re-read The Point Man first, because Max almost comes across as a Gary Stu in The Long Man. But watching him fumble with the unknown in The Point Man made it acceptable, especially knowing that more than 25 years have gone by since that story. Better still, Englehart has lived that time span, so the changes feel informed by a real passage of time.

One interesting thing is that Englehart very deliberately carried a certain minor character farther along in the story than expected. It turned out that he used her to illustrate exactly what might happen to a major character, which really heightened the suspense later on. He also got me interested in the Mayan calendar, which was random, but helped by a neat chart at the beginning of the book, and a surprising chronology after the story. For one thing, according to the Mayan calendar, Freud and Jung were born on the same day of the year, 10 Corn Stalk.

[Shellhead]

I'm about halfway through The Plain Man now. It's enjoyable. Some hanging threads from the previous book are picked up again. This time, the focus of the action is at fictional version of Burning Man. One thing really unusual feature of this story is the amount of attention that Englehart gives to the villains. It's typical to see fictional heroes struggle and then overcome obstacles and challenges, but odd to see the same with the villains.

Another odd thing about this book is the seeming appearance of two characters that starred in old comics written by Steve Englehart: Coyote and Scorpio Rose. I tried an issue of Coyote back in the day, but it didn't grab me like The Point Man or any of Englehart's mainstream superhero stories. I know almost nothing about Scorpio Rose except that she was apparently an indie comic incarnation of Mantis, who was also known as Willow. This is more or less the same Coyote character, but this Scorpio Rose is not the same as the original.

[FanboyStranger]

Another odd thing about this book is the seeming appearance of two characters that starred in old comics written by Steve Englehart: Coyote and Scorpio Rose. I tried an issue of Coyote back in the day, but it didn't grab me like The Point Man or any of Englehart's mainstream superhero stories. I know almost nothing about Scorpio Rose except that she was apparently an indie comic incarnation of Mantis, who was also known as Willow. This is more or less the same Coyote character, but this Scorpio Rose is not the same as the original.

I haven't read The Plain Man or any of Englehart's novels-- although I'm intrigued as I've enjoyed his comics throughout the years-- but Scorpio Rose is actually a take on DC's Madame Xanadu, not Mantis. Steve had been hired to write a mini for the character, but it was reduced to a one-shot by DC brass. He took the story to Eclipse when he was pushing the I Am Coyote OGN. Maybe that synchs Scorpio Rose up better with the character in The Plain Man. Scorpio Rose does meet a Mantis analogue named "Lorelei" in the Scorpio Rose mini, though.

[Shellhead]

I haven't read The Plain Man or any of Englehart's novels-- although I'm intrigued as I've enjoyed his comics throughout the years-- but Scorpio Rose is actually a take on DC's Madame Xanadu, not Mantis. Steve had been hired to write a mini for the character, but it was reduced to a one-shot by DC brass. He took the story to Eclipse when he was pushing the I Am Coyote OGN. Maybe that synchs Scorpio Rose up better with the character in The Plain Man. Scorpio Rose does meet a Mantis analogue named "Lorelei" in the Scorpio Rose mini, though.

In that case, this Scorpio Rose is the same person.