A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle

From Goodreads...
Conversing in a mausoleum with the dead, an eccentric recluse is tugged back into the world by a pair of ghostly lovers bearing an extraordinary gift—the final chance for his own happiness. When challenged by a faithless wife and aided by a talking raven, the lives of the living and the dead may be renewed by courage and passion, but only if not belatedly. Told with an elegiac wisdom, this delightful tale of magic and otherworldly love is a timeless work of fantasy imbued with hope and wonder. 



Most of the books I read are science fiction but on occasion I like to pick up a fantasy book.  "A Fine and Private Place" was my latest  and it is an amazing read.  The various love, and life, stories are very touching.  With the death of my mother this year the themes of love, life, and death have weighed heavily on my mind.  Stories like this one help me to get in touch with my thoughts on these subjects.  I believe this will be one of the books I return to in the future.  The death of loved ones is something that we all have to deal with at some point in our lives.  I would be curious as to whether the author was dealing with such a loss when he wrote this novel.


It features some of the best character studies I have seen.  By the time you finish the story, it seems like the characters are people you have known for a long time. You will remember them long after you read this book.


In some ways, I can see where Neil Gaiman must have been influenced by the writing of Peter S. Beagle.  The character development and themes are many of the ones explored by Gaiman in his writing career.  One of his most popular characters from the Sandman comic series was Death.  She would be right at home in this novel.


It is hard to describe this book without giving the story away.  If you like plot driven books, stay away from this one.  If fantastically developed characters trapped between love and death appeal to you, this is a nearly perfect book.  One of the most amazing things about it is the author was only 19 when he wrote it.  How he could gain such insight into people at that young of an age is beyond me.

Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys

"Rogue Moon" is one of the classic "big dumb object" stories.  An alien artifact is discovered on the Moon.  Anyone who enters the construct dies.  How do you get around this problem?  Enter Dr. Edward Hawks.  Hawks has developed a matter transmitter.  The astronauts on the Moonbase assemble the transmitter so new "explorers" can transport from the Earth to the Moon.  The transmitter does not work quite like the transporters in Star Trek.  In this book, the transmitter makes a duplicate that is assembled in the receiver by using materials on the Moon.  The original stays in mental contact with the duplicate.  So far when one of the duplicates enters the structure and is killed, the original goes insane.  The solution to this problem is Al Barker.

The book follows the interaction between Barker, Hawks, and various other characters as Barker's duplicates make it further and further into the construct.

Budrys crafts a very interesting character study with this story.  Most books you read feature characters that are easy to identify with.  This one showcases very flawed, damaged people but Budrys' makes you want to learn more about them.  

The exploration of the object is fascinating.  One of my favorite sections is when a character compares man exploring the construct to a beetle that gets stuck in a soup can.  We can never understand the creatures that made it or what it was created for.  Too often we assume that we can understand everything that we find in the universe.  Some mysteries are not meant to be solved.

Highly recommended.