[books 2009] Miscellaneous fiction
64. The Gates by John Connolly
This is a young adult novel in which a combination of the Large Hadron Collider and a group of Satanists in a cellar in the Home Counties open a portal to Hell, with only a young boy and his dog (and a completely inept demon) to stop the inhabitants of Hell taking over the world. It manages to be scary and silly at the same time.
One of the things that impressed me about Connolly's collection of short stories (the first book of his I read) was the sheer variety of voice that he manages to pull off; he's done it again here. The feel here is nothing like the Charlie Parker novels nor is it anything like The Book of Lost Things, his other young adult number. Although I understand why Book of Lost Things is good, it didn't do much for me, and I prefer The Gates. Even though the jokes are very much aimed at 11 year olds.
65. Affinity by Sarah Waters
A Victorian spinster who has recently recovered from a nervous breakdown becomes a Lady Visitor at Millbank Prison, where she falls under the influence of a spirit-medium serving a 4-year sentence for fraud and assault, and you know it just can't end well.
This is a lot heavier going than any of her books I've previously read, but it's well worth it - Waters evokes the desperation of the unconventional middle-class Victorian woman trapped by a tyrannical mother who cares too much what the neighbours think as effectively as she does the women prisoners at Millbank, and humanises all of them.
66. Transition by Iain Banks
Speaking of heavy going! The latest Banks offering is a multi-POV affair where the central premise is that there is an infinite number of parallel worlds, and that there are people who can move between them,co-ordinated by an outfit called The Concern (or l'Expedience). It is all very cloak-and-dagger with plots and counter-plots.
Very good but not one of his easier reads. Less effort than some of the Iain M Banks books have been, though.
And for reasons I cannot quite get to the bottom of, parts of it reminded me of Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (I think it's the names of the Concern characters).
Now that I've finished the pile of library books which all turned up at once, I can get on with Anathem, which has been somewhat neglected of late.
This is a young adult novel in which a combination of the Large Hadron Collider and a group of Satanists in a cellar in the Home Counties open a portal to Hell, with only a young boy and his dog (and a completely inept demon) to stop the inhabitants of Hell taking over the world. It manages to be scary and silly at the same time.
One of the things that impressed me about Connolly's collection of short stories (the first book of his I read) was the sheer variety of voice that he manages to pull off; he's done it again here. The feel here is nothing like the Charlie Parker novels nor is it anything like The Book of Lost Things, his other young adult number. Although I understand why Book of Lost Things is good, it didn't do much for me, and I prefer The Gates. Even though the jokes are very much aimed at 11 year olds.
65. Affinity by Sarah Waters
A Victorian spinster who has recently recovered from a nervous breakdown becomes a Lady Visitor at Millbank Prison, where she falls under the influence of a spirit-medium serving a 4-year sentence for fraud and assault, and you know it just can't end well.
This is a lot heavier going than any of her books I've previously read, but it's well worth it - Waters evokes the desperation of the unconventional middle-class Victorian woman trapped by a tyrannical mother who cares too much what the neighbours think as effectively as she does the women prisoners at Millbank, and humanises all of them.
66. Transition by Iain Banks
Speaking of heavy going! The latest Banks offering is a multi-POV affair where the central premise is that there is an infinite number of parallel worlds, and that there are people who can move between them,co-ordinated by an outfit called The Concern (or l'Expedience). It is all very cloak-and-dagger with plots and counter-plots.
Very good but not one of his easier reads. Less effort than some of the Iain M Banks books have been, though.
And for reasons I cannot quite get to the bottom of, parts of it reminded me of Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (I think it's the names of the Concern characters).
Now that I've finished the pile of library books which all turned up at once, I can get on with Anathem, which has been somewhat neglected of late.