Quatermass' Book Reading Blog...Round Two

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ok, primary school (or high school) English questions:
what does it mean by the writing is "too dry"

Not engaging or exciting, perhaps even old-fashioned.

Anyway, for any of you still actually interested, the next book will probably be one of the following: The Looking-Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold, Doctor Who: Harry Sullivan's War by Ian Marter, or Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer.

Book 70, and a good 70 to be on...



REVIEW: Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold


I recently read the first book (or rather, first omnibus book) of the Vorkosigan Saga, Cordelia's Honour. Having been told that the series had an element of comedy to its science fiction, I was a little disappointed to find that the funniest bit was a darkly comic sequence involving a severed head and a remark about shopping (it makes sense in context, believe me). However, deciding to move on to the next book, Young Miles, itself comprised of three stories (two full sized novels and a novella/short story sandwiched between them), I found that there was a certain element of humour that didn't get in the way of the story.

Miles Vorkosigan, thanks to a failed poisoning of his parents when his mother was pregnant, has had a stunted growth and a fragile skeleton due to the teratogenic effects of the antidote. Viewed by his peers erroneously as a mutant (his condition isn't genetic), he nonetheless tries, and fails, to get into the Imperial Academy of Barrayar, a planet slowly moving away from feudalism and into a possibly more enlightened era. But a series of events while on holiday quickly bring him to become the head of a fleet of mercenaries by nothing more than a quick mind and a silver tongue, but even if he can worm himself out of that mess, he has a murder to solve, an insane superior to cope with, and a very important person to rescue...

I like science fiction comedy to a degree. I like the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (and yes, that even includes Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing...), Red Dwarf, Futurama, and I did like The Stainless Steel Rat, a little. Young Miles is not exactly overtly comedic, but it has comedic tendencies, particularly in the first part, The Warrior's Apprentice, which could be described as a farce on a truly interplanetary scale, as Miles, after a series of events, is forced to make up, on the spot, the Dendarii Mercenaries, and his troubles keep escalating after that. If it weren't for the fact that the business involved was deadly serious, I probably would have laughed out loud.

But all three parts have a serious core to them. At the Mountains of Mourning is perhaps the most personally serious, where Miles must find out who murdered an infant girl with a hare-lip (and thus set an example for years to come). It was an intriguing story, although I guessed who the murderer was as soon as they made an appearance, and the punishment of the murderer was both merciful and yet fitting to the crime. It may not sound that way, but trust me on this.

The Vor Game is perhaps the best of the three stories, being a story of intrigue and peril which is extremely well-paced. While at times it seemed to have the structure of a Saturday-morning serial movie, or perhaps a Doctor Who story (I can even mark out parts where they should have the infamous cliffhanger screech from Doctor Who), it never seems to insult our intelligence, and is certainly a balanced serving of style and substance.

Miles Vorkosigan is a fascinating character. Being unable to rely on his fragile, yet undoubtedly energetic body, he relies on his wits. He reminds me a little of a good version of Vizzini from The Princess Bride, although one gets the feeling that Miles would be able to negotiate with the Man in Black far better than Vizzini did. Miles also reminds me of the Doctor, in their clever and admirable improvisation and usage of words and ploys to get their way. Indeed, one dialogue exchange in The Vor Game reminded me of a similar exchange in the Doctor Who story City of Death. In both cases, a villain tells a guard that the protagonist's tongue is their biggest weapon, so they should confiscate it should it wag again.

One excellent part of this book is that it knows when to return to the drama in a snap. One of the best examples comes two-thirds of the way through The Warrior's Apprentice, where one of Miles' friends learns the true nature of her parentage. Needless to say, what happens is shocking, and yet appropriate. And much of the first part of The Vor Game is dramatic rather than humorous, to great effect, given what happens.

Young Miles is far from perfect. Parts of The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game tended to lag a little, and there seemed to be just a tad too many characters in the former story to keep up at times. But it is an excellent example of science fiction that has just the right amount of comedy, but also knows just when to return to the drama.


9/10

First words: The tall and dour non-com wore Imperial dress greens and carried his communications panel like a field marshall's baton.

Last words: "I'll look forward to them, sir."

Book 71, in the reading for quite some time...

REVIEW: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett


I am, amongst other things, a Discworld fan. I enjoy Terry Pratchett's comical fantasy series, and now I have been buying the novels as they are released, starting from Making Money. But after ordering Unseen Academicals, I didn't get around to finishing it until now, possibly because the story wasn't as engaging as usual. This was something of a mistake. While not as good as recent Discworld books, once it gets going, Unseen Academicals is very good...

The wizards of Unseen University have a problem: if they do not play a game of football very soon, they will lose a bequest that funds their large and extremely vital meal budget. And no sensible wizard will stand for only three meals a day. While the wizards and Ankh-Morpork's ruler Lord Vetinari plan on civilising football (a tough task given the mob who don't want football to be civilised), Unseen University's staff are having dramas of their own. Trevor Likely, the son of a famous footballer, and Juliet, the good-natured, beautiful, but airheaded supporter of another team, find themselves, despite all odds, falling for each other, much to the chagrin of Juliet's friend and supporter, as well as extremely good cook, Glenda. And these three must work to unravel the mystery of Mr Nutt, a very erudite and good-natured goblin (or is he something worse?) whose past is about to come back to haunt him in a very big way.

Unseen Academicals takes quite a lot of time to gather momentum, especially when compared to my favourite Discworld novels, Going Postal and Making Money. Which is a pity, because once it gets going, it is like a bloody train, with very little way of stopping it. Seeing below-stairs life in Unseen University is, admittedly, interesting, given how little we know about who actually keeps the university going, although we have seen how the wizards interact. We even have some change, with some characters having moved on, albeit elsewhere in the Discworld.

The character of Juliet is irritating, although the fact that she is still good natured and sweet compared to similar 'dumb blonde' characters in previous Discworld novels redeems her somewhat. Glenda is more interesting, although at first too abrasive for my liking. Trevor Likely is funny in a cheeky Cockney lad kind of way, but it is Mr Nutt who is most interesting, especially given the revelations about his true heritage. Let us just say that it will turn most preconceptions about a certain fantastic race on its head. Characters from previous books like Lord Vetinari (who actually gets drunk, believe it or not, and the results, while what you'd expect from Vetinari, have to be seen to be believed), Archchancellor Ridcully, and Ponder Stibbons are on fine form. So is Rincewind, although he is mostly in the background.

I have to say, though, that the two main supernatural (or at least the two new main supernatural) elements of the story fall down flat. It will be hard to speak of them without uttering spoilers, but I think Pratchett could have cut them out, and the story might have been no worse, maybe even better for it. The same could be said about the fashion show subplot, but it is not so much superficial as much as irritating, although there is a very satisfying resolution.

While slow to begin and having a few hiccups along the way, Unseen Academicals is still a good example of Terry Pratchett's work. This book goes to show that his troubles in real life have not affected his gift for telling a good story.


8.5/10

First words: It was midnight in Ankh-Morpork's Royal Art Museum.

Last words: It is now!

Book 72...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: No Future by Paul Cornell

Although I enjoyed some books of the New Adventures of Doctor Who series of books, published when the series was off the air, I realise that I haven't read all that many, to be perfectly honest. Although I have read the first book (the excellent Blood Heat by Jim Mortimore) in the story arc that No Future belongs to some time ago, I haven't read any others. Having read the first story, I might as well read the last, No Future, as it is the only other one in the arc that I have...

The Doctor has been tracking down an enemy who has been systematically attacking him through altering time and space, but the cost has been high. Ace doesn't trust him at all anymore, and she cannot talk to either the Doctor or Bernice Summerfield without conflict. Acting on information about an alien invasion in 1976, the Doctor has Bernice infiltrate punk band Plasticine, to find out why its lead singer was known for foiling an alien invasion in the future. Ace, meanwhile, is being recruited by the Doctor's enemy, a meddler in time that the Doctor has met before. Problem is, the Doctor's nemesis has been one step ahead of him the whole time, and even the Doctor's allies at UNIT cannot be trusted. The Doctor needs to save the world from chaos, but now he cannot even save himself...

Paul Cornell is probably better known in Doctor Who circles nowadays for the story Father's Day, and his adaptation of one of his novels into the two part story Human Nature/The Family of Blood. However, before those, he cut his teeth on the Virgin New Adventures series. This is his third. I have read five of his Doctor Who novels, and this makes the sixth.

It may be because of my unfamiliarity with the rest of the arc, but I am actually irritated with the character of Ace at this point, becoming an aggressive and ruthless b***h who, even though the Doctor has wronged her before, seems to really hate him more than she really should. That being said, her actions during this novel go a long way to explain her still cold, but mature and measured personality from the later novel All-Consuming Fire (which, by the way, is perhaps the best New Adventures book ever written. I mean, Doctor Who + Sherlock Holmes = pure win, as internet parlance would have it) compared to the angry young woman from the last few stories.

The character of the Doctor is out of his depth, and this makes him more interesting, especially when he has to deal with old friends turning on him, or pretending to. Bernice is not as interesting as other books wrote her as, but still a good companion, and many UNIT stalwarts make good comebacks.

Perhaps most interesting were the reveal of the main villains of the story. The actual aliens invading Earth were a perhaps less successful monster in the Doctor Who television story they were featured in, but here, they are shown as rather more effective. However, the biggest surprise is the reveal of the villain who was manipulating the Doctor into painful situations for the past while. It is done in a way that actually fits into the character, who also appeared in the TV series, albeit back in the 60s. Sharp-eyed fans might have guessed who it was by the phrasing I used in my synopsis, but readers familiar with the show might have guessed soon after he describes what happened to him the last time he met the Doctor.

The story itself is okay, but the idea of a dystopian police state Britain in the 70s has been done before and a little better, and it is really the characterisation and interesting twists and turns that saves the story from being completely average.

No Future is a pretty good conclusion to an intriguing story-arc, but it's not recommended for non-fans.



8/10

First words: The Brigadier glanced at the clipboard the clerical officer had handed him, signed twice and handed it back, not missing a step as he marched along the corridor.

Last words: Long ago in an English summer.

Book 73...

REVIEW: Tales from a Bondi Vet by Dr Chris Brown and Anna Hille

I have to confess that I don't actually watch Bondi Vet on TV. I really only got this out from the library because I wanted a book of veterinary anecdotes. The TV series Bondi Vet and this book details the work of veterinarian Dr Chris Brown, who works in Sydney's Bondi Beach. His work ranges from the mundane, to the strange, and from the heartwarming to the tragic.

I have to say that this was a a mildly entertaining book. I think the problem is that the tone of the book was a little too casual in delivering the anecdotes, and tended also to leave us in suspense about one animal while going onto a shorter anecdote about another. I don't think this was done particularly well. The stories weren't quite as involving as they should have been, in my opinion.

But some of the anecdotes were interesting. I never realised that a parrot could actually commit self-harm, or be given Prozac. And there was enough variety in the animals being looked at beyond pets, and including both wildlife and farm animals.

Tales from a Bondi Vet was interesting, but it could have been much better. I'm not sure whether I should watch the show, but it is clear that the man behind it has a big heart for animals.


7.5/10

First words: A day in the life of a vet is never predictable.

Last words: When you take this time, you'll realise that you don't just have one pet to look after: you're the part-time parent of a whole world of animals.

It looks like this may be the end for this book blog. I haven't read anything, and I lack the motivation to start. I might restart it later in the year.

Well, much to my surprise, I found a book that I could read fairly quickly. So, book 74...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: Cat's Cradle- Time's Crucible by Marc Platt


In the early books of the Doctor Who New Adventures novels, they had two story arcs: Timewyrm, and Cat's Cradle. Having read almost every Timewyrm book, it's about time that I turn my attention to the Cat's Cradle book that I have in my collection, the first one, Time's Crucible, by one of the better Doctor Who authors, Marc Platt, whose Lungbarrow remains one of my favourite original Doctor Who novels...

The Doctor and Ace are forced to cut a visit to Earth short when something breaks into the TARDIS, causing reality to warp. Meanwhile, on ancient Gallifrey, the Pythia, seeress leader of Gallifrey is under attack from the neotechnologist faction led by Rassilon, soon-to-be founder of the Time Lords. She plants an agent on an experimental timeship flight, an agent she wishes to make her successor. But the experimental timeship collides with the TARDIS, which was weakened by a parasitic organism. Ace wakes up afterwards in a bizarre city, a world that should never be, only to find that the Doctor is apparently dead...

Marc Platt's previous work, the television story Ghost Light, and his later work, the excellent Lungbarrow, are best described as mind screws. They require multiple readings, or supernatural attention, in order to get the full story. Time's Crucible is no exception. A number of metaphysical concepts are at work. What else would you expect when the main villain is a creature that calls itself the Process?

The imagery in Time's Crucible would not look out of place in a particularly surreal anime, albeit of the dark kind. Time is fooled around with on multiple levels, although it makes more sense once the true nature of the setting of the story, a vast city, is revealed. Or rather, several true natures.

This story is about two things, primarily. The first main story is about Ace trying to save the day, or at least find the Doctor, as well as help the Gallifreyan time travellers. However, just as important, and in fact more intriguing, are the sequences set on Gallifrey's past, which feed into the 'Cartmel Masterplan' which would have revealed more about the Doctor's past, and which came to an excellent crescendo in Lungbarrow.

This is science fiction for the intelligent reader. Doctor Who fans will probably get the most out of it, but it might remain obscure to casual readers. Nonetheless, it is a good book that takes time and turns it on its head.


8.5/10

First words: The Doctor dropped a slice of stale bread into a battered electric toaster and pondered what to do next.

Last words: In a corner, behind a mound of tangled bric-a-brac, the silver cat stopped washing itself and stared around with darting predatory eyes.

Book 75 is rather elementary...

REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Steven Doyle and David A Crowder


While I am not a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I have read both parts of the canon (I reviewed The Sign of Four in the first book review blog) and non-canonical adventures (my favourite Doctor Who book of all time, All-Consuming Fire, is actually a Doctor Who/Sherlock Holmes crossover). And having recently watched the Guy Ritchie film with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, excellent in their roles as Holmes and Watson respectively, I was at a loss for something to read when I found this book. Deciding I wanted to know a little more about Holmes, I read this.

Is it any good? Well, I like reading the For Dummies and Complete Idiot's Guide To books, because they give me an overview of the subject without getting too bogged down in academic detail. I did finish, but didn't review, The British Monarchy for Dummies in the first book blog, and it was informative enough, though not quite as entertaining as this.

The book examines something of the true spirit of Holmes and Watson, and how they were interpreted, for better and for worse, in adaptations. The book only briefly mentions the newest adaptation, but it also analyses the lives of not only of Holmes and Watson, but also of their creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.

To be honest, I'm a little miffed that Dr Joseph Bell, the main inspiration for Holmes, got really only a page or two's mention, as his influence is astounding. And the book itself does come across as skipping rather lightly over rich subject matter, although this may be out of necessity to keep the page count down.

In any case, this book is a good introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes, and why that deerstalker cap was an invention never mentioned in the novels. Those who want to start off their journey into Sherlockiana could do worse than start it here.



8/10

First words: Try this experiment: Ask ten random people if they know who Sherlock Holmes is.

Last words: "It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce and effct which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction."

Book 76...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: The TARDIS Handbook: The Official Guide to the Best Ship in the Universe by Steve Tribe


Although I could easily have read this admittedly short book before the Sherlock Holmes one, I had read a Doctor Who book in the previous review, and thought it best to try and have a gap between books in the same series. Now, I come to this for a quick and entertaining read.

The TARDIS Handbook is basically a book describing the history of the TARDIS and the Doctor's travels in it. While to a fan, there isn't that much that is new, it does do a good job of linking the mythology of the classic and new series together. It brings together much of what was mentioned in the televised Doctor Who stories together, and tries to give explanations for some of the more contradictory elements.

Personally, I feel that this book isn't meant for the die-hard fan who has known of the classic series before the new series. But it is an excellent primer into the classic series, as well as for someone who has just started with the recent series, and wants to catch up. It also has summaries of many stories, particularly the first six episodes of the most recent series with Matt Smith.

It's not a truly childish book, but it is rather short, though not for lack of information. I recommend this to anyone who wishes to learn more about Doctor Who mythology.


8/10

First words: Doctor Who began with a police box.

Last words: But for the Doctor and his TARDIS, the journey will never end.

Well, it seems that after 76 books and 21 weeks, I've finally run out of momentum for this one. I will wait until Monday to make a definitive decision, but it is looking less and less likely that I am going to continue for a while.

Okay. I've made the decision. I'm quitting this book blog now. However, any of you still reading this, don't despair! There will be a third one later in the year, once my motivation is back to normal.

There may be a new book-review blog soon. I have some new books, and my motivation is nearly back up. I'll start a new thread for that book blog when the time comes.