Book Reviews

This will sound like a terrible review but it is actually wonderful. stay with me through the bad stuff and you will find the gems at the end.

I grew up reading the likes of Carl Sagan’s “Contact” and as a sci-fi buff it set me alight. “Peter Watts” is not taking the easy track with this piece of hard sci-fi. In fact, he seems, at times, to wish for no readers. Even to such as I that has enjoyed Benford, Banks, Brin and Bear (do all the surnames have to start with a “B”) this is a difficult read. Many acronyms are used with no guide to their meaning unless you are really up to date on your physics, biology, brain chemistry and chemical psychology, which most are not.  This book is made even more difficult to read because the author factors in a vampire, as a side shoot of the human genome. A predator that preys upon predators. All this aside and I agree that it is a great deal to put aside. You end up with a truly original book.  So Finally, here are the good bits.

Much as we all loved Carl Sagan, He was an optimist who wished for intelligent and thoughtful aliens that cared for and cosseted humanity. Peter Watts takes a far more realistic view, In my opinion. What is alien, is truly alien. No one person can imagine the meeting of minds in a first contact. I suspect that it will (if it ever happens) be even stranger than Mr Watts ideas. Mr Watts presents this book as a hard-sci-fi piece, which it truly is, steeped in the genre and wallowing there. Yet this book has more to offer upon the human condition than you may first expect. I would recommend this book to all readers that can stand the pretty much unreadable. Go on give yourself a challenge. After this I look back on “Iron in the Soul” by Sartre with fond enjoyment.

Once upon a time I devoured great fantasy novels with a voracious hunger. Then many became similar and seemed reworkings of the the earlier novel or part in the series(David and Leigh Eddings,Terry Brooks etc.) and so I gave up on fantasy and moved my reading eyes to other literary wonders. My time elsewhere was fruitful but I yearned for my heartlands in Science fiction and Fantasy. I posted an article of this sort on Goodreads, a eulogy, I suppose, to the great fantasy reads of the past. 

This Horror tale or (possibly) a psychological depiction of paranoid madness, I thought excellent. I will not give you a summary of the story as it can be viewed from two standpoints. That of the paranoid and delusional main character, whom, if you are to believe his thoughts, is caught in the middle of a grand conspiracy to prove him mad for the benefit of others or alternatively that of his psychiatrist who is either trying to help or destroy him (depending up your viewpoint). The complex story is built gradually through a series of hypnotic regressions, therapy notes and delusional episodes so it is not the easiest of reads (for those of faint heart) but it is certainly worth persevering. As the story reaches fullness it becomes littered with tiny clues to the truth. Like "Blatty's "Legion" or "Redemption", a couple of Stephen King novels, Dan Simmons "Drood"  and a few others, this novel stands up as one of the great "Horror" novels of our time. I would certainly recommend it.  

Over the years many of my own books have been compared to “The Snow child” by Eowyn Ivey and so I have always meant to read this book and I, eventually, have. I have written many Faerie Tales, where a creature of Faerie interacts with the lives of “normal” humans to change them for the better or worse much as this tales does but that is where all comparison between myself and Ms Ivey ends. I love this book, sure it tells the old faerie tale and so is not based upon an original thought but that is where all similarities with the faerie tale stop.

I have taken time out to read some “Winter Tales” as it is now the height of summer here in Scotland and so I can face the “chill” for once. This was one of those tales where I found the writing of this novel “Odd” rather than bad or particularly good (as I noticed others have said) but rather, simply different. In places I loved the style, in others, unusually for me, I had to check back to make sure that I understood the sentence. Take that away for a second and there is a well told story hidden beneath that argument. 

I decided to take a trip both back in time and into the future and read Gregory Benford’s Galactic Centre series of books. They are considered Science Fiction classics but for some reason I have never read them. This was the time to make up for that shortfall my book pile dwindling for the first time in many years due to illness. I read his Novel “Foundations Fear” (part of the Bear, Benford, Brin, Isaac Asimov legacy) many years ago and thought it truly magnificent but somehow I had never read what is considered his masterwork.

This is the first novel in a series of eight and so expect more reviews on them salted through others.  I have to be honest and say that this novel was a terrible disappointment though it is not bad. I suspect that it had its time in the early seventies and has faded as other more impressive Sci-fi writers have come along doing the same things but having learned from the likes of this man know how to do it better. I do not mean to fault it, as it is a well put together tale. For the time this was written I suspect it was faultless but the likes of Iain M Banks and Dan Simmons make the originality look woefully old and creaky though i suspect it was groundbreaking at the time.

I finished the book last night and must say I thought it marvelous, well planned and put together, clever and funny at times despite the distressing subject matter. Witty, certainly, and not the mish mash I was (to a certain extent) lead to believe. It is certainly a novel that I would recommend to everyone and I can be rather fussy (a sad failing on my part) . In my humble opinion it is not as good as "To kill a Mockingbird" But then "To Kill...." was an exceptional book and something that even approaches the quality of it deserves to be lauded. I will happily admit that even the best of my novels do not come close (though I hope one day) and obviously I have a vested interest in saying how good my own are (and they are good ((with the exception of Cornelius)) but Miss or Ms Lee has a rare talent, not only rarely to be seen with only the two novels but an ability to involve you in what motives her interest with what seems easily written (though i suspect it was not) simple prose.

A very Pleasant Surprise.

I picked this novel up in a hurry when I had no time to look for another, better, one. The cover is quite plain and Mr Holt is trying, rather obviously, to get into the Dan Brown market. And so he should be as apart from “Angels and demons” and “The DA Vinci code”, he has written a better book. Set in Venice much as “Inferno” was he has created a better story, still involving the history and ideal of Venice but in a much more engaging story. This book came a surprise to me, One I expected little from yet received much. I would highly recommend this novel to those that enjoy a detective novel, a “Dan Brown” type Mystery  but expect a little more. Good characters carried along by the story itself. A very good (and surprising) Three star recommendation by myself.

I have only read two of this authors books before and like the other two I find him hard to pin down. The tales are all similar in style and construction, Anti hero plus anti hero and a few other anti heroes go up against a baddie and through a long slog win. The quality of the writing has improved since the first of his novels that I read but still varies between “rather good” and “pretty awful” sometimes even in the same paragraph. That said, and those were the bad points, I have enjoyed all three of the novels, this one more than the other two. 

Mr Abercrombie seems to have a knack for drawing the reader into his fantasy world and keeping them there. He reminds me, in a small way of “David Gemmell” and has similar talents and that, obviously, is a good thing. 

I always have the feeling that I should not enjoy Mr Abercrombie’s books and should tell everyone that they are terrible but that is where my reviewing process breaks down. As, despite all I have said, I have enjoyed each of those I have read and been caught up in them, reading for hours at a time needing to read the ending,that I already know, but still they hold me.

Recommended by me with a good rating of three stars from five.

I am sure that you can tell from the last few reviews posted here that I have become a fan of Mr Lindqvist and upon reading this novel, no wonder.

This is an excellent take on the rather tired and overdone zombie industry. There are no rushing Zombie’s imbued with tremendous powers rushing around gobbling people up (28 days later) nor are there Romeroesque unsteady, staggering, rotting but unstoppable Zombie’s.

Mr Lindqvist has (again) changed the whole genre with style and with human understanding. He has even re-branded them from Zombies, The Walking Dead, or the undead to the re-living. Where they are loved ones that have come back to life. This is a rather beautiful tale, well told, as always, that even gives insight into our reactions to those that different from us or are unusual.

Things or people that we do not understand. In Sweden the reliving are viewed much as an autistic person maybe, different, but they have every right to life, or undeath, as every other person has. 

Yet I must say that what this novel makes up for in originality and quality is let down, only very slightly, by the usual excellence of his storytelling, imagery and wonderful descriptiveness. I thought the story as good or better than Harbor or Little Star but the telling not quite as good. None the less this is a terrific novel and a thoroughly enjoyable read  that I would recommend to everyone and anyone, not just lovers of the horror genre.

Another excellent novel from my favorite horror writer of the moment. His writing is often beautiful without ever going into hugely descriptive mode. Everything is clear, defined, described and easily accessible to the reader with only a few lyrical flights of fancy. You could easily be half way through the novel assuming it to be a tragedy set on a small island of the coast of Sweden. When a young man's daughter goes missing whilst on a family holiday to the island he is left to suffer the consequences. This is set amid the history and people of the island all of whom have a story to tell in one way or another. There are only a few minor hints that this is a horror story and a good one to boot. I believe that it could so easily not have been. But well into the book clues start to emerge, bad things start happening all leading to a fierce climax. Highly recommended.

Dan Simmons is one of my favorite writers and has been for many years now. I found his novels "Drood", "Endymion" and "Hyperion" excellent in every way rating them five stars for each. "The Terror", "Illium" and "The fall of Hyperion" all received four stars out of five. Yet even the best of authors such as Mr Simmons occasionally can write a novel that will not entertain as much as many of his others.

This, I am afraid, is one of those.  It is still a good novel and had it been from an author that was new to me this would have had a great review but Mr Simmons has written so many excellent novels that perhaps I just expect a little more from him.

This comedic horror novel, spans two centuries and is set in Hawaii where the gods of the mountain decide to wreak revenge upon unsuspecting Japanese businessmen on holiday.

Add into this, roiling cauldron, Mark Twain's female companion upon another trip to the island. The story is told deftly (as you would expect from an author of such great stature) and It is certainly worth noting that Mr Simmons has conquered yet another genre in the writing of this novel. Not his best novel but still very enjoyable, well written, planned and executed. To anyone that has not read one of Mr Simmons books, you will love this, it is excellent but when you read another of his (and you will) you will realize that this novel is on one of the lower rungs of the authors lofty and impressive list of books.   

A wonderful novel in its own unusual way. This novel jumps through hoops to be what I assumed the author wished it to be. The initial story seems like something from a James bond movie. The ultimate assassin captured, imprisoned and tortured giving away nothing then killing all of his captors. At this point throw your rule book away as Mr Blatty drags you back into his normal world of religion, hope and faith. The story is told in fragments but he gives clues and when it is dragged back together in a sack of homage he makes all of his points clear. I wonder if the small slivers that this tale breaks down to as it starts before coming together in a realization echoes Mr Blatty's conversion to christianity? It seems like an epiphany to me but I suspect that epiphany occurred many years before this tales inception. As far as the novel goes this matters not a jot. This tale seems like a spy novel or James bond outing at the start until it becomes fragmented and disparate to show (I assume dissolution) then as the case is solved and all becomes clear you will marvel at this work of great fiction. A beautiful, well written, fantastically planned, work of great literature that is both mysterious and uplifting. Very good Indeed.