Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A bloody murder
Unforeseen consequences
Guilty conscience

Ill advised shortcut
Crime writer becomes victim
Then takes her revenge

A dying man strikes
A diabolical deal
At his friend's expense

A good marriage
Conceals a deadly secret
Uncovered by chance

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I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I am older
And I have earned the right to
I shall wear Midnight


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The Pregnant Widow - Martin Amis

The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Tuscan summer
The cusp of a new decade
Young lives entangled



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One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One day, lost in time
They meet, they kiss, then they part
Intersecting lives



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Screaming Yellow - Rachel Green

Screaming Yellow by Rachel Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The sleepy village of Laverstone hides many secrets. Why did an elderly widow hang herself? Who killed the charismatic Robert Markew by stabbing him in the back with a ceremonial dagger? Why has his step-son Richard disappeared? Most importantly, what goes on behind the closed doors of the Larches?

The only person who can uncover all of the secrets is newcomer to the village Meinwen Jones, pagan bookshop proprietor and amateur sleuth. She doggedly investigates the complex relationships of the polyamorous community led by the late Robert Markew, spars with genial parish priest Father Brande and finds that his sister Jennifer has brought village gossip into the 21st century with the aid of the internet.

This is a classical murder mystery in the best traditions of Agatha Christie, complete with a drawing room denouement and a delicious twist at the end. However, there is a strong BDSM theme running through the plot which I imagine would have Miss Marple reaching for the smelling salts, so readers of a sensitive disposition be warned. Fans of Rachel Green's 'An Ungodly Child' will be pleased to see a cameo appearance from the mysterious Mr Jasfoup, although there are no deus-ex-machina resolutions to the mystery - just a good, old fashioned trail of clues to unravel before the murderer is unmasked.

Highly recommended!



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Spook Country by William Gibson

Spook Country by William Gibson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Locative art maps
The virtual world onto
The geospatial

Data hidden in
Music tracks on an iPod
Steganography

Shipping container
Tagged with coded GPS
A Maguffin hunt


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How I Escaped My Certain Fate by Stewart Lee

How I Escaped My Certain Fate by Stewart Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Clowns are scary.

From the Pueblo clowns of New Mexico to the Bouffons of medieval France, clowns stand outside the social order, marking out their own sacred space from which they can parody and decry the pretensions of the high and mighty with impunity. These are not the jolly, red nosed men with the custard pies and big shoes, but the mad men, smeared with excrement who caper and point and mock. As I said, scary, but also necessary.

In this book, Lee analyzes three of his recent stand up routines by annotating a transcript with extensive footnotes that are longer than the pieces themselves. If this was a directors commentary on a DVD, it would require the stand up routine to be paused after every section to allow the commentary to catch up. Each routine is put in the context of Lee’s life during the mid 2000s - his career hitting a low point where he considered giving up stand up, his health problems and most famously his involvement with ‘Jerry Springer - the Opera’ that saw him facing a charge of blasphemy and the producers of the TV broadcast receiving death threats.

Barry Cryer once said that analyzing comedy was like dissecting a frog - nobody laughs and the frog dies. In this analysis, Stewart Lee disproves this truism with a book that is both perceptive and very funny. He emulates the Pueblo clowns in the way that he demolishes the social conventions of taste and decency with remorseless logic and precise scatological intent, particularly in his routine about vomiting into the gaping anus of Christ that is simultaneously revolting, hilarious, thought provoking and most importantly the one joke that Joe Pasquale could never steal to use on a Royal Variety performance.

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Hitch 22: Confessions and Contradictions by Christopher Hitchens

Hitch 22: Confessions and Contradictions by Christopher Hitchens

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book opens with Hitchens' experience of reading news of his own demise in a catalogue for an exhibition that described him as 'the late Christopher Hitchens', thus encouraging him to set down his memoir whilst he was still alive to do so. This has been further been given an air of almost unbearably poignant irony by his recent diagnosis of cancer of the esophagus, but this is not the place to dwell on that.

He follows a fairly structured route of memories of his mother and father, his schooldays in a series of grim public schools, his encounters with the socialist movement in the sixties and his time as a journalist in the booze addled Fleet Street of the seventies. He discourses on friends and acquaintances from Martin Amis to Salman Rushdie and Edward Said, and describes the things that drew them together as well as honestly setting down their differences. Needless to say, there are many humorous anecdotes to be found as well with an early encounter with a surprisingly saucy Margaret Thatcher provoking a laugh from me.

Through his life his political views have changed somewhat from his early left wing leanings, although he has been absolutely resolute in his opposition to tyranny of all forms, particularly when it takes its authority from theocracy. Thus, he demonstrates how he can support wars in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq without necessarily being in accordance with the western governments who initiated them. One barbed comment that he reports is that an anti-war demonstration in London is a rare occasion that a million people have taken to the streets in support of a brutal fascist regime.

One particularly moving chapter describes his search for his ancestry on his mother's side after a unexpected revelation following her tragically early death. He is not mawkish by any means, but approaches the subject with clear eyed and enlightening honesty.

He reads the audiobook, and his slightly plummy style is occasionally difficult to follow but it is well worth the effort and concentration required.

Unreservedly recommended.

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Bear Ridge to Nettle Lane by Rachel Green

Bear Ridge to Nettle Lane by Rachel Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Collected poems
Of Derbyshire life, dog walks,
Memories and sheds

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Lustrum by Robert Harris

Lustrum by Robert Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A lustrum is simply a period of five years - an important division of time in the Rome of the old Republic where terms of political office and governorships were strictly measured out with military precision. Confusingly enough the book was renamed as 'Conspirata' for the US market, which does not have quite the same resonance.

This book follows on almost directly from 'Imperium' with Marcus Tullius Cicero taking up his role as Roman Consol. He faces the ill omen of a brutally murdered slave being discovered, which points to a conspiracy to subvert the established order. Cicero must confront the plotters and build a coalition to oppose them, but the compromises and deals that he brokers (including the cut price purchase of a ludicrously opulent house) and the decisions that he is forced to make will come back to haunt him many times over.

The Catiline orations, in which Cicero publicly exposed the conspiracy to the Senate, still stand as some of the most powerful and dramatic pieces of political rhetoric ever heard. Indeed, they are still quoted to this day. Robert Harris really brings this key moment in history to life by placing it in the correct context of a political body riven by intrigue and ambition, not least that of Gaius Julius Caesar - Cicero's most bitter rival. Harris's Cicero is a flawed individual - a brilliant lawyer, politician and orator but prone to bouts of self doubt and introspection, and after his term as Consol given to bouts of vainglorious self-aggrandizement.

Much of the legal and political wrangling will seem familiar to a modern audience - scandals involving sex and expenses, expedient coalitions between rivals and rabble rousing populism in opposition to the patrician order - but that is just a sign of the deep roots of our systems of government and the law, and the debt that we owe to the Roman politicians, lawyers and orators such as Cicero.


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Boiling a Frog by Christopher Brookmyre

Boiling a Frog by Christopher Brookmyre

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Parlabane in jail
PR consultant and church
Unholy allies

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For the Win by Cory Doctorow

For the Win by Cory Doctorow


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In the dungeons and fairy kingdoms of the online gaming world, a new breed of worker is emerging. The gold farmers are teenagers from the slums of Mumbai to the backwaters of China, toiling in internet cafes and back rooms to earn gold to sell to westerners eager to get their avatar to the next level. These workers don't see the fruits of their labours though - the ones making a profit are the bosses and the owners of the cafes who pay a pittance and expect long hours in return, but when it's a choice between playing the game and working in a factory, then it's no choice at all.

Little by little, the workers come to realise that they have the power to withhold their labour. A network is formed between Yasmin, the girl from the slums, Ashok, an economics guru, Leonard from Los Angeles, a handful of young Chinese men and others and they begin to form a union called the International Workers of the World Wide Web, mentored by the mysterious Big Sister Nor. When a strike is called, the bosses and governments will respond with fists and knives and guns. Can the Webblies (as they call themselves) fight back with just the weapons of the virtual world?

This is possibly Cory Doctorow's most radical and subversive book yet, introducing its audience of young adults to the concepts of globalisation, market economics, the inner workings of virtual worlds and the power of trade unions. He does so with a plot that builds to a genuinely thrilling conclusion with characters who have to make life and death decisions about where their loyalties lie.

Excellent, and available as a free download from the author's site.

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59 seconds by Richard Wiseman

59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot by Richard Wiseman


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Most self help books are effectively worthless. A few platitudes, a bit of psychobabble and rarely the odd bit of common sense wrapped up in a lot of waffle. Rarely will they have anything like the life changing effects promised on the cover.

Fifty Nine seconds by Richard Wiseman is different. It contains solid advice on a variety of subjects, backed up by properly cited research, with each chapter summarised into handy bite size chunks that can be digested in less than a minute. It covers subjects including personal happiness, memory, relationships, parenting and self motivation.

Excellent for dipping into and concise enough to be practical.

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Solar by Ian McEwan

Solar by Ian McEwan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Professor Michael Beard is a thoroughly unpleasant fellow.

Short, fat, balding and a serial philanderer, he is approaching the end of his fifth marriage with mixed feelings. His one achievement in life was a startlingly brilliant insight into quantum theory (the Beard-Einstein Conflation) that earned him a Nobel prize, but his subsequent career has ended up being little more than a series of plodding administrative jobs and dull sinecures where he is only employed so that his name and qualification can be quoted on the letter heads. By accident rather than design he finds himself in nominal charge of an institute investigating climate change and alternative sources of energy. Can he actually make a difference, and does he even want to when the young scientists doing the actual work all seem to have pony-tails and an air of evangelical fervour about them?

This book charts Beard's career as he stumbles across a theory that builds on his own discovery and promises a cheap, clean and potentially limitless source of energy, and contrasts it with his own venality and personal shortcomings in his various relationships. It is very funny in places, particularly on a 'fact finding' mission to the Arctic that descends into farce when the various idealists and dreamers can't even manage to organise their cold weather gear in the boot room of their accommodation, never mind save the planet. In other places, the book takes some very dark turns, not least in Beard's self-justification of some of his reprehensible behaviour.

It is an entertaining read, particularly in the light of the recent 'Climategate' non-scandal, where researchers pondered how best to present their findings to a woefully ignorant public. If scientists are not moral paragons, that doesn't necessarily detract from the value of their work. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, everybody is standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before, and thus we make progress in our understanding of the universe.

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Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While scientists and
Political wonks debate
Washington floods


Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Frank takes to the woods
Palaeolithic lifestyle
Now comes the big freeze


Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A new president
Vows to reverse climate change
Whatever the cost


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How Not To Grow Up - Richard Herring

How Not to Grow Up: A Coming of Age Memoir. Sort of. by Richard Herring


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As the comedian Richard Herring approached his fortieth birthday he found himself behaving in ways that were increasingly childish. His life was a non-stop round of gigging, drinking, getting up late and then spending most of the day sitting around in his pants eating sweets and playing video games. His search for a relationship was becoming increasingly desperate, alternating between hopeless romanticism and a series of ill-advised temporary flings. He didn't even know if he really wanted a long term relationship when he couldn't even commit to a bag for life from the supermarket. The only people that seemed to understand him on his level were small children, perhaps recognising that he was a child like them rather than an adult.

Richard Herring has chronicled a pivotal year in his life in startling and sometimes confessional detail. He slowly starts to understand his urge to self destruct and gains an insight into how to strike a balance between adult responsibilities and the need to maintain a childlike view of the absurdities of life. Without giving too much away, he does turn out to be a bit of an old softy in the end (and not just around the middle from a diet of fried chicken and flumps).

If you have listened to the hundred and something podcasts that he has produced over the last two years, or read any of his daily blogs, then this book is an essential 'directors commentary' to accompany everything else. If you are not a die hard fan, then this might just turn you into one.

Highly recommended!

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Under The Dome - Stephen King

Under the Dome by Stephen King


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the sleepy Maine town of Chester's Mill, folk are simply getting on with their lives on a typical late Fall day. One person is making his way out of town - Dale 'Barbie' Barbara, Iraq veteran and lately short order cook at the local diner until he got on the wrong side of a gang of good ol' boys. Unfortunately for him the gang included the son of the town's second selectman, car dealer and de facto head honcho 'Big Jim' Rennie - exactly the sort of fellow that you don't want as an enemy. Barbie is nearly at the town line when quietly and without fuss the town is cut off, surrounded by an invisible dome that will allow nothing to pass.

The immediate consequences include a crashed plane, and several car accidents as vehicles hit the barrier and come to grief. The longer term effects are far more serious, as Big Jim sees his chance to seize control of the town. He establishes his own private police force and sets about settling scores and making sure that none of his dirty little secrets will come to light - and there are plenty of secrets to be hidden in Chester's Mill.

No one writes about life in small town America with the same eye for detail and authenticity as Stephen King. He deftly weaves this story with a large cast of characters, and plots the brutally swift collapse of civilised behaviour in the isolated town. There are allusions to the events of 9/11 and hurricane Katrina, as well as the Stanford prison experiment, and when things go bad, they go bad very quickly in ways that are all too believable. The environmental consequences are charted too, as resources start to run out and pollution chokes the air.

Definitely one of King's better books of recent years, as well as one of the longest, and the audiobook is superbly narrated.


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The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It is a well known myth.

A baby, born in a stable who will grow up to be a wise teacher who inspires people to acts of kindness and generosity before suffering a cruel death. What is less well known is this baby has a twin who would spend his life in his brother's shadow, observing and recording his words for posterity. The question is, will the reports be accurate or will they be edited in the service of a greater truth?

This is an extraordinarily powerful and effective book. The conceit is to split the character of Jesus Christ into two - Jesus the earthy man concerned with the life of people in the here and now, and Christ whose eyes are on the future and how history will perceive events. Familiar stories from the new testament are given new life and resonance, in ways that affirm the human spirit.

This is not a blasphemous book, in the strictest meaning of the word. Rather, it is a stinging broadside against a religion which takes a myth and twists it in ways that are used to subjugate and control, whilst accruing power and wealth for its own purposes. It is difficult to find anything to argue with in Pullman's thesis, and the only people who will be shocked by it are the bishops and popes who sit on gilded thrones, dismissing any criticism as 'petty gossip'.

I read the 'enhanced edition' version available from iTunes, which combines the audiobook with an e-book and other features. This is an excellent way to appreciate this book if you have an iPhone or iPod touch.

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The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov

The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another case of murder for Detective Elijah Baley and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw to investigate, but what makes this case unusual is that the victim is an advanced robot who has been placed into a state of irreversible mental lock. The only person with sufficient skill in robotics to have done such a thing is the robot's designer Dr Fastolfe who happens to be Earth's only ally in a political schism between Earth and the Spacer worlds. Is this a plot to discredit the progressive faction or is something more complex afoot?

As with the previous books in the trilogy, this novel is concerned more with human relationships and motivations than the technology of the robots. The robot brains with their positronic desires form an analogue for understanding the workings of the human mind.

The concept of psychohistory - mathematically modeling the behaviour of large populations in order to predict the future - is introduced here too, touching on the concepts of determinism and free will. Are humans as predestined in their actions as the robots? What are the implications for relations between humans and robots, as more worlds are explored and colonised?

Fascinating concepts that are explored with Asimov's trademark insight. The longest of the robot novels, the most complex, and also the most satisfying in its conclusions. Excellent.

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The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The society of the planet Solaria is the polar opposite of that of Earth. There are a mere twenty thousand spacers living there, and they in turn are outnumbered by robots by a factor of ten thousand to one. This wealth of resources and space allows the Solarians to live lives of splendid isolation on their large estates, communicating with each other solely by remote holographic viewing and devoting their time to the pursuit of academic studies or art rather than physical labour which is the purview of the robots. The robots in turn have an elaborate system of communication between themselves so that they can respond instantly and appropriately to any human need.

It is a society in which crime is not only unknown, but practically unimaginable. When a murder is committed the Solarians have no alternative but to call for the services of Earth detective Elijah Baley, once more partnered with robot Daneel Olivaw. It seems that there is only one suspect, but also that there is no possible way that this suspect could have committed the crime. A mystery is once again afoot, although this time Baley will have to conquer his fear of leaving the safe enclosure of his cosy city to walk outside beneath the naked sun of an alien world.

This is not quite as taut a novel as its predecessor 'The Caves of Steel'. It is structured like a classical murder mystery with each suspect being introduced and interviewed in turn, followed by the traditional drawing room dénouement with the motive, means and opportunity being explained before the murderer is unmasked. The interest comes from the explanation of the functioning of Solarian society with all of its strange mores, and the realisation of just how very different it is from that of Earth. Asimov also uses this novel to expound further on the workings of his famous three laws of robotics and just how they would function in a true C/Fe (or human/robot) society.

Classic golden age sf of the highest calibre.


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