But I Digress | My Little Alien

"It started with one word. One word appearing slowly against the blackness of space: ALIEN."

It did indeed—for me, and I can't imagine how many millions of other admirers of the aforementioned franchise.

That quote, in case you were wondering, comes from the back cover copy of Alien: The Archive: a beautiful new book that's taken pride of place on the coffee table in the corner of the spare room the other half and I spent the autumn turning into a lovely library.

It's a massive thing—The Archive rather than the library—and not half as expensive as it is expansive. No surprise, I suppose, since it's the first official book about all four of the films. That said, it did surprise me. I was expecting a collection of film stills and a bit of behind-the-scenes business; a few storyboards and prop shots, possibly, printed on great big glossy pages. 

(Knowing me, as I do declare I do, I'd have bought the book on that bare basis, if Titan hadn't kindly sent a complimentary copy along, What can I say? I have Alien on the brain.)

Make no mistake: The Archive has all that, but it's so much more than just a book of pretty pictures; of illustrations and annotations. It begins with an overview of the franchise so far, by way of an involved interview with its star, the wonderful Sigourney Weaver. The remainder is arranged according to the four films featured. The pages devoted to Alien take in, for instance, an extensive introduction based on interviews with the cast and crew, followed by briefer pieces about sketches and concepts, building the world, casting the characters, making the models, filming the effects, and a fair few other things. Aliens,  Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection all receive the same detailed treatment.

It's an incredible compendium—and, considering that Christmas is coming, a great gift idea, if your friends or family members are fans of the franchise. Not a few of the folks we've had over to see our lovely library have spent longer looking at this book than admiring the room I renovated, and I don't even begrudge them their distraction.

If you've got Alien-friendly gamers to get gifts for, also consider Alien: Isolation, which I finally completed this week. I don't have a huge amount to add to the more responsible reviews out there, except to say that the save system, though archaic and fundamentally frustrating, in many ways makes the game: the tension that is Isolation's single greatest strength is never tighter than when you're hunting for the save station's distinctive beeping after surviving a couple of close encounters with you-know-who.

Also, the aesthetic? Pitch perfect. The sound design? Superlative. Isolation is the best Alien game there's ever been by far. It'd have been a better eight hour experience than it is a twenty hour epic—the mechanics wear more than a little thin during the mediocre middle act—but Isolation, like The Archive, exceeded my every expectation.

Now I have a couple of classes to teach this evening, and a party to attend afterwards, nevertheless, I know what I'll be doing during the wee hours of Halloween.

"It started with one word. One word appearing slowly against the blackness of space: ALIEN."

Books Received | The BoSS: Beyond Boneshaker

Well, here I am. Home again, home again.

And it's actually not bad - other than the cold, that is - to be back. The week the other half and I just spent in Malta made for a more modest holiday than our month in North America earlier in the year, but I think there's something to be said for the self-contained. I mean, we saw everything we wanted to see, ate all the food we could, drank some truly awesome cocktails, and had plenty of time to relax in the between-times.

There was even some reading! :)

Of the books I brought along, I read The Ravenglass Eye, Osama and - on my Kindle - In the Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill, as well as the final volume (finally) of The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham — which was without a doubt the most heart-breaking novel I've read in 2012. I admit to some bubbling.

Reviews of some, if not all of the above will be forthcoming here on The Speculative Scotsman.

Add to that lovely lot the proofs which were waiting for me at my local post office. Amongst others, these included the sequel to The Emperor's Knife, the three Anno Draculas released to date, London Falling by Vertigo author Paul Cornell, and - last but not least - a long dreamed-of look at the new Warren Ellis: Mulholland Books are publishing Gun Machine in early January, and I can't bloody well wait.

However, one package in particular exited me, specifically because of its tinkling. My first thought was that someone had sent me a Christmas bauble... but no!

From the local Tor team, the following:

That's Boneshaker by Cherie Priest on a festive bed of straw, complete with scissors, gin and some other some vaguely steampunky stuff.

Here's a closer look at all those lovely little trinkets:

But damn, I'll be drinking that!

Now those of you who've been with me since the blog's beginning might remember that I've already read and reviewed Boneshaker, as well as its successor, Dreadnought. I didn't much enjoy either, neither. Be that as it may, this box was so lovingly put together that I'm tempted to give the series another shot.

Who knows? Perhaps the third time's the charm.

One way or the other, we'll see soon enough, because here in the UK, Tor are planning to publish a Clockwork Century novel every month through the fourth volume in the series' release next February. I'll give The Inexplicables a good going-over around then.

Are any of you folks excited to read it?

Books Received | The BoSS Strikes Back

Let me tell you what's awesome about this edition of The BoSS...

...everything! :)

I dare say there's a clear highlight courtesy Joe Abercrombie's next novel - huge thanks to the good folks at Gollancz for an early look at that - but I'm psyched for all the other contenders too.

In fact, in honour of the intolerably exciting selection we have to talk about this afternoon, I'm going to cut the crap and get right to it.

***

The Ward
by S. L. Grey

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 01/10/12

by Corvus

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: Lisa is a plastic surgery addict with severe self-esteem issues. The only hospital that will let her go under the knife is New Hope: a grimy, grey-walled facility dubbed 'No Hope' by its patients.

Farrell is a celebrity photographer. His last memory is a fight with his fashion-model girlfriend and now he's in a bed in No Hope, alone. Needle marks criss-cross his arms. A sinister nurse keeps tampering with his drip. And he's woken up blind...

Panicked and disorientated, Farrell persuades Lisa to help him escape, but the hospital's dimly lit corridors only take them deeper underground - into a twisted mirror world staffed by dead-eyed nurses and doped-up orderlies. Down here, in the Modification Ward, Lisa can finally have the face she wants... but at a price that will haunt them both forever.

My Thoughts: You may or may not recall that I really rather enjoyed The Mall. If not, here's the review I wrote at the time. 'Twas, in short, a shock of modern horror with a sharp satirical edge, and I've been keen to see what S. L. Grey has stashed up its pseudonymous sleeve ever since.

Now, finally, I'm about to find out. I'll be reviewing this book for tor.com - otherwise it might not be such a sure thing - so keep your eyes peeled for my article over there.

In the interim, Pornokitsch have written it up already, and Jared's clearly a fan. This bodes terribly well...

Let the Old Dreams Die
by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK

on 30/08/2012

by Quercus

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Whatever happened to Oskar and Eli? And what became of the beleaguered families from Handling the Undead? Find out in Let the Old Dreams Die.

In other tales from this collection, a woman finds a dead body and decides to keep it for herself, a customs officer has a mysterious gift which enables him to see what others hide, and a man believes he knows how to deceive death.

These are the stories of John Ajvide Lindqvist's rich imagination. They are about love and death and what we do when the two collide and the monsters emerge. 

My Thoughts: Now I haven't exactly been on the edge of my reading seat waiting to hear what become of the beleaguered families from Handling the Undead - in point of fact, I've long thought this the weakest of Lindqvist's novels - but the thought of spending a touch more time with Oskar and Eli out of Let the Right One In really does intrigue me... I'll admit it.

Then again, I don't know that I've read any of Lindqvist's short stories before, so this collection isn't guaranteed to be the fever dream I dream of. We'll see here on The Speculative Scotsman shortly.

Throne of the Crescent Moon
by Saladin Ahmed

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 17/01/13

by Gollancz

Review Priority
3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: The Crescent Moon Kingdoms - land of djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers - are at boiling point. A power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince is reaching its climax. In the midst of this brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. Only a handful of reluctant heroes can learn the truth, and stop the killing.

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame's family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter's path.

Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla's young assistant, a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety, is eager to deliver God's justice. Zamia Badawi has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the Lion-Shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man's title. She lives only to avenge her father's death.

That is, until she meets Rasheed, and learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father's killer. When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince's brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn the city, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

My Thoughts: What an awfully complicated plot!

Sounds sort of like cross between The Long Price and Alif the Unseen, and if it's anything along those lines, then obviously I want it in me.

But blurbs, like movie trailers, have a way of painting a pretty picture of even the ugliest subjects, so the real reason I'm interested in Throne of the Crescent Moon: when it came out in the US almost a year ago, many of my favourite book bloggers loved it. So sure, I'll give Saladin Ahmed's much buzzed-about debut a good, long look before it hits Britain in early 2013.

When She Woke
by Hillary Jordan

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 30/08/12

by Harper

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Hannah Payne is a RED.

Her crime? MURDER.

And her victim, says the state of Texas, was her unborn child.

Lying on a table in a bare room, covered by only a paper gown, Hannah awakens to a nightmare. Cameras broadcast her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes - criminals whose skin has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime - is a sinister form of entertainment.

Hannah refuses to reveal the identity of her father. But cast back into a world that has marked her for life, how far will she go to protect the man she loves?

An enthralling and chilling novel from the author of Mudbound, for fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Scarlet Letter.

My Thoughts: The publicists are leaning on that comparison to Atwood's classic pretty HARD, aren't they?

Well, either Harper are setting themselves up for an awful FALL, or they're actually onto something here, and truth be told, I wouldn't want to miss that. Not only, but also: Publisher's Weekly seem to echo the acclaim that's been heaped on this latest, would-be greatest dystopia. So I'll give When She Woke a minute, and hope there's something to the hubbub for once.

Then again, if the end of Jordan's novel is as disappointing as legions readers seem to agree, I'm going to be PISSED.

What can I say? Dramatic caps make me irate...

Red Country
by Joe Abercrombie

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK

on 18/10/12

by Gollancz

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: "They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following..."

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.

Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust...

My Thoughts: Made you wait for this once, didn't I? :)

Methinks I need say little more beyond the following: I have a galley of Red Country and I'll be reading it immediately. For review elsewhere, I'm afraid, but I'll point you in the right direction come release week.

After The Heroes - far and away Abercrombie's best book to date, in my eyes - I've such high hopes for Red Country, not least because it's a western, and I plum love a good western. I can't wait to see for myself how Abercrombie handles the genre.

In fact, what I really need to do is stop blogging, make a cup of coffee, and start in on the first chapter.

***

What a week!

I've got my work cut out for me, clearly, but if there's something you think I'm missing, please feel free to give me a kick in the rear in the comments.

We'll talk again the next time The BoSS strikes back.

Books Received | The BoSS Is Back Again... And So Soon!

"For one week only," I wrote about the return of the blog's books received feature a month ago.

Well, far be it from me to step on my own toes, but as of this afternoon, self-evidently, The BoSS is back again, and with a grab bag of truly brilliant-looking books!

Don't, whatever you do, take this as some sort of suggestion of a regular schedule. In future, I think, I'll run occasional editions as and when I have an interesting enough assortment of new books to talk about. Nearly three years into this thing, you and I both know what I'm likely to read, and what, in all probability, I'm not... so there's no sense in burbling about all the nonsense any longer, is there?

With that, let's dig in to this week's excellent selection.

***

The Twelve
by Justin Cronin

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 25/10/12

by Orion

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: The Twelve. Death-row prisoners with nightmare pasts and no future, until they were selected for a secret experiment to create something more than human.

Now they are the future, and humanity's worst nightmare has begun. The Twelve.

My Thoughts: Though it was (to put it politely) divisive in some circles, The Passage was one of the best and most memorable books I read during the first year of The Speculative Scotsman, in 2010. The Twelve, then, has been quite a while coming, but given its sheer size - which is neither as vast as its predecessor, nor massively less long - that was only to be expected.

Come this Halloween, in any event, the wait will be over.

I full well expect The Twelve to be darkly fantastic, and given the three months (!) between now and its release in October, I mean to take my sweet time reading it. Because there's nothing quite as likely to ruin a good book than the need to rush through it, is there?

The Dirty Streets of Heaven

by Tad Williams

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK

on 13/09/2012

by Hodder & Stoughton

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Bobby Dollar isn't your average angel.

Sure, he takes the occasional trip to Heaven, but his job as an advocate - arguing the fate of the recently deceased - keeps him pretty busy on Earth, and he's more than happy to spend the rest of his time propping up the bar with his fellow immortals.

Until the day a soul goes missing, presumed stolen by 'the other side'.

A new chapter in the war between heaven and hell is about to open. And Bobby is right in the middle of it, with only a desirable but deadly demon to aid him.

My Thoughts: In my younger years, the Otherland saga was one of the first epic speculative series I read from start to finish, so I suppose I have a certain attachment to Tad Williams. Not enough of one to guarantee that I'll read everything he writes - I never did get around to Shadowmarch, for instance, although I still intend to, one day - but The Dirty Streets of Heaven is a much more manageable volume than most of the doorstoppers this author has composed, and it's the first in a new trilogy to boot — so I'm in, I think.

That said, The Dirty Streets of Heaven is outwardly urban fantasy; not exactly a bold new direction for Mr. Williams to take, yet certainly something different. To wit, I'm intrigued to see what, if anything, the talent behind some of the finest science fiction and fantasy in recent memory can bring to a genre I admit I've almost no interest in.

Jack Glass
by Adam Roberts

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 26/07/12

by Gollancz

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: Jack Glass is the murderer. That, at least, is quite transparent.

He has sliced a lethal swathe through known space. He is without pity or scruple. He is a killer.

Were the authorities ever to discover that it was actually Jack Glass that they had detained on a remote prison asteroid they would return and kill him immediately. And they will discover it. The murderer will have to escape. And that, of course, is impossible.

From a tiny asteroid in the far reaches of space, to a comfortable country house, to a sealed orbital habitat, Adam Roberts takes us on a spellbinding journey through a future that challenges all our notions of crime, punishment and freedom.

We know whodunnit. Now we must learn how... and why.

My Thoughts: I've only been reading Adam Roberts since Yellow Blue Tibia, I'm afraid - the time has never been quite right to dig in to his expansive back catalogue - but even by that standard, his last novel, By Light Alone, was absolutely remarkable. His latest, Jack Glass, is (according to the afterword) a contemporary interpretation of golden age detective fiction staged in a similarly period-appropriate sf setting.

And looking back from the halfway mark, it could be as brilliant as anything Roberts has written.

Jack Glass is three cunningly connected novellas, of which I've finished the first and started in on the second already. I'll be attending to the third as soon as humanly possible, because so far, Jack Glass has been great: if not as literary as most of Roberts' novels, then more immediately, and sometimes shockingly, rewarding. I'm to review this book for Tor.com, so stay tuned for the final word on this speculative mass murder mystery... soon.

Stormdancer
by Jay Kristoff

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 13/09/12

by Tor

Review Priority
3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: Griffins are supposed to be extinct, so when Yukiko and her warrior father are sent to capture one for the Shōgun, they fear that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him.

But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Although she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu form a surprising and powerful bond.

Meanwhile, the country verges on collapse. A toxic fuel is choking the land, the machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure, and the Shōgun cares for nothing but his own dominion. Authority has always made Yukiko uneasy, but her world changes when she meets Kin, a young man with secrets, and the rebel Kagé cabal. She learns the horrifying extent of the Shōgun’s crimes, both against her country and her family. Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu are determined to make the Shōgun pay – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

My Thoughts: Strangely, though Stormdancer is the first first novel in this edition of The BoSS, it's the second of this week's books - after The Dirty Streets of Heaven - to bear a blurb by Patrick Rothfuss. Which is sure to shift a few units, and set certain expectations.

Looking past that, Stormdancer sounds uniquely interesting. Japanese steampunk, anyone? And if not, why not? Even if this is all that sets Jay Kristoff's debut apart, it might just be enough for me — I'll admit, I'm already intrigued.

Forge of Darkness
by Steven Erikson

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK

on 31/07/12

by Bantam Press

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Now is the time to tell the story of an ancient realm, a tragic tale that sets the stage for all the tales yet to come and all those already told...

It's a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the realm of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power. and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners' great hero, Vatha Urusander, is being promoted by his followers to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage, but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such ambitions. The impending clash sends fissures throughout the realm, and as the rumors of civil war burn through the masses, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold...

Steven Erikson entered the pantheon of great fantasy writers with his debut Gardens of the Moon. Now he returns with the first novel in a trilogy that takes place millennia before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and introduces readers to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness. It is the epic story of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in shaping the world of the Malazan Empire.

My Thoughts: Well, well, well. A prequel trilogy, is it? To an epic fantasy saga that, if I maintain my current pace, I could be reading for the rest of my life?

That... sounds almost exactly like what the doctor ordered. :)

Forge of Darkness would be a sure thing, if it weren't for the fact that I'm afraid it stands to spoil what of the Malazan Book of the Fallen I haven't yet read, which is to say - to my eternal shame - most of the series. If someone out there could assure me that that won't happen, I'll jump right into this.

This week also brought a review copy of the unconnected Steven Erikson collection, The Devil Delivered, which I'll be reading in installments between bigger books. Talk about an embarrassment of riches — an embarrassment I'll suffer gladly!

***

And with that, The BoSS comes to a close once more. Who's pleased to see it again?

Until next time, then... wherever that may be, and when.

Books Received | For One Week Only... The BoSS Is Back!

Wait, what's this? The BoSS is back?

Yes indeed, dear readers. And in case you were wondering why, well basically... because you demanded it!

As luck would have it, it just so happens that several of the books I've been most excited to see this year arrived all at once, right around the same time I decided to temporarily resurrect the blog's books received feature. Amongst the highlights of this triumphant return, then, we have cosmic horror, unhinged science fiction, wolves in the walls, a visit to Sempere & Sons, and last but not least, fun with fantasy fencing.

So shall we get to it? :)

***

Sharps
by K. J. Parker

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 05/07/12

by Orbit

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been called between two neighbouring kingdoms. The war has been long and brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money...

Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun — and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.

When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?

My Thoughts: Oh, go on: give peace a chance!

And while you're at it, give K. J. Parker one as well — long the unsung hero of smart fantasy fiction.

I've been banging on about how incredibly talented Parker is practically since I started The Speculative Scotsman, but it was last year's The Hammer that wholly sold me on the insidiously intellectual fare she (or he) has made his (or her) name with. In Top of the Scots, I went so far as to declare The Hammer my favourite new novel of 2011, and according to the characteristically cracking Pornokitsch review, Sharps is even better, and markedly - apparently - more accessible.

So. Could this be the year K. J. Parker finally breaks into the mainstream? It pains me to say it, but no. Probably not. If it was going to happen it would have already, I expect. But here's hoping I'm wrong.

One way or the other, I can hardly wait to sink my teeth into Sharps. And speaking of teeth...

Lord of Slaughter

by M. D. Lachlan

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK

on 28/06/2012

by Gollancz

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: On a battlefield strewn with corpses, a ragged figure, dressed in wolfskin and intent on death, slips past the guards into the tent of the Emperor and draws his sword.

The terrified citizens of Constantinople are plagued by mysterious sorcery. The wolves outside the city are howling. A young boy had traded the lives of his family for power. And a Christian scholar, fleeing with his pregnant wife from her enraged father, must track down the magic threatening his world.

All paths lead to the squalid and filthy prison deep below the city, where a man who believes he is a wolf lies chained, and the spirits of the dead are waking.

The Norsemen camped outside the city have their own legends, of the wolf who will kill the gods, but no true Christian could believe such a thing. And yet it is clear to Loys that Ragnarok is coming. Will he be prepared to sacrifice his life, his position, his wife and his unborn child for a god he doesn't believe in?

And deep in the earth, the wolfman howls...

My Thoughts: First, there was Wolfsangel. Then came Fenrir. Now, for the third installment in this macabre fantasy saga, M. D. Lachlan takes us on a tour of 10th century Constantinople.

I'll grant you, this series isn't especially easy to read - it's dense and desperately intense - but the challenge the books of The Craw represent is dwarfed by the cerebral reward they offer. Word is that Lord of Slaughter is the concluding volume, which I wasn't expecting, but never mind — I'm all for things ending when the time is right, rather than rinsing and repeating into infinity. That said, if this truly is the end, here's hoping Lachlan ties off his trilogy with one last hurrah, fit to send off the vengeful gods themselves!

The Teleportation Accident
by Ned Beauman

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 19/07/12

by Sceptre

Review Priority
3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: When you haven't had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone.

If you're living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn't.

But that's no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theatres of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: whether it was really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero, the great Renaissance stage designer Adriano Lavicini; and why a handsome, clever, charming, modest guy like him can't, just once in a while, get himself laid.

From the author of the acclaimed Boxer, Beetle comes a historical novel that doesn't know what year it is; a noir novel that turns all the lights on; a romance novel that arrives drunk to dinner; a science fiction novel that can't remember what 'isotope' means; a stunningly inventive, exceptionally funny, dangerously unsteady and (largely) coherent novel about sex, violence, space, time, and how the best way to deal with history is to ignore it.

My Thoughts: Boxer, Beetle was pretty brilliant. Not just for a debut, but for fiction, full stop. Be you intrigued, you can read my review of this promising new author's first novel here on TSS. For the moment, suffice it to say that, like Lachlan's, the work of Ned Beauman won't be to everyone's tastes. Boxer, Beetle was a relatively simply story made remarkable - or maddening, depending on your perspective - by the particular way in which it was told, and if it missed the mark ever so slightly, then The Teleportation Accident stands to remedy its issues.

Truth be told, though, its blurb is no less loony than Boxer, Beetle's, so we'll see about that last. Certainly The Teleportation Accident sounds ostensibly more speculative than its predecessor - a plus from my point of view, and presumably yours - and perhaps Beauman has pared away the more outlandish aspects of his prose. The masses might like that. But would I? I wonder.

Anyway, while we're on the topic of outlandish prose...

The Prisoner of Heaven
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Vital Statistics
Published in the UK
on 21/06/12

by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Review Priority
5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: The third in the cycle of novels that began with The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven returns to the world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons bookshop.

It begins just before Christmas in Barcelona in 1957, one year after Daniel and Bea from The Shadow of the Wind have married. They now have a son, Julian, and are living with Daniel's father at Sempere & Sons. Fermin still works with them and is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. However something appears to be bothering him. Daniel is alone in the shop one morning when a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters. He spots one of their most precious volumes that is kept locked in a glass cabinet, a beautiful and unique illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. Despite the fact that the stranger seems to care little for books, he wants to buy this expensive edition. Then, to Daniel's surprise, the man inscribes the book with the words 'To Fermin Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future'. This visit leads back to a story of imprisonment, betrayal and the return of a deadly rival.

My Thoughts: Once upon a time, if you had asked after my foremost favourite books, The Shadow of the Wind would have been right up there. Fantastic characters and a stunning setting paired with an unforgettable premise and finely honed, albeit rather purplish prose made a keen admirer out of me, most certainly. But then The Angel's Game came along.

Unlike most folks, I actually enjoyed The Angel's Game - if not nearly as much as The Shadow of the Wind, then nevertheless not insignificantly - though in retrospect, I suppose it served to suggest something of a downturn in the great expectations I had of Carlos Ruiz Zafon. An impression only compounded by the dull young adult novels that have hit since, of which I read and reviewed the first, and read, but could not bring myself to review, the second.

By all accounts, however, The Prisoner of Heaven is intended as a return to the hallowed territory occupied by Zafon's meta masterwork, so I've high hopes, and a plan to reread The Shadow of the Wind as soon as I can find the time, the better to segue straight into this second venture into the depths of Sempere & Sons.

The Croning
by Laird Barron

Vital Statistics
Published in the US

on 01/05/12

by Night Shade Books

Review Priority
4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us.

Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly eighty years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret... of The Croning.

From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.

My Thoughts: I'm due to review this horror novel for Strange Horizons, in advance of which article I trawled through a couple of collections - amongst them the Lovecraft anthology Black Wings - looking to brush up on my Laird Barron. I came away from my endeavor exceedingly impressed - particularly with "The Broadsword" - and full of dark dreams about the cosmic contents of The Croning.

Saying that, though, Justin didn't love it, so I could go either way as regards The Croning. We'll just have to wait and see.

***

And with that, The BoSS comes to a close once more. Who's happy to see it again?

Until next time, then... whenever that may be!

Show and Tell | What Every Speculative Scotsman Wants

Oh, hey! I turned 28 yesterday, by the way.

I was working, unfortunately -- or fortunately, as the case may be. Had a lovely day anyway. A buffet breakfast-come-lunch with my parents and my partner, an afternoon and evening of easy teaching, then last but not least a night of sleepy gift-giving.

So I thought the thing to do was blog a bit about what all everyone thought I'd enjoy. It's actually unspeakably illuminating. You can group all but a few of the gifts into three categories. The first is of course coffee, that best friend of bloggers since time immemorial.

 

Alongside a bottle of Tia Maria that I immediately "tested," the day also saw fit to deliver into my clutches some delicious Illy espresso, which I gather is the best ground coffee to be had without grinding the beans yourself. Truth be told, I wouldn't know; I've always balked at the cost.

Meanwhile, tying into the second category too, this thing, and I'll be filling it with a vast amount of the steaming stuff later today:

It's a thermos, Captain... but not as we know it! :)

The second of our three categories, then, involves a miscellany of things to take on holiday, because we're jetting off to the States shortly, the other half and I, and why not get ahead of the game? Speaking of which, another excellent gift: Carcassonne. 

I've loved Catan for years, playing online and off. Also Ticket to Ride. And Risk. I'm certainly no expert at any or all of the above, but sitting down to a good strategy game always makes me inordinately happy. Carcassonne is a German-style, tile-based board game that I've been hugely curious about for ages, so this will definitely be coming to America with me.

Last but not least... books! That is to say two review copies and one Amazon Marketplace purchase that just so happened to pop through the letterbox yesterday, thus in a weird way I think of them as gifts:

The Lions of Al-Rassan is a very timely reissue from Voyager, and I imagine it'll be excellent company on my international mission. The Steve Rasnic Tem - new from Solaris and very intriguing too - I aim to have read and reviewed in advance of my departure in a few short weeks. Meanwhile A Different Kingdom by Paul Kearney came highly recommended during last week's shenanigans with the Macht, and you may or may not ever hear me mention it again. It really depends.

That isn't everything either, but this post has already taken longer to put together than I'd imagined, so it'll have to do for today.

Obviously, I am a very happy camper, and incredibly grateful to everyone who cared. In part because of the goodies and the games and the gadgets, yes, but at this (late) stage in my life, it really is the thought that counts, more than any individual gift. And what thoughtful thoughts they were this year!

Show and Tell | To Me, From You

The thing of it is, I get so many books in the mail for potential review either here on TSS or elsewhere that, truth be told, I don't need to buy very many myself... which is a shame; I used to love book browsing.

As is, there's almost always something pressing, some buzz-worthy new thing I really should review, and when on rare occasion there isn't, I look to the tower of books To Be Read. Failing even that, there's the library in the spare room. I could comfortably spend the rest of my life reading all the overlooked delights secreted in my seven no-expense-spared Billy bookcases.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know that I need ever buy a book again. But needs are slippery things at the best of times, and wants belong in a whole different department. Make no mistake: I want to go mad on Amazon, on an almost daily basis. In my experience, keeping up with the blogosphere - as I attempt to - will do that to a dude. And try as I might to stop myself, every now and again... I slip.

And sometimes you folks make it real easy for me fall off the wagon.

Take the other day, for instance. Must have been the end of the financial quarter or something, because I woke up one morning to see emails from both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com alerting me to gift certificates to the value of about £50. Payment for purchases made in the last year through the Amazon Associate links I run under my book reviews - more, in truth, for your convenience than my possible profit.

So these monies came as something of a surprise. And what do you do with surprise money? You spend it! As I did... in all of about a half-hour after realising it existed. :)

I thought the thing to do would be to buy some of the books that I've spent 2011 ogling from afar; books I'd have loved to cover on the blog had review copies of each and every one come, and saved me from the decision to spend pennies on things I really don't need, as established.

From Amazon.com, then, I came home with these pretties:

And from Amazon.co.uk, these beauties were your surprise presents to me:

Plus postage, of course, and part of an awesome Christmas present I couldn't possibly mention here in case the other half sees it.

So I bought some books. That's the long and short of it. But rather than let this little indulgence go unmentioned, I wanted to post something here on the blog, basically to say thanks - sincerely, thank you - to everyone who's ever bought anything from either of the Amazons using the affiliate links I embed here on TSS.

Methinks Aurorarama's first up - it is such a gorgeous book - but hereabouts Guy Gavriel Kay has gotten to be a bit of a festive reading tradition, so the two parts of The Sarantine Mosaic are a sure thing, I should think, come the holidays.


Oh, it is the season to be jolly, isn't it? :)

Thank you all!

Books Received | The BoSS for 27/11/11

In The BoSS this week - the last edition, I think, or the last-edition-but-one before the holidays, depending on what books present themselves for inspection over the next seven days - myths, origins, wicked trains, time-tripping whales... and end to Oz!

***

All Clear

by Connie Willis

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 20/10/11

by Gollancz

Review Priority

4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Traveling back in time, from Oxford circa 2060 into the thick of World War II, was a routine excursion for three British historians eager to study firsthand the heroism and horrors of the Dunkirk evacuation and the London Blitz. But getting marooned in war-torn 1940 England has turned Michael Davies, Merope Ward, and Polly Churchill from temporal tourists into besieged citizens struggling to survive Hitler’s devastating onslaught. And now there’s more to worry about than just getting back home: The impossibility of altering past events has always been a core belief of time-travel theory—but it may be tragically wrong. When discrepancies in the historical record begin cropping up, it suggests that one or all of the future visitors have somehow changed the past—and, ultimately, the outcome of the war. Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the stranded historians’ supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, frantically confronts the seemingly impossible task of rescuing his students—three missing needles in the haystack of history.

The thrilling time-tripping adventure that began with Blackout now hurtles to its stunning resolution in All Clear.

My Thoughts: When Blackout hit here, earlier in the year, I couldn't quite decide whether or not to read it immediately or wait, as patiently as possible, for All Clear to come out too, because I understood that these two books were in fact one larger novel, split down the middle, and I'd heard many a sad story from US-based bloggers about how the wait for the second part had been excruciating. I didn't want to put myself through that. On the other hand, however, what with all the awards the latest from Connie Willis has won, I had a hard time restraining myself.

In the end, my indecision made my decision for me.


But now All Clear is here. This means war: one man's struggle to read something like 1600 pages within the next ten days. I very much doubt I'll come out of this conflict on top, but by gum I'm gonna try!

Out of Oz

by Gregory McGuire

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 01/11/11

by Headline Review

Review Priority

2 (It Could Happen)

The Blurb: The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who's knocking at the door. It's none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy.

Amid all this chaos, Elphaba's granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war.

Out of Oz is a magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises - the hallmarks of the brilliant and unique imagination of Gregory Maguire.

My Thoughts: It began with Wicked. It all ends with Out of Oz.

Secretly I've always really wanted to see Wicked. I haven't had the chance yet: musicals take ages to work their way up to Edinburgh. Hell, I'm still waiting to see The Lion King!

Saying that, the books on which I understand the musical was based, of which this is apparently the last in the line, well... they don't exactly appeal. Who would do the singing? Me?

So it's not particularly likely I'll read Out of Oz. Certainly not anytime soon, and not, if I'm honest, likely anytime ever. Still, this book is really a very pretty thing, to look at and to touch, and that in itself is worth its weight.

Myths of Origins: Four Short Novels

by Catherynne M. Valente

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 06/12/11

by Wyrm Publishing

Review Priority

5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: Live the Myth! New York Times best-seller Catherynne M. Valente is the single most compelling voice to emerge in fantasy fiction in decades. Collected here for the first time, her early short novels explore, deconstruct, and ultimately explode the seminal myths of both East and West, casting them in ways you've never read before and may never read again.

In "The Labyrinth," a woman wanderer, a Maze like no other, a Monkey and a Minotaur and a world full of secrets leading down to the Center of it All. In "Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams," an aged woman named Ayako lives in medieval Japan, but dreams in mythical worlds that beggar the imagination... including our own modern world. When a hero challenges a great and evil serpent in "The Grass-Cutting Sword," who speaks for the snake? In this version of a myth from the ancient chronicle Kojiki, the serpent speaks for himself. Finally, in "Under in the Mere," Arthur and Lancelot, Mordred and le Fay. The saga has been told a thousand times, but never in the poetic polyphony of this novella, a story far deeper than it is long.

My Thoughts: Last year, at the last minute, I declared The Habitation of the Blessed my favourite book of 2010. Fully twelve months on, I'm still not sure if that was the right decision, but then these sorts of decisions are never easy, and rarely clear, and it seemed like the right decision at the time.

What there is no doubt about is that I stand in abject awe of Cat Valente. She's a wordsmith unlike any other, and I've had occasion to read two of her other books this year - Deathless and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making - neither of which gave me cause to question that assertion.

So this opportunity to catch up on her very earliest work - the four short novels collection in Myths of Origin - is both welcome and a little worrying, because what if these stories don't hold up?

In any event I can guarantee you a review of this book. It's a sure thing, sure... but I'd like to take my time with it, so don't anyone hold their breath.

 Hell Train

by Christopher Fowler

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 05/01/12

by Solaris

Review Priority

3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: Imagine there was a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made. A grand epic produced at the studio's peak, which played like a cross between the Dracula and Frankenstein films and Dr Terror's House Of Horrors...

Four passengers meet on a train journeying through Eastern Europe during the First World War, and face a mystery that must be solved if they are to survive. As the Arkangel races through the war-torn countryside, they must find out: what is in the casket that everyone is so afraid of? What is the tragic secret of the veiled Red Countess who travels with them? Why is their fellow passenger the army brigadier so feared by his own men? And what exactly is the devilish secret of the Arkangel itself? Bizarre creatures, satanic rites, terrified passengers and the romance of travelling by train, all in a classically styled horror novel.

My Thoughts: Am I wrong to be getting a Strangers on a Train vibe from this thing?

Probably. And I sincerely doubt that Hell Train is apt to take itself anything like so seriously as that short Patricia Highsmith story did. But between that and the Hammer Horror reference in the blurb, this recent arrival is certainly making all the right moves; at least it is from where I'm sitting, back in economy class of course.


Thus, this could be fun. And between Blackout and All Clear, Myths of Origins and this next new arrival, I would wager I'm about to be in real need of something so easygoing.

In the Mouth of the Whale

by Paul McAuley

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 19/01/12

by Gollancz

Review Priority

4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: Fomalhaut was first colonised by the posthuman Quick, who established an archipelago of thistledown cities and edenic worldlets within the star's vast dust belt. Their peaceful, decadent civilisation was swiftly conquered by a band of ruthless, aggressive, unreconstructed humans who call themselves the True, then, a century before, the True beat back an advance party of Ghosts, a posthuman cult which colonised the nearby system of Beta Hydri after being driven from the Solar System a thousand years ago.

Now the Ghosts have returned to Fomalhaut, to begin their endgame: the conquest of its single gas giant planet, a captured interstellar wanderer far older than the rest of Fomalhaut's system. At its core is a sphere of hot metallic hydrogen with strange and powerful properties based on exotic quantum physics. The Quick believe it is inhabited by an ancient alien Mind; the True believe it can be developed into a weapon; and the Ghosts believe it can be transformed into a computational system so powerful it can reach into their past, collapse timelines, and fulfill the ancient prophecies of their founder.

My Thoughts: Is this another space opera set in the same universe as The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun? Could it be?

Why yes, I think it could. Though I'm not 100% sure.


But let's say that. Let's also say that I look back on my time with The Quiet War very fondly - the review is here - and furthermore that Gardens of the Sun has had pride of place in my tower of books To Be Read ever since.

Still, that counts for all of squat; I can mean to read a book for years and be no closer to the actual experience it. But this is getting silly. I really enjoyed The Quiet War, and by all accounts Gardens of the Sun is its equal, so I shall endeavour to get caught up on my Paul McAuley over the holidays, the better to have a review of In the Mouth of the Whale ready in time for its publication in mid-January.

***

And with that, The BoSS takes its final bow... until next time.

Which will either be next Sunday, as ever, if anything awesome arrives in the mail between now and then, or early in the new year.

In the interim, what do you mean to read over the holidays? For my part, I have grand designs - already doomed for failure, I dare say - on several entire series.

Books Received | The BoSS for 20/11/11

In The BoSS this week, in an order of sorts: the creator of Midsomer Murders gives the Conan Doyle canon a whirl... I see the Clockwork Century is still ticking over, and I sigh... a wanted ad for one last dragonslayer to kill the last dragon in all the lands... vampires, zombies, and vampires versus zombies... and the literary equivalent of Event Horizon, at long last!

I mean, we've all been waiting, haven't we?

***

The House of Silk

by Anthony Horowitz

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 01/11/11

by Orion

Review Priority

5 (A Sure Thing)

The Blurb: It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.

Intrigued by the man's tale, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston. As the pair delve deeper into the case, they stumble across a whispered phrase - the House of Silk - a mysterious entity and foe more deadly than any Holmes has encountered, and a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of society itself...

With devilish plotting and excellent characterisation, bestselling author Anthony Horowitz delivers a first-rate Sherlock Holmes mystery for a modern readership whilst remaining utterly true to the spirit of the original Conan Doyle books. Sherlock Holmes is back with all the nuance, pace and powers of deduction that make him the world's greatest and most celebrated detective.

My Thoughts: Right up until this review copy of The House of Silk hit my doorstep, I had hummed and hawed about whether or not I actually had any interest in reading the further adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as imagined by Anthony Horowitz, the children's author behind baby Bond (AKA Alex Rider). Then it was here and it was all lovely and, as it happened, yes, I did have an interest.

Now I only wish there was another new Sherlock Holmes novel that I could hum and haw about in place of this terrific little tribute!

If you keep an eye on the front page of tor.com this week, you should see my review go live on the site sooner rather than later, but I'll remind you when it's time.

Ganymede

by Cherie Priest

Vital Statistics

Published in the US

on 27/10/11

by Tor

Review Priority

2 (It Could Happen)

The Blurb: The air pirate Andan Cly is going straight. Well, straighter. Although he’s happy to run alcohol guns wherever the money’s good, he doesn’t think the world needs more sap, or its increasingly ugly side-effects. But becoming legit is easier said than done, and Cly’s first legal gig — a supply run for the Seattle Underground — will be paid for by sap money.

New Orleans is not Cly’s first pick for a shopping run. He loved the Big Easy once, back when he also loved a beautiful mixed-race prostitute named Josephine Early — but that was a decade ago, and he hasn’t looked back since. Jo’s still thinking about him, though, or so he learns when he gets a telegram about a peculiar piloting job. It’s a chance to complete two lucrative jobs at once, one he can’t refuse. He sends his old paramour a note and heads for New Orleans, with no idea of what he’s in for — or what she wants him to fly.

But he won’t be flying. Not exactly. Hidden at the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain lurks an astonishing war machine, an immense submersible called the Ganymede. This prototype could end the war, if only anyone had the faintest idea of how to operate it... if only they could sneak it past the Southern forces at the mouth of the Mississippi River... if only it hadn’t killed most of the men who’d ever set foot inside it. But it’s these “if onlys” that will decide whether Cly and his crew will end up in the history books, or at the bottom of the ocean.

My Thoughts: From Holmesian highs to clockwork lows, The BoSS is a thrill a minute, innit?

I'm not being disingenuous when I say that I might very well read and review Ganymede, the third in the pseudo-steampunk series Cherie Priest began with Boneshaker and continued in Dreadnought, but understand that if I do, I do so out of some foul combination of my need to finish all those things I start and morbid bloody curiosity, because - I'm sorry - I know most everyone else loves them, but these are not good books. That they've been trumpeted about the way they assuredly have been makes me bitter and suspicious about all sorts of things, in fact.

Anyway... onwards and upwards!

The Last Dragonslayer

by Jasper Fforde

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 15/10/11

by Hodder & Stoughton

Review Priority

4 (Pretty Bloody Likely)

The Blurb: In the good old days, magic was powerful, unregulated by government, and even the largest spell could be woven without filling in magic release form B1-7g.

Then the magic started fading away.

Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for soothsayers and sorcerers. But work is drying up. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and even magic carpets are reduced to pizza delivery.

So it's a surprise when the visions start. Not only do they predict the death of the Last Dragon at the hands of a dragonslayer, they also point to Jennifer, and say something is coming. Big Magic...

My Thoughts: I loved loved loved Shades of Grey, as you may remember if you read this review, and though the Thursday Next series hasn't grabbed me from the get-go - which isn't to say I won't give it another shot at some point - this looks immediately more up my alley. They're claiming it as YA, but I've read a bit of The Last Dragonslayer already, and I don't see how it's any more that than any of Jasper Fforde's veritable fiesta of other work.

But whatever. It's short, it's sweet, and it's already made me laugh; I'm in whatever you want to call it.

Double Dead

by Chuck Wendig

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 03/11/11

by Rebellion

Review Priority

3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: Coburn's been dead now for close to a century, but seeing as how he's a vampire and all, it doesn t much bother him. Or at least it didn't, not until he awoke from a forced five-year slumber to discover that most of human civilization was now dead but not dead like him, oh no. See, Coburn likes blood. The rest of the walking dead, they like brains. He's smart. Them, not so much. But they outnumber him by about a million to one. And the clotted blood of the walking dead cannot sustain him. Now he's starving. And nocturnal. And more hacked-off than a bee-stung rattlesnake. The vampire not only has to find human survivors (with their sweet, sweet blood), but now he has to transition from predator to protector after all, a man has to look after his food supply.

My Thoughts: Wasn't it just the other day everyone was banging on about the cover art to Chuck Wendig's next novel, Blackbirds? Why yes, yes it was.

And then, as if by magic - summoned perhaps by the collective stampede of interest in a work of fiction no-one knows a great deal about because of what is admittedly a very pretty picture (are these really some of the same people who argue that they're not influenced by cover art?) - along came this crumpet.

I'll say I was markedly more excited to read Double Dead before I spotted the tiny Tomes of the Dead text above the title. Vampires versus zombies in a shared world that I've never yet visited? Thanks - sincerely, it's the thought that counts - but no thanks.

I'll probably wait it out for Blackbirds... in part because it has such a lovely cover. And I don't understand why there's such shame associated with admitting that.

Hull Zero Three

by Greg Bear

Vital Statistics

Published in the UK

on 01/11/11

by Gollancz

Review Priority

3 (We'll See)

The Blurb: A star-ship hurtles through the emptiness of space. Its destination... unknown. Its purpose? A mystery. Its history? Lost.

Now: one man wakes up. Ripped from a dream of a new home, a new planet and the woman he was meant to love in his arms, he finds himself wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greater danger.

All he has are questions. Who is he? Where are they going? What happened to the dream of a new life? What happened to the woman he loved? What happened to Hull 03? All will be answered, if he can survive. Uncover the mystery. Fix the ship. Find a way home.

My Thoughts: Mean-spirited circumstances contrived in such a way as to ensure I didn't get a copy of Hull Zero Three when it was new in the UK late last year, and I dare say I'd have been excited to read it then. But now? Now that a consensus on the book has arisen, and it seems to err on the negative? Now that I've read and found wanting Halo: Cryptum by the same author? Less excited.

You know what, though? Event Horizon. I love Event Horizon. And evidently there are others who do too - if I'd only known! - because in the blurb on Amazon, lo and behold, reference is made to the movie. And that's kind of... kind of irresistible to me. So we'll see.

***

Anyone else out there with a weird thing for evil Sam Neill? We should have badges!

So, I should think my reading for the week will begin with The Last Dragonslayer, end with The Weird - as it has done ever since that great and terrible beast of a thing came through the door a few weeks ago - and very possibly stop off at Hull Zero Three, if I can find the time, and the renewed inclination.

Yourselves?

Same time same place next week, folks, then The BoSS is taking the holidays off... because honestly, it's been pretty quiet around here of late. What's with that?