The Quatermass Book Reading Marathon Blog: Taking the Fifth

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Fair enough. I didn't enjoy it, but I'm glad you did.



I'm honestly more interested in the films, simply because they were made by Hammer, and I like me some Hammer, even if it's mediocre Hammer like Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. I already put the three Hammer Quatermass films on the list of movies I'm keeping for my next Movie a Day topic, but I'll also check out the serial, even if I don't like the films.



I have a copy of House of Leaves that's been sitting on my bookshelf forever, untouched since I bought it on sale for $10. I could sell it on eBay and list it as "brand new" and I wouldn't be lying. But I'll get around to it someday. I'm just intimidated by its size. I'm sure I'll find it to be overrated, just like every book that I'm told is "the sh*t," but I'm a sucker for metafiction, pretentious though it usually ends up being.

Ubik is more of a mind-f**k than Scanner, High Castle, or Electric Sheep, but it's not a huge leap. Dick certainly wrote crazier books. (He described The Three Stigmata as the only book of his that ever scared him.) I still consider Ubik one of his most accessible novels, one of the books I recommend to newcomers. Anyway, after you've read Scanner and experienced a man being read his sins by an alien with dozens of eyes after a failed suicide attempt, you're ready for pretty much anything Dick's got in store for you.

Two days, Jory. Two days.

Book 16...

REVIEW: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King


Those of you familiar with my username might know that I took it from the Quatermass serials of the 1950s. Noted for their intelligent writing and exploration of alien invasion paradigms, their ultimate triumph was the third serial, Quatermass and the Pit, where an ancient alien spaceship buried under London begins to exert a malign influence. I heard that Stephen King's novel The Tommyknockers was similar in many respects, so I thought I'd give it a shot...

Haven, Maine, is a quiet town, and when James Eric Gardener, poet, activist, and drunkard needs a place to lay low after a disastrous period of inebriation, he makes for Haven, and his old friend, Roberta 'Bobbi' Anderson. But Bobbi had recently uncovered something strange in the woods, a large buried spaceship, and soon, the spaceship is causing a malign influence to fall over the town. And as Gardener soon discovers, the townspeople are changing for the worse. They create wonderful inventions, but their temperaments are beginning to become savage, and worse. What are these townpeople becoming? Why does Gardener seem to connect it with an old rhyme about Tommyknockers? And what is the secret within Bobbi's shed?

As a story, The Tommyknockers works on an excellent concept that, at least at the time it was written, least used in science fiction. Most alien invasion stories work around the paradigms 'we go to them' and 'they come to us', but like Quatermass and the Pit and Doctor Who: The Daemons, The Tommyknockers works on the paradigm of 'they were always here'. King, unfortunately, wasted an opportunity to show whether the spaceship had had an influence on the townsfolk previously (though this is hinted at in It to be what It did). The story works mostly well, but there seems to be even more padding than It. However, the horror and disgusting bits seem far more appropriate, and there's more psychological horror with the townsfolk transforming, as well as their inability to control their gifts, and their increasing psychoses.

The characters seem to be mostly confined to Bobbi Anderson and Jim Gardener, and they seem rather caricatured. Anderson seems to be a stereotypical alien infectee trying to figure out Gardener's allegiances, and Gardener seems to be a rage against the machine activist, and while he says what needs to be said, it seems like its being dropped with all the subtlety of a boot to the head. It is only when we have viginettes relating to other townsfolk that we have a little variety, though the chapters dealing with outside forces trying to find out what happened don't work as well as I would have liked.

The Tommyknockers is not one of King's finest works, but it still works, in story if not in characterisation. It certainly puts an interesting spin on the 'they were always here' alien invasion paradigm. It certainly is more tolerable in terms of horror than It.


8.5/10


First words: For want of a nail the kingdom was lost- that's how the catechism goes when you boil it down.

Last words: (Not recorded due to spoilers)

Oh, you can just eat me.

Is that the same as "Well F*ck Me!"?

They're interchangeable, I think, but I may have to consult a professor on this.

I don't feel like eating you, Jory. I might end up with a disease.

Two days! And you wondered whether I could do it in a week.

Anyway, I have very little idea what I will read next, though I have a number of options. In fact, I might rest a little.

lol...

At the moment, I'm taking a brief break from the book-reading blog, or at least reading anything heavy-duty. The next book for this blog will probably be the fourth volume of the Soul Eater manga.

I've also gone back to read two books from my childhood: Wicked! and Deadly! They're both books written by Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman, originally published as six-part serial books. In fact, I finished Wicked! pretty swiftly, all tonight. It's nothing to do with Gregory Maguire's Wicked. This is a story about how a pair of stepsiblings, Dawn and Rory, are forced to confront each other's pasts when mysterious creatures attack. First come the Slobberers, mutant infected worms that consume everything in a creature but the skin, then infected sheep with literal steel wool, and then homicidal frogs. I wish I was making it up. Not too bad a yarn, but still a little kiddy, despite the horror themes. I think Deadly! has a more mature angle, though, from memory.

These two books won't count towards the review blog, though, as I have read them before.

Book 17...

REVIEW: Soul Eater volume 4: Let us have mercy on the crying SOUL by Atsushi Ohkubo


One of the manga series that I started reading and enjoying of late was the Soul Eater series. A bizarre, Burtonesque manga about the students at an academy for shinigami or reapers, presided over by a jolly version of Death, it was somewhat entertaining. So, for this book reading blog, after the effort of reading larger, more cerebral works, I decided to move on in the Soul Eater series, and find out what happens next...

The frog witch Eruka, blackmailed by snake witch Medusa, has been forced to break a most dangerous prisoner out of the witches' prison. He has no name, though he dubs himself 'Free'. And he has a hatred towards the DWMA and its students, which is bad news for Maka and Soul, as their soul wavelengths are coming out of alignment, partly due to Soul's infection with black blood. Sent to stop Free, Maka and Soul aren't able to work together. Surviving Free's onslaught is bad enough, but having to survive the DWMA's most difficult exam may be an even worse ordeal. And finally, Death the Kid investigates the demonic ship known as Nidhogg, and its captain the Flying Dutchman, while Franken Stein begins to have his doubts about Medusa, who is posing as a nurse at the DWMA...

As a story, Soul Eater is able to mix wonderfully silly aspects with a deadly serious storyline, and while not particularly profound, it is nonetheless entertaining enough. Medusa's plan develops even further, but we also see that she is not unsuspected towards the end of this volume. The volume itself has two larger storylines, with a lighter storyline about the exam for DWMA students sitting in the middle, and working fine. Not much character development, though, but we do get a glimpse into the pasts of Death the Kid's weapons, Patti and Liz Thompson, and we are also shown some of the more psychotic aspects of the tragic Crona.

The artwork of Soul Eater is something of an acquired taste, being a Burtonesque weird world. It's highly appropriate to the story, but it's still something that the casual reader might be weirded out by. However, it is highly conducive to the humour, and the style also helps with the strange, macabre world of Soul Eater.

Overall, the fourth volume of the Soul Eater series wasn't too shabby. It's not particularly profound, not at all deep, but it can be entertaining to those who go into it with the right sense of fun.



8/10


First words: THE WITCH JAIL!!

Last words: ...

That one sounds interesting to me, thank you Quatermass.

Soul Eater is pretty bloody weird, to tell you the truth. So try getting it from the local library rather than buying it outright, just in case. And if you're looking for a really good story, well, Soul Eater is entertaining, but it doesn't engage many neurons.

Okay, thank you.

This is not to dissuade you, mind. Rather, I am giving you a caveat. Try before you buy.

The next book will probably be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, followed by The Raw Shark Texts.

I appreciate that Quatermass. ^ I haven't read that book in years. I'm looking forward to read what you have to say about it (them).

Book 18...

REVIEW: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne


Many authors are said to be the fathers (or mother, in the case of Mary Shelley and Frankenstein) of science fiction as we know it, but one of the stronger contenders would be French author Jules Verne. And yet, despite his prominence in the genesis of science fiction, I have yet to read any of his books. A little earlier during the book-reading blogs, I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, only to discover, to my horror, that it was a substantially abridged version. I decided that I would have to read a version closer to the original novel, and this version that I have read, though I am not certain whether it is unabridged or not, certainly contains more material than the version I originally read. So, how well does 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea hold up today?

Marine biologist Professor Arronax and his assistant Conseil are requested to join an expedition to track down and destroy a mysterious giant marine creature that is attacking ships all over the world. Tracking it down, Arronax, Conseil, and harpoonist Ned Land are thrown overboard during the attack, and find themselves on the creature. But the creature is actually a vast metal submarine, and its captain, who goes by the name of Nemo, has made them his guests, and prisoners, while he travels the oceans, free of any sovereign nation. Arronax becomes used to life under the ocean, while Ned Land chafes at the bit, trying to escape. But Nemo, while often the charming host, hides a dark secret, and makes no secret of his misanthropy. Is he merely a misunderstood man avenging a wrong, or is he a terrorist of the sea, wreaking vengeance on anyone who crosses him? This is what Arronax must find out, as he is taken on a wonderful voyage around the globe...

I don't enjoy reading books written before 1950, and to be frank, the translation of Verne's writing style is rather dry for my tastes. Even so, Verne knew, for the most part, what he was talking about. While some of the technology of the Nautilus is hopelessly outdated (particularly its means of replinishing and refreshing its air) and a few scientific concepts expounded are too (like the Antarctic merely being a gigantic ice shelf, instead of being an ice-covered continents), it still has the feel of authenticity about it. It reads more like a travelogue at times than a proper novel, and I wish at times there was more excitement.

Of the characters, only Nemo himself and Ned Land are of any interest. Arronax and Conseil seem to be one-note characters, with Arronax being a narrator who, until later in the book, all but sings Nemo's praises, and Conseil is Arronax's assistant and near-servant. 'Nuff said. Nemo, however, shows some strong moral ambiguity in his character, and is easily the most interesting character in the whole book, even when he shows his worst side in a number of incidents. One can almost see a modern terrorist in him if one takes a particular and unsympathetic view. So too is Ned Land, if only for his persistence and tenacity in considering escape from the Nautilus.

It is dry writing, an infatuation with location and landscape (or rather, seascape) and a couple of instances of dodgy characterisation (one of them the narrator) that drags down 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea like the giant squid in the book, which is a real pity. It was a pretty fine book for its age, and it's something you should try, at the very least.


8/10


First words: The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

Last words: CAPTAIN NEMO AND MYSELF.