Wolfy's Wanderings with the Written World (2012 Edition)

Finally finished my first book of the year so I have something which to start a new thread with...

The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

The story of a bunch of journalists that oversee the end of an English speaking newspaper in Puerto Rico in the late 1950's. Not much news gets reported on, just the amount of booze and hamburgers they manage to consume and the freeloading they manage to pull off. One of these jounos is Paul Kemp, the narrator of this account. Recently arrived from New York he manages to fit right in with the others but he starts questioning his chosen lifestyle when he sees how those around him operate and compares with the more successful people that he meets.

A decent early effort from HST that owed its release to the more successful later books. I've read (and much preferred) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but this read has not put me off from watching the recent movie adaptation which I hope to get to in the not too distant future. 3½★'s

Got you starred.

Happy reading in 2012!

The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss

The second book in the Lucifer Box series. This one is set 20 years after The Vesuvius Club and gets off to a really slow start. I just about managed to hang in through the first 60 pages and then, thankfully, things improved. Lucifer is feeling his age (as well as the bellhop at the hotel he's staying at) and goes to great lengths to let his audience know about it. Once he quits complaining and gets on with his job he's back to his usual likeable self. This time around he's tasked with watching Olympus Mons, the leader of a fascist movement that's making waves on both sides of the Atlantic, and find out what his plans are. This simple assignment soon goes awry when he's betrayed from within his own organisation and left to take the fall for a murder he didn't commit. Managing to escape from custody, can Lucifer follow the clues to stop Mons from literally raising Hell and also get revenge on his betrayer at the same time?

Once past the slow beginning then the rest of the book flies by and that's why I'll probably continue with book 3 at some point (as long as it pops up cheap somewhere) but I'm in no hurry to rush out and buy it immediately. Just on a precautionary note, this book does contain scenes of a sexual (MM & MF) and violent nature so be warned if that's not your cup of tea. 3★'s

I liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, too, Dave. If you haven't read his Hell's Angels, I'd recommend giving it a try. I believe it's his first book. It's written in more traditional fashion than his later ones, but it's really good.

Thanks @Joe. The only other one I have from HST is Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 but I guess I can pick up Hell's Angels at some point.

They should have it at the library. It's one of his that stuck out for me, along with FALILV. I've gotten a kick out of ones like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, but for me those two would be the top.

The Absolute Sandman Volume Two by Neil Gaiman

This volume covers issues 21-39 of the series and contains 2 main story arcs: Season of Mists and A Game of You. Both of which are excellent. The first of these sees Dream's return to Hell to right the wrong he inflicted on Nuala, the woman he loved and who spurned his offer of becoming his wife and so sentenced to eternal damnation, and free her from Lucifer's clutches. Not even sure he will succeed in his quest, even Dream is surprised by Lucifer's actions as he once again enters Hell. A Game of You features the return of Barbie (as featured in A Doll's House). The Land of her childhood dreams is in trouble and needs her to come back and save it from the Cuckoo. Dream is not so heavily featured in this one. While trying to protect her friends there her friends in the real world try to help as best they can. As well as these two major arcs we get several stand alone stories as well featuring various historical characters and situations including the self styled Emperor of the United States, we go to the time of the French Revolution with Johanna Constantine and to Ancient Rome with Emperor Augustus. We join one of The Folk on his hunt and also meet Marco Polo on his early travels.

An Absolute edition wouldn't be so without some extras and here's what's on offer this time around: A fun set of contributor biographies, a never-before-reprinted story about Destiny, articles on Sandman Month and the statue produced for the same, A Gallery of Dreams which show Dream as portrayed by various artists and the full script with original pencil drawings of issue #23. Overall a fine collection of additional material.

This book certainly belongs on the horror side of fantasy and it's definitely not for kids. There are some rather gruesome elements contained in some of these stories. I really enjoyed the Season of Mists and the majority of the singular tales. I wasn't totally enamoured with A Game of You but it's still Gaiman so was still very good. The artwork on the oversize pages is a treat and for this edition has been reworked and retouched as required. 4★'s

Thank you Wolfy, for that review. I have enjoyed The Sandman stories, some, not all. My daughter has given me the ones she deems suitable for my consumption. :) She knows how muck ick I can take. One thing that stands out for me in this series is the artwork and the depth of the writing. Very enjoyable. Very rereadable.

I agree with Mrs. Lee, although I've read the entire series despite the ick factor. Great story-telling with many layers, and always interesting, sometimes beautiful, illustrations.

Wolfy, what I've read of the Sandman series I love. Its always amused me how people, especially Americans think comics/cartoons/animation is an entertainment style geared for kids when there's SO MUCH out there that's really not kid friendly or appropriate.

I have the rest of the Absolute series (Volumes 3-5 + Death) to look forward to throughout this year. Need to take the time to appreciate them though and for this one I had a full week off work to do just that. I was in a bit of a rush to post my comments (should've left for work 5 minutes before posting) so I forgot to post the review on the book page. Done that now.

@MrsLee, good to have a censor that you can trust

@Joe, I think there's so much I've missed (partly due to my unfamiliarity with the format and especially DC Universe in particular) that I will definitely be giving this series a reread. There's so much crying out for a handy reference guide as an accompniament.

@DEL, it's the same with anime too. I used to be quite into that and there was a certain amount of either "Isn't that just kids stuff?" or get the tentacle pr0n reaction. How far have you got with the series so far?

Wolfy, as you're in UK I'm pretty certain you'd be able to get hold of some Corto Maltese; in which case I recommend you'd try it. Not to buy, certainly, not without knowing if you'd like them, but from the library, perhaps? Especially Corto Maltese in Siberia and Ballad of the Salt Sea, but others are good as well.
Very special graphic novels from neither of the French, Belgian or US schools.

@Busifer, not something I'm at all familiar with so thanks, I'll add it to the to check out list for sometime in the future. Though after Sandman I'll probably move on to the Preacher books as my next venture into graphic novels.

Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

The Göta Canal needs dredging as it's becoming a bit of a slog for the work and pleasure boats to pass through. When a dead body of a young woman surfaces the police think they may have caught a break as the corpse is reasonably fresh and has probably only been there a few days. Hoping to discover her identity quickly they are soon disappointed when she does not match the description of any missing person and so begins a case of dogged investigation to discover who she was before they can even think about putting together a list of potential suspects nevermind actually solving the case.

Written in 1965 the only thing that really dates this book is the technological aspect or more specifically, the lack thereof. Every step of the investigation takes time. Whether it is in dealing with other authorities in Sweden, or especially so when potential leads head out to other European countries and even America the feeling of time passing is very evident and the chances of catching the killer grow smaller with each passing chapter. This is an extremely good police procedural and starter of a ten book series with a very dogged and sombre lead detective in Martin Beck. Inspiration for the series is said to come from the likes of Ed McBain and Edgar Allan Poe but the husband & wife team have provided the groundwork for many a Scandinavian crime writer since. I doubt that fans of Henning Mankell or Arnaldur Indridason wouldn't fail to recognise elements in this book. A good starter and certainly a series I will want to continue. 4★'s

The series is a Swedish classic. I especially liked the later ones. I was a bit surprised that you enjoyed Roseanna, in my mind it is VERY dated and one of the major things that still makes it readable to me is how it depicts a society I remember from my youth but that no longer is. Which means to others it might just seem too old ;-)

My copy of the books do mention how things have changed in Swedish society since the books were written. Particularly in the introduction by Henning Mankell and the feature on the legacy of the authors by Richard Shephard. I just don't know enough for these changes to register for me though.

Of course; and that's only natural. And with such an intro you might have a fairly recent translation - I remember @reading_fox thinking the text stiff and stilted (if my memory serves me right), and he transcribed some of it for me to read - it turned out to be a very literal translation, almost word by word, and that doesn't work very well between our languages; the effect is that of "poor writing".
Good if yours was better :)

Yeah, my copy was only published last year and translated by Lois Roth. Thought it flowed quite well.

Good to hear! There's hope :-)

Above the Snowline by Steph Swainston

This book is a prequel to the Fourlands trilogy I read last year and features Jant's early life as one of the immortal Eszai. Raven Rachiswater, brother to the king of the Awians, has been exiled to the Darkling mountains but his new manor house is purported to be in contravention to the edicts of the Emperor and has also encroached onto the hunting grounds of the Rhydanne and Shira Dellin has appealed to the Emperor for help. He sends Jant back with Dellin in order to mediate a truce and find out what is really going on in Darkling.

The story is told from the point of view of whoever is the main focus for the current chapter so the reader gets to see the motivations of each of the main players throughout and each has their own distinctive voice. The world is beautifully portrayed and imagined and nothing really feels out of place, even when our own modern day accoutrements invade what seems to be a fairly standard fantasy setting. The different facets of the plot are interwoven nicely as the story builds to the climactic ending. There are some quite grisly scenes portrayed in this book and details of animal butchery is probably not the worst of it but if you can handle that kind of detail then this and the aforementioned trilogy are definitely worth a visit. 4★'s

The Fourlands trilogy is on Mount Tbr, I hope to get to it this year. I bought the omnibus edition which seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I realise it is too big to commute with, or read in bed, in the bath, etc . . . which is why it is still on the shelf! I'm glad to see another recommendation for the books which might nudge me to get on and read them.

#15-20 Oh I'm glad to hear there's a new version out, mine was a 2006 paperback translated by Lois Rohl (very similar name?!) and definateky dry in places. I included a few examples in my review I think.

@Sakerfalcon, The Castle Omnibus was the way I went too and managed to lug the brick to work with me and read most of it while working nights. Mine is still only 1 of 2 reviews on the workpage for it. Very much worth a read and provides, imo, a good starting place to dip into the New Weird area of fantasy as it's not too distant from the regular stream that we all know and love. Would definitely need to read the other books before Above the Snowline though as familiarity with the characters is presumed.

@reading_fox, the 2nd book in the series is also available in a new version (picked up both from The Works) though has a different translator again (will have to check on who when I get home) and introduction this time provided by Val McDermid.

I've read other New Weird authors (China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, John Harrison), and love the style. Maybe I will bring the omnibus to work and leave it there, rather than cart it back and forth each day! (A lot of my reading time is during late shifts at work.)

The Books of the South by Glen Cook

The remnants of the Black Company, led by Croaker, are heading southwards. Lady is now a fully fledged member and the Company is picking up new recruits as it moves. Croaker is determined to head on down to Khatovar which, rumour has it, is the origin of the original Black Company so it will be good to see where it all began. On the way they get conjoined into a local conflict as there's no way of going around to get where they want to go. Some familiar faces turn up as adversaries most of which were left for dead in previous encounters.

That campaign takes up the first two books of this collection and feels very much like a rehash of the previous stories collected in The Chronicles of the Black Company which I'd read a couple of years ago. Glad I'd put some distance between the books.

The third story takes a diversion in following those that were left behind when some good-for-nothings decide it might be a good idea to steal The Silver Spike which contains the essences of The Dominator and sell it to the highest bidder. The Limper is resurrected in this one and Raven chases after him while he goes after Lady. Bomanz also feels the disturbance in the natural order of things and goes off to fetch Darling and bring the forces of the Tree God into the fray.

The tales still have a part of what made the first collection so good about them only suffering in the freshness but there are still moments to really get your teeth into in all three of these stories. With that in mind I will pick up the next collection at some point. 3★'s

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

My first encounter with Mr. Fforde's work didn't set my reading buds tingling but as I already had the sequel to The Big Over Easy I thought I'd give it another go as I do like the concept idea of poking fun at the crime/mystery genre. The Nursery Crimes series certainly does that with the NCD (Nursery Crimes Division) of the Reading police investigating various cases which include competitive cucumber growing, unlicensed porridge deals amongst the bear population & the disappearance of Goldilocks. The one case that wasn't given to the department though was the escape of the notorious Gingerbread Man. Seven foot of psychotic, mass-murdering biscuit (or should that be cake) is once again loose on the streets and despite being one of the officers to catch him last time, Jack Spratt can't officially get involved and has been put on sick leave pending a psych evaluation after events in his last case didn't exactly go that well. Red Riding Hood and her grandmother didn't appear to enjoy being eaten by the big bad wolf apparently.

The humour in the book seemed to gel with me more this time around but I think it was also that the narrative flowed better that made this one more enjoyable than the last. The characters were fleshed out some more and the off-the-job asides were well interjected. Punch and Judy as new neighbours anyone? Or perhaps having qualms about going on a date with an alien. Problems that Jack and Mary Mary have to deal with in their respective home lives. A third book is due in about 2014 and I now feel much happier about continuing with this series and will pick that one up when it's released. 3½★'s

/de-lurk
Looks interesting. I haven't read any Jasper Fforde yet, but I do have a copy of Shades of Grey that I've been meaning to get to. If I enjoy it, I will look into the NCD series.
/re-lurk

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

First book in the sprawling epic of The Dark Tower series that took 12 years to write. We follow the titular anti-hero as he chases after the Man in Black. Various encounters along the way give him clues as to what to expect when he finally catches up to him. We also learn some of the Gunslinger's past through flashback sequences or telling parts of his tale to others that he meets or travels with. Lots of foreshadowing of events to come later on in the series make this a decent starter book. I will pick up the 2nd book and see where it leads. 3★'s

Some cloudy windswept day I'm going to curl up on the couch and start the Dark Tower series. I've read some related short stories by King that I've enjoyed and I look forward to starting the series. I'm just waiting for the right time to settle into it, preferably one with no kid or OH distractions.

I heard that King tweaked The Gunslinger after he'd written several of the later books, so the first was more in keeping with what ended up happening later. Do you know which version you ended up reading?

Not entirely sure as I picked up my copy 2nd hand. It's not the latest version that is out but it doesn't say this edition published in 19xx so can't really tell.

Almost Transparent Blue by Ryū Murakami

An almost stream of consciousness account of a sex and drug fuelled passage in time of a group of young Japanese late-teens/early twenty-somethings. We follow their hedonistic lifestyle of partying hard and the subsequent crash and burn of the comedown afterwards. There is no plot and definitely no moralistic standpoint either. There are, of course, moments of introspection for the almost detached protagonist that we follow along with but you are never quite sure how much his vision is clouded by the degenerate lifestyle he leads.

An award winning début novel that is a very short and quick read. Not one I could recommend due to the subject matter and gratuitousness of the content. Not my favourite of those that I've read so far from the other Murakami but far and away not the worst. 3½★'s

I found the 1st three (four?) books of the gunslinger entruiging. Then came the big break when King was in an accident and didn't write anything for a decade or so, and finally he finished up the series, but the latter books don't have anywhere near the impact of the first. The last book is particularly annoying, and I'm unliekly to re-read the series simply due to how annoying I remember that one book being.

#27/28 Don't forget to have a look at JasperFfordes really remarkabel website. I'm sure he spends more time on there than he does writing. Lots of extra details and explanations.

@33, I really should pay more attention to author's websites. It's sometimes quite worthwhile.

Shooting Sean by Colin Bateman

This is the 4th book in the Dan Starkey series and while it's not quite up there with my love of Christopher Brookmyre offerings this one is probably the closest yet. This time around Dan is hired to write a book on local boy turned Hollywood star Sean O'Toole preferably finished just in time for Sean's funeral. Dan's employer has taken it for granted that the target of Sean's newest film project will take a certain amount of umbridge and take care of the arrangements sooner rather than later. Being that Michael O'Ryan was one of the biggest mass killers known to patriotism Dan thinks he might not be far wrong. Things start off well for Dan but you just know that with his track record there will be trouble just around the corner. 4★'s

29: I enjoyed The Dark Tower Series, but thought the last book could have been better. My favorite was the fourth book, Wizard and Glass.

Tales for Canterbury Edited by Cassie Hart and Anna Caro

This collection of 34 tales released as a charitable venture to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake victims is split into three sections, Survival, Hope and Future. Each of the stories fits well into one of these places. As I've never really been a fan of the short story oeuvre I felt that most of this collection exemplified what I feel in that there just isn't enough within each story to grab you into the tale. The length and quality of the entries varies quite a bit but there were only 2 or 3 of the whole that I didn't really like at all. Most of the collection sits happily under the speculative fiction banner with some outright science fiction and others on the edges of fantasy, new weird and cyberpunk. The only one that didn't seem to fit was a tale of arranged marriage that fits firmly in the Bronte period. Coincidentally, it was also the one I most disliked. The two longest contributions were also the ones I liked best, one from Jeff Vandermeer confirmed a place on my wishlist and the other from Gwyneth Jones added a new entry to that list. Other authors who I now want to read more from include Jesse Bullington, Brenda Cooper, RJ Astruc, Lynne Jamneck and Angel Leigh McCoy. There are some others that I wouldn't be averse to reading more from but they don't quite make the actively seeking list.

Overall this is a decent collection of stories and one I'm happy to recommend (especially as it's for charity). 3½★'s

Half the Blood of Brooklyn by Charlie Huston

This is the third in the Joe Pitt vampire/noir series of books so if you're thinking of reading these it might be a good idea to miss out the next paragraph if you want to avoid potential spoilers as it is definitely one best read in order.

Now working for The Society, Joe is sent to Brooklyn on a recruitment mission. Something big is brewing and his boss, Terry, wants some new allies to help when it comes down. As Manhattan is pretty much squared off that leaves over the bridge and Joe is sent to bring back a representative from a clan called the Freaks. Even by vampyre standards these guys really do deserve their name. But with Joe being involved events don't transpire smoothly and he finds himself caught up in a local family squabble. Along with that little problem he also has the ongoing struggle of his rapidly dying Aids infected girlfriend to deal with. The decision to try and replace one disease with another is rapidly approaching and there's no guarantee that she'll survive the process or be happy about the outcome if she does. Added to all this is the complication of Amanda, the girl Joe saved in the last book. She wants to use her inheritance to find a cure for the vyrus and she wants Joe to be a part of it. So there's quite a lot going on in this book and I've not even mentioned the usual complications of The Coalition or Enclave dealings that Joe has.

Despite having quite a few blood and guts moments I feel this book is more of a set-up novel for the remainder of the series and although it leaves you wanting to jump into the next book to find out what happens next I think I'll wait until I have the final volume on tap as well before I do. 4★'s

Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Four by Bill Willingham

Book four is split into 3 sections and oversees the changeover of administration of Fabletown as well as seeing the departure of a few characters for their own adventures. It kicks off with a two-parter called War Stories in a kind of homage to the Commando books I used to read in my youth. It deals with one of the missions Bigby undertook during WWII to invade a Nazi castle and take care of rumoured experiments to make a secret weapon. The second section, The Mean Seasons, deals with Snow White gives birth, the mayoral election and the changes that ensue afterwards. Time flies in this four-parter and by the end we reach a one-year birthday party for Snow & Bigby's kids. The final section is not part of the ongoing story arc of The Adversary but a companion piece that sees Snow White being sent to another Fables realm as an envoy to drum up support for the forthcoming invasion. Arriving at the Arabian Fables world she is treated almost like a prisoner. Finally, after many entreaties and demands, she gets to meet the sultan who intends to make her his bride for a night and then dispose of her in the morning as he has done with so many other treacherous females. Snow manages to put off the grisly deed by relating a tale to the sultan each night thus earning a stay of execution. "This sounds familiar", I hear you cry and yes, this is basically a precursor to Scheherazade though Snow relates tales from Fabletown characters' pasts. We learn of what happened to Snow White and the dwarves after Prince Charming came along, a tale of Renard the fox, the frog prince, the meeting of Bigby's mother and father, an event from the bunny wars, Frau Totenkinder's past, an adventurous woman who just wants to see all the world has to offer and how King Cole became so respected.

While the first two sections of this book continue in similar vein to the previous books of the series the third part is quite a bit more dark and gruesome. Some of these tales deal with the spoils of war, baby sacrifice and other similar occurrences. I have said before that this is not a series for kids but I think this volume raises the bar another notch. You have been warned! Having said that I still enjoyed the tales that were set out here. The insights into certain characters' past lives are appreciated and gives meaning to how they got to be where they were at the start of this series. It's a shame that some major characters have now left Fabletown but this will allow them to have greater adventures on the outside so I look forward to seeing how they do.

There's not much room for extras in this book but they do manage to include some pencil drawings and artwork from Mark Buckingham as well as biographies of all those who worked on the included stories. Roll on book five. 4★'s

The Absolute Sandman Volume Three by Neil Gaiman

Covers issues 40 to 56 of the Sandman series as well as The Song of Orpheus special. Featured in this volume are two main story arcs, Brief Lives and World's End as well as a couple of other single-shot stories. The Song of Orpheus is a prequel of sorts to Brief Lives and we learn how the son of the Lord of Dreams ends up in the state he was in when featured in the last volume and of the estrangement he has with his father. Brief Lives has Delirium enlisting Dream's help in searching for their missing brother. Having being turned down first by Desire and then Despair, Delirium turns to Dream expecting the same rebuttal but is surprised when he agrees to assist. Dream, of course, has reasons of his own for going on the quest. World's End has many a tale to tell when travellers find themselves sheltering in an inn of that name to avoid the worst from a very strange storm. The other stories are The Parliament of Rooks which features Cain and Abel and Eve telling tales to a human child and Ramadan which is Gaiman's homage to the Arabian Nights.

Extras: There are a couple of galleries which feature different representations of the Endless by other artists, a short story of Desire, a feature on other products available from the Sandman range, a couple of pages on hoe the Little Endless became a fan hit, the script and thumbnails for Ramadan and a feature on the subsequent products created from that story. An afterword from Neil Gaiman and the biographies of those who worked on these issues round everything off.

Loved pretty much everything in this collection and it moves into my favourite of the 3 editions I've read so far. 5★'s

That does sound like a fun one, Dave. The stories are such good ones, too. Nice review.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

What happens when fossil fuels have been exhausted and bio-engineering has led to plagues ravaging the globe after global warming has become a reality instead of just the fear hanging over our own time? While calorie companies try to control the world's staple foods and keep up with the constantly mutating diseases that threaten to engulf everyone, they are constantly searching for new seed-banks to supplement their own stocks. One such seed-bank is located in the Kingdom of Thailand and this has managed to keep them from under the sway of the company men that desperately want in. The story is set during a time of political unrest in the Kingdom, almost all the officials are corrupt and the two main parties are at odds. The Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Trade want to head off in different directions and the company men see this as an opportunity for a way in.

Meanwhile, the titular Windup Girl, a genetically engineered servile creature, has been abandoned by her former master and is suffering every degradation known to man (and woman) in a pleasure house as a novelty attraction. If the wrong people find her then she will be destroyed but circumstances come to a head for her personally and the country as a whole when her previously unknown self-preservation programming is triggered after a particularly brutal night she spends in the company of an important political figure.

The world building is excellent for the microcosm of the setting. Characters are all well fleshed out and believable in their actions, no-one is truly good but all follow their own motivations for what they do. After a slightly slow start the action really hots up and I felt compelled to keep reading and fairly rushed through this book and devoured its content. I will certainly look forward to reading more from this author. 4½★'s

Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore

Samson Hunts Alone had to leave the Crow reservation because he killed a cop so now he goes by the name of Samuel Hunter and lives in Santa Barbara as a very successful insurance salesman. At the time he meets and falls madly in lust with Calliope, Sam's long forgotten spirit helper also makes a re-appearance in his life. Coyote, the trickster, causes nothing but turmoil in Sam's life and he's quickly about to lose everything he's worked hard to attain. His home, his job and even his very freedom are jeopardised at the arrival of Coyote. But when Calliope leaves to chase after her ex and father of their child who has absconded with their son on a motorcycle rally, Sam realises his feelings are much deeper and follows after to help her get him back. For this he needs the trickster's help and that story is never going to end well.

Mixing a lot of different myths and mythology along the way this is an amusing tale of self-discovery with some interesting characters met along the way. Having previously read A Dirty Job it was good to see the back-story from a character featured in that novel and a cameo appearance of another from a few other of Moore's work. As with his other books that I've read, the humour is quite irreverent so I do not advise reading this if you think it might offend your religious sensibilities. I kind of liked it though. 3½★'s

Every Last Drop and My Dead Body by Charlie Huston

Thought I might as well read the last two of the Joe Pitt series back to back and I'm glad I did. The fourth book is more of a set up book for the fifth rather than just a stand-alone story in its own right. This unfortunately weakens the overall effect for book four. It's basically just Joe getting beat up by every one who has a gripe about how things have gone previously and as he's got under the skin of just about everyone of any import in the past then that's a lot of trouble in store. By the end of the book, Joe has just about managed to turn everyone's attention to each other rather than focusing on him.

My Dead Body picks up a year later but things haven't settled down too much. Joe is still persona non grata so he's hiding out until an old acquaintance manages to locate him and asks him to look for his missing daughter. He also provides the motivation for Joe to get involved in events once again. A lot happens in this book that is similar to the previous with just the level of violence ratcheted up a notch. Joe is once again forced to play each side off the others to get what he wants but he doesn't come out of each encounter unscathed. Can he fend off every one who wants a piece of him to get to his ultimate goal?

These two books are not quite as good as the previous three but they do provide a decent enough conclusion to the series. Joe Pitt as a lead character was starting to become a bit tiresome but I'm certainly glad to have read the series overall. Every Last Drop and My Dead Body both get 3½★'s.

True Grit by Charles Portis

This book has spawned two movies (both pretty good, imo) with the latest being a particularly faithful adaptation. Unfortunately, the John Wayne version seems to be responsible for the book no longer being regarded required reading for English class (at least according to the introduction in my copy provided by Donna Tartt) right up there with Walt Whitman and Nathaniel Hawthorne. I think the story will be familiar to most so I'll just provide a quick outline here. Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old daughter of murdered Frank Ross goes seeking justice/revenge for the crime and employs the most ornery of the US marshals to track down the killer and they set off in company of a Texas Ranger, also on the man's trail, to bring back the man for a hanging.

The tale is told by Mattie when she is a much older woman recalling the events from the adventure of a lifetime and remains true to the vernacular of the time and is filled with surprisingly humorous moments. It is a very quick read with strong characters with a good sense of time and place. Recommended to fans of westerns in general or either of the film versions in particular. 4★'s.

Wow, lots of good reading, Dave. I'm particularly glad you enjoyed The Windup Girl - I thought that one was a standout, particularly with the excellent world building you mention. Plus Bacigalupi successfully got me rooting for The Windup Girl.

I'll have to try True Grit. Honestly, I didn't even know it was a book. I loved The Virginian, and other westerns, so I'll bet I'd like it, too.

46: Was going to say the same thing. Didn't know it was a book. Thought it was just a John Wayne movie.

Thank you Joe. I had similar feelings for Emiko as I did for Alita from Battle Angel Alita (anime movie) and any writer that can produce that amount of empathy for a non-human character is alright by me. Will be looking out for more from Mr. Bacigalupi.

@46-47, It was only when people started reading it before the release of the Coen Brothers movie that I knew about the book myself. If you like either of the movies then you will more than likely enjoy the read as well.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

What happens when you wake up and find out you no longer officially exist when you live in a police state? This is what Jason Taverner, a singer who also has his own TV show, finds the answer to when, after an encounter with a former protégé, he wakes up in a flea-pit hotel room with no identity cards and where no-one, for the first time in 20 years, recognises his face. His agent totally disavows all knowledge of him as does his current lover and fellow singer, Heather Hart. Along with Heather, Jason has another secret that if anyone found out would see them sent to a forced labour camp. They are Sixes, the product of top secret government experiments 40 years earlier but now there's not many of them left.

Is the memory of his life up until this point just a sham and he's gone insane? Is it a plot to discredit him? Has someone found out his secret and now it's just a matter of time until his internment at one of those camps? Jason sets out to get some answers and also to get his life back along the way.

The feel of this book is very reminiscent of The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester examining the question of who a person really is. Written in 1974 and set in a 1980's dystopian future some of the technology is a little dated but the amount of ideas contained in this short novel more than make up for that. This is a very quick and readable story with interesting characters but does have a slightly weak ending but very enjoyable all the same. 4★'s.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

A lot has already been said about this book so I'm not going to go through the story here. I will say that it was a very engaging read and easy to stay with for that one more chapter. Similarities do exist between this and Battle Royale but you could say that about any number of books. There is enough room within the basic framework for different enough stories to emerge and that is what I found to be the case here. The world-building is pretty good and you can see how each of the district tributes have their own particular strengths and weaknesses because of the environments in which they live. It's a shame that some of the characters themselves weren't as fleshed out but as the action centred around Katniss then this is to be expected. Any more would probably have slowed down the pacing of the story and that is where this book really shines. Even when you get a lull in the action there is no real feel to any slowing down of the reading experience and that does the author credit.

An enjoyable YA dystopian story that was very easy to become ensnared within. 4½★

Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Avoid these comments if you haven't yet read the first book and intend to and want to avoid spoilers.

Continuation and completion of The Hunger Games trilogy. In the 2nd book, the author manages to expand the world building amid political upheaval caused by the actions at the end of the 1st book. To regain control and stop the unrest President Snow threatens Katniss with pain and suffering to all she cares for if she can't stop the uprising of the Districts by not being the figurehead that the rebels want her to be. A special Quarter Quell Games are due so when everything Katniss tries backfires she once again finds herself along with Peeta competing in the Hunger Games only this time they will be facing other winners from previous years. Can Katniss get what she wants and help Peeta survive even at the expense of her own life and how will these games affect the outside world?

The 3rd book sees the revolution in full swing and Katniss and the rest of the survivors from book 2 are being used by the rebels to front the propaganda war. Katniss becomes disillusioned with her role and wants to be where the action really is and maybe get her chance at removing President Snow from the picture once and for all. There's quite a slow start to this book with Katniss' recovery time followed by the readjustment to her new role before the action heats up once again.

These books, like the first, are very easy to read and while they do have some lulls in the action once it starts it usually runs along at breakneck speed. I'm not sure that the ending really did justice to the rest of the series and some of the more prominent deaths could have been given more emotional impact. I'm still glad to have completed the series and will more than likely get round to watching the movie adaptation at some point. Catching Fire 4★'s, Mockingjay 3½★'s.

On The Windup Girl: I'd say Emiko is human. She's not a machine, she's a genetically engineered vat-grown biological being who, if it hadn't been engineered out of her, had been able to procreate. The interesting thing here is, I think, to ponder "what is human". Just like the azi, from C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union Universe, they're humans made as slaves/"inferior" human beings, and a construct for discussing what makes us human (or not).

Whenever I encounter a suspect for this topic area I substitute whatever word the author has made up for this inferior yet human being for "jew".
If the result is revolting, even if it wasn't in its original, you know what you're up against ;-)

Emiko is treated more like a machine in the story though especially when her stutter-step is mentioned. That, I think, would be a good yardstick to measure prejudice against.

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey

Felix 'Fix' Castor can see ghosts and other things that go bump in the night. He's not the only one but he does have a talent of moving them on. He should too considering he's an exorcist though due to an unfortunate occurrence he's kind of given up. Circumstances intervene however and he's forced to take on another case. The Bonnington Archive is being haunted by the ghost of a young woman and she seems to have turned nasty and Fix has come personally recommended to get rid of her. It seems to be a straightforward job and despite warnings to the contrary he takes on the assignment and sets to work trying to get a handle on the spirit. But the thing is with those seemingly straightforward jobs is that they quite often aren't. This one proves to be no exception.

This is the first in an urban fantasy series so there is quite a lot of setting up involved throughout the narrative. Back-story to be created, recurring characters to be introduced etc. but there is enough interest in the tale to make you want to carry on as it unfolds. Good pacing makes the story flow and the action set-pieces are nicely written too with plenty of humorous patter thrown in for good measure. Will definitely be on the lookout for the next in the series. 4★'s

#53 - Perhaps, on the prejudice level as perceived by her environment - the stutter-step was inbuilt, to emphasise inferiority, and in this worked just as designed - but is the person who don't perform exactly as the template human a human or not? Where do we draw the line? Are people born with palsy human? Not 100 years ago this, or at least their value as human beings, were disputed...

I'm not really arguing, though - just presenting ways to interpret text ;-)

Past Mortem by Ben Elton

Detective Inspector Edward Newson has been friendzoned by his rather attractive sergeant, Natasha Wilkie, and has to settle for covert glimpses of her shapely legs and hope she doesn't notice. Natasha's taste in men seem to run to the typical bad boy type and being a 5'4" ginger and all-round nice guy, Ed feels his chances are pretty close to zero for elevating that status. While investigating their newest case, a pretty grisly murder of a brute of a man, Ed is feeling a bit lonely so decides to look into his past and see how his old schoolmates are doing in the hope of reconnecting with the class queen, Christine Copperfield, whom he spent one glorious week with back in the class of '88. He manages to reconnect with a couple of people via the Friends Reunited website and creates a profile there for himself. Not long after he does there are a few more that join up too and one of those is Christine and it seems she want to organise a class reunion. Dare Ed get his hopes up for something more?

Meanwhile, back on the investigation, it seems like a few more cases have turned up that might relate to the one Ed & Natasha are working on but there's not too many clues as to the identity of the killer. Can they solve the mystery before another victim turns up dead? How will his burgeoning social life and interest in the past affect Ed's investigating technique?

Not really a laugh out loud comedy offering from Mr. Elton this time around, as this one is more of a social commentary, though there are genuine moments of mirth especially in the exchanges between Ed and Natasha. The mystery element isn't that hard to figure out but there are a couple of twists to throw the reader off the scent. Those of delicate sensibilities should give this one a miss as the murders are not for the faint-hearted and there is one particularly sordid and gratuitous sex scene described quite vividly. Personally though, I did enjoy this book and I do like the author more as a writer than I ever did as a comedian. 4★'s

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore*

Nine children and their guardians were sent to Earth to escape the world-ending devastation being wrought on Lorien by the Mogadorians. They manage to evade capture and death by continuing to move from one place to another and keeping a low profile wherever they go. Any hint of danger and they move on again, changing identities as they go. Three of the children have been caught and this story centres around the fourth in line (they must be killed in order) as he assumes the identity of John Smith in the small Ohio town of Paradise. John is just coming into his legacy where he gains special powers which he must also keep hidden. Starting at his new school John quickly attracts the attention of Sarah which also brings the unwanted baggage of her former boyfriend and top jock who isn't quite happy with the former part of that relationship.

This was quite a fast paced read and although aimed at a much younger audience than myself I found it quite enjoyable. The tension mounts with each passing chapter that John remains in Paradise and you know that discovery can only be moments away. The allure of a normal life holds a great attraction for him though and he is loathe to leave his burgeoning life behind. 3½★'s.

*Pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer

This was not an easy book to read and think it's going to be even harder to review. It sometimes reads as a history book and sometimes as normal fiction. Each part of the book is quite different to the others but the work must be read in its entirety to fully appreciate each of the elements. The whole really sucks you in to the fictional city of Ambergris as you travel through the history, geography and characters contained in the stories and other items contained here. The author has really put some work (even managing successfully to insert himself as a character) in to create this world and the detail is quite stunning. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing with this series and probably any other book that Mr. VanderMeer has been involved with. 4½★'s

>57 AHS-Wolfy:: This is one of my favourite books. Shriek and Finch don't quite live up to it, IMO, but fortunately they are both so different that I didn't find myself making comparisons while I was reading them.

@58, I will certainly be picking up Shriek at some point and I doubt I'll just stop there.

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

An awkward start to the story sees Johannes Cabal try to get his soul back from Satan to whom he exchanged it for necromantic skills. Satan agrees by way of a wager, Johannes must get a hundred souls to exchange for his own with a time limit set for one year. Satan will furnish a carnival to help him in his undertaking. If he wins the bet then Johannes gets his soul back, if he fails then he loses his life. By chapter three things pick up a little with the arrival of Johannes' brother, Horst, and chapter four had me laughing out loud at one point and by then I was hooked. Johannes is a driven character, not particularly that likeable, but often darkly humorous and the ending gives reason to his obsession with death and trying to outwit it. As the year passes and the souls are collected the tension rises can Johannes collect the 100 that he needs and at what cost? Will Satan ever play fair? (easiest question in the world to answer) And how will it all turn out as the year reaches its conclusion?

So, a lead character who isn't particularly a nice chap yet you end up rooting for him in his quest which is quite an achievement by the author and is mainly achieved by the dark and intelligent humour. A lot of the back story is only hinted at or quickly glossed over as are the actual collection of the majority of souls but this makes for a quick read and you don't feel short changed with these at all. I will certainly be continuing with the series as it will be interesting to follow the further adventures of this particular necromancer. 4★'s

I found Johanne Cabal to be an amusing kind of character, although I didn't read more than the one book. I think your description of it as being dark humor (humor noir?) is a good one. A little goes a long way.

@60, Humour-Noir is probably quite a good description.

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

Viktor is a frustrated aspiring author but his short stories are often too short and any sign of a novel is so distant it might as well be the other side of the world. And that's pretty much where his constant companion, Misha the penguin, comes from. The zoo couldn't afford to keep all their animals and asked the public to take some off their hands so that's how Viktor and Misha came together. One day Viktor gets a job offer from a local paper. They liked his writing style though couldn't publish a story he'd submitted but thought his technique suited a new kind of obituary they wanted to try. Viktor starts writing them for notable personages that aren't quite dead yet so doesn't immediately see the fruits of his labour and it's only when one of those he's written about dies in suspicious circumstances that Viktor gets an inkling of what his new position is all about. His fears are increased when one of the people who provide his work asks him to take care of his daughter as he has to disappear for a while. After no immediate reappearance occurs, this necessitates the employing of a nanny to help him look after the little girl and so a family unit is born. When this family starts to become more of a reality will Viktor start questioning what he does for a living? And what will it get him if he does?

This fairly bleak story is riddled with dark humour. Set in the post-Soviet era Kiev with a lot of political manoeuvring (off-stage) which affects the main protagonists life dramatically but he seems to readily accept his situation no matter how much he's put upon. He tries to make the best of events while trying to keep as low a profile as possible. It's not that easy to lie low with a penguin in tow. The story follows Viktor in his day-to-day life but it's the relationship he has with Misha that really infuses it with warmth and feeling as his dealings with other people are quite cold and distant.

I definitely want to read more from this author and will, at some time, be seeking out the sequel to this particular story. 4★'s

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

Abner Marsh runs the Fevre River Packet Company for what it's worth. Most of his steamboats have been lost and all his company consists of now is one small old bucket of a boat that's not got too much longer left to sail the mighty Mississippi. That's why he jumps at the chance when he is offered almost unmitigated wealth to build his dream boat. A paddle steamer to match and even best the Eclipse, the biggest, fastest boat on the river. All it will take is for Abner to take on a new partner and accommodate his unusual living habits and to ask no questions thereof and to allow Joshua York, his new partner, to make infrequent stops as he deems fit and allow passage for his companions and others he may bring aboard. Having no other recourse for his business to stay afloat Abner agrees and so the boat, Fevre Dream, is built and crewed and sets sail on the river. At first everything goes well and Abner is looking forward to building his reputation back up so that he can get to race against the Eclipse and prove that he has the fastest ship in existence. But it's not long before rumours surface about his mysterious partner. He's never seen in daylight and the stops he orders the boat to make seem to coincide with grisly events onshore. Abner gets a might curious as to the sort of character his new partner is and despite his promise starts to snoop and question his activities. Will he like what he finds out?

This is a very atmospheric novel set in the Deep South of the 1850's. Pre-abolitionism so slavery is is a subject that is touched upon throughout the story and features the language of that time and place so avoid if that doesn't suit your reading tastes. There is also plenty of blood and gore (this is a vampire tale after all) but usually told of from a third person point of view but what is there can be quite brutal and unforgiving. This novel is not just a horror tale involving the tried and trusted vampires of many another story. There is a slightly different take on show here but what really makes the book is the relationship between Abner and Joshua through initial misgivings to trust and friendship that defies many an obstacle set along its path. A pretty darn good read. 4★'s

Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas

Sheep are being killed up in the French Alpine villages and the recently re-introduced wolves are the logical suspects. The only thing that goes against this assumption is that the bite marks seem to suggest an abnormally large specimen. Could it be something else instead. A cry of werewolf goes up and when the first person that raised this possibility is then murdered it adds fuel to the fire especially as the most likely candidate has also suddenly disappeared. Soliman, the murdered woman's adopted African son, along with Watchee, an old shepherd, and Camille set off in a battered old sheep truck in pursuit. The first part of the book follows their attempt to track and locate the werewolf with only minimal inclusion of Adamsberg as he follows the story from afar. It's only when the small group reach an impasse in their search that Camille turns to her former lover, Adamsberg, for assistance that he becomes the central figure in the investigation. As the loss of life of sheep and humans alike increases can they catch the killer before he gets away?

My second entry into the world of Commissaire Adamsberg sees another strange eclectic bunch of characters that worm their way into your hearts and it's this that will drive me back to more of Ms Vargas' work rather than the plots of her stories. Don't get me wrong, the plots aren't bad but, for me, they are only there to allow the characters to grow and shine. This is not the tautest thriller nor is it the most riveting of mysteries. The dialogue is often clunky (whether the fault of the author or translator I have no idea) but it is an engaging story that should please those that have come to the book seeking more of the same quirkiness in the author's other work. 3½★'s

I too lived Fevre dream. Quite a difference to his more well known stuff. He's also written various SF Short stories that are quite fun. Still dark (a few very much so) but intelligent and interesting with it. My favourite is The way of Cross and dragon which I found collected in Sandkings - that's a creepy tale.

Yeah, GRRM isn't one to be restricted by genres is he? Apparently he did quite a bit of work on the tv show of Beauty and the Beast (writing, producing and even a cameo appearance in one episode). Also, did you know that Sandkings was the opening episode for the resurrected Outer Limits show?

Have you tried GRRM's Armageddon Rag? It has been so long since I read it that I don't recall any details but I do remember loving it, and I also loved Fevre Dream so you might as well.

The only other non-ASoIaF book I have of his work is Dying of the Light but not read it yet. Having enjoyed Fevre Dream I think I'm more willing to try out his other work now though.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Classic noir mystery as Philip Marlowe gets a début outing where the body count is almost as high as the amount of raindrops that fall. He has been hired by General Sternwood to look into a simple case of blackmail and the general mentions that he hopes the missing husband of his eldest daughter isn't involved. Someone has some gambling debt notices from one of his daughters and wants to collect on them. The case isn't too difficult for Marlowe to track down but just as he's about to confront the blackmailer he turns up as the first in a long line of stiffs. Marlow follows the trail through the seedy world of pornography and gambling joints while fending off the attentions of both the general's daughters as well as the cops who aren't too happy about Marlowe keeping secrets from them. Will he find who's at the end of the trail while staying in one piece? And how many guns will he collect from people who insist on sticking them in his face?

A thoroughly enjoyable novel from one of the instigators of the hard-boiled detective stories that now seem to abound on the mystery section of bookshops. It will be interesting to compare with Dashell Hammett's Maltese Falcon when I eventually get around to reading that. Great fast paced pulp fiction full of one-liners that refreshed some of the bleakness of the situations that Marlowe found himself facing. 4½★'s

I really enjoyed The Big Sleep, Dave, and I'm glad you did, too. Raymond Chandler's others also are good. I look forward to your comparing it to The Maltese Falcon (also a great one!)

Thanks Joe. I don't think I'll jump straight into The Maltese Falcon as it just wouldn't be fair. Want to go into it with a fresh palette so will read a few others before I pick it up I think.

I think I prefer Raymond Chandler's mysteries to Dashell Hammett. It has been a very long time since I've read Hammett though. I liked The Big Sleep a lot when I recently read that, but in all of the stories, I see Bogart. :)

I think I prefer Raymond Chandler as well. I made the mistake of reading Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett where the bodies mount up with alarming speed and I've really never made it through The Thin Man. Whereas Chandler has a prose style that I can read easily, even when he's being gritty and harsh.

@MrsLee, Re Bogart: I think it would be impossible to separate the two even if you hadn't seen any of the films. It's just one of those iconic roles.

I do have the next 3 in the Marlowe series already on the tbr shelves so I'll definitely be reading more of them at some point.

Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure by Dave Gorman

Dave Gorman had just turned 31 and made the rash decision that he wanted to be taken more seriously. He decides the best way of accomplishing this is to grow a beard and write a novel and so makes a call to his agent who, in turn and wholly unexpectedly, sets up a meeting with a publisher. The publisher likes the idea and a contract is signed and an advance is paid. Now that he's committed though Dave can't seem to get past the distractions, CD collection alphabetised, fridge defrosted etc. But by far the worst was the computer he was sat at trying to write. It just so happened that this computer was connected to a thing called the internet and the internet contains everything in the whole wide world ever. One of the things you can do on the internet is check your e-mails and on one particular day that Dave was procrastinating an e-mail arrived asking him if he knew that he was a googlewhack. Not knowing if that was a good or bad thing he enquired further into the subject and found out the answer. If you put two words into the Google search engine and it only returns one result then that is a googlewhack. There are a couple of supplementary rules to go along with it but that's the general upshot. Having been told he was one (Francophile Namesakes) he now had to find one himself and become a proper googlewhacker. This he does and even arranges to meet the person on the end of the one he found. He in turn finds another and this turns out to be someone that Dave recognises. A certain Mr. David Gorman! No, it's not him it's someone with the same name who Dave met while on another adventure (see Are You Dave Gorman?. And as he could do with a few days away in the South of France he arranged to meet back up with him and tell him what a googlewhack was. David then challenged Dave to see if he could find 10 googlewhacks in a row before his 32nd birthday. As with every good challenge there were rules to abide by. Every googlewhack was to supply another two googlewhacks and the time limit was set for Dave's next birthday.

This set-up provides the backdrop for a humorous travel adventure where Dave follows the leads provided by the googlewhacks and sets off to meet a varied cast of people from all around the world. Reality often exceeds his expectations about these people and his own emotions are laid bare throughout his commentary of events. Can he succeed with his latest madcap adventure and what will happen with the unwritten novel? Read this (or watch the show) and find out. 4★'s

Autofiction by Hitomi Kanehara

Autofiction is a combination of styles which combine autobiography and fiction and this book describes the thoughts and feelings of a recently married young Japanese woman and her burgeoning writing career. Her obsessive behaviour for her new husband is quite scary. Even contemplating killing an over-friendly stewardess on the return flight from their honeymoon. We then travel back in time over successive sections of the book to times in her life that might go some way to describe her current state of mind.

Quite similar in feeling to a Ryū Murakami novel and if you combine something like Audition with Out then you would probably get something like this. Powerful and disturbing but not an easy read despite its shortness of just over 200 pages. 3½★'s

King Rat by China Miéville

Début novel from China Miéville takes the reader on a dark fairy tale of a story. Neverwhere crossed with Brother's Grimm if you will with a setting of London's underground both physically and metaphorically speaking. Saul wakes up to the police hammering at his door and is immediately treated like a criminal upon their entry. What's he supposed to have done? Just the small matter of killing his father! Broken out of jail by a mysterious figure who claims to be king of the rats as well as being Saul's uncle, he is taken in and has his mysterious heritage explained to him as well as the fact that someone wants him dead. As Saul's abilities begin to burgeon he finds out that he wasn't rescued for purely sentimental reasons after all and his uncle wants to use him as a weapon against an old adversary and to win back the respect of his disaffected subjects.

The vivid pictures that the author paints bring to life a darker and more mysterious London as we clamber over the rooftops and through the sewers with a drum and bass soundtrack playing in our ears. I'm sure a previous knowledge of that particular music scene would add greatly to the story's appreciation but unfortunately it's one that passed me by. It's not something that detracts from the narrative though so don't be put off with that little snippet. Those with a nervous disposition may however be deterred by some of the more gruesome scenes or disturbing events in the book (especially the climactic scene). Excellent first novel that should be enjoyed for what it is and not compared too critically with the author's later works. 4★'s

Into the Nightside by Simon R. Green

This book contains the first two stories of the Nightside series. An urban fantasy in the style of the Dresden Files or Felix Castor. Overall, probably not as good as either but still a fun read if you like that kind of thing and it appears that I do.

Something from the Nightside is the first of the stories and introduces the main character of John Taylor, a private investigator who has a gift for finding things within the Nightside. A place he left behind 5 years ago to lead a more normal and safer existence in the real world. Unfortunately his gift doesn't work there and so his detective business is only just about been keeping afloat. As with all good noir tales it's about now that a dame walks in and this one proves no exception. She wants John to go back to the Nightside and find her missing daughter. It's a job he can't afford to refuse and if truth be told he really misses the place he left behind (even if at least half the denizens want him dead). As well as being introduced to the Nightside we get to meet some of the populace and those that survive seem destined to become recurring characters in future stories.

Agents of Light and Darkness follows on from shortly after the end of the first and finds John still working in the Nightside but not living there (it's safer that way). His new client wants him to find something that seems to have made its way to the Nightside and it would be better for all concerned if the wrong hands don't get hold of it. The Unholy Grail has resurfaced and if it isn't found soon then Armageddon might be the next stop as heaven and hell are mobilising their hosts and woe betide anyone who gets in their way. The other major players in the Nightside are also interested in possessing the relic also so John will have his work cut out on this job especially as he can't use his gift without attracting the wrong sort of attention. Looks like he might have to go all old school on this one.

The cast of characters in these stories are quite good, the pace is fast and the stories don't outstay their welcome. The author does sometimes make use of the same tired old clichés a bit too often. If you're up to date on the Jim Butcher series and have read all the Mike Carey ones then this might fill in a gap until something better comes along. 3½★'s

The Absolute Sandman Volume Four by Neil Gailman

This volume contains the longest story arc of the series, The Kindly Ones and the next arc, The Wake but starts with an extra story where a dreamer (you, perhaps?) gets a tour of The Castle (from Vertigo Jam #1). Guided by Lucien with interjections from a few of the more recognizable inhabitants of The Dreaming. Then follows the 13 episode story in which the Furies have a score to settle with Dream. Lots of the old story arcs are revisited here with many great characters returning to create an ending and leave enough hope for a new beginning. This hope is further enhanced with the 4 episodes of the wake which has everyone coming to terms with previous events and their continuance, or not, in the scheme of things. Exiles sees Dream encounter an old Chinese philosopher who's been sent away from his emperor for the misdeeds of his son. The volume closes with a revisit to William Shakespeare as he completes the second play promised to Dream and so produces The Tempest.

Another excellent bunch of extra material follows which includes a Sandman timeline which goes through the major events from story pitch to the end of the stories published in this volume. Scripts (with thumbnails, pencils and promotional art) are provided for issue 57 (Kindly Ones Part 1) and issue 75 (The Tempest). There's also a couple of features on the collectibles that were made available over the course of this series' production (some of which I wouldn't mind owning). And finally the obligatory biographies of the people that made it happen.

This won't go down as my favourite book, the artist's style for The Kindly Ones I don't think did the story justice but was excellent for The Wake. Oh! I really wish they'd put spoiler warnings in the introductions. Don't read this one if you don't know what's going to happen in the stories contained in this volume. 4★'s

Great reviews, Dave! I was particularly struck by the King Rat one and gave it a thumb. That's the only Mieville novel I've yet to read.

I tried Simon Green's Nightside and the cliche aspect you mention just weighed it down too much for me.

I love The Sandman series, as you know, and I keep debating whether to cough up the money for one of these Absolute books. If I did, it would probably be this one, as it contains some of my favorite parts.

Thank you for the thumb. It was the first outside of his Bas-Lag books for me. Looking forward to reading more when I can fit them in.

I bought the first 3 omnibus editions of the Nightside books so I'll be continuing with the series at some point. Hopefully it gets better but it's not a total loss as yet.

If I already had the series then I think I'd plump more towards the annotated versions that have just started to make an appearance though I'm certainly not disappointed in these absolute ones. Seems like The Sandman is becoming the Star Wars of the comic book world. So many editions available.

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

A classic science fiction horror tale set in a remote English village circa 1950's. Rather than an overt takeover by conquest this is a tale of a more invasive alien infiltration told by a second hand narrator, Richard Gayford, and may be better known from the film name of The Village of the Damned. Returning home from a trip to London, our narrator and his wife encounter a military exclusion zone set up around the village. Attempting to circumvent this blockade they, like (they later learn) the rest of the inhabitants, fall unconscious as soon as they enter the restricted area. Having been directed to remain at the pub of the next village over while investigations into the cause of the incident, it is where he coincidentally meets an old war buddy who it seems will be handling things from the local end. It is with these connections that Richard can tag along and gather the information recounted in this book. What appears to be a UFO is spotted at the centre of the zone but no-one can penetrate to investigate more. The affected area soon dissipates after the disappearance of the UFO and it's not long that we learn all women of child-bearing age that were inside the zone are now pregnant. Nine months quickly passes and the babies are born. Despite initial misgivings all seem to be normal healthy babies with only the eyes showing any outward difference from normal human babies, shining golden eyes. The babies grow and learn at an accelerated rate and it seem the force of their will can overpower that of the people in their vicinity and it is this ability along with a hive-mind like quality that causes concern with the local population and the military and government powers that have been content just to observe. How long before they must take action to limit or quash this talent while they still can?

The book briefly examines religious, evolution, social and moral issues with regards to how we as a human race would deal with an event like this but it is all done in a very British underplayed way which makes the inevitable finale all the more shocking when it happens. There are a few things that date the book but they do not detract from the read at all. Another excellent tale from a master storyteller who has now been added to my favourite authors list. 4★'s

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

What goes on at a carnival when there's no punters marvelling at the attractions? That's what two 13 year old boys want to know but learn a little too much for the good of their health. While spying on a mysterious carousel that seems to have the power over time they manage to cause an accident and damage the machine while it is in operation. This does not bode well for the ride's only occupant, Mr. Cooger, as he is aged to that of a wizened old man clinging to the last vestiges of life. Can the boys escape vengeance at the hands of Mr. Dark, partner and proprietor of Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show, as he employs all the freakish talents at his disposal to find them?

This is a young adult coming of age horror story which also examines the father/son dynamic that took me a long time to get into. Normally I'd rip through a book like this within a day or two but I often found myself putting it down and finding other things to do instead. You do get to feel the fear emanating from the two boys as the search for them intensifies but there is no real momentum to the story and it's not until a showdown looms that I felt like I really wanted to continue turning the pages. I'm glad this wasn't my first encounter with the author as I'm not sure I'd willingly seek out another if it was. 3★'s

Stories by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio

This is a collection of 27 short stories by some very well known authors. Who would of thought that Gene Wolfe would be sharing book space with Joyce Carol Oates or Chuck Palahniuk with Jodi Picoult. The work page details all the contributors and so I'm not going to go through them all especially as most of them were only fair to middling in accordance with my taste. I'll just give a few details on my favourites from the collection.

The stand-out story for me was Neil Gaiman's own, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains which has a dwarf searching for a legendary cave of gold but he may have ulterior motives. The two closing stories were also very good. The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand details an attempt to recreate a lost film of a pre-Wright Brothers flight as a tribute to a dying past love and The Devil on the Staircase by Joe Hill looks at the evil that man is capable of committing to get what he wants or to stop others from having it instead. The former of these is the longest story of the book while the latter employs different formatting to represent the stairs the main character traverses as he recounts his tale.

I also enjoyed Human Intelligence by Kurt Andersen which tells of a visitor sent to spy on planet Earth who has seemingly been forgotten by those who sent him and the Arctic explorer who finally discovers his existence. Jeffrey Deaver's The Therapist and Lawrence Block's Catch and Release take a look at the dark side of humanity while Samantha's Diary by Diana Wynne Jones is a light-hearted take on the 12 days of Christmas. Meanwhile, Walter Mosely offers up a different kind of vampire tale with Juvenal Nyx.

I'm surprised I didn't enjoy more of the inclusions considering there was hardly any of the authors that I hadn't at least heard of before and was somewhat disappointed by quite a few. I'm sure others will find different stories more to their taste than mine but I will be surprised if many enjoy all of this collection. 3½★'s

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer

It's been a while since I've read the H2G2 series by Douglas Adams so I'm not going to compare this tacked on addition to those. I've also never read any of Eoin Colfer's other books either so can't compare styles either but this did seem like he was trying to write in a similar vein. Unfortunately that will dispel any hopes of originality a new author could bring to tired characters that probably should have been left for dead. It's not a bad book and there are a few laughs to be had but you can't hope for something just a little better. 2½★'s

Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Five by Bill Willingham

This review contains slight spoilers for earlier volumes in the series

This collection covers episodes 34-45 and contains two major arcs and a transitional two-part story. The latter of which kicks off this book and has Jack's departure (along with Jill) from Fabletown and recounts what he did with some of the treasure he stole when he left. He plonks himself down in Hollywood and sets up a production company in order to make himself the most loved Fable that ever was or will be. As it is one of the forbidden professions though it's bound to have repercussions when his plan comes to light.

Homelands covers Boy Blue's return in search of the real Red Riding Hood and he's not going to let anyone get in his way. Armed with the Vorpal Sword and the Witching Cloak he's off to find someone who knows where she'll be. Even if that someone is The Adversary himself. There's also a brief interlude in this tale where Mowgli returns to Fabletown and catches up with the new Mayor and Sheriff.

And finally there's Arabian Nights (and Days) where Sinbad arrives at Fabletown as an envoy for the Arabian refugees as they seek a place to live as an escape from The Adversary as he starts the invasion of their world.

The book concludes with original character designs by Mark Buckingham and biographies for all involved with this work.

This has been my favourite book of the series so far. The overall story arc has seen some major progression as well as concluding some and starting other sub-plots that I look forward to see developing in future issues. One quick reminder: Although these books contain some very recognisable characters that we know and love from our childhoods, they are involved in some very adult storylines throughout this series. 5★'s

Happy Birthday, Turk! by Jakob Arjouni

Classic hard-boiled private investigator tale that uses most of the tropes of the genre with one exception. The woman who hires Kemal Kayankaya is neither young or beautiful but she does want him to find out who killed her husband who was stabbed to death in Frankfurt's red-light district and she doesn't hold out much hope of a proper investigation by the police due to his Turkish descent. Even though he was raised by a German family, Kayankaya knows all about the prejudice received by migrants because of his own Turkish heritage. It's not too long into the investigation that he's either being threatened, beaten up or getting the girl though and all with a glib remark not far from his lips. Drugs, prostitutes and crooked cops all feature as the search for the killer continues.

This is a good, quick story that flows very well so a nod to the translator is in order. While offering up nothing wholly original it's still worth a look if you like books of this kind. I'll be adding More Beer, the 2nd in the series, to my wishlist to pick up at some point. 3½★'s

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Zach Barrows is the latest young up-and-comer at the White House with all the foibles that entails. He's cocky, arrogant and sure of where his future lies and the President is just about to offer him a new job. All is well in Zach's life until the job offer is something different to what he expected and he assumes it's because the President has found out that he slept with his daughter. Zach is about to become the handler for the most secret of secret agents. Nathaniel Cade is a vampire bound to serve the office of the President of the United States by an oath bound in blood since the time of Andrew Johnson. Before Zach can get acclimatised to his new situation though, a plot materialises that could involve an old acquaintance of Cade's by way of the original Baron Frankenstein. Cade is sent out to investigate and Zach tags along for some on the job training.

Not quite your normal urban fantasy tale but somewhere nearer a cross between 24 and Hellboy. The plot throws in a few twists and turns with terrorist organisations and shadowy government groups being involved and there's plenty of action to keep you going right through to the final confrontation. The developing relationship between Zach and Cade is where this book rises above the mediocrity though and is what will have me continuing the series at some point. 3½★'s

I think you may have liked Blood Oath a little more than I did, but I thought of you the whole time I read it.

I remember your comments about the character development and think that is the best part of the story. Will be interesting to see if the author can keep it going with the 2nd in the series as I can see it going either way.

The Night Buffalo by Guillermo Arriaga

Manuel and Gregorio have grown up together as best and only friends even getting the same buffalo tattoo carved into their left arms. So it's tough for Manuel to watch his friend descend ever deeper into madness until Gregorio's final act to end it all. Manuel is also feeling guilty because he's been sleeping with Tania, Gregorio's girlfriend, while his friend has been institutionalised. Can the two surviving members of the love triangle come to terms with their emotions and why can Gregorio affect them even after his death?

This is a very gritty and raw book. Despite being less than 200 pages it is not a quick comfort read. There are no sympathetic characters for the reader to hang their hat on and there are a couple of quite unpleasant scenes of sex and violence to endure. Despite that, it did manage to hold my attention and I ultimately wanted to find out how it ended though not all the loose ends are tidied up. 3½★'s

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Prince Aleksander is on the run. His parents have been assassinated and that act is being used to start a war. Nobody wants a stray heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne running around loose so Alek, accompanied by a few trusty retainers, sets about making a run to Switzerland in their mechanical walker. Meanwhile, Deryn has disguised herself as a boy in order to qualify for the Air Service as all she wants to do in life is fly. When her test flight goes badly wrong she is rescued by the Leviathan, a living airship, and soon manages to pass the mid-shipmen's test to become a member of the crew. Sent on a special mission to Constantinople the Leviathan is attacked by Germans and is forced to crash land on a glacier in Switzerland right near where Alek and his cohorts are hiding. Dare Alek offer assistance to the stricken vessel and possibly have his identity and location revealed to his enemies and if he does help, how will the British react if they find out who he really is?

This is a very good starter book in a YA Steampunk/Alternate History series. Excellent world-building provides a stage for all sorts of oddities to soon seem commonplace as the adventuring of the two young heroes commences. There are some very good illustrations along the way that really help to set the scene as well. There is also an afterword provided by the author which compares our real world to the alternate one featured in the book which I found to be a nice touch. 4★'s

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

This review will contain (at least) minor spoilers for Child 44.

Leo, Raisa and the two girls they adopted are now together in Moscow. Zoya, the older of the two girls is unable to forget or forgive that Leo was responsible for the death of her real parents and goes out of her way to ensure they don't become the happy family unit that the others crave. Leo, now the head of the newly formed Homicide division, begins a new investigation which points to events in his past. This is all set amidst the backdrop and fallout of Khrushchev's secret speech which admitted to mistakes made by Stalin's regime and it seems in some quarters that the fear of the system is being outweighed by the desire for vengeance on those who overstepped the mark that passed for justice in those days. Can Leo uncover who is responsible for this turn of events and how will he react when things take a more personal direction?

Rather than being a criminal investigative story this sequel heads more towards the realms of thriller as an inexorable turn of events sees Leo head to the gulags and experience the Hungarian uprising first hand. Heavily researched and asking some very thought provoking questions this story does get quite bleak at times which doesn't make it a quick and easy read. Still a pretty good one though. 4★'s

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Contains spoilers from 1st book in the series

Second book in the YA steampunk trilogy which uses an alternate world war 1 for its setting. Pitting the Darwinists (bio-engineering) against the Clankers (mechanical/steam-powered engineering). This instalment picks up directly after the conclusion of Leviathan with the great airship heading towards Istanbul to try and smooth over recent difficulties with the ruling Sultan and hopefully, at the least, keep the Ottoman Empire from joining the Clankers side. But it appears they may have arrived too late and find that the Clankers already appear to have their foot in the door. Alek is still aboard but needs to escape before his secret is revealed and Deryn, keeping secrets of her own, is given an important mission that doesn’t go fully to plan either. It puts them in the midst of a local revolution and they both have their own reasons for helping reach a successful outcome. Will they get what they want and how many secrets will be left at the end?

A thrill ride from start to finish this is an excellent continuation of a fascinating story. Adding some interesting new characters to the mix while furthering the relationships of the existing ones. With Alek working aboard the Leviathan and then gaining an extra insight into Darwinist methods and Deryn also gaining a greater appreciation of Clanker technology it will be fun to see where the author takes events in the concluding book of the series. I’m looking forward to it. 4½★'s

Preacher: Book One by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon

This hardback book contains volumes 1 to 7 of the series. It’s violent, gory, crude and a hell of a lot of fun. Jesse Custer is a preacher who’s lost his faith and finds himself possessed by a half-angel/half-demon entity which grants him a power to rival God himself. When he learns that God has seemingly abandoned His post, Jesse vows to track Him down and find out why and sets off in the company of Cassidy, a mysterious stranger who seems to sleep through the day, and Tulip, Jesse’s one-time girlfriend. What’s left of the Heavenly Host is none too pleased with this state of affairs and so sets the Saint of Killers onto Jesse’s trail to bring the entity back before it causes too much harm.

This is not a comic book series that will appeal to everyone. Those that are even slightly offended by excessive violence, profanity, sexual scenes or religious topics should steer well clear. The dialogue is superb and the artwork really compliments the story excellently. At the back of the book you also get a gallery of more than a dozen full page colour prints by various artists. A great collection to start the series and I look forward to continuing reading more in the future. 4½★'s

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

As it always does, it starts with a dame. Tough as nails PI Sam Spade is hired by Miss Wonderly to find her sister. It seems like she's taken up with the wrong sort of man and is refusing to see sense and won't even talk face to face so Sam is employed to follow the man and find her. Miles, Sam's partner, volunteer's to take the duty and soon ends up dead so are things quite so straightforward as the client made them seem?

Spade is quite cold and detached to pretty much everyone in his life but manages to string along the three women involved in the story even though he doesn't exactly treat them well. The characters are never fully explored as not once do you get inside the head of any of them including the main character of Spade himself. Even so, the writing is descriptive enough to manage to form your own opinions of how they are developing and so adding the interior thoughts may actually detract from the whole. The dialogue and prose are very evocative of the time and the setting of late twenties San Francisco is used to create a vivid atmosphere. It's been many years since I've seen the movie adaptation but from what I can remember the film follows the book quite well so it might be worth allowing some space in-between reading and watching your chosen media. 4★'s

I'm a fan of The Maltese Falcon and other Dashiell Hammett stories. The noir atmosphere he creates just bowls me over.

Please Don't Call Me Human by Wang Shuo

A political satire aimed squarely at China's nationalism. After a particularly humiliating defeat by a foreign fighter who bested all that China could throw at him, it was decided that MobCom (Shortened from National Mobilising Committee) needed a latter-day Big Dream Boxer. A descendant from the legendary fighters of the Boxer Rebellion must be found and trained to take on this fearsome adversary. MobCom will stop at nothing to line their own pockets from endorsements and any other way they can make money out of the event while offering up ridiculous training methods for the unfortunate candidate. Taken away from his life as a pedicab driver and also his family, Tang Yuanbao is as passive an individual as you're ever likely to encounter. Accepting everything because it's for the good of the nation he tries to accomplish all that is set before him.

There were some quite amusing sections in this book but there were also a few more that were quite a slog to get through. There's not much subtlety to the satire as it's all pretty much of the in your face variety. Not sure how much effect the translation had but I suspect even a very good one wouldn't have altered my lack of enjoyment with this read. 2½★'s

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

John Perry does two things on his 75th birthday. He visits his wife's grave for the final time and then he joins the army. This is, of course, no ordinary army. It's the Colonial Defense Force. John joins up because there's nothing to really keep him on Earth any longer and he's tired of feeling old. No one really knows what happens to you when you enlist with the CDF as once you join you can never return to your home planet but the expectation is that they make you young again because who in their right minds want a bunch of geriatrics on the front line? The book is split into three parts as we follow John through initial induction, basic training/initial skirmishes and then what follows.

While this book does owe a great deal to some of Robert A. Heinlein's work (particularly Starship Troopers and readily acknowledged by Mr. Scalzi) it is certainly good enough to stand on its own merits. The story is never too heavy handed, either with technology or political/religious themes although they often get touch upon. There is plenty of humour (of the wry and sardonic variety) and some quite touching scenes as well. A good read even if you're not into military SF as a genre. Will definitely be looking for the sequels. 4½★'s

I agree, Dave. Nice review. I thought Old Man's War was a good one. I liked the resleeving (a Richard Morgan idea - I can't remember what Scalzi calls it).

Thank you Joe. Don't think he actually gave it a name at least I can't remember one either.

Is the humor in these titles by Joe Scalzi similar to what he demonstrated in Redshirts: A Novel With Three Codas? I thoroughly enjoyed that book but it was the first of his that I had ever read and I'm not that fond of Heinlein. If he leans more towards Starship Troopers with Redshirts being simply an aberration, I would want to know.

It was the first of Scalzi's that I've read so can't compare to his latest release or any of the others. So far as comparison to Heinlein, it's only in a general thematic and structural sense ie: the training and fighting of a futuristic infantryman. The writing style of the two are not really comparable and the main character of Old Man's War is believable and one you can readily empathise with so hopefully you'll be safe to give it a go.

I raced through the Old Man's War books just a few weeks ago, and I'm not one for military SF. Scalzi's books were fun, with many a quip, and thought went into how the characters dealt with the sudden massive changes in their lives brought on by their choice to join the Colonial Defense Force, though the characters themselves weren't very complex. My only qualm was that the aliens never seemed very alien but were quite human in thought and behaviour.

I thought Old Man's War pretty standard, not bad but too close to Heinlein to feel fresh, imho.
It made me think not only of Starship troopers but Tunnel in the Sky (which I read and reread as a teen), what little I remember of Sixth Column, and a handful more.
While I think I'll read at least #2 in the series at some time in the future I feel no rush to do it.

Redshirts was fun, though.

I've read Old Man's War and two of the three sequels (not the one from Zoe's perspective), but not Redshirts yet. The Old Man's War books are military sci-fi and don't have the humor that I understand Redshirts has. I think he does have at least one more that is humorous. I'm looking forward to reading Redshirts.

I haven't read Starship Troopers and don't remember Tunnel in the Sky, (actually, it's been so long since I've read any of Heinlein's works...) so I didn't relate Scalzi's books to Heinlein's at all. I found Old Man's War to be, not laugh out loud funny, but snicker funny. Easy beach reading.

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Contains spoilers for previous books in the series

The third and concluding book of the series sees Deryn, Alek and the rest of the crew of the Leviathan heading to Siberia to pick up a passenger in the form of Nikola Tesla. A former Clanker scientist who believes he can put an end to the war between the Darwinists and his former benefactors. Alek, feeling somewhat useless aboard the airship, quickly attaches himself to the new arrival and thinks his own destiny is to end the war and this is the best hope for that. He also manages to figure out Deryn's secret and after collecting Tesla the Leviathan is off to New York to work on Tesla's weapon, Goliath, so Alek and Deryn have the time to work things out.

Once again there's plenty of action but this instalment seems more character driven with the developing relationship between Alek and Deryn. More characters adapted from our own history are added and this gives an extra dimension to the back story. The perspicacious lorises provide some light relief and occasional insightful comments. The end does leave the possibility for future books in this universe and I'll happily read them if they appear. 4½★'s

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

Young journalist Ulysse Mérou accompanies one of the most brilliant men of his generation on a voyage of discovery across space towards the Betelgeuse star system. Upon arrival they locate a planet so akin to Earth that they name it Soror (Latin for sister). Shortly after landing, they discover a group of humans who are so animalistic in nature it is scary to behold. Taken in by the humans they quickly discover a more intelligent species when their group is rounded up in a hunt by a bunch of gorillas and chimpanzees. While some are killed for sport others, including Mérou, are taken captive and he soon finds himself ensconced as lead specimen at a laboratory. Subjected to tests of a Pavlovian nature, Mérou quickly convinces the lead scientist, a chimpanzee called Zira, of his intelligence and that he is unlike any of her previous experimental lab-rats. Together with her partner Cornelius they then must convince the rest of the monkey hierarchy of this astounding discovery. What effect will this have on the ape world and what are the ramifications of their own origins?

The basic outline of the story will be familiar to many through the various films. A lot of these movies represent portions of the book but none are quite representative of the whole. The character of Mérou, for example, is a lot more accepting than that of old Chuck. The whole story has a more intellectual than militaristic approach and examines such subjects as race, animal rights and social order. It is more dystopian satire than hard science fiction and while there is a lack of depth to the characters it really didn't affect my enjoyment of the tale. 4★'s

I remember being surprised when I learned that the 1968 movie had been based on a 1963 novel. I found it fascinating to read because you are correct that there are clear parallels intended with the world at that time -- the civil rights movement, class/social structures, etc.

I've been intending to read Planet of the Apes for some while. Perhaps time to bump it up the line :)

Without the movies this would be a largely forgotten book I think. Also very surprised to see the author wrote The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Had no idea! My motive to read Apes has been to ser if it is as different from the film as people says. Never imagined it to be a masterpiece ;)

I had forgotten that one. I read it many years ago and remember it being rather good.

El Sid by Chris Haslam

Sidney Starman is nearing the end of his life but has some unfinished business in Spain to take care of. 70 years previously he had been involved in the Spanish civil war and managed to find himself the sole remaining member of a group who knew the whereabouts of a stash of missing gold. He recruits two would-be conmen to do the donkey work of getting him across Spain to the actual location and the task of loading up all of that lovely shiny stuff when they get there. Things don't quite go to plan though and they end up staggering from one adventure to the next while attempting to reach their destination. Even when they arrive, their troubles aren't over as there are still some people around that remember the name of Sidney Starman and without a great deal of affection for it.

This is not an out-and-out comedy caper but there is enough humour to bring an occasional smile as we follow Sid's current and past adventures as each step brings him closer to what he left behind. While not being anything too special this is an easily read adventure yarn by an author dubbed the British Hiassen. 3½★'s

Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

Set on the cusp of the French revolution we follow a young André-Louis Moreau, godson (and presumed by most to be an illegitimate son) of a rural lord. Trained as a lawyer he is distraught when his friend, Philippe de Vilmorin, is forced into a duel with the Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr where he is totally outclassed and killed and the attempts at justice fall on deaf ears. Apolitical himself, André-Louis takes up his friend’s cause and vows to destroy his killer in the process. A killer he was already predisposed to dislike due to affections shown by the Marquis to Aline, niece to his godfather and childhood playmate of both André-Louis and Philippe. When his speech incites a mob, André-Louis is accused of sedition so rather than wait for the hangman’s noose he flees and finds a hiding place in a troupe of actors where he falls into the role of Scaramouche. With his natural gifts of oration and his previously sardonic outlook he soon settles into the role of comic instigator and advances the troupe’s reputation enormously. It’s not long before they’re heading for the heights of perhaps even the Cemedie Francais in Paris. But what will happen when the paths of André-Louis and the Marquis cross again?

The tone of the book differs quite a bit from that of the movie of which I’m sure more people are familiar with. The setting adds an extra element of tension to the story of the book with the film being a much more light-hearted romantic affair. These romantic entanglements are also much heightened in the film version. There are certainly enough differences to be able to enjoy both for what they are. The book is a tale of revenge, adventure, political intrigue, love and the study of man’s nature. The hero is a complex character who, if he had been handled by a lesser author, would probably be difficult to like. He is good at everything he tries, sometimes appearing heartless and unaffected by events surrounding him. Not having an identity of his own he takes on the role of his murdered friend in order to avenge his death and then through the unfolding events discovers himself. 4★'s

Nice review, Dave! Thumb from me. I've thought about reading that one before (I liked his Captain Blood), and now I will.

If you liked Captain Blood (as did I) then there should be no problem with you enjoying this one too. Thanks for the thumb also.

Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño

A very strange little novel, weighing in at just 132 pages. It's a kind of noirish, dreamscape of a conspiracy thriller. The plot, for what it is, concerns the titular character as a doctor who uses alternative methods to treat his patients. He is requested to take the case of César Vallejo, whose own doctors are unable to diagnose his condition or stop his hiccuping either of which could lead to death. Unable to gain access to his patient on his first attempt he tries again only to be baulked by two mysterious Spanish gentlemen who offer a bribe not to treat him. Pain accepts this but later feels guilty and tries to see Vallejo again. Can he get through this time?

Several encounters with old acquaintances add depth to the main character but some of these leave you wondering if what happened was real or not. It creates quite a foreboding atmosphere but the lack of an overriding plot really hinders my enjoyment of this read as you do get the feeling that there should be something there but I just couldn't grasp it. Perhaps it requires multiple readings to gain an understanding but I doubt I'll go back and try. I haven't given up on the author yet as there is still enough here to tempt me to more of his work but probably not this one again. 3★'s

Parasite Positive by Scott Westerfeld

Cal Thompson was a freshman in New York looking to experience what the Big Apple had to offer than the classes he was taking. One such experience was to change his life in ways he couldn't have expected. A one night stand has left him infected with a parasite that induces a kind of vampirism in its host. Luckily for Cal he doesn't suffer the full effects as he's just a carrier. As such, he is recruited by an organisation called the Night Watch that are trying to keep the disease under control. His first task is to track down the girlfriends that he's had since he was infected as they wouldn't be as fortunate and will more than likely be full parasite positive or peeps as they are generally known. Cal will also have to try and track down his progenitor Morgan (the woman who infected him) and it's while following up a lead for this that events take an unexpected turn. Will Cal be able to cope and how much can he really trust his superiors in the Night Watch?

This young adult novel is an interesting take on a modern vampire story offering up scientific reasons for the mythos that surrounds the legends. Every other chapter in the book offers up descriptions of various parasitic forms and how they interact with their hosts and environs. This really helps in convincing the reader of the realism of the story and as they are usually only a page or so long it doesn't interrupt the flow of events at all. The only thing that really lets this book down is the ending. It's quite abrupt and about all it does is set things up for the sequel. Not a cliff-hanger type but more of an info-dump. Still want to pick up that sequel though. 4★'s

>119 AHS-Wolfy:: I saw this book mentioned somewhere else and thought it sounded worth reading. Now I'll definitely have to add it to the wishlist!

@120, It's not quite as good as his Leviathan trilogy (see messages 91, 93 & 107) but still very good YA stuff.

I found Rafael Sabatini's novels to be good solid reads -- well paced, interesting characters, etc. Scaramouche and Captain Blood were both enjoyable.

I very much enjoyed Parasite Positive. . . though my copy is titled Peeps. I wonder when they changed that. I've liked everything I have read by him, but I haven't gotten to Leviathan yet. It's definitely on the tbr thought :)

I just reread Peeps a couple of weeks ago. I love the parasite info that is every other chapter. I didn't like the sequel well enough to read it again (I didn't like how the POV kept switching between the 5(?) maincharacters) but I hope you enjoy it more than I when you get to it. The Leviathan books were good too, but the biology geek in me prefers Peeps.

@122, Those are the only two I've read from him but I'll certainly pick up more if I see them.

@123, Probably just a US/UK difference.

@124, The sequel is currently winging its way to me but I don't know when I'll get round to reading it. I'm already pre-warned that it doesn't match up to its predecessor.

Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

This review will no doubt contain spoilers for The Last Werewolf

This is a direct sequel to TLW and picks up shortly after the end of that. A heavily pregnant Talulla (the narrator of this story), along with Cloquet, has retired to a remote place in Alaska where she hopes to find the time away from the two groups of hunters (WOCOP & Vampires) that are after her and she can give birth in peace. She has prepared everything that she can and Cloquet has even secured her a victim for her final change before she's due. Things however, as they usually do in novels like this, don't go according to plan. Just after she'd changed into her other form, Talulla's waters broke and some not very nice people arrived on the scene. The rest of the book is about dealing with the after effects of this event and the trials of werewolf motherhood.

How does Talulla compare as a narrator to Jake from the previous book? Yes, Jake was tired and world weary but he was also clever and funny and dammit, I liked him. Talulla is young so far as the werewolf thing goes and so her story is more brash and aggressive and while there is still humour it feels more forced than the sardonic utterances of Jake, which still appear occasionally from the pages of his journals which she reads from occasionally. There are plenty of new characters to get to grips with as well as a couple of recurring ones from the first book to provide the continuity and you really should read them in order to avoid major spoilers.

As with all the previous books I've read from this author, he doesn't shy away from the gory details of either the bedroom, science lab or torture chamber and his use of nasty words is also present so those of a squeamish or prudish nature should stay away. This was not quite up to the standard of The Last Werewolf (maybe because it's a sequel some of the originality had worn off) but Glen Duncan is a talented writer so it's still a very good read. 4★'s

Have you heard the albums that The Real Tuesday Weld made based on Duncan's novels? He's made them for I Lucifer and The last werewolf. I haven't heard Werewolf yet, but the Lucifer one has become a favourite of mine. I guess I should read the book now :-)

I tried the album for I, Lucifer but it's not really my kind of music so haven't bothered since.

Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois

A collection of short stories looking at the darker aspect of magic which I thought would really appeal to me. Especially when you look at the list of contributors: Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams, Tanith Lee, Gene Wolfe et al. Unfortunately the contents didn't live up to the promise, at least for me anyway. Only a couple of tales really held much interest for me and one of those I'd already read (Gaiman's entry being an excerpt from The Graveyard Book). The other standout story was from Elizabeth Hand which tells of a woodsman coming home to small town Main from Iceland with a new wife in tow. She might be a little more than a regular mail-order bride as local landowner and big businessman finds out when his plans upset the natural order. I will add a caveat to my disinterest/dislike of the other stories in that they mostly appear aimed at a younger market. 2½★'s

Good review of Tallulah Rising, Dave. I liked The Last Werewolf, so I'll be reading this at some point. Is Duncan planning a trilogy?

Yes, it's originally planned for a trilogy. The third, By Blood We Live, is due out next year. Hopefully he can then leave the characters behind and move on to something else. Wouldn't want him to become a werewolf junkie just because it's bringing him fame and fortune. He's too good a writer for that to be his fate.

The Absolute Death by Neil Gaiman

This collection brings together all the stories of Death, Dream's older sister. Some of which has even been featured before in the Absolute editions and that's what kicks off this book. Issue #8 of The Sandman, The Sound of Her Wings is the introduction to the character of Death and so was the logical place to start before moving on to Façade (Sandman #20) which is probably only included to fill out the volume. We then move on to the two 3-part stories, Death: The High Cost of Living and Death: The Time of Your Life. The first of these has Death experiencing time amongst the living as she does once in every hundred years and the second features Death more as a background character as the story revolves around Foxglove and Hazel whom you might remember from an earlier volume (Hint: Foxglove used to be called Donna). These are two very good stories and really show why Death is such a beloved character from the series as a whole. We then come to a couple more one-shot stories: A Winter's Tale gives Death's take on the job she does and The Wheel which is a story written about 9-11 where a boy after losing his mother decides life isn't worth living anymore. And finally we have Death in Venice which features in Endless Nights. A soldier on leave from his unit returns to Venice where he stayed as a young boy and had a dreamlike encounter with a girl who was waiting next to a closed door. The rest of the volume is taken up with A Death Miscellany, a gallery of over 40 pages of artwork by many leading names in the comic-book field, a public service comic featuring Death (with the aid of John Constantine) talking about AIDS, artwork and products used in the marketing for Sandman and a full script (including original pencilled drawings) for The Sound of Her Wings.

Made in the same way as all the other Absolute editions with a faux-leather/felt hardcover in a slip case and high quality oversized pages. This is a good companion piece to the series but if you own the two main stories featured then it is certainly not worth shelling out the money for. It does look good though! 4★'s

Adamtine by Hannah Berry

Certainly darker than the creator's previous work, this disturbing and atmospheric tale is about as creepy as it gets. Interweaving the plight of a handful of people stranded on a train which seems to have come to a complete stop in the middle of nowhere with that of the disappearance of a man accused but acquitted of mass murder. While the passengers try to find out what’s going on the reader is treated to flashbacks of their past which may shed light on their current plight.

The artwork is deliberately muted in colour and tone and you will need to pay attention to see what’s going on, not that everything becomes clear at the end mind you. The flashbacks are differentiated with the here and now by use of alternate borders, flashbacks are in white while black is used for the other. This works well though you are often staring at panels to try and see something that may or may not be there. As has been pointed out you may need to read this more than once to gain a better understanding of events but it is worth it. 4★'s

Good review, Dave - and kudos to you for doing it. I never did figure out how to review this one, even though I liked it, and think she's really something. Disturbing . . . atmospheric . . . creepy - yup. And all in her unique voice, not like Charles Burns, for example. It had some of the same feel as Britten and Brulightly, but with a completely different and darker story.

Just got a copy of Talulla Rising from the library. I read and enjoyed The Last Werewolf based on your review, so am looking forward to reading this one too.

@Joe, short though it was, it still took me a while to write the review. Tried not to give too much away but still make it sound like it's worth the read. I've not ventured too far into the comic book world so Charles Burns is new to me, worth checking out?

@NorthernStar, hope you enjoy that one as much. I do like the author quite a bit and as long as you're not put off by the inclusion of sex or the vulgar language then I'd certainly recommend looking into his other work too. His previous books don't have the same mass-market appeal though so aren't as readily available as his Werewolf series unfortunately. I've now read 6 and have the other 3 on my tbr shelves waiting for an opportunity for me to get to them.

>136 AHS-Wolfy: Sorry, no help here. My comic reading is pretty much fantasy, history & historical fic & political commentary (eg DMZ), and some horror. Not that I'm against reading nearly anything, I'm quite eclectic lol, but those are the ones that tend to catch my eye more.

>136 AHS-Wolfy: Take a look at Black Hole some time, Dave. Charles Burns has a legion of fans, including my son's girlfriend. It was too creepy for me, but you might be made of stronger stuff.

@137, no worries, thanks for stopping by anyway.

@138, Thanks Joe, I'll try and remember to pick it up if I see it. Oh, and thanks for the cookies too.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

A collection of five short stories which lay claim to laying down the conventions for other detective fiction which followed. The first three of these feature the analytical skills of C. Auguste Dupin who solves various crimes and then goes on to tell you how he did it. An obvious forerunner for the likes of Sherlock Holmes et al. The next story relates the tale of a wealthy man now fallen on hard times whose demeanour seems to change when he finds a bug apparently made of gold. The final story has an elaborate plot to unmask the real killer after an innocent man is found guilty of murder.

These stories certainly show the origins of the genre and it's interesting to compare with how it went on to develop. While the reader is not invited to see how the crime was solved alongside the detective you do get to hear the necessary steps that he took to get to the solution. An interesting rather than a good read. 3★'s

Suzy, Led Zeppelin and Me by Martin Millar

I'd had a recommendation for a different Martin Millar book a couple of years ago but, like you do (or don't in this case), hadn't gotten around to picking it up. Remembering the author's name though I snagged this one when I saw it a short while ago and thought I'd give it a try and you can't really go wrong with Led Zeppelin can you?

This book has the narrator reminiscing about the time that the greatest rock band ever went to play a gig in Glasgow in 1972. He was 15 at the time (well, more or less) so this was a momentous occasion for him and his friends. His best friend Greg, Suzy, the unrequited love of both their lives who was the girlfriend of Zed who both he and Greg idolised and was regarded as the hippest guy in school and Cherry who was pretty much regarded as a hanger-on by everyone else. They'd all managed to get tickets for the gig but tensions within the group may cause some fallout before it happens. Can they survive intact and who will end up with who by the time it's all over?

The story, told by the narrator to a friend when he'd past 40, details the events leading up to the concert, the gig itself and the immediate aftermath. It evokes the style of some of the Nick Hornby books I've read but perhaps with a younger protagonist as focus for the story. It captures the angst and drama of that time of your life almost perfectly. Told in short chapters "so even with a short attention span, you'll be able to read it easily" and subjected to the nice and big stage, replacing any adjectives deemed too large with words like nice and big, this is an easy book to read and the temptation to just carry on a bit longer is always there. So is it any good? Let's just say it's nice and not very big and you don't even have to be a Led Zep fan to appreciate what it has to offer. 4★'s

I read Millar's Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation a couple years ago and really liked it. Since then, I've picked up The Fairies of New York and Lonely Werewolf Girl but haven't heard of Suzy, Led Zeppelin and Me--but that and Alby remind me of my marketing classes: when you can't think of a tag, list 3 things, lol. Looks like a good one. I'll be keeping my eyes out for it.

>141 AHS-Wolfy:: Good review, I'll have to look out for that one. I loved Lonely werewolf girl but haven't read any of Millar's other books. Must get around to that soon.

@142, the Scottish fairies do make a cameo appearance in this one. I'll be on the look out for his other works also (including those he wrote under the Martin Scott pseudonym).

@143, thanks. Lonely Werewolf Girl was the one that was recommended for me when I had a wolf category for that year's challenge but I'd already filled it up with other titles so never got round to it. There's also a sequel, Curse of the Wolf Girl, which I thought I'd mention just in case you hadn't seen it.

The Bird Room by Chris Killen

Will can't believe his luck when Alice not so subtly worms her way into his life. At most, Will is expecting a drunken one-night stand so is surprised when the relationship becomes something more. It's also something more than he is used to and so in his desperation he turns it into more of an obsession. After introducing Alice to his one and only friend, also called Will, he becomes certain that their relationship is at an end and that Alice just wants to go and be with the other Will. After all, he's a successful artist that never struggles to get the girls.

Meanwhile, in another part of the story we have Helen who was once called Clair but wants to forget that part of her life so re-invented herself by quitting her job at Boots and becoming an actress. Unfortunately, the only jobs she's had in her new role are for the more adult entertainment area of the market. But what's a girl going to do when she has her share of the rent to pay?

The narration skips between first person for Will and third person for Helen and skips about a bit over the timeline. The writing is quite sparse but does come up with a lovely turn of phrase on occasion. An interesting debut novel but one to avoid if you like your naughty bits shown off camera or want a linear plotline (or even a plotline at all). 3★'s

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

This is not my usual fare from the mystery table as I usually pick at the darker, seedier end and I went into this English country house murder mystery with a little trepidation. The sleuth and narrator is an 11 year-old girl, youngest of three sisters who live with their father at the crumbling ancestral home of Buckshaw in 1950's rural England. Flavia, the precocious girl in question, likes nothing more than experimenting in her chemistry laboratory and uses her inquisitive mind to concoct suitable vengeance on her two older siblings who always seem to gang up on her. Early one morning she discovers a dying man in the cucumber patch and is a little disconcerted when it turns out to be the same man she stumbled upon having an argument with her father the night before. Surely daddy didn't do it? But the police seem to think so and even go so far as to arrest him. After getting the brush off from the local inspector, Flavia takes matters into her own hand and tries to find out what really happened.

The characters were superbly brought to life in a setting which allowed them to and while the mystery wasn't overly engaging, Flavia's attempts to find the clues and make sense of them was more than enough to keep me reading until the end. The pacing is almost spot on with moments of humour and reminders of the time period slipped in with the investigations. A pretty good début offering from a 69 year-old Canadian who had never stepped on English soil until after he wrote it. I’ll definitely carry on with the series at some point. 4★'s

Had to comment on The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Dave. Your review was spot on for me. "An interesting rather than a good read." Yup. I'd heard about this collection as being one of the originators of the genre, too, and read it for that reason.

Wolfy, I never in a million years would have recommended The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie to you. I am glad you enjoyed it, and I think, as the series goes on, it gets darker in the sense that reality encroaches upon Flavia's world. The characters develop and grow, but not necessarily in a positive direction. I enjoy them very much, and agree with you, it's quite a good effort for a late-bloomer, so to speak.

@Joe, My reason for reading was that I thought it was about time I read something from the author. Not having done so before I thought it was a good time to rectify that and The Murders in the Rue Morgue was as good a place as any to start.

@MrsLee, I'm all for broadening my reading horizons, just don't expect me to join in with Orange January though ;)

Helmet of Horror by Victor Pelevin

Produced for Cannongate's The Myths series and recreating and updating to modern times the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Written in the form of posts to a bulletin board, the reader (or lurker) follows along as the posters tell of their experiences having found themselves alone in a room with just a keyboard and screen for company. All they can do is post to a single thread and any form of personal information is censored by moderators. Exploring their environment reveals they each have their own part of a labyrinth and further information is relayed via dreams to Ariadne, one of the posters, who then relates to the rest of the group. There is a lot of philosophising about their predicament and the reality of it all and I'm not very adroit at weeding out the information in this form so no doubt have missed a whole heap of stuff that would have helped make sense of what was going on. I'm not even sure a re-read would help me that much. Even so, there was enough here to keep me whizzing around the next corner to see what was there. 3½★'s

:) I've only read one of the books on the Orange January page, so, who am I to cast apples? But thanks for enlightening me about it, never heard of it before, but I've heard of Purple Prose. Apparently the Bulwer-Lytton contest takes care of that.

>146 AHS-Wolfy: I love Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. My favourite so far was A Red Herring Without Mustard. They just remind me of the mysteries I read when I was a kid in the 1950s. I was surprised to hear that Canadian Bradley has never lived in England.

Pronto by Elmore Leonard

Harry Arno runs a sports book in Miami for Jimmy Cap. The Feds want to take down Harry's boss so use him as bait by letting it be known that Harry is skimming off the top. Jimmy tells his enforcer, Tommy Bucks aka The Zip, to take care of it. When Harry manages to kill the guy who they send after him is when the story starts to get interesting. Harry is arrested but manages to make bail and is being looked after by a US Marshal who goes by the name of Raylan Givens. Harry, for the second time in their lives, manages to give Raylan the skip and flies off to Italy to escape from it all having a fondness for the place due to an incident in his past. Raylan is none too happy about Harry doing a runner so uses some personal time to go after him. However, he's not the only one following the trail that Harry leaves and soon all the major players are in Rapallo and it's only a matter of time before things come together.

This is the first appearance of the US Marshal with a cowboy hat and a fondness for ice cream that has now become more famous for the TV show Justified starring Timothy Olyphant. It's pretty much a typical Elmore Leonard book with a few twists and turns in the story that keep you guessing and reading until the last page. He does throw in a few clunkers every now and then but I'm glad to say this isn't one of them. I've yet to watch the TV show but after reading this I definitely want to and I will also be reading the next book in the series at some point too. 3½★'s

Pollen by Jeff Noon

Although this is a sequel to Vurt, it is not a by-the-numbers repeat of that earlier work. This one takes some of the elements that were briefly touched upon and develops them much more comprehensively and we get to learn more of what vurt is and also the diversity of beings that inhabit both worlds. There's pretty much a whole new cast of characters this time around as well. From shadowcops to dog-men and x-cabbers that will take you anywhere you want to go as long as it's on the map and you have the fare.

Coyote, the last of the independent cabbies gets a pickup from one of the places the x-cabbers won't go. Limbo, home to the half-dead, is where he meets Persephone who just wants a ride into the city. But is this young girl more than she seems? The ride doesn't end well for the driver but he's only the first. His body is found with flowers growing out of his throat but when he is probed by Sybil, the shadowcop, it's found that he died with a smile on his face. Not long after there's an infestation of exotic flora that is causing the pollen count to rise to astronomical figures and the hay fever that results is crippling the city's inhabitants. Only those who can't dream are immune to the effects. What's causing it all and why does the chief of police seem to be obstructing the case and working with Columbus, owner of the x-cabbers?

This book could be read as a stand-alone work but I wouldn't really recommend doing so. Some of the concepts here were first introduced in the previous book and I doubt that the reader would gain the understanding without reading Vurt beforehand. Considering this falls under the cyberpunk banner, there isn't a lot of tech or science with the story heading into more fantastical and phantasmagorical ways with the vurt world wanting to expand into the real world. 4★'s

I keep meaning to read more of Jeff Noon. I've had his short story collection pixel juice for some time, and enjoyed (most of) it - some are just too weird for me. But the occasions when a theme reappears makes it rewarding. However I've not yet tried the novels - have you read PJ, how do they compare?

No, I've just read Vurt and Pollen so far. I do have another 4 of his books on the tbr shelves but that's not one I've picked up as yet. Possibly look to grab it after I've read Automated Alice and Nymphomation as from what I gather Pixel Juice does use some characters from his other books.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Charlie Gordon has an abnormally low IQ but has a drive to better himself that was instilled by his mother when he was a child. He voluntarily attends an adult learning centre so that he can learn to read and write. Seeing his devotion, his teacher recommends him as the first test subject for a radical new procedure that will increase intelligence by up to 3 times its current level. The experiment has been thoroughly tested on animals and the latest subject, a mouse named Algernon, is showing great signs that the change is permanent.

Told in the form of progress reports written by Charlie, the reader gets to see and feel the emotions and change of character as the experiment takes hold and Charlie's intelligence increases to that of genius level. How is he affected when he realises those he thought of as friends who were always laughing around him were actually laughing at him and not with him. We get to learn of his childhood as long buried memories rise to the surface and we get to follow along as he builds up new relationships with those around him. How will Charlie cope when Algernon shows signs that the experiment might not be quite so lasting after all and that the same fate may await him?

Not a hard science fiction book but one that examines society's actions to some of its less fortunate members and the psychological effects on the test subject himself. This is a well-crafted story that tugs at the emotional heart-strings and if you don't want to be seen blubbering in public then make sure you read the end while you are safely ensconced in a private place. 5★'s

Missing by Karin Alvtegen

What do you do when you're accused of murder and all the evidence points to you as the sole suspect and you don't fit within the confines of what most people believe is normal societal behaviour? When you're Sibylla Forsenstrom you go on the run of course. Living on the streets of Stockholm, Sibylla occasional runs a scam to get a free night in a hotel from a lonely traveller as she does enjoy the luxury of a a good meal and a hot bath every now and then. When she wakes up with the police knocking on her hotel room door wanting to ask her some serious questions she decides it's time for a sharp exit. Managing to elude the police she finds out that the man who paid for her meal and room had been brutally murdered and his body mutilated and as she was the last person seen with him and her fingerprints were on his hotel keycard she is suspect no.1 in a list that has just one name on it.

As time passes and Sibylla manages to evade capture we get to learn of her transformation from upper-class Swedish teenager to a homeless woman that has been living on the streets for the last fifteen years and the possibility of guilt doesn't hang too far away as the body count rises and she still stays out of police clutches. While hiding out, Sibylla encounters an unlikely ally in the shape of 15 year-old Patrick who believes her pleas of innocence and then convinces her that they should try and find the real killer so she can be free from society's expectations once again.

The suspense mounts with every turn of a page and Sibylla is an engaging character. The book is only really let down with the rather abrupt ending which feels a little forced. Still a decent read though. 3½★'s

#95 Hey, I'm catching up on your thread. I just read The Maltese Falcon too. I thought it was worth the read, being a classic for the genre, but I don't think I will read more of Sam Spade. I liked the book, but I don't love his character. I think I have been spoiled by Philip Marlowe. I gave the book 3 stars.

#124 I have to agree, I loved Peeps but the sequel was a bit disappointing, I still liked it and it was a quick read, but as with many sequels the original was better. I'll have to check out scott Westerfeld's other works.

I think Flowers for Algernon is top of the line, too, Dave, and I agree it really pulls at the heartstrings.

Missing sounds intriguing, although it's disappointing to hear about the abrupt ending.

@Joybee, thanks for stopping by. The Leviathan trilogy is certainly an entertaining read but is firmly in the YA bracket but I can attest to any of his other works because I've not read anything else other than the first Peeps book yet.

@Joe, It's going down as my single best read of the year (so far) as the other 5★ reviews have been for collections. Abrupt endings seem to be a thing for Karin Alvtegen apparently as I was advised in my other thread that she has another that does likewise.

The Tenth Man by Graham Greene

Louis Chavel was a rich lawyer who finds himself incarcerated with 29 other men in a Nazi run prison in Paris. When the group of prisoners are informed they must choose 3 of their number to be executed in an act of reprisal they decide the only way is to draw lots. Chaval is one of the unlucky ones but begs for his life and says he will give all his fortune if one of the others would take his place. His offer is accepted and so Chaval assigns his property and fortune over to the soon to be dead man's surviving relatives.

When the war is all but over, Chaval, now going by the name of Jean-Louis Charlot, finds life as a poor man not much to his liking and so finds himself drawn to his old house in the country and manages to insinuate himself into the lives of the mother and daughter of the man who took his place. He takes on the role of servant but soon realises that he's fallen in love with the daughter who has confessed that she would kill the man he used to be if he was to show his face. So what happens when someone claiming to be Chavel actually turns up?

Originally written in 1944 while under contract to MGM, this short novel lay forgotten in the archives until it was discovered in 1983. Returned to the author for revision the book was finally able to see the light of day. I, for one, am certainly glad it did and this edition comes with an introduction by the author himself as well as two outlines for films, the second of which was later adapted into Our Man in Havana. 4★'s

The Absolute Sandman Vol.5 by Neil Gaiman

The final (for now) volume in the absolute editions brings together both versions of The Dream Hunters, the seven short stories that make up Endless Nights and Sandman Midnight Theatre all prefaced by a short called The Last Sandman Story taken from Dust Covers which deals with the author's own encounters with his characters. The first of The Dream Hunters is quite different to all that has come before being an illustrated novella rather than in comic book format. This was done at the request of the artist Yoshitaka Amano and takes Dream to the Orient in a tale of love between a fox and a monk. The story is exquisite and the artwork simply gorgeous and is probably my favourite from all the Sandman books. Told as an adaptation of a fictitious Japanese fairy tale, it uses characters drawn from Japanese folklore and fits them perfectly into the Sandman mythos. The P. Craig Russell Dream Hunters comic book adaptation of this story is used to conclude the volume. To me, the comic is less effective in telling this particular story.

Endless Nights features a story for each of Dream's siblings and one for Dream himself. Death's story, Death in Venice, also appears in Absolute Death but was still worthy of admiring again. Of the others, I think Delirium's tale was my favourite and Despair's quite unsettling but all are worthy of attention. This was released to celebrate Vertigo's 10th anniversary and some very talented artists were recruited to each pen a different story.

Sandman Midnight Theatre brings together two different entities of the Sandman with Wesley Dodds investigating the goings on at the manor Fawney Rig where Roderick Burgess imprisoned Dream. Plotted by Matt Wagner and written by Neil Gaiman with artwork that takes the reader back to 1930's England with a noirish feel it has tempted me to think about trying out the Sandman Mystery Theatre series at some point.

The book concludes with a Sandman miscellany which includes several pages of posters and sketches from The Dream Hunters, more posters used as retail promotion, script with design and layout for Dream's story in Endless Nights and details of statues and figures made for the series.

Although the works are unrelated, it is good to have them all gathered in this volume to complete and match the other releases in the set. 4½★'s

Good review, Dave. I wish these weren't so darn expensive. This one, collecting odds and ends, is the most interesting of the group so far to me. I've got the first Dream Hunters, for example, which really is a beaut, but not the second. Oh well. Maybe some day.

Thanks Joe. Absolutely loved the series and can see why it's regarded as a seminal piece.

Vamped by David Sosnowski

Marty is tired of the undead life. Sick of being a vampire in a sea of vampires so he's out driving recklessly one night and he's even taken out the airbags when he spots something that he thought he'd never see again. A little girl! A real-life human girl. She's covered in blood but none of it is hers so maybe she was one of those farm raised humans being readied for an exclusive clientele who has managed to escape but whoever she was with didn't make it. Deciding that perhaps little Isuzu Trooper Cassidy, for that's what Marty finds out is actually her name, will taste better later when she's not quite so emotionally wrung out and so he decides to look after her for a while. After initial overtures of friendship that involve a bread knife, Marty manages to coax Isuzu into his car by convincing her that her fellow escapee, which turned out to be her mother, managed to escape the vampires that found them and he'd left a note with his phone number for the mum to call when she returned. Snack time for Marty however keeps getting put off longer and longer and he finds himself acting as a surrogate father to a cute little girl with all the troubles that brings in a world designed for vampire living without a thought to the daily life of a real live human. He will, of course, have to keep her a secret from everyone and that's not easy when your neighbours are the curtain-twitching kind and your walls are paper thin.

Told entirely from Marty's point of view this novel takes a wry and humorous look at life and the skills required in being a parent. Yes, it has its flaws in that large chunks of time are missed out and how Isuzu manages to remain sane and intelligent as she grows up basically alone while her only companion sleeps the sleep of the (un)dead during daylight hours. But for all that, this is still a fun and inventive story with some fresh ideas which remains fairly light and fluffy despite some darker moments. The ending was probably a little bit of a cop-out but overall I found this an enjoyable read and will be watching out for future releases from the author. 4★'s

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

Near-future tech dystopian novel that revolves around the lives of four people in a corporate run world. They're all involved in trying to undermine a society that is seeking to gain greater control of everybody's life. To get anywhere in this world you need to be connected, everything is controlled through your phone: building access, transport, cash transactions and even justice can be meted out through electric shock from the local enforcement agency. Suspensions of service are tantamount to a prison sentence and do something deemed significantly bad and earn a disonnection and your life might just as well be over. Kendra is an up-and-coming photographer who has just signed on as a guinea-pig for a nanotechnology implant. Toby is a journo-wannabe, running a streaming blog called diary of a cunt and living off hand-outs from uber-rich mummy. Tendeka, the anarchist, who dreams of bringing down the current system. Lerato is a corporate programmer who wants to climb the ladder but wouldn't mind missing out a few rungs to get there a bit quicker. Their lives criss-cross throughout the story as events unfold to which they all have a connection to some degree.

Each character's voice is distinct, which is a good job considering they act as narrators for this story switching between the four in short, rapid chapters. The plot is not inherently obvious from the outset but creeps up on you slowly as you get to learn of the world through four sets of eyes. There is definitely a (non-preachy) political statement within this novel and a warning of potential dangers of the way in which our own world seems to be edging closer to realising. Perhaps treat this as a V for Vendetta for the digital age. 4★'s

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

A pulp fantasy novel that has nine brothers competing to rule in the one true world of Amber. We follow Corwin as he awakens in a hospital with no memory except for a flash of being involved in a car accident. Not even knowing who he is but it soon becomes apparent that the medical staff don't necessarily have his best interests at heart and are in fact trying to hold him prisoner. Learning a few things as he manages to escape he makes his way to his sister and through duplicitous means manages to find out a few more. When Random, one of his brothers, also seeks aid at their sister's home he is surprised to find Corwin there and presumes he has his full faculties restored and believes he's making a try for the throne. Doing enough not to convince him otherwise, Corwin enlists Random's help and sets off on just such a quest. When the going gets too tough, Corwin confesses but Random has a possible solution to return his full memory as he believes that Corwin may be the best hope of stopping Eric, another of the prince's, from taking the throne for himself. A prospect that neither of them wants. Accomplishing this, Corwin sees the best way to defeat Eric would be an alliance with another brother and seeks out Bleys, the best military strategist of them. Together they recruit a massive army from the shadow worlds (the worlds that are not Amber) to invade but will it be enough to overcome the incumbent forces of Eric?

There's quite a lot packed in to this small opening chapter of the Amber chronicles (10 books in all) and it is generally well regarded within the SF&F field but, for me, there was something a little lacking. There just wasn't enough detail to thoroughly immerse yourself into the story. Epic battles were passed off as encounter x, sustained y amount of losses and that would be it. Thousands of people (I say that in the loosest possible term) died but because you didn't know them it didn't matter. The plot was rushed and everything felt like you were being pushed along at breakneck speed. There are some good points to the book though. I liked the magic system, the use of playing cards with the family being the trumps worked well and the overall concept was at the least intriguing. I could even get to like the main character if his development continues in the next volume. As for any of the other characters in the story, you just don't get to know them at all and there is no way this book would pass the Bechdel test.

As I have The Great Book of Amber, which includes all 10 volumes, I will at some point read the next one but not, as I originally planned to do, straight away. 3★'s

Good reviews, Dave. I liked Lauren Beukes' Zoo City a lot, and wondered about Moxyland. Sounds like it's a good read, so onto the tbr it goes.

Nine Princes in Amber is an old favorite of mine, and I'm one of those who has read all ten. I think you will grow to like Corwin more as you read on. His son becomes the central character in the later ones. I loved the start of Nine Princes, as he has to overcome that amnesia and figure out what in the world is going on.

Thanks Joe. I think I'd have liked the Amber book more if I'd read it when I was younger but it's good to know that there is further development as the story progresses.

Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa

Shunned by his colleagues for refusing to toe the line Inspector Samejima, known by the name of Shinjuku Shark for his relentless pursuit of justice regardless of the cost, is on the trail of gun manufacturer Kizu. Once regarded as a shining light within the force he is now treated as something of a loose cannon but one that cannot simply be dismissed. He holds information which could potentially have devastating consequences if it gets released. No-one in the department wants to work with him, partially because of his methods and also in fear that their own careers would be harmed, so the Shark works alone in one of the toughest precincts in Japan. But while he's closing in on his target it seems another hunter has entered his waters and is preying on his fellow officers. Will he give up his own enquiries to take on the the new target and become a team player or will his own investigation lead him there anyway as he suspects that it might?

This is quite a fast-paced, hard-boiled detective story with an interesting set of characters that has turned into a popular and multi-award winning series in Japan. It features some detailed police procedural work too, particularly in the ballistics field, which is worked well into the story. There is probably a little too much coincidence going on though which ties everything together including Samejima's personal life but despite that it's still an enjoyable tale and I'm glad that I've also picked up the 2nd in the series to continue with at some point. 4★'s

The Absolute V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

Written in the late 1980's but set 10 years later this graphic novel tells the story of a Britain suffering under a totalitarian government which the people not only accepted but welcomed after the chaos brought on by a third world war. One man, going by the name of V, thinks it's time for change and sets about inciting the people into wanting their freedom once again. To accomplish this requires some extraordinary acts starting with the blowing up of the Houses of Parliament. He is, of course, dressed as Guy Fawkes and remains so throughout the story. He also has a score to settle with the people who made him what he is today and the first arc of the book deals with this. It also features V's rescue of Evey, a 16 year-old girl who was about to be raped and murdered by what passes for policemen at the time. Evey remains with V in his lair until a disagreement over methods finds her abandoned and alone once more. Evey will meet up with V once again but probably not in the way she would have expected.

This is obviously a political story but it never judges the characters involved but shows how they arrived at what they were and rather asks the reader to question "what if..." "What if I had to make that decision?" "What if that was me in that position?" "What would I do?". As well as being powerful and thought-provoking, this is an intense portrayal of an extreme that we seem still to be heading towards. It is told without the use of thought balloons or caption boxes so the dialogue and the artwork must compel the narrative along and this works wonderfully. Like the tone of the story, the artwork is quite dark, the colours muted into sepia tones with lots of use of shadow. This Absolute edition includes all 10 volumes and resurrects the "silent-art" pages (full-page panels containing no dialogue) from the original series' run. We also get the original introductions by the author and artist as well as a short feature on the making of V for Vendetta entitled V: Behind the painted smile. There are also some early sketches and alternate cover artwork included as well.

Unlike the author, I did enjoy the movie version and while they do differ quite substantially I think the movie offers up a good adaptation of this original work. While they do tell a similar story there are enough differences to make it worthwhile experiencing both forms of media. 4½★'s

The Resurrectionist by Jack O'Connell

This is the weirdest of the 5 (so far) books in the Quinsigamond series and that is saying something. Sweeney is a man on the edge. Unable to cope with the guilt of not being there when his son Danny's accident occurred he will do anything to try and restore Danny from the coma he's been in ever since. That's all he lives for so when an opening appears at the renowned Peck clinic in Quinsigamond, Sweeney applies and is granted a place for his son amongst the patients. He is also taken on as a pharmacist within the clinic itself. Events don't transpire exactly as he's hoped and soon find Sweeney enmeshed with a biker group that's also made it's way to the rust-belt factory town who have plans of their own for Sweeney and Danny. Which way will Sweeney eventually lean? Who can he trust to do the right thing for his son?

Interjected within this story we are also treated to excerpts from Danny's favourite comic book, Limbo, which is about a troupe of freaks forced to flee from their circus home and follow the mystical instructions given to the chicken boy when he enters into Limbo while in the grip of a seizure. While fleeing a mad doctor they're trying to re-unite chicken boy with his long lost father believed to be on the far shores of Gehenna. I did mention that this book was weird, right?

The two narratives eventually join up to form a whole that speculates on consciousness and where we go when that is lost and the feelings of guilt and rage of those that get left behind. It also takes a look at how stories can have an effect on people's lives and not always for the betterment thereof. This book will not be everyone's cup of tea, the characters in the main are mostly unlikeable, there's quite a mishmash of elements in the storytelling linking gothic and noirish mystery that will not sit well with everyone. But for me, because I've enjoyed the previous work of the author it seems to have built nicely to this. I wouldn't recommend this as a first experience of his work though but I found it quite compelling. 4★'s

Lots of good reading, Dave. Like you, I enjoyed the V for Vendetta movie.

Happy New Year!

Thanks Joe, it's been a pretty decent year for me overall and although I didn't quite reach the numerical numbers that I have in previous years I still think I did okay. Here's a copy of my stats & summary post from the category challenge thread:

And with that I'm now done. There were times along the way that I didn't think I'd get here but glad that I made it in the end.

Year end stats and summary:

Total books read: 79

Primary Tag:
Sci-Fi 12
Fantasy 11
Graphic Novel 10
Crime 10
Urban Fantasy 8
Fiction 8
Mystery 5
Steampunk 3
Cyberpunk 2
Humour 2
Thriller 2
New Weird 1
Satire 1
Western 1
Historical Fiction 1
Horror 1
Short Stories 1

Original Language
English 66
Japanese 3
French 2
Swedish 2
Spanish 2
Russian 2
German 1
Chinese 1

Author
Male 66
Female 9
Both 4

Ratings:
2½★'s: 3
3★'s: 8
3½★'s: 20
4★'s: 35
4½★'s: 10
5★'s: 3

Least favourite books read for the year:
Dark Alchemy: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy
And Another Thing...
Please Don't Call Me Human

Overall favourites
Flowers for Algernon
The Absolute Sandman Volume Three
Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Five

Just wanted to say thank you to all at The Green Dragon and wish you all a very happy new year with plenty of good reading ahead of you.

fin