NextRead

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 01 September 2005
Price: £6.99
Own Copy

In Storm Front Harry Dresden had to battle with dark magic drawn from lust and desire. Now in Fool Moon he has to travel deeper into our animal natures and battle against werewolves. Being Chicago’s only wizard in the phonebook isn’t just about looking for lost items you know.

I have to admit having a soft spot for Dresden after watching the prematurely cancelled Dresden Files earlier this year and the main actors will now forever be etched as the characters they portrayed. Not sure a bad thing though I am missing the embodied version of Bob. Though being a novel these version are a bit more kick ass.

And kicking ass there is. Fool Moon is action from beginning to end along with the added complication of Murphy not quite yet recovered from the events of Storm Front and so has Dresden on a very short leash and a very short fuse.

Butcher knows how to keep things moving though does seem to get himself into one too many impossible corners that aren’t 100% satisfyingly got out of. Him and Dresden are still finding their feet and it’s not done badly just not as eloquently as it could have been. There are also hints of more dangers on the horizon.

This series are bags of potential and a good job too as I’m a bit behind. If you like your magic modern and fast moving and realistic then this is shaping up to be the series for you.

Tags: Bookshelf, reading lists, Urban Fantasy

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

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

Title: The Atrocity Archives
Author: Charles Stross
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2007
Price: £6.99
Shelf Copy

Charles Stross is a very prolific writer but this is my first chance to sample his very active imagination. And what an imagination: we have terrorists, Nazis, horrors from other dimensions, secret government departments, and a techie called Bob who’s just started Active Service.

Stross has created a fully believable world where technology is basis of magic and advanced maths can open holes in the universe. Shh it’s a secret.

Bob Howard is not James Bond thank god but he does have a few gadgets up his sleeve and a beautiful and intelligent girl to save, bad guys to chase and the tentacles of the Lovecraftian horrors to fight off whilst dealing with office politics and an computer audit.

The strengths in The Atrocity Archives are not only the use of ideas, which is both creative and grounded in scientific theory, but also the characterisation of the people in The Laundry (the secret government department).

It’s not really a complete novel. It is two stories bundled together. We have the fuller length ‘The Atrocity Archives’ and the episodic ‘The Concrete Jungle’. ‘The Atrocity Archives’ does all the hard work by setting everything up and ‘The Concrete Jungle’ shows Bob at work. Both enjoyable and I like the additional story as it feels like a bonus tale. And shows the potential of both the format and the character.

There are a few words of warning.

It does get very techie at times. This is partly due to the nature of the character of Bob who is also the narrator but also, I think, that Stross can’t help himself sharing what he knows. And he knows a lot!

It’s not completely polished. There are some niggling rough bits that I’ll forgive as I feel that Stross will get better and better as I work through his more recent works (This novel was written in 1999/2000.) He shows bags of potential and energy which is occasional misdirected. And I hope that he’ll revisit the actual Atrocity Archives in much more detail in a future book as there was a lot left to explore/explain.

Overall, if you’re a fan of occult tales with a techno-thriller twist this is a book for you. And if you’ve enjoyed of the Indiana Jones Nazis’ or Hellboy you’ll enjoy this too. And if anything in this review sparked your interest go get it. You’ll like it.

Tags: Bookshelf, horror, reading lists, shelf copy

Title: The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam
Author: Chris Ewan
Publisher: Long Barn Books
Published: 2007
Price: 12.99
Bookshelf

I’ve been meaning to get my hands on this book for quite some time. Any book that can survive the fire of Susan Hill has got to be good, right? Yes, definitely. Is it a big blockbusting bestseller? Not really and I don’t think it’s meant to be.

Charlie Howard writes crime novels about a career thief; a career he also dabbles in from time to time. So when someone asks him to steal two monkey figurines he can’t turn it down can he?

Chirs Ewan has created a wonderfully entertaining character in Charlie Howard. He has an English whit and good manners for someone who breaks into houses for a living. And in any detective novel a good main character is a must. The other essential is a mystery and Ewan’s storytelling is compelling and compulsive.

It’s not a blockbuster thank god as there are no big car chases, fire-fighting shootouts, or explosions. Instead he’s built a complex tale from a few simple building blocks with enough false bait to keep you hooked even when you find out you’ve been pulling on the wrong line for quie some time. It harks back to tales where it’s brains that count like the tales of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Colon Doyle and the detective stories of Agatha Christie.

I’d usually be wary of a writer writing about a character who writes but in this case it allows some interesting conversations and some insight into both the main character and the unfolding events. Ewan also manages to capture the spirit of Amsterdam making the city a vital character of the story.

I’d whole heartedly recommend this book for anyone who loves detective stories with a definite English twist and for anyone who loves a great read I’d say you should buy this too. There is loads of potential for a sequel and I personally hope it’s not going to take too long to come. I guess the only to make sure there is is for enough people to go out and buy this book first. What you waiting for?

Tags: 10/10, Bookshelf