Books read and other media of note |
False Impression by Jeffrey Archer. It
takes a certain amount of guts to use 9/11 as a backdrop for a suspense
novel. With a few minor caveats, Archer delivers the goods again
with this novel, about a Van Gogh painting craved by several. I
did wonder--and this is a spoiler alert--why was Van Gogh's image
reversed in the copy? Also as a former artist I don't think
there's any way to get an oil painting dry in a couple days. But
still Archer is a great story teller. Spade and Archer by Joe Gores The back story to the Maltese Falcon, written much in Hammett's terse clear style. Having both read and viewed the Maltese Falcon, I visualized Bogart mouthing every line... This is an exciting new find for me in the writer, as I like the earthy noir style. And, like Hammett, Gores is a former PI as well. The title also is iconic, playing a strong visual role with the names on the office window in the movie. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher When I was young werewolves and vampires were part of the horror genre. Now they've become mainline fantasy. In this book wizard Harry Dresden takes on a variety of werewolves, with a murder mystery to keep it interesting. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. This book tries for too much. At its simplest, it's a soccer match between Unseen University and a local put together street group. There are a lot of underlying issues of discrimination, and even a faint echo of Romeo and Juliet mixed in, as well as a nodding touch to many of the standard Discworld types. But it can't shake a pervasive heaviness that's usually overcome by the inherent whimsy of Discworld. This is understandable, given Pratchett's condition resulting from early onset Alzheimer's. But lamentable, as well... Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer By now he's got a standard set of characters, and one dies, also pretty standard way of upping the emotional ante for the readers. Beyond that, it's still pretty good juvenile fiction. The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls by John R. King Popular figures of literature develop spin offs--this one around the events of Sherlock Holmes "death" by Prof. Moriarity, expanding on the theme and giving Moriarity a human background. Although quite riveting in plot, the inherent demon possession violated the natural logic of the A. C. Doyle works. This might not have bothered Doyle much, as he himself was hoodwinked to believe in fairies based on some amateur trick photography, and a spiritualist as well, if I recall correctly. The Star Fox by Poul Anderson 1964. Given the year of publication, this may have been about the war in S.E. Asia as much as on distant stars, with pacifists shown as extremist kidnappers (hey that didn't happen till 68 or so and Patti Hearst). The title might be a play on The Swamp Fox, an inventor of guerrila warfare in the American Revolution. Anderson likes to theorize about how various SF things like FTL drives work, and it was fairly low on action, but he's still a classic writer of the genre. Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer Having gotten started on this author by the book listed below, I find his juvenile series good adventure fantasy in the old Matinee serial sort of way. Storm Front by Jim Butcher There's a really different tone to this series than the Codex Alera Series. It's a modern day fantasy set in Chicago. Instead of the fate of the world, the goal is more modest--a murder mystery with wizardly complications. Very good for fans of sci fi and mystery, which is probably a limited subset, and of which I am one. And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer If you ever read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and wished Douglas Adams hadn't gotten writer's block about it and killed off all the possible earths at the end of the last volume, this work is for you. Colfer nails the basic Hitchiker Series style, perhaps even going over the top a bit, as if that were possible. All the hilarity and whininess of the apocalptic crew is back, including the Vogons Destructor Fleet. First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher Book 6 of the Codex Alera. Butcher's writing gets better with each book in the series. This one seems a good conclusion to the series, but there's always more mind control parasites and vampires to fight somewhere... |
INBMA |