Book log: Robert Silverberg — To The Land of the Living

Sequel to Silverberg’s “Gilgamesh the King”. I don’t own a copy of the first book, and hadn’t read either for over a decade, so my memory of the first is pretty hazy at this point. However, the all seeing eye of Google confirms my impression that this one is different in tone to the first. It’s set in a shared universe used by several writers, but I’ve never read any of the works by other authors, so from my perspective this is simply a sequel to a previous stand-alone.

The novel is set in the Afterworld, the dream-like place where everyone goes when they die. There is no escape from the Afterworld — one can be killed there, but only to be revived again, sometimes within minutes and sometimes not for decades. For some, the Afterworld is Hell; for others, it is simply the place where they are now, different to life, better in some ways and worse in others.

The novel is set in the present day, so Gilgamesh the Sumerian has been in the Afterworld for a very long time indeed. The novel follows his wanderings in his quest to be re-united with his friend Enkidu, a journey that turns out to be as much about self-discovery as anything he had intended to do. But there are rumours that there exists a way back to the Land of the Living, and Gilgamesh is gradually drawn into the attempts to find that way. Along the way he meets a good many other historical figures, and one of the themes of the novel is the way in which history distorts real people and turns them into myths they barely recognise as themselves.

There’s a lot of philosophy in this novel, but it’s by no means dry. Indeed, it’s often very funny. And it works well as a stand-alone, without knowledge of the first book. Definitely worth trying.

at LibraryThing
To the Land of the Living at Amazon UK
To the Land of the Living at Amazon US

Book log: James Anderson — The Affair of the Mutilated Mink

Second in Anderson’s series of affectionate parodies of the classic 1930s country house murder mystery. I thought this one was better constructed than the first, with enough there to make it possible to deduce who the killer was if you were paying attention. I did work out who the killer probably was fairly early on, but not his motive, which is very cleverly hidden. I missed some of the clues and was distracted by some of the red herrings, so wasn’t certain until close to the end.

Earl Burford has discovered the joys of the talkies, and is having a wonderful time being a starstruck fan. So wonderful that he can’t believe his luck when a Hollywood film producer wants to hire Alderley as a setting for his latest film, starring the Earl’s favourite actor. Naturally, the producer wishes to assess the building and grounds for practicality first, and to encourage the Earl to agree asks if he can bring his star along as well. Thus starts a weekend house party which snowballs, continually acquiring invited and uninvited guests until the house is full of people — many of whom are not quite what they seem on the surface. And when one of them ends up shot dead in the middle of the night, Inspector Wilkins has a job on his hands untangling the many motives which have brought the characters to Alderley.

Great fun to read, with some appealing characters. I’m being more ruthless about getting rid of books now, and this one isn’t a keeper for me, but it was well worth the time spent reading it.

LibraryThing entry
The Affair of the Mutilated Mink at Amazon UK
Affair of the Mutilated Mink Coat at Amazon US

Book review: Daniel Fox — Jade Man’s Skin

Disclaimer: Daniel Fox is a friend of mine. However, I didn’t review the book just because he’s a friend — I whined shamelessly for an ARC because having read the first book in the trilogy, I very badly wanted to read the next one as soon as it was available in edited form, rather than waiting until it was on sale.

Daniel Fox — Jade Man’s Skin
ISBN: 978-0345503046

Daniel Fox keeps up the quality and the pace in the second volume of his fantasy trilogy inspired by mediaeval China. The first volume, “Dragon In Chains”, told the tale of the boy Emperor’s flight from a rebel army, and the stories of some of those touched by the war. Now the Emperor has reached safety on the remote island of Taishu on the very fringe of the Empire.

Taishu may be remote, but no would-be usurper can afford to leave the Emperor there in exile. The island holds the jade mines that are the source of imperial power — and in this world, that isn’t just symbolic. This volume explores in greater depth the subtle magic that underpins imperial rule. And there is more than imperial magic. There are other intelligences in this world, and the human forces which are arrayed against one another are starting to learn just what it means to tangle such creatures into human battles.

It’s hard to review this book in any depth without giving major spoilers for the first one (which I’ve reviewed previously), because this trilogy really is a single novel in three volumes, not a series of three interlinked novels. But what I can say is that it follows each of the major characters and threads from the first volume, developing each strand of the story in a satisfying way. This is no wish-fulfillment story wherein the Hero is noble simply because he is the Hero, but a careful consideration of the cumulative effects of power — on those who have it, whether in name only or in reality, on those who desire it, and on those who are simply in its path. And like the first volume, it neither flinches from showing the horror of war, nor wallows in gratuituous gore.

This is a complex story with equally complex characters, which genuinely needs the three volumes to do justice to the tales it has to tell. But it’s beautifully constructed, and told in stunningly good prose. If you’ve not read the first book, don’t start with this one. It really is worth your while finding “Dragon in Chains” and reading that first, not least because part of the pleasure is watching how the characters are changing and growing in response to the upheavals in their world. But there’s no need to wait for the final book to come out, as “Jade Man’s Skin” offers enough intermediate resolution of plot threads to leave a reader feeling satisfied while still wanting to hear the end of the story. Go buy them now — this series is breathtaking, in concepts, in story and in prose.

LibraryThing entry
Jade Man’s Skin at Amazon UK
Jade Man’s Skin at Amazon US

My review of Dragon in Chains (volume 1)
Dragon in Chains LibraryThing entry
Dragon in Chains at Amazon UK
Dragon in Chains at Amazon US

Book log: WJ Burley — Wycliffe and the Dunes Mystery

Fifteen years ago, the son of a prominent MP disappeared whilst on a coastal walking holiday after his release from a psychiatric hospital. The police had assumed suicide. Now his body has been found buried in the sand dunes, and it’s clear his father was right all along — the young man had been murdered.

A flashback prologue makes it clear to the reader from the start that a group of six teenagers having an illicit weekend were the last people to see Cochrane Wilder alive. The fun in the first half of the book is watching Wycliffe’s team slowly piece together the clues that lead them to first one member, then the whole group. But knowing that one or more of the group was almost certainly responsible for Cochran Wilder’s death and burial isn’t the same thing as being able to prove who did it and why — not when all six also have relatively innocent reasons for hiding their involvement in that weekend. And then a second murder is committed, making this more than just a cold case to be patiently unravelled…

As usual, a nicely constructed police procedural where the emphasis is on the characters and how they behave. Much of the appeal in this one is in initially knowing a little more information than Wycliffe does, and so being anticipating how the plot will develop — the amount of extra information you get is nicely played to provide a good balance between the enjoyment of working it out and the enjoyment of being surprised by other developments. I enjoy that style of procedural, so I liked this one a lot.

LibraryThing entry
at Amazon UK
at Amazon US

Book log: Gregory Benford — Timescape

I first read this book about twenty years ago, and remember enjoying it then, even if I found it a slog at times. There was some good exploration of the hard science behind how one might attempt to send a message to the past, along with a look at the problems of irreversible environmental damage. I picked it up earlier this week, and bounced right off it. It’s partly that I’ve got a cold and wasn’t terribly receptive anyway, but I think the passage of time has given me disbelief suspension problems. This book was written in 1979, and is set in the then-future 1998 for the section dealing with irretrievable breakdown of both the physical and economic environment. When I read it in the late 80s, that was still an at least plausible, if unlikely, future. Now 1998 is a decade in the past, and while we have problems, they’re different problems.

One for the charity box, I think. Twenty years ago I would have given it another try, but here and now I have a To Be Read Mountain of new books, and lots of other books I actively want to re-read, and there are dozens of 1p copies on Amazon if I feel the urge to try it again.

LibraryThing entry
Wikipedia entry

Book review: Brian Minchin — Torchwood: The Sin Eaters (Read by Gareth David-Lloyd)

This is one of the series of Torchwood audiobooks read by cast members, and the first to be read by Gareth David-Lloyd. This one is only available as an audiobook, not in print. I bought it because I’d heard a sample of David-Lloyd reading an audiobook, and thought he was a good reader. It was well worth the money. The story’s the usual competent tie-in work I’ve found with previous Torchwood books, and David-Lloyd is an excellent audiobook reader.

The story itself is set between series 2 and series 3, with references and foreshadowing that tie it firmly into the series universe for those who’ve seen the referenced episodes, without excluding those who haven’t seen them, or overwhelming the story. The basic plot is standard monster-of-the-week fare for the Torchwood corner of the Whoniverse — an alien castaway courtesy of the rift, its threat magnified by the meddling of local humans who don’t understand what they’re playing with. In this case it’s alien insect larvae which feed on human emotions, and a vicar who thinks he’s found a way to heal people of their sins and guilt. It’s competently written, with a good look at love and the complexity of human emotions, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy here.

What does stand out is the characterisation, which is as good as you’d expect from the man who was script editor for the show. One thing which I particularly liked was that it showcases both the Gwen/Rhys and the Jack/Ianto relationships, while still acknowledging the attraction between Jack and Gwen. There are a lot of small details which build on what we’ve already been shown in the tv series, showing how the characters and their relationships are developing and changing. It’s a particular joy to see the playful and affectionate side of both romances.

Gareth David-Lloyd does an excellent job of reading the book. He’s a good reader when it comes to the mechanics of reading aloud, well paced and with good tonal colour. He’s also very good at portraying the various characters already known to listeners from the tv series, getting most of them spot on in their dialogue. It’s usually clear who’s speaking, even without dialogue tags — and you can tell the difference between narrator and Ianto’s dialogue. He even mostly gets Jack’s American accent right. I hope he’s invited to do more of the audiobooks.

At two full-length CDs, it’s a lot longer than a standard tv or radio episode, but with it being an audio book you’d expect that for the same basic story. I didn’t feel that it was padded or too long. It feels about the same as reading one of the print tie-in books. Minchin makes good use of the format, taking advantage of being able to show interior monologue without crossing too far into telling rather than showing.

I enjoyed this a lot, and happily listened to it again a couple of weeks after the first time through. Definitely worth the attention of Torchwood fans in general, and very much recommended for fans of both Ianto Jones and Gareth David-Lloyd — both the character and the actor are well served by this title.

Available as both CD and download.

LibraryThing entry
at Amazon UK
at Play
at Amazon US

book review: James Coltrane — Talon

Joe Talon is an anachronism. He’s a hippie ex-surfer with a James Bond complex working for the CIA, barely conforming at work and not hiding it. But Talon is very good at his job of checking anomalies in satellite photos. Too good. Talon spots an anomaly where no anomaly was marked for his attention, and starts digging into it. Talon’s attention to something nobody was supposed to notice focuses attention on him–the sort of attention that has him running for his life.

Talon’s choices are simple–die, disappear for good, or find a way to expose the conspirators within the Company while he’s on the run. All three look like good choices to him at various times during the course of the novel, but Talon’s final choice is to fight back.

Talon isn’t a trained spy, just a highly specialised clerk; but he’s bright and desperate and he’s stolen some interesting goodies from work over the years. The ensuing chase makes for a thrilling read, with a lot of careful world building going into making the story feel realistic. The book was first published in 1978, so the technology is very dated now, of course; as are some of the social attitudes. But it’s still a good read, even today.

LibraryThing entry
Talon at Amazon UK
Talon: A novel of suspense at Amazon US

Book review: James Blish – Mission to the Heart Stars

Short YA novel, a sequel to “the Star Dwellers”. I found that I could read and enjoy this book without having read the first one, as there’s enough backstory worked into it that new readers aren’t left floundering. It’s set in a relatively near future, not long after mankind has first developed an interstellar drive and made contact with other intelligent species. One of those species is an energy-based lifeform which has been around since the Big Bang, but which is nevertheless culturally compatible with humans. The Angels have sponsored humans for membership in another galactic culture, one that is short-lived by the standards of the Angels, but still remarkably long-lived and stable by human standards. So long-lived that even having the normal probationary membership period cut in half at the Angels’ urging means waiting 50,000 years for full membership.

Naturally, some politicians are too impatient to wait. And so begins the mission to the Heart Stars, a journey to the heart of the empire to ask in person for immediate full membership. Along the way, the crew of the diplomatic mission ship see exactly how that peaceful, prosperous stability is achieved.

The book has a reasonable balance of engineering and social commentary. The science behind the faster-than-light drive is pseudo-science, but it’s the sort that’s extrapolated from real physics and internally consistent, not pure plot-devicium powered. It’s a little too overtly preachy, but that’s largely a result of it being a YA book written in the mid 60s. I’m not sure I’ll keep it any longer, but it’s a book I enjoyed enough that I’ve read it more than once.

LibraryThing entry
Mission to the Heart Stars (A Panther book) on Amazon UK
Mission to the Heart Stars on Amazon US
at Powell’s

Thoughts on the book mountain: Simon R Green

As will be obvious from recent posts on my main blog, I’m busy unpacking the book collection that has been in storage for the last decade. This involves giving serious consideration to whether in fact I want to keep any particular book, or whether I should dispose of it (blasphemy! cries a large chunk of my flist). My views on Simon R Green’s output run the full range from into the “dispose of” box without even thinking about it, to “prise from my cold dead hands”. Unlike some of the other authors whose books are about to get drastically pruned, this *doesn’t* reflect a change in my tastes in the last ten years. The ones that are going are the Deathstalker books, and that’s because around ten years ago I got part way through the latest one, and realised that not only did I not feel like finishing it, I never wanted to read another Deathstalker book again. Not even the first one, which I’d really enjoyed a lot.

This may have been the first series in which I hit the “are you ever going to finish this story?” barrier. I will read very, very long series — I’m still enjoying Discworld. But the long series I will still read essentially consist of new stories in the ongoing history of that universe. Deathstalker turned into the sort of series where the author keeps thinking that one or two more episodes will finish off this story — and then finds that another million words have somehow sneaked in there, and the end of the arc is still a couple of books away.

I know that this is not necessarily a cynical spinning out of the story over unnecessary numbers of books just to keep the money coming in. Often enough it’s simply that the characters *will* not leave the author alone, or a nice simple outline turns out to need three times as many words as expected to deal with all the ramifications that spring up when you start writing the thing. I’ve watched a couple of friends get caught in that loop; and on a shorter scale, I’m the person who turned a 1500 word short story into a series that currently has around 120 kwords out in the wild and at least another 40k waiting to be written. But there comes a point at which I have to be just as interested as the author is in this soap opera in order to keep reading, and a lot of the time I’m not.

And yet one of the books on the “prise from my cold dead hands” list is also set in the Twilight of the Empire universe. Mistworld is one of the short novels in the same setting which came out before Deathstalker. Not everyone likes this, but I adore it. It’s one of the books I actively missed when it was in storage all those years, and the main reason I didn’t go out and get another copy was that by then I had a To Be Read pile that was threatening to turn into a mountain.

There’s a definite correlation with the length of the book, but that’s more a reflection of the length of the story unit. I’ll happily read the two Blue Moon doorstops, because even though they tie into the Blue Moon universe and you’ll get more out of them by reading the whole sequence in order, you don’t *have* to read any more than the one book out of the universe. And the standalone Shadows Fall is going to have to wait until when I have the time and attention to give to a complex doorstop, but it’s going on the shelf, not in the box.

I think this is partly that I’m feeling less inclined to read doorstops at all. But it’s also partly because Green’s work was, in my view, a lot more disciplined in the Blue Moon books.

I’ve never read any of the Nightside books, and that’s largely because I didn’t trust them not to turn into the sort of thing that annoyed me about the Deathstalker books. Maybe once I’ve made some inroads on the TBR mountain, I’ll give them a go.

Book review: Gerald Durrell — The Stationary Ark

Nowadays, a good many zoos are seriously involved in conservation work, the last hope for some of the most endangered species on the planet. In the 1970s, that wasn’t the case. This book was Durrell’s polemic against the keeping of wild animals purely for entertainment purposes, an impassioned plea for things to change. In a series of seven essays he set out the case for zoological gardens to be genuine centres of scientific excellence devoted to the preservation and breeding of the animals in their care, and described the work of the zoo he had set up for this purpose. He made himself highly unpopular in some quarters with his stinging criticism of then-current practice, not least because it’s well and entertainingly written, a successful appeal to the public at large to support his campaign. The first chapter is a little dry, but after that this is a fascinating description of the work of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. Funny, moving, and utterly devoted to the animals without ever lapsing into saccharine sentiment, this is well worth a read.

LibraryThing entry
The Stationary Ark