| finished in 2009 | ||
Jack McDevitt, Moonfall
The year is 2024. An amateur astronomer surveying the sky from her verandah notices a new speck of light after a solar eclipse occurs. The object turns out to be a rogue comet 180 kilometres in diameter and traveling at 1.6 million km/h. It also seems to be on a collision course with the Moon. This is sobering news for the 160 inhabitants of Moonbase, which has just been opened by visiting US vice president, Charlie Haskell. What, exactly, will happen when the comet arrives? That question had me glued pages of this HarperPrism paperback for two and a half feverish days. With an eye toward mainstream readers, Moonfall is a near-perfect example of the disaster novel. The scientific aspects are kept to a minimum as the white-knuckle doomsday drama unfolds. McDevitt efficiently swaps between events happening on the Moon, the Earth, aboard space stations, and in various spacecraft. What McDevitt lacks in originality and poetic prose he makes up for with cliff-hanger situations and lively main characters forced to make soul-crushing decisions under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Although perhaps inspired by the Shoemaker-Levy comet fragments striking Jupiter at 200,000 km/h in 1994, McDevitt anticipated the chaos cyclone Katrina caused in New Orleans, the Boxing Day tidal waves, a black US president, and the global financial crisis. That aside, Moonfall is just a cracking good yarn. |
  1998 fiction science fiction paperback | |
| 16 finished in 2008 | ||
| Sarah Langan, Virus / The Missing
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2007 fiction horror paperback | |
| Stephen Gallagher, Journeyman: The Art of Chris Moore
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2000 non-fiction art hardcover | |
| Fredrick Raphael and Ray Monk (editors), The Great Philosophers
|
 2004 non-fiction philosophy trade paperback | |
| Brett McBean, The Mother
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2006 fiction thriller paperback website | |
| Harlan Ellison, Harlan Ellison's Watching +
A sampler from page 293: "Legend [1986] is a film made by an astute adult who, when turned loose, when given the power to create any film he desired, fled into a throwaway universe of childish irrelevance. Legend is, at final resolve, a husk. A lovely, eye-popping vacuum from which a sad breeze blows." This book compiles film essays written for publications such as The Magazine of SF&F and Cinema between 1973 and 1989. Those familiar with his TV criticism (see The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat) know that Ellison never pulls punches. But with the insider knowledge, clever wordplay, and keen observations, you also get long personal anecdotes that violate the basic tenet of reviewing: skip the autobiography and discuss the work. Conformity has never been Ellison's working method, and it's well to keep that in mind as he savages the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, Gremlins and Back to the Future. Then again, he praises Brazil, Alien, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return to Oz with equal gusto. The core messages repeated throughout these pages are: (a) the scenarist is the creative force behind any movie, thereby debunking so-called auteur theory, and (b) movies that lie to audiences or exhibit a low moral base have utterly no artistic value. While it tests your patience at times, Harlan Ellison's Watching is a unique slab of film criticism that any serious student of the medium should read. The 2008 edition was reviewed here. |
1989 non-fiction film criticism trade paperback website | |
| Albert Camus, The Plague / La Peste
True, I am teaching myself French. I did not, however, read the original French version of The Plague, mainly because it takes me freakin' long enough to read English. Ahem. Before starting this novel I knew nothing about Nobel laureate Albert Camus. The premise of The Plague just intrigued me. As things turned out, the story delivered what I'd hoped. An outbreak of bubonic plague hits the harbour town of Oran. How do its citizens deal with the scourge? How would you? Camus relates this tragedy through a narrator who witnesses the physical, mental, and spiritual torments of a modern populace isolated from the rest of the world. By and large, the mode is documentary, though punctuated with philosophical asides that examine the human condition in extremis. Of course, with a publication date of 1947, the German occupation of France in World War II – which Camus no doubt experienced first hand – adds a metaphorical layer to the book. Literary considerations aside, The Plague also works as straight storytelling. Camus obviously researched the phenomenon in-depth and exploits it to the nth degree. At times I felt as trapped as the despondent and dying townsfolk. And you'll be pleased to know there is a sting in the tail, albeit a small one. Better still is the prose. There are enough jaw-dropping lines in this 1948 translation by Stuart Gilbert to vindicate Albert Camus' legend status. |
1947 fiction general paperback | |
| George Alec Effinger, When Gravity Fails
Here's a trenchant science fiction classic from the halcyon days of cyberpunk. The basic paradigm is the traditional hardboiled detective murder mystery, so there's very little originality in that regard. It even starts in a seedy dive bar, as did William Gibson's Neuromancer (1982). Key departures include the strip club milieu, and a detective who is actually a street-smart junkie with a reputation for doing dirty work. The action takes place in an Arab precinct called the Budayeen, which also lends When Gravity Fails an exotic tang, with its Muslim rituals and Arabic turns of phrase. The late George Alec Effinger was a premier wordsmith – his prose is dense and laced with sardonic humour, while his characterisations are lucid and dead-on. Recurring images of torture and bloody homicide blend with worldly-weary cynicism, vices of all kinds, and a scary criminal underworld, making When Gravity Fails a tense, feverish read. But as often happens with these kinds of books, the core mystery is wrapped up rather too quickly. The title is a reference to how life and a sense of security, even in a chaotic amoral society, can be turned upside down by external forces. Effinger managed to pen two sequels featuring anti-hero Marîd Audran before the author died in 2004. |
1986 fiction science fiction paperback | |
| Alastair Reynolds, Redemption Ark
This sequel to Revelation Space (2000) returns us to the same dystopia 50 years later. Motivated by the encroachment of Inhibitors into human space, two factions race each other to recover the hell-class weapons left around Delta Parvonis that were stolen centuries earlier by a crew of Ultras. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Reynolds in his third novel delivers a tighter narrative with interesting sub-plots and human characters who are motivated by unerring self-conviction, making the story bounce easily between each thread. What crippled Redemption Ark, however, was the growing suspicion that the climax would be a fizzer, despite the fabulous build-up. Having finished the book twenty minutes ago, I can confirm this to be true. Reyonlds even had the cheek to recount half of what happened secondhand to a groggy protagonist via an eyewitness. How fucking lazy, especially considering the book is 646 pages long. Mind you, whenever someone cycled through an airlock – and it happened dozens of times – no detail was spared in the telling. Other annoying aspects include the retarded captain of Nostalgia for Infinity, the piss-weak handling of the cache weapons vs Inhibitors interplanetary smackdown, tedious political subterfuge on Resurgam (yawn), and the inevitable set-up for another sequel, which I will buy and read like the mindless consumer zombie that I am. What made Redemption Ark a great ride just the same was Reyonlds' flow of invention and his commitment to writing polished prose. Well, that, and the hope that Resurgam would be turned to slag by the Inhibitor's doomsday device. |
2002 fiction science fiction paperback website | |
| Robert Reed, Marrow
Marrow is compelling SF let down by minor writing problems. Set in the distant future, the story features a colossal spacecraft with a mass six times that of planet Earth. Simply called the "Great Ship" by its crew, the derelict was boarded and commandeered by immortal humans, who discovered countless empty habitats inside ready for use. And so for the last 100,000 years this space ark operated as a galactic cruise liner of sorts, picking up and dropping off human and alien passengers as it coasted along at one third of lightspeed. However, when an artefact is discovered within its iron core, the mystery behind who built the Ship and why deepens. Compared to SF writers like Larry Niven and Alastair Reynolds, Robert Reed takes a more lyrical approach to hard SF. His narrative style is more right-brained than left, preferring to drop hints rather than explain everything in meticulous detail. There's no infodumps here. But often, particularly when describing action scenes, his prose is way too terse. Many times I literally lost the plot and had to reverse back a paragraph or two. Some characters and alien races also needed more development, plus there's a degree of television sci-fi to the melodramas that had me on edge. I suspect this book was much longer in rough drafts, which could explain why it's a page-turner even at 502 pages. In summary, the visionary concepts, barqoue weirdness, and basic premise should please fans of alien artefact SF. A sequel was published in 2004, with most reviewers giving it the thumbs down. |
2000 fiction science fiction paperback website | |
| Alastair Reynolds, Galactic North
Oooh yeah, this was a treat. None of that 'digging in the dirt for 100 pages' nonsense. Instead, here's eight short SF works set in the Revelation Space universe, written between 1989 and 2006, with three stories original to this collection. 'Great Wall of Mars' takes us inside a Conjoiner nest on the red planet and explains more about how these upgraded humans think. Fascinating stuff. 'Glacial' follows the same characters to an ice planet as they solve a gruesome puzzle involving dead colonists and...worms. 'A Spy in Europa' keeps the grue factor high with a dark little tale set in the oceans under Europa's frozen methane crust. 'Weather' is the name of a Conjoiner passenger held by space pirates in the next story, while a passenger on another starship is a victim of the Melding Plague in 'Dilation Sleep'. Private alien zoos are the subject of 'Grafenwalder's Bestiary', although you would not want to bring your children to view these monsters. 'Nightingale' has mercenaries hunting down a notorious war criminal, who is supposedly hiding on a hospital ship thought to be lost in battle. Finally, 'Galactic North' is the destination of a remarkable interstellar car chase, with the pirates being the prey this time. Having gotten a taste of Reynolds in short fiction mode by reading 'Minla's Flowers' in The New Space Opera, my expectations for Galactic North were high, and the Welshman delivered the goods. A pleasant surprise was the horror elements and level of space gore in many of these SF tales. Best story? I'd say 'Great Wall of Mars'. The worst would have to be 'Galactic North', mainly because the conclusion is unsatisfying. That said, the plotting, characters, science and prose are all of a high standard. An interesting afterword is also included. Recommended. |
2006 fiction science fiction paperback website | |
| Bill Congreve (editor), Southern Blood
Hailing from 2003, this collection of pro-am horror and dark fantasy fiction by local writers reflects the best of the fanzine and small press scene up to that time. Since then, Aussie horror fiction has galvanised its beastly self and published literary chills in books, magazines, and online on a regular basis. I'm planning to catch up with some key titles when time permits, perhaps starting with the interesting best-of releases from Brimstone Press. The tales in Southern Blood range from fine to bloody awful, with most falling somewhere in the middle. Stand-outs include 'Basic Black' by Terry Dowling, 'Hunting Ground' by Sean Williams, and 'Madly' by Stephen Dedman. Black and white illustrations accompany each tale – like the fiction, they also vary in quality. An unfortunate and amusing feature of this book concerns its subtitle, "New Australian Tales of the Supernatural". A good number of the chosen stories have nothing supernatural going on in them. Last minute marketing concession to avoid the H-word? Ultimately, the problem I have with anthologies like Southern Blood is that too many of the stories are just not horrific, terrifying, or disturbing enough. As with SF, a strong idea is vital for success in this genre. |
2003 fiction horror paperback | |
| Jack Williamson, Darker Than You Think
An intriguing failure. Supernatural fiction doyen Jack Williamson posits a rational, scientific explanation for the hoary legends of lycanthropy and shape-shifting. Mind you, this is six years before Richard Matheson took the same approach to vampirism in his classic novel I Am Legend. After a promising start, though, Darker Than You Think turns into a dog's breakfast. In other words, it just becomes silly – that's the best way to put it. A cabal of archaeologists return from outer Mongolia with a mysterious crate. Their discovery, an ancient artifact, has these academics scared shitless, because it portends a great threat to humankind from hidden forces of darkness. Specifically, from beings who can change from human form to animal by tapping into latent occult energies. They can also walk through walls by manipulating atoms at the quantum probability level. This yarn is told from the viewpoint of hard-drinking journalist Will Barbee, who finds his inner werewolf with the help of a beautiful she-beast called April. Too much of the plot involves this pair's campaign to thwart the protectors of the talisman, which has the power to disrupt the shape-shifter's plans for world domination. Full credit to Williamson for his concise, descriptive prose, some bravura set-pieces, and for his earnest approach to the subject matter. In 1948 Darker Than You Think would have made quite a statement. Sixty years later, it comes across as naïve and ponderous. |
1948 fiction horror paperback | |
| Clark Ashton Smith, The Abominations of Yondo
A rating of 7/10 for this collection of weird tales does not reflect how enjoyable Clark Ashton Smith's writing is. The Abominations of Yondo is let down by a lengthy and quite boring collaboration with William Beckford called 'The Third Episode of Vathek'. Even the name of this story sucks – never a good sign. The remaining entries run the full spectrum of 1930s pulp horror and fantasy. There's the obligatory H.P. Lovecraft homages, haunting romances with immortal beings, maritime expeditions to strange lands populated by improbable beasts, treks across wastelands in which monsters dwell, space explorers encountering ghastly creatures in bottomless chasms on Mars, inquisitive scientists crossing the threshold from our world into one of pure evil, cautionary tales of thieves who let greed cloud their common sense judgment, and so forth. As entertaining as the stories are, any devotee of Smith will tell you that they are a small step down from his acknowledged classics, many of which are contained in Out of Space and Time, as well as retrospectives published more recently. For example, I can recommend the Masterworks UK paperback compilation, as well as the beautiful Arkham House hardcover of A Rendezvous in Averoigne. Still, fans of C.A.S. will want to have The Abominations of Yondo on their shelves regardless, since no complete collected works volume exists that I know of. |
1932-1937 fiction horror paperback | |
| Stephen King, The Tommyknockers
At 693 pages, this book is too big for its own good. Here, King tackles science fiction with a poorly conceived first contact story in the manner of John Wyndham. Now, Stephen King has actually written SF in the past, with creepy tales such as 'I Am the Doorway'. However, the quick one-punch effect of short fiction leaves no time to ponder scientific gaffes. Not so with The Tommyknockers, in which a buried flying saucer takes over the minds and bodies of residents living in the small town of Haven, Maine. The agency takes the form of contaminated air wafting from the metal surface of the ship slowly being unearthed by Bobbi Anderson, a writer of western novels, and drunk poet Jim Gardener, her one-time lecturer and itinerant lover. This basic premise takes 200 pages to establish. Next, we're introduced to the townsfolk of Haven who, over time, develop telepathy and enhanced intellects. And yet, having metal inside the skull or anywhere on the body provides immunity from this alien influence? How fucking ridiculous. Other annoyances include endless narrative asides describing local history and character trivia, none of which have any bearing on the plot, as well as the overuse of the "Tommyknocker" alias for the dormant aliens. Pure agony. There's also precious little action, scares, or violent death until the last 150 pages, when King finally disengages the handbrake and cuts loose. Of course, the ending is pure bullshit: you just know King had no idea how to finish things off properly. One curious aspect of the novel was the use of human beings as power sources ten years before The Matrix. It's a silly idea anyway, because on balance, the human body absorbs energy. Now, I don't mind rubber science in the service of a decent story – it can be rather quaint and charming. Stephen King just happens to suspend most of The Tommyknockers' tonnage on a series of preposterous conceits. Needless to say, it all collapses into a heap. |
1988 fiction horror paperback | |
| Allan and Barbara Pease, The Definitive Guide to Body Language
Review pending. |
2005 non-fiction psychology trade paperback | |
| Neil Strauss, The Rules of the Game
Review pending. |
2008 non-fiction motivation trade paperback | |
| 25 finished in 2007 | ||
| Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Review pending. |
1984-1993 revised edition non-fiction psychology trade paperback | |
| Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space
It's been way too long since I read my last space opera. They're so enjoyable that I could read them exclusively, if not for all the other genres and non-fiction out there. Code Monkey lent me this 545-page house brick by a Welshman based in Holland. Revelation Space is Reynolds' first novel – it has a freshness and vibrancy that major new SF talents tend to demonstrate. The story occurs 500 years into the future. Humans have colonised many local systems, but are still traveling between the stars at sub-light velocities in ships called lighthuggers that are four kilometres long. The lives of an archeologist (Sylveste), an assassin (Khouri), and a crew of interstellar spacefarers (who all need personality upgrades) share common ground with some recently discovered alien artefacts. Revelation Space does start off slowly, because there's nothing too exciting or unique about the characters and what they're all doing. Fragmented timelines don't help, either. But once the plot threads begin to mesh, the narrative kicks into progressively higher gears; the last 200 pages were riveting. Note however that if you prefer your SF to be loaded with the full spectrum of human drama, Revelation Space is not for you. The main characters here are self-absorbed and lack a sense of humour, apart from Sylveste's crotchety simulated father, Calvin. Basically none of these personalities are all that likeable, at least initially. What Reynolds does provide is hard science fiction that contains lots of space travel, exotic weapons, cybernetics, bizarre alien cultures, and the usual grandiose revelations that span billions of years of galactic history. Even though I couldn't read Revelation Space again, I'll be tracking down more SF titles by Mr Reynolds. For instance, Chasm City is a prequel to Revelation Space, Redepmtion Ark is a "rough sequel", and Galactic North is a collection of stories set in the same universe – plenty to upload into my unaugmented brain right there. |
2000 fiction science fiction paperback website | |
| Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Review pending. |
1866 fiction general trade paperback | |
| Paul Allen Nelson, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze (Expanded)
Review pending. |
2000 non-fiction film criticism trade paperback | |
| Algis Budrys, Rogue Moon
Review pending. |
1960 fiction science fiction paperback | |
| David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott (editors), 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out
Review pending. |
2007 non-fiction history trade paperback | |
| David Ray Griffin, Debunking 9/11 Debunking
Review pending. |
2007 non-fiction history trade paperback | |
| John Jude Palencar, Origins
Review pending. |
2007 art commercial hardcover | |
| BeinArt Collective, Metamorphosis
Review pending. |
2007 art surrealism hardcover | |
| Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything
One day Bill Bryson realised that his general knowledge of planet Earth, outer space, biology, chemistry, oceanography and meteorology – among other topics – had gaping holes in it. He spent the next three years catching up and distilling that knowledge into A Short History of Nearly Everything. If you're across the science disciplines, you may want to skip this book, because presenting low level detail was not Bryson's intent. However, he still digs right into the fundamentals, which are themselves beyond the grasp of most people's comprehension and common experience. Bryson's genius is his ability to both demystify and personalise Science without trivialising it or subtracting the sense of wonder. He does the former with a cultivated and friendly narrative voice. He does the latter by describing the scientists and intellectuals who struggled to answer big questions such as: How old is the Earth? How did the universe begin? What is the true nature of time and space? What killed the dinosaurs? When did human beings first walk the planet? What is DNA? And so on. In fact, at a guess, the book contains 40% hard science and 60% background information about the scientists and their respective journeys of discovery. Now, I knew about 50% of the science and 10% of the biographical detail. Therefore I gained a lot from A Short History, which is consistently well written, frequently hilarious, and just an absolute page-turner. |
2003 non-fiction popular science trade paperback | |
| Philip K. Dick, A Handful of Darkness
Review pending. |
1955 fiction science fiction paperback | |
| Dr Brett Tate, The Professional Bachelor
Review pending. |
2007 non-fiction self help trade paperback | |
| Steve Carter and Antoinette Rydyr, Fantastique
Review pending. |
2006 graphic novel | |
| Michael Shea, The A'Rak
Here's another monstrous fantasy yarn spun from the vital imagination and weighty thesaurus of Michael Shea. The A'Rak is the third book in Shea's trinity of Nifft the Lean adventures, and like its brothers, this one delivers the goods. While sniffing around the gold-laden vaults of the fearsome spidergod A'Rak, our esteemed prince of thieves is hired to ride shotgun over a nuncio's contract to deliver a coffin and its inhabitant to one of A'Rak's outlying temples. However, the expedition morphs into something quite different: a conspiracy first hinted at by the incomplete verses of a poem Nifft chanced upon. Rather than breaching the subworlds and encountering their many demons, this story remains above ground and sunlit. That hardly stops Shea from infusing this narrative with tendrils of creeping terror that gradually multiply – literally to bursting point. At first, the suspense runs high, since the giant arachnids are only cut loose past the halfway mark. Later plot developments should keep horror fans ripping through subsequent chapters as complete bedlam ensues. Apart from the distractingly ebullient prose, Nifft's lack of sardonic humour (perhaps because he's travelling with unfamiliar company), and the shifting narrative voice, The A'Rak is nightmare quest fantasy at its finest. Be sure, though, to read Nifft the Lean and The Mines of Behemoth first. |
2000 fiction dark fantasy paperback website | |
| Webster Griffin Tarpley, 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA
The two leading voices in the 9/11 truth movement are David Ray Griffin and Webster Tarpley. Griffin has written books on many subjects, while Tarpley co-authored an unofficial biography of George Bush, Snr. David Ray Griffin has a smooth delivery, like a congenial cooking show host who assumes you've never made the recipe before. In contrast, Webster Tarpley assaults you with dates, names, acronyms, events, and big words – he presumes you know the terminology and basic facts from page one. This can be daunting for 9/11 proselytes. That said, anyone wanting to absorb the political and historical complexities surrounding the 9/11 disaster will devour 9/11 Synthetic Terror, because the constant references to unknown entities are easy to put into context and give the commentary weight. Also, to explain each one would require double the 478 page count. As the title suggests, Tarpley's main agenda is to illustrate how 9/11 could only have been perpetrated by criminals within the US oligarchy given: (a) past examples of false flag or 'synthetic terror' conspiracies, (b) the nature of organisations such as the CIA, FBI, NSA, Department of Defence, FAA, FEMA, the Neo-conservative cabal, MI5, MI6, et cetera, (c) shadow organisations extant around the world, and (d) other factors such as global economics and the roots of Islamic fundamentalism. Nothing is as it seems. Coverage of 9/11 itself is generous but limited to five chapters, perhaps to avoid repeating what other books and websites have documented. Among other things, one key fact I learned was the plot to assassinate President Bush: "Angel is next", meaning Air Force One. This book, and others like it, continue to shatter my ignorance of the political landscape and how the world really works. A third edition is now available and contains 40 extra pages. Since Australian book shops rarely stock this title, order it via the Internet. |
2005 non-fiction trade paperback first edition | |
| Tony Clink, The Layguide
Review pending. |
2005 non-fiction trade paperback | |
| Frank Miller, 300
Review pending. |
1998 graphic novel hardcover | |
| Charles Bukowski, Women
Review pending. |
1978 fiction general trade paperback | |
| Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Outspoken evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins takes a stand against the existence of God, creationism, intelligent design, and the legitimacy of religion. Each chapter uses logic, Biblical quotations, science, and history to dispute the "sky fairy" belief systems held by most people on the planet. Author of several books on science and related issues, atheist Dawkins articulates his arguments persuasively, with liberal doses of passion and humour. No surprises there. For me, also a career atheist, he presents many trains of thought I had never considered, such as non-religious origins of basic morality. If the book has a flaw, it is that Dawkins is perhaps too intellectual with some of his cases. Up front he states that the book was designed to convert a believer into a atheist. Even with 50% of the material he would succeed. However, about 10% is too convoluted and over-wrought to be effective, most glaringly in the final chapter, which attempts to show alternative, natural sources of inspiration and awe in place of spiritual options. Instead, what ensues is a disjointed muddle of wonders and gushy language, all delivered with the best of intentions. A more measured, linear approach would have been better. No matter, because I believe Dawkins realised his goal long before then. Thank God for Richard Dawkins? The shame is that such a valuable thinker has to waste his time on this topic. We're all capable of figuring out this shit for ourselves. |
2006 non-fiction trade paperback | |
| Jim Marrs, The Terror Conspiracy
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Thomas Harris, Hannibal Rising
I devoured it in two days to prepare for reviewing the movie, which opens February 8th. Mentioning film is appropriate, because the plot of Hannibal Rising has been used in many Hollywood crime and vigilante melodramas. In terms of the writing, Thomas Harris remains a master wordsmith, delivering the detail, depth, nuance, and bloodthirsty violence fans expect. He also delivers nouns by the bucketful: new writers take note. The story covers Hannibal's World War II childhood in Lithuania that led him to become a psychopath, albeit one with a twisted moral code. Of course, Hannibal's genius-level IQ was evident early on. The perversion of such a stunning and cultured intellect, caused by horrific events out of his control, turns this prequel into a tragedy. Fear not, though. Harris carefully paints this portrait of Doc Lecter so that knowing his backstory doesn't humanise the shrike that features in 'later' adventures too much. Of the Lecter books, Hannibal Rising is the least significant, falling behind the explosive Hannibal and, naturally, both Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. It's still a fabulous read, but wait for the paperback. |
2006 fiction thriller hardcover | |
| A. Norman Jeffares (editor), W.B. Yeats Selected Poetry
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Ramsey Campbell, The Overnight
While his short stories are superb bite-sized excursions into psychological and supernatural terror, Campbell's horror novels tend to drag on a bit. At 390 pages, The Overnight falls prey to this syndrome. Set in a fictional retail outlet called Texts (modeled on Borders), the narrative aggrieves the sales staff with internal squabbling and fiendish disturbances from the fog bank lurking outside the shop. The first third of the book sets up the dramas, the second escalates various grudges and reveals more signs of evil pervasion, and the third plunges the staff into an all-night shift that leaves them at the mercy of the fog and its faceless inhabitants. Things only start to pick up after the halfway point when the hauntings appear to be sending everyone mad. Campbell's droll sense of humour also comes out in a number of scenes that had me chuckling on the train. Shamelessly padded, The Overnight shines when characters are either shooting retorts at each other or being subsumed by repugnant blobs. Often, though, I was too exhausted from decoding Campbell's convoluted syntax to get scared. |
2005 fiction horror paperback | |
| Dan Richter, Moonwatcher's Memoir – A Diary of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Leil Lowndes, How to Make Anyone Like You
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| 14 finished in 2006 | ||
| Leil Lowndes, How to Talk to Anyone
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| John Skipp, Craig Spector, The Cleanup
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| CSIRO, The Total Well Being Diet
Review pending. |
softcover | |
| Men, Women and Chainsaws
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| David DeAngelo, Double Your Dating
Review pending. |
e-book | |
| James Herbert, The Survivor
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Jack McDevitt, A Talent for War
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Neil Strauss, The Game
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Alan Moore (writer) and David Lloyd (artist), V for Vendetta
Review pending. |
graphic novel | |
| Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| 13 finished in 2005 | ||
| Jim Schutze, Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Clark Ashton Smith, The Monster of the Prophecy
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Allan Moore (writer) and Dave Gibbons (artist), Watchmen
Review pending. |
graphic novel | |
| Clark Ashton Smith, The Last Oblivion
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| George Orwell, Animal Farm
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Tara Moss, Fetish
If an eye-popping nude pictorial in Black & White prompted me to borrow this debut novel by Tara Moss, then maybe all aspiring writers should try getting their gear off? Well, perhaps not...and note that I said borrow, not buy. Another client of 'literary' agent Selwa Anthony, Tara Moss has loaded her serial killer thriller with cliché after cliché, ad nauseum. There is absolutely nothing new here for fans of crime fiction, while gorehounds and sex fiends should just skip to the last 30 pages. That's right, prurient details about the sadistic "Stiletto Murders" (oh please) are merely implied. In addition, the titular fetish elements are limited to foot worship by the psychopath – whose psychosis is centred on his mother – and brief S&M detours that establish two obvious red herrings. Granted, the prose scans quickly, but this is more indicative of the author's love of writing than any real talent for it. If Moss strips off again, I might be tempted to borrow Split to see if she has improved and/or included more exploitation. As things stand, she is getting her arse whupped by the likes of CSI on the telly. |
fiction crime paperback | |
| Allan and Barbara Pease, Why Women Can't Read Maps...and Won't Stop Talking
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Stephen King, Different Seasons
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Thomas and Elizabeth Monteleone, From the Borderlands
Also known as Borderlands V. |
paperback | |
| Nicholas Whittaker, Blue Period
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Peter Bagge, Buddy Does Seattle
Review pending. |
graphic novel | |
| Belle de Jour, The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Vincent LoBrutto, Stanley Kubrick
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| 20 finished in 2004 | ||
| Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Dylan Thomas, Everyman's Poetry
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Richard Matheson, Hell House
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Peter Bagge, Hey, Buddy!
Review pending. |
graphic novel | |
| Daniel Clowes, Ghost World
Review pending. |
graphic novel | |
| Peter Phillips & Project Censored, Censored 2001
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Fritz Leiber, Night Monsters
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Peter Straub, Mystery
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Shaun Hutson, The Terminator (novelisation)
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Frances Stillman, The Poet's Manual (and Rhyming Dictionary)
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Pauline Kael, State of the Art
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| PL/SQL Fundamentals (Oracle course notes)
Review pending. |
manual | |
| Harlan Ellison, The Glass Teat
Review pending. |
paperback | |
| Coop (Chris Cooper), Devil's Advocate: The Art of Coop
Review pending. |
hardcover | |
| Kami, Bunk Beds & Chilli Vodka
Review pending. |
chapbook | |
| Greg Emmanuel, Extreme Encounters
Review pending. |
trade paperback | |
| Thomas M. Disch, The Business Man
Groan. I never knew The Business Man was a 'horror comedy' until I started reading it. Now, for those who don't know me that well, let me say that I detest horror comedy in novel form. Not keen on it at any length, really. Life is just too fucken short, you know? Even typing out this capsule review may require regular doses of morphine to dull the pain. The story features the malefic spirit of a young woman called Giselle who was killed wrongfully. More than a little confused, she returns from the grave to exact revenge on various living persons, although her main target is her selfish husband Bob Glandier, the eponymous business man. This all pans out in a string of funny/horrible set pieces, wrought with consummate skill by Disch, who is better known as a renowned science fiction scribe. Disch has also produced volumes of poetry, and a serious horror tale called The MD: A Horror Story, among others publication credits. You might enjoy The Business Man if gruesome black comedy within a fantasy context sounds appealing. I found it tedious going, despite Disch's obvious intelligence and expert prose working behind the scenes. |
1993 fiction horror paperback | |
| Larry Niven, Ringworld +
Forget Lord of the Rings. This is my hymen-breaker, the first book of fiction I ever selected and read for my own enjoyment. Educated in maths with a minor in psychology, US author Larry Niven has an accessible style – light on lyrical touches, heavy on story and colossal action set pieces. Ringworld is also hard SF, therefore some knowledge of science is helpful. If you were nursed on cyberpunk, be warned that Niven writes old skool science fiction. Luckily, while computers may have changed since 1970, basic physics has remained the same. This tale follows a motley crew of two humans and two aliens who explore a puzzling artefact: a synthetic hoop that encircles a star and is terraformed on the inner surface. Who made it, and when? What lives there now? Why is it falling out of the Milky Way galaxy? The memorable characters, audacious plotting, frank sexuality, fascinating space hardware, inter-species melodrama, and humorous situations make this something special, so much so that Niven penned three sequels of diminishing freshness. Tanj! Could someone please break the man's fingers? Niven's other novels and stories of 'Known Space' are also highly recommended, but Ringworld reigns supreme for this reader. Subtle hint: a flat-signed, first edition hardcover – fine in fine DJ – would make a great gift for someone. |
1970 fiction science fiction paperback | |
| 9+ finished in 2003 | ||
| Theresa L. Crenshaw, M.D., The Alchemy of Love and Lust
It's all about hormones and how they affect our behaviour around the opposite sex. The research by Dr Crenshaw appears to be scientifically based: this is not your typical fluff piece that dispenses flirting tips and gushes about Ten Ways to Keep Your Partner Horny. Her speculations about the effects of all those chemical messengers coursing through our bodies match common experience. However, she does admit that some of the research is not conclusive. For instance, I knew that there's no hard proof that human pheromones have any influence, but she describes how they tend to work in animals and draws a few parallels. Nice work. Apart from a number of surprising disclosures about estrogen and testosterone, Dr Crenshaw mentions that – due to our lifestyles – many of us lack a 'miracle' growth hormone that works best when it's dark; an intriguing prospect if more investigation can exploit this discovery. An excellent book for those looking for a more grounded examination of love and other related states of being. |
1997 non-fiction hardcover | |
| Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
Published after his sudden death from heart attack, this non-fiction book contains essays wirtten by Adams on a number of topics. Because the articles vary in subject matter and quality, The Salmon of Doubt is aimed at Douglas Adams completists, of which there must be millions around the world. Me personally, I've never read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, although it is on my reading list. Here, Adams' great sense of humour and personable nature comes through, making these articles easy and fun to read. Some would be worth purchasing the book for, since they can be re-read and enjoyed. |
2001 non-fiction trade paperback | |
| Greg Egan, Schild's Ladder
This book hurt my brain...in a good way, of course. Greg Egan is a successful science fiction writer based in Perth, Western Australia. He first received acclaim for various stories he placed in Interzone (UK), such as the classic mind bender 'I Am the Jewel'. His first two novels, Quarantine and Permutation City, are both hard SF yarns that posit small what-if scenarios, then extrapolate them out to cosmic proportions. Egan thinks big and he thinks deep. However, for all its quantum cleverness, his fiction often lacks entertainment value and sympathetic characters. Schild's Ladder, his sixth novel, also suffers in this regard, although more effort has gone into humanising this futuristic hypothetical. Here, Egan comes closest to getting the balance right, at least until the horrendously abstract climax – think Escher on LSD via Stephen Hawking – undoes the meticulous world building and melodrama. A second pass should be more rewarding; my limited IQ couldn't always keep up the first time through. I think Greg Egan is one of Australia's unsung literary giants. Tim Winton who? |
fiction science fiction paperback | |
| Helen Vnuk, Snatched: Sex and Censorship in Australia
Google the name "Helen Vnuk" and you will discover various appointments in the Australian mass media industry, everything from Adelaide TV journalist to editor of Australian Women's Forum. Her husband Dann Lenard also publishes the excellent T&W (tits and wrestling) fanzine Betty Paginated. This background gave Vnuk a bird's eye view of censorship in relation to the sex industry, uncovering violations of common sense occurring at all levels of 'adult' entertainment: magazines, porn videos, comics, computer games, prostitution, and television. Perhaps wisely, Vnuk avoids examining the censorship of horror films and other non-sexual genres. This is a vast topic in itself and deserves its own book-length treatment. Once or twice, Snatched almost endorsed censoring staged violence over pornography, a bankrupt argument used by associates of the Eros Foundation. I gave her the benefit of the doubt on that score. While it may not be an exhaustive academic survey (and no claims are made that it is), Snatched does provide an informative overview of the bullshit that happens on a daily basis in the name of conservatism and religion. Tackling a subject of this nature must have been daunting. Bravo. |
non-fiction trade paperback | |
| Nick Hornby, How to be Good
Okay. I thought I'd jump the queue and read this Nick Hornby novel before someone made it into a successful mainstream movie, which has not happened as yet. Perhaps one explanation for this might be that the story is, umm, a little bit crap? A dysfunctional middle-class family is rocked by the arrival of a faith healer who causes everyone in the household – young and old – to take stock of their world views. Individually, the characters are excellent. Hornby's bouncy prose line and wit are fully evident, too. Unfortunately he never integrates the major story elements into a satisfying whole. Was that the point? Also, the notion that the faith healer was 'for real' only made my brain itch. If a narrative is meant to be fantasy, declare as much early in the piece, so readers don't have to suspend their re-evaluation of the story until it's too late and they don't give a toss. |
fiction general trade paperback | |
| Frank M. Robinson, Waiting
After being impressed by Mr Robinson's superb science fiction novel The Dark Beyond the Stars, praise for this follow-up book from the likes of Harlan Ellison was largely redundant – this reader snapped it up without a second thought. The story, which is grounded in science fiction but horrific in effect, raises the question of whether a second human-like species survived the natural selection process in prehistoric times, and is now living amongst the general population of present-day Earth. A doctor discovers the Awful Truth when an autopsy reveals the victim of a car accident to have a decidedly inhuman physiology. Trading on B-movie staples such as the 'enemy within' chestnut and themes of lurking paranoia, Waiting is a proverbial page turner: well written and coldly logical. We may not be alone... |
fiction science fiction paperback | |
| Harry Adam Knight, The Fungus
You gotta love pulp horror when it's done this well. Harry Adam Knight (HAK) is actually the pen name for Perth writer John Brosnan. The Fungus is the only novel of his I've read, and comes recommended as a starting point into the realm of eco-horror tales set in Britain, of which there are dozens to choose from. Brosnan is a better writer than Guy N. Smith, who can be dull and short on pay-offs, and The Fungus bears this out. The narrative is fast, with lively characters and gruesome set pieces thrown in to keep things moving along. Naturally, the fungoid invader is an airborn contagion that takes time to make its presence known to the unwitting host, thus creating much conflict and tension between characters. The imagery of London overrun by the virulent weed is quite haunting. |
fiction horror paperback | |
| M.R. James, A Warning to the Curious
Selected by Ruth Rendell, these ghost tales from the turn of last century outdo most 'horror' fiction I read in modern anthologies. James writes methodical and richly detailed stories rooted in the crumbling abbeys and musty libraries of hoary old Britian. As one critic put it, M.R. James delivers the goods, although his writing demands unwavering concentration and patience. I admit that I was not always up to the task, due to tiredness or some other distraction, but his scary pay-offs were reward enough. Some of these stories don't work as well as his acknowledged classics, so for best results keep your expections muted. The James collection from Wordsworth boasts more titles than this one. For instance, Ms Rendell omitted 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' from her tome. One explanation is that she had a cap on the word count from the publisher. |
fiction horror trade paperback | |
| Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe
Review pending. |
non-fiction science hardcover | |