[Hello everyone!]

Welcome. The Scots contingent of the Book Club Forum is gathering in preparation of a coup d'

[Hello there!]

Hi there. Great story behind the username.

[Hi]

Hi. Is it accounts of real spying or fictional spies you like more? I've never been able to keep my attention span up when trying to plough through accounts of Cold War espionage because of the endless dates and technical information which keeps getting referred to.

[Dean Koontz - Good and Bad?]

I googled 'Koontz' and 'autistic brother' and found a novel called "By the Light of the Moon" and this seems to be the one. Has anyone read it, is it any good?

 

That's one I read a while back, though I remember thinking at the time it wasn't the worst example of an 'origin story' (there is a substantial element of homage to mid-sixties Marvel Comics in the mix) but it lacked a certain something for me. I'm never sure if I'm too critical of Koontz, but I know that he can (and has) done much better. It's not his best, but there are moments that'll make you grin from ear to ear if you have a working knowledge of comic book characters or have seen the Incredible Hulk television series.

[Book Condition]

I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but here in the UK it can be as cheap (if not cheaper) to get a book or small parcel couriered up the length of the country by a private company instead of the post office. I spent

[Adverts you like/dislike?]

The puppet is a very good likeness, they look like twins.

 

I thought the puppet looked to be in slightly better shape than Iggy...

[Dr Who]

I don't care if the Doctor is ginger or not, as long as he isn't Colin Baker again.

[Hi There]

Hi Cookie.

 

Have you seen an old film called Planet of the Vampires? Vampires and (by modern standards) funny SF mixed up by Mario Bava. Not a book, I know, but worth tracking down regardless...

[World Of Darkness, And Other RPG Rulebooks]

I have a small stack of the early nineties Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles RPG books still unread in their original cellophane wrapping, which I swear I'll get around to reading sooner or later. There are some titles I never really liked merely because of the awful layouts, or the assumption that homosexuality was a mental deficiency (can't remember the publisher, but they used the stat for a good few years in the eighties), or binding which falls apart quickly...

 

I'm still on the hunt for a complete set of the ElfQuest RPG books, but I rarely actually play any more.

[Bookshop Etiquette]

It is very rare that I take a book back to the shop I bought it from, but one title springs immediately to mind - Fabulous Harbours by Michael Moorcock. The text was printed off the page, rendering the book unreadable, and I had barely opened the book before discovering this. The bookshop took it back and replaced it with a copy (which I remembered to check) without question.

 

The idea that a person can read a book before taking it back is not only insulting, it is borderline theft.

[Dr Who]

All good points, but the ending patently didn't tie up all the loose ends. For starters, there is the (ancient) question of whatever happened to his grand-daughter from the very first series (how many decades do we have to wait for the answer?), and his "daughter" from a couple of years ago. He has family, yet the Doctor doesn't seem to want anything to do with them. Dysfunctional much? And his little jaunt at the end of the episode was too much filler for the weight of what had come before. Lets face it, R2D2 didn't write the best episode of Doctor Who ever, but the ending was perfectly in keeping with his other interpretations of time paradoxes (paradoxi) and emotional farewells.

 

I am awaiting the new series with trepidation, and I am salivating over the prospect of a book written by none other than Michael Moorcock himself. Looks like there will be some massive moments in 2010.

[Your Must-See Films for 2010]

I really shouldn't complain too much about the increasing numbers of remakes and sequels (as my tirades about the lack of imagination in Hollywood always gets people annoyed), so I'm going to do the unpredictable...

 

I'm really looking forward to Iron Man 2. And, if it lives up to the endless hype, I may even have nice things to say about A Nightmare On Elm Street, though the odds of the film surpassing the most basic requirements for plot and character are solid (the writing is assured for this one) the special effects remains a major obstacle.

 

The A-Team on the other hand...

[A (slightly long-winded) hello from Michael]

That is one of the finest introductions I've read in a while.

 

I do tend to ramble.

 

Ramble on. Really, it makes a change from being on certain forums where the most I can expect is a string of letters and numbers which approximate the English language in only the most base and loose manner. It's something to appreciate when I read a clever and interesting post.

[In The News (Cont..)]

how insane is this law

Oh god...

 

Seriously though, you would think that the UK laws passed back in '07 (I think) would have given some idea of where this particular piece of legislation was going to go. Anyone remember Rowan Atkinson's tirade against the suspension of 'free speech' rights? I'm amazed that there are people still wiling to try and hoist religion up out of the reaches of satire, which has managed to temper the most extreme edges off of most religions.

 

Anyone seen the story about murder attempt on the Danish cartoonist who depicted Mohammed? It is precisely because people are frightened of mocking Islam (even giving it a gentle ribbing is verbotten) that there is so much trouble surrounding religious comedy.

[Favorite authors from your native country?]

For Scottish authors, I have to say Ian Rankin is right up there with the best (and there is a street down the road from me named after him, so the local connection nudges him up in my esteem)... If I broaden the focus out to the whole of the UK, I think that Clive Barker, Michael Moorcock or Neil Gaiman are still the most creative forces at play.

 

(my list is living authors only - the all-time greatest writer from the UK is still Shakespeare)

[Are there any famous authors that didn't have a substance abuse problem?]

There are plently of writers from a very puritan stance, though the books I'm thinking of aren't novels per se (look through the self help books and you will find a high percentage of people who have never touched any kind of drugs). The stereotype of drug-addled, womanizing alcoholics being drawn to the writing world is something that has been with us as long as there have been books (in fact, you can probably trace this back to the epic poets if you had the time or inclination), but it doesn't represent the wider writing world.

 

Journalism, on the other hand...

[Hi everyone!]

Hello.

 

You like post-apocalyptic fiction? Umm... King's The Stand, The Road, the early noughties Fist Of The North Star novel (not the eighties one) and the Harlan Ellison book about the boy wandering through a wasteland (which I've forgotten the name of) are all good places to look for that kind of mayhem.

[hello everyone]

Hi there Abraham. Don't worry about you're spelling or grammar.

[US/UK remakes]

I'm racking my brains trying to think of a US remake which surpasses the original in every regard, and I'm coming up empty. Zilch. Maybe (with the kindness of age) I'm willing to forgive Sanford And Son, but British television has committed just as many dire remakes as the US. Brighton Belles anyone? No?

 

I have to admit to laughing hysterically at the Red Dwarf remake - though not for the right reasons.

[Addicted To A Series?]

Flashman. Really, it's the one series I revisit constantly. Of course, I also have to pick up the Jerry Cornelius books every once in a while to make sure that the writing is still as good as I remember it being (it holds up, not brilliantly, but it holds up). The Sharpe books are also a favorite, so I guess that I have a thing for series...

 

I'm not going to mention the small mountain of Star Trek, Star Wars or Doctor Who books...

[hi !]

Hi there.

 

Used to like James Patterson, though I think I'd rather slit my wrist than buy another of his books again.

 

It's no great secret that he doesn't actually have much involvement in 'his' books other than the outline. There are numerous co-writers who 'assist' him in order to maintain the tremendous output of his novels.

[In The News (Cont..)]

Yeah it really has not been a great year death wise, and I did think it would be drug related too, especially at such a young age.

 

It's been a terrible year for deaths. I've been putting together an end of year retrospective, and so far - not that the year is over yet - I've got nearly four pages of writers (including journalists, critics, songwriters and screenwriters). I keep thinking that I've found all the names from 2009, then I turn up another story...

[RATM Vs. X Factor for Christmas Number One 2009]

This thread makes me realize just how much I miss Top Of The Pops, even though I didn't watch it for the last couple of years of its' existence. I don't think that the artist who reaches #1 on Christmas automatically gets a bump in sales like they used to (with the increased focus on downloading and USB-singles), so the hype about who gets the top spot seems beyond me. There used to be fairly limited terrestrial exposure, but with Freeview being pushed so hard in the last couple of years the focus will be diluted. #1 doesn't even mean what it did five years ago, and the record companies are too busy worrying about profit margins to lavish gifts on the artist with the hit single - anyone else remember stories of singers getting cars as gifts? That is all over with these days.

[Hello]

Hi peeps

 

just want to officially say 'hello' as i've posted a few times but not introduced myself.

 

An official 'hello' back.

 

I would lurk on fora if I didn't have the urge to comment all the time.

[Antique Book Collecting/Buying]

Strange as it seems, old bibles aren't all that hard to come across, and (mostly) they're relatively cheap. The collectability angle comes into play where religious texts are concerned, though financially they aren't as sound as, for example, first editions of major authors. There are some beautiful examples out there, but as I don't have a religious bone in my body I can only admire them for their aesthetic quality. There are amazing illustrations in some of them...