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Fairy tale by Stephen King
Well I got hold of this at Christmas with some trepidation, because I have been of the opinion that SK has moved away from what he does best - tell stories of a fantastical and often horrible nature - and as a result lost some of his... um... readability. I need not have worried. Fairy Tale, while not exactly a horror story, is nevertheless a storyteller’s story and it has enough horror riffs in it that, I’m sure, most readers will be happy with it. I certainly was. If I have one criticism, it is that I felt the pace of the overall novel wasn’t quite right - an enormous build-up, and then lots of resolutions happening quickly and close together towards the end. But I am prepared to believe that this is just me. Who am I to question the pacing of a Stephen King book? So, if you are a Stephen King fan but have been slightly worried about whether this one is up to par, let me reassure you. It is.
Salute the dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This is the fourth book in the Shadows of the Apt series. I got it as a Christmas present, so I haven’t had to approach my bank manager yet. I think this is the best of the series so far. And I’m intrigued to know what happens in the remaining six (!) books, as so many doors have been closed in this one. (Although I shall be finding out soon enough, as I also got the next in the series for Christmas. Shout out for Father Christmas.) I found two editorial-type errors in this book (you can see what they were by going to Cashmore Editorial’s Errata page) and I bragged about it on Twitter. Adrian Tchaikovsky responded to say ‘only two? I’ll take that’ and I guess he has a point. Anyway, Salute the Dark is a worthy addition to the series, and I recommend it.
With a mind to kill by Antony Horowitz
Antony Horowitz is one of my favourite authors, so it was a no-brainer to pick this up in Smiths at Buchanan Bus Station the other day. It’s AH’s third (and apparently last) Bond novel. I enjoyed it, but a couple of things did niggle me. First, Bond kept failing at all sorts of things and didn’t do enough 007ish stuff to satisfy me. The book’s not devoid of action, I hasten to add, but he doesn’t often actually win. When the baddie finally gets his comeuppance towards the end, I find the situation rather unlikely in that it relies on Bond being able to see... well, I won’t say what. No spoilers here. The second niggle is that there is an awful lot of descriptive detail. It’s all based in the past, so all the detail is different to what it might be now. I don’t have an issue with that, but there just seems so much of it that I, perhaps unfairly, wondered if AH is setting the scene for a future film. But don’t let my niggles put you off. It’s a nice, straightforward Bond story without a lot of flummery. And only one typo that I spotted. To find out what that is, you’ll have to click on the errata page of my editorial website.
The air war by Adrian Tchaikovsky
So I thought this was the penultimate book in the Apt Series, but in fact I am delighted to discover that it’s the antepenultimate. I am delighted because I am thoroughly enjoying this series, so the fact that it’s one book longer that I thought is rather nice. (I am also delighted because it gives me the opportunity to say antepenultimate, one of my favourite words.) The Air War is a great read and I can’t think of much more to say about it... except that you’ll already know this if you’ve read the previous seven Apt volumes. Which I encourage you to do. I discovered three typos! You can find them on ‘errata’ in my editorial pages. One of them rather made my day. I’ll leave you to guess which one.
The dark crusader by Alistair Maclean
OK, I admit it: I’ve always had a sot spot for Alistair Maclean’s thrillers (his earlier ones, anyway - some of those at the end of his career weren’t so hot). So I have read most of them many times over the years, and The Dark Crusader is no exception. And yet they still weave their magic. You have gritty heroes who admit to mistakes, evil baddies and grey in-between characters, all knitted into a plot that is both obvious and complicated, a la Bond. Needless to say, I enjoyed The Dark Crusader all over again. Quite a few typos, but who cares? I’m sure you can find a copy somewhere, and I recommend you do so.
Babel by R Kuang
I got this book when I saw it being praised by Adrian Tchaikovsky on Twitter. It’s a big book and it took me a while to read it, partly because of its size, partly because of its structure... ... which is: much of the first half of the book concerns the way in which the world uses magic inscribed into silver to run all sorts of things. The magic and silver is largely controlled by England, mainly in Babel, a huge tower in Oxford university. This was all fascinating and I soaked it up. Then much of the second half of the book is more like a thriller, caught up in the political tensions of colonialism. Sure, there is still some magic there, but it is suddenly relegated to being a subplot rather than the main plot. Perhaps that is a little harsh, but that’s how it felt to me. And as a result I didn’t enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first. Hence time taken to read it. All that said, I still recommend Babel as a good read; the ending is quite haunting. But beware it is rather a book of two halves.
City of last chances by AdrianTchaikovsky
As I triumphantly report on the main blog, I wrote up a review of this book for the book review competition run by the Ayr Writers Club., and managed to win first prize. I’m not going to bore everyone by copying it out here. What you want to know is whether it’s worth reading. Or buying. The answer is yes. It’s a great book.
Ninth house by Leigh Bardugo
Let me say at the outset that I enjoyed this book, with its believable world-building and magic oozing from every pore. Most of the characters jump nicely off the page and the plot is sufficiently twisted to keep the reader on their toes. But... You knew a ‘but’ was coming, didn’t you? I think there are two ways in which I felt slightly let down. First, Ninth House is touted as Leigh Bardugo’s first adult novel (she’s had major success with YA fantasy). And I guess this is more ‘adult’... on average. It seems to me that a lot of the quips and one-liners, although amusing, belong in the YA world, and some of the sex and horror content are slightly over the top even for the ‘adult’ world, as if the author thought ‘right, let’s make sure these next bits are really grown-up.’ But... average all this out... I suppose the result is adult rather than YA. Secondly, I think the plot got too twisted for its own good towards the end. And everything tied up just too neatly. I would have preferred a bit less author deceit and maybe a loose end or two at the denouement stage. But maybe that’s just me. I repeat that despite these grouches I enjoyed the book and would recommend anyone to read it. I note there’s a sequel, which I shall be adding to my Christmas list.
Jump cut by Helen Grant
I got this book because Helen Grant writes the occasional story for Supernatural Tales and they’ve always been well written. No surprises, then, to find that Jump Cut is too. It’s a take on the supernatural that I’ve not come across before - which is saying something, given how many books and stories I’ve read. I half-guessed how it was going to end, but the slow-burn build-up of the overall plot never gave too much away... just enough to leave you wanting to find out more. I had one editorial complaint, which is that there are quite a lot of sentences like this: "You’re quite pretty," she announces, "But you don’t look well." So either that second comma should be a full stop, or the ‘B’ in ‘But’ should be lower case. Picky? Maybe, but I kept noticing this particular punctuation error. That aside, this is a book well worth reading. I shall tell the author so.
Holly by Stephen King
Well, what do you expect me to say? I think SK is one of the most underrated authors, and this book, in my opinion, just proves my point. It’s not exactly a horror book and it’s not exactly a murder mystery but it is something in between, and it is certainly something worth reading. As usual, I got caught up in SK’s world, and I really didn’t know what sort of ending to expect. In the event... Ha ha. No spoilers here. Read the book and find out for yourself, although possibly not if you are really averse to a bit of gruesomeness.
The haunt by A.L.Barker
I picked this book up in a secondhand bookshop on Skye. I’d never heard of the author, although judging by the blurb she was quite well known in her time. The book was published in 2000. It wasn’t quite the tale I’d expected (and probably as you’d expect) from the title. It’s a story about a group of people, some holidaying, some not, over a weekend or a little longer. It’s very much character driven, and it’s very well done. I guess it’s unlikely you’ll find this book any time soon but if you do, it’s well worth a read.
The murmurs by Michael Malone
I’ve known MM for a few years, as he and I both attended the Ayr Writers Club back in the day. So when he had a book launch in Waterstones Ayr, I naturally had to go to get a signed copy of his latest book. The Murmurs is an interesting concept: a girl is cursed with the ability to see when people are going to die. This is not a spoiler, as it’s on all the blurbs and so forth. How this curse fits in with certain happenings around where she lives is the meat of the story... bit of a murder mystery... and I’m going to say no more about that. The book reads well, and the way the ‘curse’ meets the real world is well done. It’s a book worth reading. When I asked MM if the curse could, in fact, be usefully employed in various medical settings, I got a mumbled reply that this might be explored in a subsequent novel. I’m waiting! But this slightly illogical omission apart, I enjoyed the book and can recommend it.
Portrait of the artist as an old man by Joseph Heller
This is another book I found in the secondhand shop on Skye. Naturally I have read Catch 22 (brilliant) and Something Happened (not so good - nothing happens) and when I read in the blurb that Portrait was the last book Heller wrote, I was a bit nervous, thinking it might be no good. And when I started reading it I thought my worst fears were going to be realised. But as it went on, it got better - a lot better, and I ended up rather enjoying the whole thing. You need a dry sense of humour and a bit of patience, but if you have those traits, I think you’d enjoy it too.
The shot by Kia Thomas
Kia is a member of CIEP (Chartered Institure of Editing and Proofreading), as am I, so naturally I got a copy of The Shot to support her. The book is good fun, a light read with some naughty bits. It’s one of those books where you really know what’s going to happen practically from page 1, but it doesn’t matter too much: you just want to see how the characters all get where they’re going. In that respect, this book is very similar to Kia’s The Scoop, which I reviewed some time ago. In short, if you want something of a rom-com with naughty bits, you won’t go far wrong with Kia’s latest.
Changing trains in Ulaanbataar by Barrie Condon
This is one of Sparsile’s publications, and on top of that Barrie is a member of the Glasgow SF Writing Circle, as am I. So naturally I went along to his book launch to grab a signed copy of his latest book, which I shall call CTU for short. I am not going to pretend that CTU is a literary masterpiece. Essentially it’s a collection of anecdotes from Barrie’s eventful life travelling around the world. What I will say is that I am amazed that Barrie has survived to write to book, and that it is very funny. So by all means get this book (especially as that helps to support Sparsile Books) if you want to laugh at Barrie’s bizarre exploits in various very different parts of the world. I think I can safely guarantee that you will laugh.