I have read an indecently large number of books in June, only partly mitigated by the heatwave that stopped me from moving other than to get another glass of iced water. Yes, I’m privileged, I no longer have to go to work. I am very grateful for that. I was supposed to write, but there’s nowhere comfortable downstairs to sit and write, and it was too damned hot to be upstairs, for me and my laptop both. Anyway, to the nitty gritty.
‘Almost Human’ by Anne Cleasby. Another indie read, I bought this book at Kendal book fair last year. This is the first instalment in a dystopian sf series, set 400 years in the future. Civilisation has undergone several shocks, and a elitist world order is imposing its will on the masses. Ahem. Sabre Tooth is a chimera, a human with cat genes, brought up in a lab, transferred to the military, and forced to kill or be killed. He is a genuinely sympathetic character, young and innocent, used and abused both by the government armed forces, and, later, by an entitled upper class rebel.
‘The Everlasting’ by Alix E Harrow
Harrow is one of my favourite authors, and I was lucky enough to borrow this copy from Lancashire Libraries.
This is a love story. It’s a story of eternal, yearning, pure love that will have you wishing that you could read this book for the first time, every time. I’m not going to say anything else about it except that you should read it, you really, really should read it.
‘Firestarter’ by Stephen King.
The Stephen King re-read continues. This one is from the shelves, but it’s a recent secondhand purchase to fill out the collection. I have a feeling that my first read of this book was a borrowed copy.
This is definitely only a second re-read. I’m not even sure if I’ve seen the original film … I’ve certainly not seen the remake.
So, the questions are, is ‘Firestarter’ a sequel to ‘Carrie’, and is the Patrick Hoffstetter in ‘Firestarter’ any relation at all to the one in ‘IT’ and ’11/22/63′?
Patrick first. It’s certainly a bit odd for an author to use the same, somewhat unusual name in two unrelated books. Will the coincidence be explained one day, or was it just an idle recycling of the name of a fairly minor character? My thoughts are that King thoughtlessly re-used the name in ‘IT’ and it was never caught by the editors. Firestarter also has team members named Orville and Norville, an odd coincidence that King doesn’t even comment on. Let’s put it down to fast writing and faster editing and move on.
Both books have a young female at their heart. Carrie is adolescent, a late bloomer, but definitely a teenager. Charlie (a similar choice of name) is a child. Both have psychic powers, including pyrokinesis. Their family life is very different, Carrie has one deranged and abusive parent, Charlie is a loved and wanted child.
‘Carrie’ and ‘Firestarter’ are set in the same time period – late 1970s / early 1980s, but are written in very different styles. The reportage style of Carrie has plenty of opportunities to mention ‘The Shop’, but the only hint of a crossover is the mention of a cellular mutation in Carrie White. There is no indication in ‘Firestarter’ of an attempt to recreate this mutation. There is also no mention of Carrie in ‘Firestarter’, which seems to imply that The Shop is unaware of her. Then again, King makes it clear that ‘The Shop’ is run and staffed by incompetents.
There’s nothing to suggest any continuity between the two books. ‘Firestarter’ is just King exploring the concept of a powerful and vulnerable child from a different angle.
I found ‘Firestarter’ to be a very straightforward book, with a direct plot, clear character motivation, and no frills. Whilst I much preferred ‘Carrie’, I found ‘Firestarter’ an enjoyable, fast and easy read.
And so to something a little more modern. Yes, I’m old, so a book written in 2015 feels new.
The second book in this sf detective murder mystery series. First, the worldbuilding. A fairly large percentage of the world’s population has been paralysed by a virus, they are ‘locked in’. Public sympathy and technical advances allow the locked in to have their physical bodies maintained at home whilst they use robots as personal vehicles to move around in the world. These people are colloquially known as ‘Hadens’, after the Haden virus, which itself was named by a high profile early victim. The series takes place immediately after the USA passes new legislation removing financial support from Hadens. Being a Haden is expensive.
The characters are Chris, the superwealthy scion of financially successful and incredibly supportive parents. He’s Haden. He is an FBI agent. His senior partner is Leslie Vann, a Haden survivor. Together, they investigate Haden related crime. Oh, and there’s a cat called Donut, which leaves me wondering if Dinniman got the name from this book, or if Donut is a common name for cats in the USA. Any answers?
So, that’s enough for my notes. I enjoyed the book a lot. An entertaining, easy read by a gifted and funny writer. Thank you to Lancashire Libraries for the loan of this book.
My next read was ‘The Best of All Possible Worlds’ by Karen Lord
This is a good old fashioned social ‘soft’ sf story with an extra helping of alternate timelines and weird tech. I very much enjoyed it, and will be seeking out more by this author.
Many thanks to Lancashire Libraries for the loan of this book.
‘The Tattooed Wolf’ by Kim Bannerman
Kim is an anthology sister of mine from Wolf Girls, the Hic Dragones anthology that encouraged me into the world of writing. She’s a great writer, and I need to read more of her books. This is a re-read, from my shelves, I bought the book at a Hic Dragones book launch.
I really enjoyed this story. It’s simply told, well constructed, and the characters are clearly drawn and, other than the obvious villains, sympathetic. It’s a cracking yarn, and a fun read. Gore and sex are minimal, which may be a plus point for some, and a minus for others, but it’s worth knowing.
‘The Bloodstone’ by Ken Eulo
This book was given to me (amongst others) by a neighbour who had been recently widowed. His wife had a taste for horror. This is the first of her books that I’ve read.
It’s the second book in a trilogy, which was fine because the recaps and expositions were very well handled, I felt no need to go back and read ‘The Brownstone’, which was the first book. However, I feel no need to read book 3 either.
The Bloodstone is a typical 1970s / 1980s possession and devil worship story, set in New York. It was hard to get into, I didn’t get much sense of who the main character was, when she wasn’t being manipulated by the ghost that was riding her. The plot is quite slow, which is perhaps forgivable in a middle book, but ultimately I didn’t really care enough.
Yes, I read it quickly, but there’s a heatwave going on right now and I’m not doing anything that requires much thought. Note, the edition I read isn’t the one pictured, but I couldn’t find a pic of the cover and I’m feeling way too lazy to take a photo of it.
Somehow I’ve got this far in life without reading anything by Tove Jansson. I was, of course, aware of her, and aware of the Moomins, but hadn’t actually crossed paths with her or them.
So, it’s a very hot day, I’m mooching around the shelves for something to read, and I find ‘A Winter Book’ by Tove Jansson. I have no recollection of buying this book. My husband has no recollection of buying this book. It has a £1.99 Oxfam sticker on it but appears to be perfect and unread. Someone has bought or been gifted this book and donated it to charity. At some point I or my husband have bought it and put it on the shelf. And it’s been waiting.
And a heatwave came and a cool blue cover reached out to me, and drew me into a world of crashing waves, grey days, art and family and one of the most interesting minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. I shall be reading more Jansson, she was amazing.
A rare YA read for me. This book is one of those that I inherited from a neighbour. It’s a trilogy bound as one book.
It’s a USA High School Chosen One story, with a bit of a ‘Carrie’ vibe at the end (not a spoiler).
Holly’s dad has a new job in a new state, and has moved his whole family with him. Holly, a spirited redheaded teenager, is excited to be starting in a new school, but is surprised at the realistic painting of a panther in the school reception area. I’ve assumed that by ‘panther’, the author means a black leopard.
Holly’s new friends, Tisha and Jason, help to fill in the details of the town legend of panthers that walk the streets, and give lots of helpful warnings, but when Holly sees local heartthrob Alex, and gazes into his eyes, the story takes a dangerous turn.
