Tuesday, September 27, 2005

"Hex And The City", By Simon R. Green


"Would I be right in supposing that the bad guys are once again hot on your trail and that I can expect armed invasions, mayhem and bad language at any moment?"

Another in the Nightside series, this book sees John Taylor commissioned to find out the city's origins - who created it, and what was it created for. As he and his typically oddball companions (Madman, Sinner, and Pretty Poison - a succubus demon from Hell) canvas a succession of older and older and more and more dangerous entities, it becomes apparent that not only is the answer mixed up with the mystery of who and what John's mother really is, but that there are people out there who don't want the answers to be found, and they will kill to protect their interests.

This is another very entertaining installment in the series and finally brings together several of the strands that have been running through earlier books (such as who keeps sending the Harrowing after him, and the background of Walker, who represents the Authorities in the Nightside). If you liked the others, you'll like this, although given the nature of the plot, probably not the best one to start reading them on.

posted by Izzy @ 2:32 pm 0 comments

"Dr Who - The Stealers of Dreams", by Steve Lyons


I fair rattled through these books, I think I read all three in four days, so they can't be bad. This one certainly was back on form, set on an Earth colony where fiction and lies have been banned (the government was the first thing to go). A pirate broadcasting station is fighting back, and the Doctor wants to help, but when Rose starts being stalked by zombies and Jack gets locked up in a mental institution, he begins to realise that here fiction may not be as harmless as it at first seems.

posted by Izzy @ 2:30 pm 0 comments

"Dr Who - Only Human", by Gareth Roberts


Another of the recent batch based on the new series, this is a bit of an oddity, even by Doctor Who standards. The action (mainly set in prehistoric times and split between cave men, neanderthals, and an incongruous group of genetic experimenters from the future) has a very exaggerated, comic-book feel. Poor old Captain Jack gets exiled into a side story for most of the book, only speaking through a diary, which is a shame as the opening scenes use his character very well. It's a readable enough book, but my least favourite so far, probably because it feels the furthest away from the established feel of the series, both in terms of TV and the novels.

posted by Izzy @ 2:28 pm 0 comments

Friday, September 23, 2005

"Doctor Who - The Deviant Strain", by Justin Richards

Following the resurgence of the series on telly, BBC books have launched a new line of novels featuring the Doctor (as played by Christopher Ecclestone), Rose and now in the latest three, Captain Jack Harkness.

This book sees them land in present day Russia after answering a distress call, at a scientific/nuclear submarine outpost that has been largely abandoned by the authorities for years. Joined by a team of Russian soldiers investigating the same energy readings, they not only have the suspicious villagers to contend with, but soon find a body that's been drained of life and substance. Soon it's a fight for survival, against ancient and modern threats, against the background of rotting nuclear submarines.

The fourth in the series to be released, this is possibly the best: it was certainly exciting and paced the action very evenly between the three main characters. Recommended.

posted by Izzy @ 2:00 pm 0 comments

Sunday, September 18, 2005

"Sabriel" by Garth Nix


Sabriel, which probably falls into the category of 'Young Adult Fantasy', is a book I'd wanted to read for ages, having seen quite a few good reviews of it. Finally found it in the library last week, and it doesn't disappoint. In feel, it's a bit like Tanith Lee's young adult stuff (such as the Wolf Tower books), and its world and customs are vividly realised.

Sabriel's father is the Abhorsen, a necromancer charged with banishing the troublesome dead beyond the final gates. Sabriel has grown up in a girls school in a separate country, a country more like our own, with cars and electricity, but now her father is missing presumed dead, and she must take up his sword and the bells of his trade and journey into the Old Kingdom to face an ancient evil threatening the land and the countries beyond.

Cracking book, highly recommended.

posted by Izzy @ 9:24 am 1 comments

Thursday, September 15, 2005

"Coincidence", by David Ambrose

This is an odd book, it starts off quite slowly, gains momentum and interest in the middle, and then flies off into fruitloop territory in the last third. Based on Jung's theory of synchronicity, which relates to seemingly connected events that can have no possible actual connection, it goes further to suggest that by thinking about these coincidences, you can cause them to happen, and the consequences this might have on reality. By the end, the main character has so many questions - who am I, am I really here, are any of us really here, am I going mad - for pages - that you want to slap him, and sadly the book has no answers for the reader either, which leaves you at the end going 'gah!'

Having said all that, it's very readable and worth a look if you're bored and it's raining. Which, lets face it, is quite likely.

posted by Izzy @ 11:07 am 1 comments

Sunday, September 11, 2005

"Digital Fortress", Dan Brown

Ah yes, Dan the Man's done it again (or possibly first, not quite sure which order he wrote them in). I bought this knowing nothing about the plot, but fully confident as to what the basic structure would be and what I'd be getting. And I feel fully justified in every respect. We have codes to be cracked (cruck?), a beautiful, intelligent and badly written woman, a resourceful and slightly bemused man running about an exotic location, an older mentor figure, a character whose motives are driven by his past and a race against time. Oh yeah, and more opportunity to be shouting the obvious plot twists at the dim characters. Love it. Couldn't put it down. Keep 'em coming Dan.

posted by Izzy @ 12:52 am 0 comments

"The Way Of Wyrd", Brian Bates

This book follows a young novice monk as he travels in the land of the Saxons and learns of the ways of Wyrd, the Saxon deities and spirit world from a journeying shaman, Wulf. Beautifully descriptive, it's a shame that Brand is such an annoying protagonist. It's rather like Mythago Wood, in that it's a book full of fascinating detail and philosophical concepts, but one that you keep putting down in exasperation every time the lead character does something else stupid.

Sent by his abbey to travel amongst the Heathens to learn their ways prior to future missionary expeditions, he travels with Wulf to be initiated into the shamanic mysteries. However, due to never doing what he's told, he ends up having his soul stolen by the spirits and having to journey to the underworld in order to win it back. Served him right, if you ask me.

There's a website too, that's worth a look, at Way Of Wyrd

posted by Izzy @ 12:40 am 1 comments

Friday, September 02, 2005

"The Murder Room", PD James

The first PD James I read, earlier this year, seems to have been one of her first, whereas this seems to be one of the latest, although in the intervening years Dalgleish hasn't cheered up any. He has acquired lackeys, sorry, a team though, which spreads the action out a bit. This was quite a hefty book, and considering the first murder didn't take place until about a third of the way through, that's a lot of exposition. However, the quality of the writing is such that the action is almost secondary and it's a very good, easy read.

The plot here revolves around the Dupayne Musuem, dedicated to the inter-war years, which has a room dedicated to various true-life murder cases. A series of murders (eventually) ensue, that mirror the events on display - copycat killings or something more entwined with the lives of those involved in the museum? Go on, guess.

posted by Izzy @ 5:01 pm 0 comments