Damien Ryan
I don't like procedurals. Put CSI Whatever on the TV, I'll yawn. The Mentalist or Lie to Me, I'll yell at the screen like a programmer watching The Net. Even Agatha Christie - I'm sure Miss Marple was responsible for a swathe of death in 1920s England. It takes a lot to make me want to pay any attention to something that even smells of murder mystery.[return][return]This collection of short stories by Pati Nagle, all based around the adventures of an genetically modified detective tabby cat, didn't have the hook I might have needed to care. Sure, the trappings of science fiction are there, animal uplift, a space station, megacorps, but if you scratch the surface all that's left is a set of fairly standard cop stories.[return][return]The cat in question is no more than a human pretending to be a cat and the other animals are merely ciphers, the universe is barely sketched out and the much more interesting story of the societal organisation of humanity (and uplifted animals) in space is all but ignored. [return][return]This time, the future's so bright, it feels like 1980.[return][return]http://bit.ly/pJf0l2
I was nervous about this book, especially since it was supposed to be the start of a new series, and the word romance was bandied about, but rather than the usual dross that seems to pass for new science fiction and fantasy,Weinberg has conjured a very interesting universe. It's not expository in the least and it can take quite a while to become versed in the language and culture of Libra but once you do what you have is the perfect platform to talk about (hu)man's effect on the environment. A nice thread about the danger of religion is included as the world of Libra is effectively torn between theocracy and the control of corporations.[return][return]While it's far from perfect (Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos is still the state of the art for this type of book) it's quite an easy and diverting read. For the first time in a while I'm actually curious to continue with the rest of a new series.
Steampunk. Ooo-kay.[return][return]An anthology. Riiiight.[return][return]A self publishing co-operative. Hmmm[return][return]Soul-transfer. Oh God no.[return][return]This could have been so bad.[return][return]This could have been worse than the worst kind of Mary-Sue fan-fiction.[return][return]Actually, Book View Café's shared universe collection The Shadow Conspiracy II was pretty decent, if rough in places. The usual steampunk tropes are there: Babbage's invention of the computer two hundred years early, Lady Ada doing the science bit, zeppelins, romantic science, and lashings of adventure, and running through all the stories is the conspiracy for which the books are named. The ability to transfer the consciousness from human to steam-driven automata has been discovered and is being used by various dasterdlies for NO GOOD.[return][return]Anthologies are, by their nature, hit-and-miss affairs, but even the worst of the stories here are pretty decent, if forgettable, yarns. Standing out are Kimbriel's Abide with Me – a tale of parental loss and hope – and Nagle's Claire de Lune, which pits Vodon against a moustache-twirling villain.[return][return]While soul-transfer provides a pretty decent MacGuffin, there's very little sign of any conspiracy (shadowy or otherwise) and any real future plot advancement will likely never happen. Not to worry, it took six seasons of Lost before the audience realised it, so they should be able to push out another four volumes.[return][return]These types of work have a habit of trying to be too clever and, without a ruthless editor, usually end up being awful but Radford and Bohnhoff did a good job of keeping any amateurish edges hidden. It's not much more than the price of a pint, so you can do worse than picking up a copy.[return][return]http://bit.ly/dH0nvo
I got this free with Stanza in what I can only imagine is an attempt by the publisher to try and get people to buy the rest of the series - I still feel short changed. I don't think I've come across a published book that reads as much like a bad teenage fantasy as this... and I've tried to read the Twilight ‘books'.[return][return]If you want a bunch of bad deus ex machinae, wooden characters that all have the same voice, and some really bad semi-furry sex then read away. Everyone else, life's too short.
What started off as a pretty dull, sub-Crichton, Space Cowboy type story turned into something much more compelling half way through. You need to persist past the near future 2010 and initially clunky technobabble but then pay-off is worth it; the same mind-bending stuff that Bear and Simmons regularly trade in.
There's a long tradition among Western writers of lionising ancient ways of life, as if there's something better about giving up all the trappings of modernity and wallowing about in the pain and dirt. The myth of the noble savage is responsible for such idiotic beliefs as the power of alternative medicine and the idea that anything that refutes the scientific process is necessarily true. Worst of all, it gave us Avatar – a movie that makes Smurfs 3D look like Citizen Kane.[return][return]Reign of the Nightmare Prince is just like Avatar – noble savages in tune with nature are attacked by evil technologists who want to take their resources – but differs in one respect; you care what happens. The story's told from the point of view of one of the alien natives who's returning from their version of Walkabout to find out monsters are killing off the rest of his people, and follows his attempts to muster a defence in the face of impossible odds.[return][return]Although it's an entertaining and fun read, it's not explained why the aboriginal population of an alien planet feels so human and a lot of the non-native attackers are almost as one-dimensional as Jake “I see you” Sully. Also, the end was so abrupt it felt like a sixth grader who's suddenly reached the word limit on an English essay but don't let that put you off.[return][return]If you've got some downtime while you're committing genocide on an alien planet you could do worse than Mike Phillips' début.[return][return]http://bit.ly/oWvXqJ
Could I have approached a book with more trepidation? From a publishing house that seems to specialise in faux-Buddhist philosophy, I expected to be lectured at for three hundred odd pages, but the autobiographical account of the eponymous odd boy was charming.[return][return]Set in the south of England in the late fifties and early sixties, an odd boy describes the journey from childhood to adolescence of a boy that's different from all of his peers and will strike a chord with anyone who has felt like they didn't belong. Told through his twin obsessions of blues music and art, it describes a cold upbringing tempered by the friends and delta blues musicians who became his real family.[return][return]It's far from perfect, however, the author seems to obsess about explaining every minute detail through a use of footnotes that the late Flann O'Brien savaged in The Third Policeman. Nothing is left to the reader, with the narrative rudely interrupted to explain such esoterica as the BBC or skiffle. We have Wikipedia, we don't need to understand every detail.[return][return]But apart from that, the first volume in what I suspect will be a long series is an interesting, if light, diversion. Perfect for lying on a rock beach during the Easter heatwave.[return][return]http://bit.ly/hg8sB6