transmission
no language, just sound

221

The Drawing of the Three

Stephen King

This is the second of King’s Dark Tower Fantasy sequence. After the very odd first book this was actually a lot of fun to read.

Roland of Gilead is a Gunslinger – a knight equivalent in a post technological world. In this story he has recently caught up with The Man In Black on the western shoreline of his world, a man he has been chasing for around twenty years. Exhausted from the confrontation with his foe he is caught unawares by hideous giant lobster-like creatures who rob him of the first two fingers on his right hand and inflict many other injuries. His wounds become infected as he heads along the never-ending beach, and his ammunition is limited after becoming wet. Barely able to continue he comes upon a door. The door is the first of three prophesized by The Man In Black. The door is into the mind (and world) of a man in 1986. To go much further into the plot would thoroughly spoil things.
I enjoyed Roland’s interaction with 20th Century New York and the people he interacts with beyond the doors.
It is a book that I wanted to keep reading and that easily kept my attention (which has been wandering terribly of late). It promises that the rest of the series will be very interesting indeed and I’ll read the rest of the books.
At least I know they’re all written… (Not looking at Robert Jordan at all, not at all)
If you like fantasy you’ll probably like this a lot. Especially if you like fantasy worlds interacting with the real world.
Rating: B

Uncategorized


Uncategorized
13:46, January 21st 2004

 

220

Gun, with occasional music

Jonathan Lethem

This is Lethem’s first novel, which has lain in my ‘to read’ pile ever since I bought it just after the paperback release.
The recent excellent reviews for his latest novel ‘The Fortress of Solitude’ lead to me finally picking it up reading it.
The novel takes the form of a hard boiled ‘noir’ detective story, but it’s set in a future dystopian America. This is an America where government provided drugs are taken by the population to meet their own needs – to accept, to forget, etc. It’s also a world with ‘evolution therapy’ which allows animals (prominently in this story a kangaroo) to have human level intelligence, and for adults to become ‘babyheads’ essentially an adult in a child’s body.
It’s got a pretty standard detective plot for all the sfnal contrivances around it, though.
It’s obvious that he’s got a fluent writing style and enormous talent.
However this book is no classic. The plot is superficial and the twist is obvious really early on in the story.
I can’t say that I really enjoyed reading it that much, but it’s by no means a bad book.
Rating: C-

Uncategorized


Uncategorized
14:58, January 19th 2004

 

219

A New Year

Updates will happen some time this year…

I promise!

Uncategorized


Uncategorized
14:56, January 7th 2004