B – Page 11 – transmission

toad?

Posted on August 10, 2007September 4, 2007 by Greig

Storm Front

Jim Butcher

First of the Dresden Files Series introduces Harry Dresden, Wizard For Hire.
In this book Harry attempts to solve a series of ghastly magical murders at the request of a detective in the local Police Department, and tackle a missing persons case at the same time. All while having to deal with Madame who happens to be a Vampire, dark Magicians, being under constant surveillance by the wizard’s council and, oh, the local Chicago mob.
It’s a pretty entertaining romp if wildly nonsensical at times. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a decent piece of fantasy horror with a nice dash of humour.

Rating: B

solly?

Posted on April 10, 2007November 18, 2008 by Greig

Breakfast At Tiffanys

Truman Capote

Capote’s novella is famously the basis of a much sanitised hollywood film version. In this, the original work, it’s pretty blatant that Holly is a hooker of sorts and she’s portrayed as even more of a creature of impulse and criminal tendencies that she is in the film.
I got the impression that Holly was something almost feral yet so glamorous that the narrator loved her from a distance in his way but never really understood her.
Not my usual kind of thing but it’s a pretty good read and is definitely worth seeking out if you’ve only ever seen the film version of these particular characters.

Rating: B

blood and snow?

Posted on December 20, 2006May 7, 2007 by Greig

Hogfather

Terry Pratchett

I’m a fan of Pratchett’s writing. The man is frighteningly good.
However not every one of his books is a masterpiece. Witness Hogfather.
This book is part of the Death/Susan sequence, which is not my favourite one (only Mort is superb). I’ve never really loved a Susan book, even though on the face of it she should be a really appealing character.
The plot involves a plan by the Auditors of Reality to have the Hogfather (Discworld analogue of Santa Claus) inhumed by a crazed member of the Assassin’s Guild.
I can say that I found it mildly diverting, no more. Which marks it out as rather poor in terms of Pratchett’s output.

Rating: B

Hogfather (Sky One)

This was a 4 hour adaptation of the book starring a host of luminaries from the British acting community. While the art direction lovingly recreated the Discworld, the piece as a whole managed to suffer from poor pacing, confusing editing and a total lack of humour.
Unfortunately the thing was done with rather too much reverence for the source material and not enough of an eye on what would make entertaining television.

paisley?

Posted on December 3, 2006November 18, 2008 by Greig

Espedair Street

Iain Banks

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read this book. I think I first read it about 1988, 1989 back when I was borrowing five books a week from Sinclairtown library.
I loved it then and I retain enormous affection for it now. However the book has dated rather badly and definitely is a work of it’s time.
The book follows a week in the life of a man called Daniel Weir, once the songwriter and bass player of wildly successful band, now semi-retired and living a pointless if comfortable life.
The book follows his drunken adventures with his working class friends and his reluctant meetings with music business colleagues as he looks back over his life to try and make sense of where and who he is. It’s Banks at his most straightforward and nicely different for that.
Recommended for anyone who ever wanted to be in a band who can deal with the fact that the book’s now a period piece.

Rating: B

lancer?

Posted on October 15, 2006 by Greig

The Final Reflection

John M. Ford

Mike Ford died aged 49 on September 25, a man of prodigious talent, formidable intelligence and remarkable wit. I only knew him from a few online forums that we happened to both frequent. In my own small way this re-read is my tribute to the man. Other re-reads may follow.
This is one of the most remarkable Star Trek books ever written, being the first written from the Klingon perspective and the first to portray Klingons as more than bloodthirsty warriors.
The book barely qualifies as a Star Trek novel, spending so much time outside of the canon and only spending a handful of pages on the Enterprise with Kirk & co as a framing device.
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable book that makes you wish that men of such imagination were responsible for more of Star Trek’s output – being prone to bland platitudes as it is.
I’d recommend it as a nice piece of science fiction, especially to more Trek skeptical audience and as an eye-opener to how it could be done better to die hard trekkies/trekkers out there.

Rating: B

koma?

Posted on July 23, 2006January 4, 2012 by Greig

Margrave Of The Marshes

John Peel & Sheila Ravenscroft

John Peel’s autobiography was posthumously completed by his Wife and children.
A fascinating, if scattershot, telling of Peel’s life up until shortly before he married his first wife and his radio career took off in the USA, is as much as he completed before his death of a heart attack in Peru in October 2004.
The rest of the book is related by his wife, Sheila (also known as Pig), and is a bittersweet reminiscence of her life with him and an honest telling of the obsessiveness that drove Peel in doing his job.
It made me miss Peel very much.
If you ever spent time listening to the man’s radio shows, you have to read this book.

Rating: B

extropian?

Posted on April 17, 2006June 25, 2007 by Greig

Singularity Sky

Charles Stross

Stross’ debut novel takes place in a universe shaped by the intervention of the post singularity entity known as the Eschaton.
This strongly superhuman intelligence has perpetuated a human diaspora far out into the light cone of Earth. This creates many new civilisations of vaguely like minded people out among the stars.
One such civilisation is the New Republic, where technology (or the lack of) is used to keep the population firmly under the control of a centralised aristocracy. When the colony of Rochard’s World is visited by the unknown force that is the Festival people’s wishes are suddenly granted in exchange for stories, entertainment and information of all kinds. This the New Republic views as an attack on their sovereignty. In retaliation they are prepared to defy the Eschaton and the prohibition on causality violation by attempting to arrive in the system just after the arrival of the Festival.
On board the attacking fleet are Earth’s UN inspector Rachel Mansour and drive engineer Martin Springfield who both have hidden agendas.
This book is piled with ideas and some great humour. Unfortunately it’s let down by some mind blowingly dull "action" sequences and characters with large roles to play that don’t even make it to cipher level. It’s something that Stross has since gotten much better at.
I’d recommend this to lovers of idea rich science fiction and in light of the fact that the sequel is a much better book in the same setting.

Rating: B

brief update (5)

Posted on February 22, 2005January 5, 2012 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 February 22, 2005June 18, 2007 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 (1)

Posted on February 22, 2005 by Greig

24 Hour Party People

Anthony Wilson

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