Quote:
Originally Posted by wayspooled
I don't find that there's a lot of exceptional sci/fi or fantasy at Baen. Enjoyable, worth reading stuff, yes for sure but the only things they've got that I consider exceptional or favorite are the David Weber "Honor Harrington" series and the CJ Cherryh book "The Paladin". Some of them, like the Grantsville stuff, first book was a neat read but it gets kinda old after a couple books. James P. Hogan and Murray Leinster who have a book or few there are good writers.
|
I can accept that. I think of Baen as the literary heir to what DAW Books was doing.
DAW Books, as originally conceived by Donald A. Wollheim, published mid-level action/adventure SF and fantasy. It wasn't likely to be noted for style or win awards, but it wasn't trying to. It was trying to be a fast fun read, and part of a line where if you liked one book they published, you'd probably like others. When Don died and his daughter Betsy took over, the direction changed, and these days DAW is known for fantasy "bricks".
Baen is still concentrating on midlist action/adventure SF and fantasy. Some things, like the Honor Harrington novels, have broken through and become best sellers. Baen also likes series, like the Eric Flint "1632" series that includes the Grantville Gazette anthologies, and encourages collaborations between authors, so there are a variety of books where David Weber, Eric Flint, David Drake, Steve Stirling, Mercedes Lackey and others share the writing chores.
Essentially, Baen is a niche market specialist with a clear idea of who their audience is and what it likes to read. It's fared much than some of the big houses in the current malaise affecting publishing, because it's less dependent on best sellers to cover the losses on books that tank. I think far fewer Baen titles fail to sell.
Quote:
|
edit - and something new, Baen has Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword trilogy. Now that's a very fine read.
|
I haven't gotten to those yet. Noted.
______
Dennis