NextRead

Title: The Electric Church
Author: Jeff Somers
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 20 September 2007
Price: £9.99
Review Copy

Normally I put down books that I don’t enjoy, stick it on the little list on the sidebar and move on. But there has been a lot of hype for The Electric Church so I can’t really just let it drift off.

It all comes down to a question of style (examples of Somers writing can be found here and here) and a matter of taste (mine and not Somers). And Somers prose style is not to my taste. I found it a little cold and more tell and little show.

But it’s probably just me because as mentioned in a previous post it has already got some good reviews.

I’m afraid I didn’t get past the first 30 pages so I there is not a lot more I can say but it’s not for me

Tags: noir, Scf-Fi

I am a little behind with my reading pile, which should be no surprise really considering all the marvellous books that there and my reading rate of six books a month. So I might not get through this lot but I’m up for a challenge though it might not be in this exact order.

From last month’s reading pile I have The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. I have a feeling that this is going to stay on the shelf though I really should read this before going to see Stardust, which is itself based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, which itself is based on a comic collaboration between Gaiman and Charles Vess. The Ladies of Grace Adieu is a collection of short stories and I’m hoping that it’ll let me into her style gently before tackling the opus that is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Might have to read this is in sips.

I’ve previously mentioned Dead Men’s Boots here and I’ve had to wait a month for it to come near the top of the reading pile and I can’t wait any longer. So this is most likely the next review that is going to appear. The third in a the series featuring the exorcist Felix Castor. Mike Carey appears on camera here. You can find a review of the second book here but you really need to start with The Devil You Know. Thanks to Orbit.

Speaking of exorcists. I do have a soft spot for them. It all started when I spotted The Wine of Angels, which kicks off the Merrily Watkins Mysteries series. Merrily Watkins is a Deliverance Minister (exorcist) and parish priest for the town of Ledwardine as well as a single mother. The other thing that draws me into this series is it’s set a few miles from where I grew up on the English/Welsh border. The horror here is more human in nature even though there are supernatual elements. Phil Rickman has created a cast of strong characters and relationships that are the heart of this series. I’ve got The Ghost of a Smile and Remains of an Altar lined up and the ninth book (The Fabric of Sin) has just come out in Hardback.

Two books from Independent Publishers and both firmly English. Firstly, The Pools by debut writer Bethan Roberts and I think what interested me was ‘Middle England, mid-1980s. The kind of place where nothing ever happens. Except something has happened. A fifteen year old boy called Robert has been killed, down by the pools. And half a dozen lives will come unravelled’. Thanks to Serpent’s Tail.

The second is Gents reissued by The Friday Project. The blurb:

Ezekiel Murphy has been out of work for some time so starts up his new job as a toilet attendant with great optimism and enthusiasm. When his fellow workers have to explain to him why he will sometimes see two men leaving the same cubicle he is both shocked and bemused. And when the council clamp down on cottaging in the area they all support the campaign with gusto. However, one month later, with takings down alarmingly the three attendants find their jobs on the line, forcing a radical and quite surprising rethink.

Gents is a genuinely life-affirming novel which addresses the serious issues of race, sexuality and tolerance with skill and humour. Originally published in 1997, it deserves to be viewed as a modern classic.

The Electric Church I’ve also mentioned before. It’s had a lot of reviews already - here, here and here . If I’m honest I’m a little apprehensive as I’m not sure the hype can live up to the book. The blurb:

The fastest growing religion is The Electric Church, and their army of Monks and assassins slowly convert the populus. Unknown to them, this is actually a death sentence. When hit man Avery Cates is tapped for “conversion” he must find a way to slip under the Church’s all-encompassing radar.

There are a couple of others The Waking, also mentioned here. I’ve got the sequel to the wonderful Already Dead, No Dominion, which I’m also excited about. There is more but I’ve run out of time with this post.

More soon.

Tags: 7/10, reading lists, shelf copy

Title: Never the Bride
Author: Paul Magrs
Publisher: headline review
Published: 3 May 2007
Price: £7.99
Bought it

This is one book that after I read the blurb and just had to read.

Never the Bride is set in Whitby, which is also a setting in the original vampire novel Dracula, so it’s no stranger to scenes of weirdness and Paul Magrs has made it very strange indeed. B&B landlady Brenda and her best friend Effie like mysteries. And with age reversing beauty salons, more than perfect guests, psychic investigators and games of bingo at the Christmas Hotel there is more than enough to go round.

It’s a gentle humour filled adventure that’s split into seemingly unconnected episodic chapters. Each slowly reveals more about Brenda and shows that Effie is more than a pensioner who has taken a judo class last summer.

Magrs draws on old myth and monster tales and adds a big dollop of unique twist. The strange characters he’s created seem at home and normal in the company each of them keeps. He also makes it seem that this tale could be happening in Whitby right now.

They are a quirky couple, in a quirky place, in a wonderfully entertaining tale that’s only just begun.  Even though we meet a few strange characters this time there are other residents of Whitby who maybe more than they seem.

Paul Magrs has set himself up for a series with a lot of potential. I can’t wait to see what trouble Brenda and Effie get into next and how they manage to get out of it.

Tags: 8/10, Bookshelf, horror, reading, reading list, reading lists, review, Whitby

Title: The Jennifer Morgue
Author: Charles Stross
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 6 September 2007
Price: £6.99
Review Copy

The Jennifer Morgue is a sequel to The Atrocity Archives and takes place a couple of years after the events in original. Bob Howard has had a promotion to the lowest grade that carries significant managerial responsibility and in the Laundry it’s not always a good thing to have responsibility.

Bob’s mission is stop a megalomaniacal software billionaire from retrieving the device know as ‘the Jennifer Morgue’ though he thinks he’s just sitting in a on a meeting for Andy.

In my last review I said that Bob Howard was not James Bond, well now he kind of is. TJM is a homage to Ian Fleming (TAA was a homage to Len Deighton). The pace is unrelenting as with all good action adventures. There are Stross spins on Bond Gadgets and Bond Girls with one having a sex/death/demon issue and a link to Bob’s brain.

Stross has a vast (over)active imagination. It can get a little confusing when all his ideas cascade over one and other. Luckily this isn’t frustrating but is challenging especially if you have a habit of skim reading.

Stross has created characters and a twist on the world that I could spend books and books in. Geeks aren’t usually heroes, and don’t usually do heroic things – they aren’t usually that interesting but Stross has made geek great.

It’s a packed read that’s quirky, funny and frightening and sometimes all three at the same time..

As an extra there is a bonus short story included. It’s a tease really as I now want to read another little tale from Bob’s day-to-day life.

In the next one I’d love to see the horrors a bit more horrific just to see how far Bob can cope and I want to know more about the origins of his boss Angleton. And if I’m being picky I’d like to have the pace toned down a little bit to have more time to digest stuff.

Though there might be quite a wait for the next one. Not that I mind I need a bit of time to re-read the first two too see the what bits I missed the first time round .

Tags: horror, reading lists

I’ve just finished The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross and there’s a review ready to be posted tomorrow.

Amazon finally turned up with the books I ordered. You get what you pay for when you get ‘free’ delivery. I have Gents, Never the Bride and Sharp Objects (mentioned here a couple of weeks ago) along with Remains of an Altar - the next in the Merrily Waktin’s series by the wonderful Phil Rickman.

∞

Speaking of ongoing series the phenomenon that is Terry Pratchett (the man who got me back into series reading) has two new books out - a hardback and paperback. Making Money is the 36th book in the Discworld universe. The 35th book is Wintersmith (the 4th Young Adult of the Discworld). Though I must admit that I’m a couple of books behind. I’ve read 31 so far so not at far behind.

I’ve also been to the parents this weekend. Not always a wise idea as they also house the overflow of book collection - well they did until this weekend. I had a mad moment and decided that couldn’t live without a few (100 or so) of them some read but most unread. So now there is a massive box in the living room and no shelf space to put them on. Eek. Though on the plus side I’m now reacquainted with copies of the Lord of the Rings, The Age of Misrule by Mark Chadbourn, (well two of out three I can’t the third one), the first four Harry Potter’s, the majority of my Terry Pratchett collection, an unfinished copy of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), American Gods, random sci-fi and other odds and ends that I can’t quite remember.

And the book that started me wanting to bring books home? Bad Chili by Joe R. Lansdale and for some reason I stalled before reading that one. I also stalled at Sprout Mask Replica by Robert Rankin. So I bought that back to the house in the hope that I’ll kick start reading both writers again.

Is it just me that stalls on certain writers that up until then you’ve enjoyed but then can’t seem to read another? Pratchett seems to be no longer the must read he since was as another example.

Apart from that Stephen King’s taken the pulse of the American Short story (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was in the box too). Verdict: Stable (for now). I have copies of No Dominion by Charlie Huston and a preview copy of Halting State by Charles Stross to read thanks to Orbit.

Finally, I’m quite pleased I reviewed 6 books last month, which ain’t bad. I’ll see if I can match that this month.

Tags: Bookshelf, Charles Stross, Friday Fiction, reading lists, Terry Pratchett