Category: Books

The Family Trade

This is the highly enjoyable first volume of Stross’ fantasy epic The Merchant Princes. Which, if Stross himself is to be believed, was intended to be a fat trilogy, but after the publisher decided they wanted to print slimmer books, will now stretch to ten or twelve volumes!
The book follows Miriam Beckstein, a tech journalist, as she discovers that she is a high ranking member of a clan of ‘world walkers’ and thrust into a world of intrigue, politics and cold-blooded murder.
As with all multi-volume fantasy series my recommendation is to wait until the whole thing is out to read unless you want to suffer from extreme frustration (curse you Robert Jordan!). If you can’t wait, well it’s a damn good read.

Rating: A

In Your Dreams

This is the sequel to The Portable Door. It’s OK.

Rating: C

The Serpent Mage

Second of the ‘Songs of Earth and Power’ series finds the protagonist, Michael Perrin, back on Earth and discovering he has more power and more responsibility than he ever thought responsible.
Compared to the first of the duology this feels more bitty, and some of the characters are decidely wooden. It’s still enjoyable though, if not the book that it could have been.
A must read for those who’ve read The Infinity Concerto, otherwise a relatively lifeless and predictable piece of fantasy.

Rating: C

The Infinity Concerto

The first book of a fantasy duology by reknowned Science Fiction author Bear.
It tells the story of a sixteen year old called Michael Perrin. Perrin is bequested a key and directions after the death of his friend, Arno Waltiri. Using the key and following the directions he finds himself in the Realm, legendary home of the Sidhe.
This is an enjoyable fantasy novel, even if the lead character is a bit whiny at times. Strong points include some of the invention in the later parts of the book and the interesting way poetry is used.
Well worth a read if you like your fantasy novels.

Rating: B

All My Sins Remembered

This book takes the form of linked short stories about a far-future spy. The linking sections deal with his guilt over the actions he has been forced to take by his training in execution of his job, which contradict his internal beliefs.

This is a competently written, entertaining enough little piece. Apparently Haldeman has a large repution, but this is more based on Forever War (which I own but haven’t gotten around to reading yet).

Rating: B-

Cosmonaut Keep

The first of the Engines of Light Trilogy. Which contrasts near future earth and the discovery of alien technology and the ancestors of the people in the first part of the book living on a planet with dinosaur descendents and the descendents of abducted humans. It’s a slow starter but it gets really enjoyable once it gets going. I intend the read the rest of the trilogy now.
I should mention that this book is dedicated to Chris Boyce and is based on his ideas about extra-terrestial intelligence. I knew Chris when I did a work placement at the Herald & Evening Times Library in Glasgow. He was very kind to me and I was very sad to hear of his death a couple of years back.

Rating: A

Dark Light

The second of the Engines of Light Trilogy. Continuing the high standard of the first novel, this book follows the consequences of the Bright Star’s journey and the impact that Cairns and Volkov have on the development of the planet with their diverging agendas in the face of local political intrigue.
I like it very much.

Rating: A

Engine City

The third of the Engines of Light Trilogy. This one follows the lead characters to Nova Terra and the great city state of Nova Babylonia. Contact with aliens is made with fascinating implications, and the impact of Volkov’s neo-socialist politics have on the city.
This was a total blast to read. No sure about the ending, like, but it doesn’t spoil the trilogy.

Rating: A

see the new css effects?
i really should write something about films and music soon too

The Wee Free Men

You’d think that being a Young Adult Novel that Pratchett wouldn’t have put his full effort into this book. Far from it. It is a very fine novel that takes a middling Witches book and turns it into a masterpiece. Incredibly moving at times, as well as very funny. This is a must read.

Rating: A

Garden State

This was a long winded and rather self-important book. I found most of the characters rather unsympathetic, except for Alice’s mother (and she barely appears after her accident). Moody is obviously a very talented writer, and the prose is rather nicely crafted. Unfortunately the plot was practically non-existent and while some people might love the slice-of-life thing I am not one of those people. I like my stories to have some sort of sense of journey to them.
Well written, but empty.

Rating: B

Feet Of Clay

Prompted by the re-read of Night Watch I decided to read the Watch books again.
This one is about Golems. It’s pretty good. I’d rank it in the solidly enjoyable but not spectacularly good level of Discworld books.
If you’ve got any sense you’ll read all the Discworld books.

Rating: B

Jingo

Another Watch book. This one is about the consequences the sudden appearance of an island between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch. It’s pretty good, features Leonard Da Quirm who I always enjoy.
A lesser Discworld

Rating: B-

Men At Arms

The second Ankh-Morpork Watch Book. This is the one where a deranged aristocratic assassin realizes that Carrot is indeed the heir to the throne of the city. The plot turns on a Leonard Da Quirm device called The Gonne (yup, a gun, but it’s a unique thing in culture of swords and arrows). It also introduces dwarves, trolls and a werewolf, Angua, to the Watch.
I’ve grown to appreciate this book more over the years.

Rating: B+

Maskerade

This is a Witches book. It’s basically set around the plot of the Phantom of the Opera. It’s also the first book to feature Agnes Nitt in a major way before she becomes part of the Lancre coven.
It’s OK, but very slight.

Rating: C+

Pyramids

A rare thing, a standalone Discworld novel. This tells the story of Teppic as he is trained to become an assassin, and then inherits the kingdom of Djelibeybi.
It’s pretty interesting and really very funny. No masterpiece though.

Rating: B

Going Postal

The most recent Discworld novel. A very good book set in Ankh-Morpork, as a con man is given one last chance by the Patrician to become part of society as the Postmaster General. There’s a lot of thinly veiled stuff about corruption in business practices in here.
It’s a very good read.

Rating: B+

Thief Of Time

This is a Death/Susan & Monks of History book. It’s very patchy, especially at the beginnning. Once it gets rolling it becomes more enjoyable. I have to admit to not particularly liking the Death/Susan books, even though I really like both characters. Don’t know why that is.

Rating: C+

Big Deal

Holden decides to jack his career as a writer in for a year after getting a taste for big time poker when he manages to win his way to the world series of poker. It follows him as he participates in tournaments around the world and as he visits a psychologist to analyse why he is so drawn to poker.
It’s very entertainingly written, and the man has considerable charm. You have to have some understanding of how various forms of poker are played to get the most out of it.
It makes the life of a poker pro sound very seductive.

Rating: B

Drunkard’s Walk

A novella more than a novel this one. Set in a future version of America where a high flying young academic continually attempts suicide, without any will to do so on his own part. His search for why this is happening uncovers a secret conspiracy at the highest levels of society.
It’s a very mid-20th Century American tale this one. A decent read, but sadly my old copy of this died in the process of reading it and is now in the bin.

Rating: C+

Sign O The Times

This is a critical appraisal of Prince’s masterwork, often steeped in the personality and history of the author. I know Matos as a regular on a message board I lurk on and he’s a quality writer.
This is of interest if you value Prince’s work or appreciate a good, well written piece of rock criticism.

Rating: B

Amnesia Moon

This is second novel, after the highly enjoyable Gun, with occasional music. This is a very unfocussed book filled with loads of great ideas. Lethem has gone on to lots of mainstream plaudits and obviously has decent chops as a writer.
This is not one of his best, but worth visiting.

Rating: B-

Conrad’s Fate

This is a brand new Chrestomanci book. It’s the story of Conrad who has bad karma and whose Uncle tells him he must serve at the local castle to find the person he must kill to fix his karma.
This is an entertaining little book. Nowhere near the best Chrestomanci that she’s written but probably worth your time.

Rating: B-

Revenge of The Sith

The novelization of the forthcoming film.
What more can I say than that Anakin Skywalker is a stupid, self obsessed, whiny little bitch. Hopefully the shocking pacing problems of this books are fixed in the film.

C+

24 Hour Party People

This is the novelization of the script of one my favourite films of recent years.
It’s a very entertaining fictional acccount of the true story of Factory Records.
The book is by Anthony Wilson who ran Factory Records and who fills the book with asides that point out the bits of the film that are utterly untrue, kind of true or just plain true.
It’s an enjoyable read

Rating: B

Night Watch

This is among the very best Discworld novels, along with the likes of Small Gods.
A bit darker than normal, and with much less emphasis on the humour, this is an Ankh-Morpork Watch story.
Sam Vimes (who has grown to become perhaps my favourite Discworld character) is thrown into the past to hunt down a psychotic killer and finds he has to relive one of the formative experiences of his youth and take on the mantle of his mentor in order to heal time and get back to his present and his newborn child.
The plot is a device allowing Pratchett to really get under the skin of a character.
It’s a beautiful piece of writing.

Rating: A+

A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away

An essentially silly and massively enjoyable thriller.
It tells the story of Ray, a new father and a new teacher, and what happens when he

sees an old university friend at an airport when the friend is meant to be very

dead.
Littering the story with all sorts of references to pop culture makes this a very

enjoyable read if rather unbelievable.
If you like big dumb action packed thrillers with a very Scottish voice, you’ll like

this creation.

Rating: B

Understanding Comics

This a serious discussion of the nature and potential of sequential art written in

comic form.
It’s a very persuasive and powerful piece of work.
Probably for people who’d like to have some insight into the theory and practice of

comics.

Rating: A

The Sacred Art Of Stealing

Another rather enjoyable thriller, this time mostly set in Glasgow.
Angelique de Xavia, the scots-asian police officer introduced in ‘A big boy did it

and ran away’, is pulled out of a match at ibrox to get involved in an unusual bank

heist in the centre of Glasgow. The plot deals with the implications of the robbery

and the attraction between the lead robber and de Xavia.
It starts off remarkably well, then tails off. Worth a read though.

Rating: B

Pattern Recognition

A near future novel about the implications of branding, guerilla marketing and niche

internet communties set two years before the novel came out.
This is the story of a person whose sensitivity to brands makes her ideal for

marketing companies wanting to know if their strategies are likely to work or not.
She gets involved in an intrigue related to a community she participates in to do

with snippets of film that appear in strange places on the net. With complex and

dangerous results.
This is probably Gibson’s most satisfying novel, if not his flashiest. I’d really

recommend it.

Rating: A