The last book I read was...
"Map of Bones" by James Rollins.
Dan Brown meets Clive Cussler in this tale of an elite military force who look for/defend against the more"unusual" stuff. I've already forgotten the MacGuffin in this case, but it involved a lot of chasing around the Med whilst being pursued by a bunch of elitist who wanted to rule the world. Not a bad "popcorn read" but I wouldn't bother with any more in the ever-growing series.
"First Among Sequels" by Jasper Fforde.
I was a bit worried by Fforde's return to Thursday Next, a series that he had brought to a wonderful conclusion a few years back, and the opening chapters of this book didn't immediately dispel my fears. Luckily, things pick up with some laugh-out-loud moments (including an explanation of the real function of TKMaxx) and some mind-bending ideas. The book sees Thursday officially retired from Jurisfiction (the force that polices books) and the SO division that polices literary crimes. Of course she is still working in both, and gets embroiled in a plot to... it would be a shame to reveal too much, suffice to say that it involves old enemies, new allies, and lots of time travel. Watch out for appearances from Thursday's fictional counterparts, Temperance "Bones" Brennan and a wonderful non appearance from a massive literary figure. Not the best place to start on the series, but well worth a read if you are already a fan.
Warning! Ends on a massive cliffhanger. I'm hoping for a Nursery Crimes/Thursday Next crossover as the next book.
I just finished A Feast for Crows. I've reread the whole A Song of Fire and Ice series in the hope that by the time I'd finished GRRM would have finished the latest book. My hopes were in vain. But I'm glad I reread. There was much that I'd forgotten (or hadn't noticed the first time round), especially in Feast. I still haven't a clue how it's going to turn out. I suspect that Jon Snow will be one head of the dragon, with Dany and possibly the Mage. I hope Brienne doesn't die. And I wait with baited breath (not literally, I would have suffocated by now) to see what happens to Bran beyond the Wall.
But I do think it's all getting rather out of hand. The uprising in Dorne, the attack of the Iron Men, Dany over the sea, what's happening in King's Landing, Stannis, the Wall and what's going on beyond it, Samwell. There's an awful lot to tie up. I think a lot of what's happening could well have been edited out and maybe taken up in other books and other series. Reading the books in quick succession, there is definitely a change. The later books have become both cruder and more wordy. At times it's almost as if GRRM has forgotten that he has a tale to tell and is simply getting too carried away with the language and the individual stories. But I still look forward to the next book, even though it could be years.
"Un Lun Dun" by China Mielville.
takes a break from writing lengthy, dense novels set in a bizarre quasi-Victorian world by writing a lengthy, dense novel for children set in a bizarre quasi-Victorian world and comes up trumps.
Zanna and Deeba, two schoolgirl friends, begin to experience bizarre occurences seemingly centred around Zanna. The find themselves journeying to Un Lun Dun - one of a number of "ab-cities" beneath cities in our world that reflect our equivalents but can also affect them. (The London Eye being a non-functioning copy of the water wheel that is the Un Lun Dun Eye, for instance). Un Lun Dun is at war with the Smog, a hideous gas creature that was banished from our world, and it seems that Zanna might be the long-prophesied saviour that Un Lun Dun has been waiting for. But things never go according to plan, do they?
Absolutely brilliant, though I would imagine that a lot of the (alleged) target audience will find the book heavy going (the vocabulary is quite rich) and miss a lot of the jokes/puns. It's a bit like Mieville has decided to throw a bit of Gaiman's "Neverwhere", Jasper Fforde's puns, Clive Barkers wierdness and illustrations (CM provides line art) and his own past works into a big pot and created a wonderful book stew. Heartily recommended.
"Un Lun Dun" by China Mielville.
takes a break from writing lengthy, dense novels set in a bizarre quasi-Victorian world by writing a lengthy, dense novel for children set in a bizarre quasi-Victorian world and comes up trumps.
Zanna and Deeba, two schoolgirl friends, begin to experience bizarre occurences seemingly centred around Zanna. The find themselves journeying to Un Lun Dun - one of a number of "ab-cities" beneath cities in our world that reflect our equivalents but can also affect them. (The London Eye being a non-functioning copy of the water wheel that is the Un Lun Dun Eye, for instance). Un Lun Dun is at war with the Smog, a hideous gas creature that was banished from our world, and it seems that Zanna might be the long-prophesied saviour that Un Lun Dun has been waiting for. But things never go according to plan, do they?
Absolutely brilliant, though I would imagine that a lot of the (alleged) target audience will find the book heavy going (the vocabulary is quite rich) and miss a lot of the jokes/puns. It's a bit like Mieville has decided to throw a bit of Gaiman's "Neverwhere", Jasper Fforde's puns, Clive Barkers wierdness and illustrations (CM provides line art) and his own past works into a big pot and created a wonderful book stew. Heartily recommended.
Click on links to go to my Librarything list.
June
July
I'm on holiday this week and have spent most of the week at my parent caravan. No Cable tv, no internet, no phone of distractions, just lots of walks through the forests and along the coast and of course the beach to sot on and read read read.
So I have been on a DVD watching, book reading binge this week.
Before they are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie
Middle book in the series see the anti heroes from book one in various scrapes, Inquisitor Glokta is in a sieged city trying to stop the invaders from the south while hunting a traitor, The Northmen are invading and Collum West and a band of northmen have to stop it, First Magi Bayaz leads a small group to the edge of the world to find a legendary weapon.
Lots of fun
4/5
Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie
Final Part of the trilogy. Battle still rages in the north and Logan "Bloody-nine" Ninefingers returns from his quest at the edge of the world and has to now take on his old enemy one last time. Superior Glokta is still trying to uncover the truth behind the conspiracies and lies. Using blackmail, torture and threats. The King lies on his deathbed they are surrounded on both sides by enemies as people scramble for power and glory. Will anyone survive?
Only the First of the Magi can help, but will be break the First Law of magic to do it?
Rousing finale that neatly ties up the series, but leaves some open ends for future books.
4.5/5
Orbit - John J. Nance
Kip Dawson is disallusioned with life. His wife is distant, his kids blame him for the death of his first wife, he has a dead end job and one dream....to go into space.
When he wins a lottery contest to fly into low earth orbit with a private space company he is ecstatic. Once in orbit disaster strikes as a meteorite crashes into the ship killing the pilot and disabling the ship. With only a few days of oxygen left and no way to communicate with earth or fly the ship he resorts to telling his life story into the onship laptop.
Unbeknown to him a young hacker on Earth discovers that the signal is being broadcast in real time and sends the link to a few of his friends. Soon it is the biggest story on the planet and millions of people are following his every word as he writes about his life, his loves and his feelings. NASA and other space agencies race to rescue him as the political and media storm rages below as people watch with baited breath.
I really enjoyed this book. The ending was a tad unbelievable, but it was an interesting book.
3.5/5
Small Favour - Jim Butcher
Book 10 if the Dresden Files sees Harry Dresden Wizard for hire once again up to his neck in trouble. Queen Mab of the Winter Court calls in one of her favours to investigate the dissapearance of local Gangster Marcone.
A rip roaring read as usual. Fast paced and some great characters (oh and the Harry Dresden world would make a great adventure game)
4/5
Infoquake - David Louis Edelman
Avoid
2/5
"Inside Straight" edited by George R R Martin.
The latest "Wild Card" novel. Set in a world where an alien virus has infected a good deal of the population since it's aerial detonation in the middle of the 20th century. The virus is now passed along from parent to child. If it activates, the most common result is death, some are transformed into "Jokers" - malformed or disfigured, some of whom have powers - while a tiny minority become "Aces" - generally physically untouched, but with super-powers.
This novel sees trouble in the Middle East being ignored by the American populace, who are far more interested in the latest reality show. "American Hero" pits various minor Aces (and a couple of Jokers) against each other in typical fashion for such trash, but events happen that convince a couple of the "Heroes" that they should be elsewhere...
I struggled a bit with this one - I hate Reality TV, and most of the first half is concerned with the show. Things get better when the setting changes, though. The death toll is surprisingly high and the tone somewhat bleak, which is a real contrast to the "Reality" fluff. Worth a read if you're a fan of the series, but I wouldn't rush out to buy it.
Just finished reading Curious Pursuits: Occasional Writing by Margaret Atwood. It's a collection of her writings, eg book reviews, obituaries, transcriptions of lectures she's given and so on. I can't see it appealing very much to anyone who's not already a fan, but if you do like her writing it's great. Full of self-deprecating wit and insights into Ms Atwood's thought and writing process.
Isn't she the woman that gets pissy when someone claims she writes Science Fiction even though a couple of her book can clearly be labeled as such. (Handmaidens Tale at least is certainly Sci Fi)
To snobby to be associated with Sci-fi.
Well, the point she makes is that science-fiction is other planets and spaceships, things that don't happen, whereas speculative fiction could happen here. It's possible to imagine The Handmaid's Tale happening here at some point or to have happened some time in the past, but no so much Martian invaders. Possibly an unnecessary and pointless distinction, but maybe not. I wouldn't say she's too snobby for sci-fi - she's read and clearly enjoyed HG Wells and Ursula Le Guin, among others.
Well, the point she makes is that science-fiction is other planets and spaceships.
That may be her point, but (as we all know) she is wrong - that's just one sub-genre. Probably worried that she'll never win another literary award if she admits that she writes SF.
Not every scifi book has spaceships and martians.
I don't remember any in "1984". Plus "speculative fiction" was a term coined by Robert A. Heinlen as a synonym for science fiction.
She is splitting hairs because she knows the "literary press" looks down it's nose at Science Fiction.
I would say it's more to do with not alienating her usual audience. She clearly enjoys science-fiction and praises Le Guin and Wells very highly. I agree she's splitting hairs, but then I don't really see the need to distinguish between fiction and science fiction. And at least she doesn't feel the need to publish fiction and science-fiction under separate names, unlike Iain Banks.
"Infernal Devices" by Philip Reeve.
The 3rd in the "Mortal Engines" (aka "Hungry Cities") quartet takes place some years after the second. Tom and Hester have a young daughter, Wren, and are living fairly peacefully in the now static Anchorage. When the Lost Boys come calling in search of the mysterious Tin Book, Wren sees a chance for adventure - but finds that adventures aren't as thrilling as they seem. Captured and eventually sold into slavery, things seem bleak. Meanwhile Tom and Hester are on her trail...
These books really are too good for the young teenage market that they are aimed at. Set in a wonderfully realised steampunk world, full of jokes and literary allusions that I'm sure would fly over the heads of most teenagers, and surprisingly bleak, I highly recommend that you get the first book and start reading it now.
Though make sure that you have the fourth in hand before you finish the third, because it ends on an almighty cliffhanger.
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Eli is a 12-year-old vampire who has lived for 200 years. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother. The two become friends and become rely on each other.
This is a profoundly disturbing novel in which the lines between good and evil, innocent and guilty, demon and angel become blurred and often disappear all together. Eli is as much a victim as the people she has to kill to stay alive. Lindqvist reinterprets the vampire mythology, providing an interesting explanation that should be given more investigation. He weaves vampirism into a tapestry of real life on an estate, making it believable that such a thing could happen. The novel has been translated from Swedish, and my only real criticism is that some of the translation is jarring. Use of American words such as subway for underground, suburb for estate and gotten for got are used alongside English words, such as mum, which sometimes unnecessarily break up the narrative, at least for me. Someone who's not employed as an editor might not notice!
4.5/5
"A Darkling Plain" by Philip Reeve.
The final book in the "Mortal Engines" quartet sees Tom and his daughter Wren starting a new life as Air Traders in the refurbished Jenny Hanniver. Hester and the Stalker Shrike are travelling together. Shrike is waiting for Hester to die so that he can have her resurrected as a Stalker, while Hester is putting her newly-reawakened killing skills to use as a bounty hunter.
Theo has returned to his people in Africa, where Oeone is visiting in her new role as General Naga's wife and peace emissary. Unfortunately, the uneasy truce between the Green Storm and the forces of Municipal Darwinism is about to be shattered by forces that do not want peace, and a creature that has plans for the codes in the Tin Book...
Wow! I was a bit worried by the thickness of this book, fearing that Reeve had succumbed to "Rowling's Syndrome" (the need to pad each book out unnecessarily), but boy was I wrong! There's not an ounce of fat here, the book barrels along at a stunning pace tying up all the plot threads hanging over from the earlier novels brilliantly. While Reeve is reasonably popular and critically lauded, why he isn't as big as JK Rowling, the "Alex Rider" guy or that spod that wrote Eragon, I don't know. Maybe his books are too good, or maybe it's because this series is uncompromisingly tough. My only criticism of this book would be that the climax is a little bit rushed (and less apocalyptic than I was expecting), but maybe this was the point as the wind up, where we learn the fates of the characters, is really what is interesting. And it's very, very, sad.
Soon I will be Invincible - Austin Grossman
Doctor Impossible—evil genius, mad scientist, diabolical time-traveler, wannabe world dominator—has just broken out of prison…again. He's tried to take over the world in every conceivable way: doomsday devices (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological), armies (robot, insect, dinosaur, fungus, fish), mass mind control, even a corporate conquest (Impossible Industries LLC). Each time, he has been foiled. This time, it's going to be different.
Fatale, a gleaming technological marvel built by the NSA as the next generation of warfare, is living in Boston, watching TV and listening to the police scanner. A woman of skin and chrome with a long silver ponytail, she's given the chance every superheroine dreams of: to join a once-famous group of beautiful young heroes, newly reunited to stop Dr. Impossible.
In alternating chapters, we see Dr. Impossible plan his comeback, and we watch the good guys—Fatale, Damsel, Blackwolf, Feral, CoreFire—come together in the face of unspeakable evil.
Featuring a cast of superheroes and supervillains with remarkably human emotions who inhabit a world strangely similar to our own, this is an outrageous adventure with a literary bent—a smart take on power and celebrity, glory and responsibility, and those old standbys, truth and justice.
Reasonably enjoyable twist on the superhero genre. A comic book in prose form.
Tells the story from both villian and hero perspective, but the cyborg hero is a tad boring and all the fun comes from the super villian.
Pokes fun at the comic stereotypes and is a realsoble read.
Twas Ok.
3/5
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The gathering of the title is that of the surviving family members of Liam, whose suicide is the catalyst for the book. The narrator is Veronica, Liam's sister and closest friend. Ostensibly the book is about the incident that happened to Liam when he was a child that ultimately led to his suicide as an adult. And so we have several threads to follow. First, the story of Ada, Veronica and Liam's grandmother. Then Veronica's remembered childhood with Liam. Then what happens between Veronica being told of her brother's death and the funeral. And finally Veronica after the funeral, when she is writing this book.
And here is part of the problem. Veronica admits she knows nothing of Ada's past, so everything she writes here is pure conjecture. She invents a love story for the woman that is highly improbable and there's no reason to believe any of what is written here. Her own past is full of half memories, things forgotten, invented memories and repressed memories, besides we know that she's an unreliable narrator so we're already questioning everything she tells us. The incident takes more than half the book to get to and when we do it's so obvious that it's almost banal. You can probably guess it right now. What might have happened to a nine-year-old boy that would have affected him so much he'd kill himself as an adult? Most of the book is devoted to Veronica, both leading up to the funeral and after. And she just comes across as self-obsessed, selfish and put upon. She is the epitomy of middle-class ennui and I have no sympathy for her.
The narrative is broken up and never really gets going. Sentences are chopped into tiny bits by too many commas and the different threads of the story stop and start with no real reason or conclusion. The events in this book happened off the page, as it were, before this story begins, which means there is little reason to read the book.
Decidedly mediocre. 3/10
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Sounds like one of those "misery memoirs". If the market wasn't so saturated that it's almost impossible to make a fortune out of one (without lots of personal appearances), I'd write one and them reveal that I'd made it all up (suckers!) in the sequel.
Was on holiday last week, but didn't get much reading done. My only completed book was:
Next by Michael Crichton.
Very similar to his "State of Fear", in the way that it was less of a novel than a rant (but this one about genetic engineering rather than climate change) and much better than his last book ("Prey" - a rehash of his own "The Andromeda Strain") it's a page-turner, but a lacklustre novel. At least this time he uses different plot threads to explore different ideas rather than (as he did in "State" just have talking heads spout off a load of infodump).
A guy who finds that he has "fathered" a chimp/human hybrid, a self-aware Grey Parrot, a woman and child whose genes may hold the cure for cancer and are "owned" by a biotech corporation and a number of smaller threads collide in an unlikely way at the end of the novel (having been previously unlikely to cross). Entertaining, and raises a lot of interesting points - despite his Republican politics, Crichton is worried that business seems to be controlling a lot of the new genetic technology at the expense of innovation and humanity) but it doesn't really work as a novel. Mind you, I guess that in this form a lot more people will at least get some idea of the concepts and possible abuses involved than a "popular science" non-fiction book would ever reach.
"The Remains of an Altar" by Phil Rickman.
Almost into double figures for Rickman's series following Merrily Watkins, the Herefordshire "Delivery Consultant" (exorcist). It helps to go in realising that he's not going to have any actual supernatural shenanigans, and neither (for the main character in what is being marketed as a crime novel) is Merrily going to do much more than stumble upon what has been going on; knowing this, the reader won't be disappointed.
This time round it seems as if the ghost of Elgar is haunting a local parish, causing car crashes and feeling up the odd cyclist. The locals are also upset by the conversion of a local pub into a "bangin'" nightclub, and Merrily's (normally annoying) daughter Jane is actually crusading against something worth getting annoyed about. Despite the seemingly pedestrian synopsis the book keeps you turning the pages, though lacks the chills of earlier novels in the series (when something evil might actually have happened). Worth a read if you're a fan, but it's not a good place to start the series.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
This was the first time I'd ever read this book, until now my knowledge of the story came entirely from Around the World with Willy Fog, which according to Wikipedia is one of the most faithful adaptations around. I think most people more or less know the plot: Phileas Fogg, an English gentleman, takes a bet to go around the world in 80 days, he's taken for a bank robber and followed on his journey by a police detective. Lots of things go wrong, forcing Fogg to take some very unusual forms of transport to win his bet. It's a classic adventure story and a good read, with some great witticisms about the various races that Fogg meets on his journey, though I don't think a modern-day writer would get away with a lot of what Verne does. What I found interesting was just how English it was, seeing as it's written by a Frenchman.
I was about halfway through UnLondon, but I left it on a train this weekend. :(
I was about halfway through UnLondon, but I left it on a train this weekend. :(
It's probably becoming moil as we speak, or maybe it might turn out like Curdle, and help some adventurer in the ab-City.
It probably will! I feel much happier now.
Dead Men's Boots - Mike Carey
Before he died, Castor's fellow exorcist John Gittings made several calls asking for help and if Castor had answered them, John might still be alive. So when a smooth-talking lawyer comes out of nowhere to claim the remains, Castor owes it to John's unhappy ghost and even more unhappy widow to help out. If only life were that simple. A brutal murder in King's Cross bears all the hallmarks of an American serial killer supposedly forty years dead, and it takes more good sense than Castor possesses not to get involved. He's also fighting a legal battle over the body - if not the soul - of his possessed friend, Rafi, and can't shake the feeling that his three problems are related. With the help of the succubus Juliet, paranoid zombie data-fence Nicky Heath and a little judicious digging, Castor just might have a chance of fitting the pieces together before someone drops him down a lift shaft or rips his throat out. Or not...
Mike Carey is mostly know for his comic book work (Hellblazer and Lucifer), but has moved into the urban fantasy genre dominated by Jim Butcher and Laurell K Hamilton.
With this 3rd book he cements his prescense. A thrilling ride through London as Castor investigates the death of one of his fellow exorcists, a ride that involves a demon Sucubbus, old London gansters and an american serial killer.
Fast paced action, great characterisations and thrilling read from start to finish.
Can't wait on the next one "Thicker than Water".
4/5
The Gypsy Morph (Genesis of Shannar book 3) - Terry Brooks
Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind.
But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep–protecting the world’s only hope of salvation–and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.
The Gypsy Morph is an epic saga of a world in flux as the mortal realm yields to a magical one; as the champions of the Word and the Void clash for the last time to decide what will be and what must cease; and as, from the remnants of a doomed age, something altogether extraordinary rises.
Combining the best bits from his Word and Void series and his bestselling Shannara series, Terry Brooks has reinvigorated a series that was starting to become stale.
The last couple of of Shannara Trilogies were sub-standard (esp the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara) and it is refreshing to see something different from Brooks.
This series bridges the gap and tells of the fall of civilisation and the creation of the Shannara world we know and love. A group of young kids must survive the coming apoclypse and a demon army , with the help of the last 2 knights of the world, and lead the survivors to a safe zone before the end of the world.
Although tempored by the problem with most prequels (i.e you already know what is going to happen at the end) it does a good job of making you care for the secondary characters who might live or die. Brooks does a great job of keeping the pace moving, setting up great set pieces and cliffhangers that make you want to keep reading.
Ok it's not GRR Martin in modern complicated fantasy, but if you want a light thrilling read this book ties up all the plots from the previous books in a nice little bow and still leaves you wanting more then this is the book for you. It keeps you interested for the promised duology set after Gypsy Morph due in 2010. (next up for Brooks is a new Landover novel)
Good fun.
4/5
Dead Men's Boots - sounds interesting, is it part of a series or can I just buy this book?
Shannara - again sounds interesting, but I gave up on the shannara books a long time ago and I've never read the Word or Void books. Is that going to make it difficult to get what's going on?
I gave up on the shannara books a long time ago
I never managed to make it through the first book!
I'm reading "A better mousetrap" by Tom Holt
Its one of the portable door series, they have to be the funniest books I've ever read. I'm not good at writing reviews. But wanted to add Tom Holt to the good read guide :)