Category: Fiction

brief update (6)

Posted on by Greig

Pattern Recognition

William Gibson

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

brief update (5)

Posted on by Greig

The Sacred Art Of Stealing

Christopher Brookmyre

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

brief update (3)

Posted on by Greig

A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away

Christopher Brookmyre

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

brief update (2)

Posted on by Greig

Night Watch

Terry Pratchett

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+