Karsa Orlong Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Ah that's a shame, I haven't read any Koontz and to be honest none of them grab me enough to start doing so. Up until now I would've recommended Lightning without a second thought. Now . . . maybe not. If you're after a light, undemanding thriller then it's worth a go. Also his library is ridiculous! What a waste of space. Indeed. Mind you, his house is HUGE, so he might have a second library where he stores all the good books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 It's a shame you didn't like it as much as when you first read it. I'm glad it was still somewhat enjoyable though. I've had two Dutch-translated books by Dean Koontz on my TBR since I was a teenager when I bought them, but I never got around to reading them, I've kind of lost interest now and can't precisely remember if I still have them in my library or whether I put them up the attic in a box to be given away. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review though . I can't believe about the library! That does seem quite hmm selfish I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Rats! When I went to Forbidden Planet the other week I had C J Cherryh's Morgaine Saga on my list of books to buy. They've had it the previous few times I've been in there but not this time, and now I find that it's gone out of print Shall have to get a second-hand copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Awww, that's not nice . I hope you'll be able to find a copy in a good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I also remember that it introduced me to the word 'arroyo', and that I had no clue what one was at the time. But that's another matter Deadhouse Gates taught me the same thing. Also his library is ridiculous! What a waste of space. Yeah, he sounds like an idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Rats! When I went to Forbidden Planet the other week I had C J Cherryh's Morgaine Saga on my list of books to buy. They've had it the previous few times I've been in there but not this time, and now I find that it's gone out of print Shall have to get a second-hand copy. I'm trying to get a copy of Peter Reich's Book of Dreams (which inspired Kate to write Cloudbusting) but it's out of print and I can't find it for less than £80 .. ouch!! So I feel your pain .. though yours is a less expensive pain .. I saw it for 99p on eBay (though only 'acceptable' condition .. and I know what that means .. just about fit for purpose.) Good luck! I will stop talking about Kate soon .. I'm in the chicken soup stage of recovery now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 (edited) I'm trying to get a copy of Peter Reich's Book of Dreams (which inspired Kate to write Cloudbusting) but it's out of print and I can't find it for less than £80 .. ouch!! So I feel your pain .. though yours is a less expensive pain .. I saw it for 99p on eBay (though only 'acceptable' condition .. and I know what that means .. just about fit for purpose.) Good luck! Thanks for looking! I've ordered it for £3.20 from Amazon Marketplace, so that includes postage It's only in 'acceptable' condition, too, but I can (hopefully!) live with that. There were a couple in 'very good' condition which were over £10, and then it went up into stupid money - there's a used copy in 'good' condition on there for £3,837.46 + £2.80 postage I mean, seriously?? Who are these people?? It was only £5.99 when I saw it brand new in Forbidden Planet Good luck with Book of Dreams I will stop talking about Kate soon .. I'm in the chicken soup stage of recovery now Oh don't stop talking about Kate - I'm sure as hell not going to stop talking about Rush Edited October 7, 2014 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thanks for looking! I've ordered it for £3.20 from Amazon Marketplace, so that includes postage. It's only in 'acceptable' condition, too, but I can (hopefully!) live with that. There were a couple in 'very good' condition which were over £10, and then it went up into stupid money - there's a used copy in 'good' condition on there for £3,837.46 + £2.80 postage. I mean, seriously?? Who are these people?? It was only £5.99 when I saw it brand new in Forbidden Planet. Yes .. that's a bit hopeful isn't it? Glad you've found a copy You can chuck it back at a charity shop when finished .. that's the good thing about second hand books .. you don't really feel obliged to keep them. I still have books I've kept because the covers are just too beautiful to part with although the stories were hopeless I know you are more ruthless and less (mad? ) sentimental than that though. Good luck with Book of Dreams. Thank you I need to keep my eyes peeled. It's a bit obscure but it's bound to turn up somewhere on my travels Oh don't stop talking about Kate - I'm sure as hell not going to stop talking about Rush. Okay then No .. it's just I'm on one track at the moment. I can see a Kate Bush connection in a fried breakfast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Great review of Lightning! And what a great difference in reading the book the second time I wonder if you shall save your copy another 25 years... I now have a feeling I won't be interested in any Koontz books. ETA2: Koontz was on The Crime Thriller Club on ITV3 last night. I was in awe of his library in his vast home - until he said that all the books (8,000 of them!) were copies of his own novels, just with different covers and in different languages. How narcissistic! :lol: What a complete, self-loving jerk That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while! Okay then. No .. it's just I'm on one track at the moment. I can see a Kate Bush connection in a fried breakfast The moment you start seeing Kate's face in your brekkie toast... Call a doctor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 I can see a Kate Bush connection in a fried breakfast Given my current dietary restrictions I lust for a fried breakfast so, yeah, I can see a Kate connection, too I wonder if you shall save your copy another 25 years... I don't think it'll survive my next trip to the charity shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I've never been a fan of Koontz, as I always found his novels extremely cheesy and cringeworthy. I have read a fair few of them, and for years I was always willing to give him a go even though I've been disappointed many times. Haven't read him in years, but his books still catch my attention for some reason. As for having his whole library full of his own books......woah, that's just odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I've never been a fan of Koontz, as I always found his novels extremely cheesy and cringeworthy. I have read a fair few of them, and for years I was always willing to give him a go even though I've been disappointed many times. Haven't read him in years, but his books still catch my attention for some reason. Isn't it weird how we sometimes are willing to give some particular author another go, and yet another go, even though their books have so far been nothing but disappointments? And it's not like we do this for and with every author, but sometimes with a particular one. Go figure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 # 65 Into the Storm (Destroyermen Book 1) by Taylor Anderson 2009 - Roc paperback - 400 pages From Amazon: Pressed into service when World War II breaks out in the Pacific, the US Walker—a Great War-era destroyer—finds itself retreating from pursuing Japanese battleships. Its captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy, desperately leads the Walker into a squall, hoping it will give them cover—only to emerge into an alternate world. A world where two species have evolved: the cat-like Lemurians and the reptilian Griks, and they are at war.With its power and weaponry, the Walker's very existence could alter the balance of power. And for Reddy and his crew, who have the means to turn a primitive war into a genocidal Armageddon, one thing becomes clear. They must determine whose side they're on. Because whichever species they choose is the winner. Thoughts: I spotted this series of books on a trip to Forbidden Planet earlier this year and have been curious about them ever since. They were on the shelves in the 'Alternate History' section, which is why they caught my eye. Having asked around on other forums and only found one other person who's read any of them, this was always going to be a bit of a gamble. But the covers are so colourful And the idea of a WWI destroyer in a world full of dinosaurs . . . it appealed to me So they kept tempting me and I succumbed Of course, it's not like it hasn't been done before. Edgar Rice Burroughs got there early, so did Conan Doyle. Verne probably got there first. Rather than a lost world, Into the Storm is about a parallel world. Reddy and his crew, aboard the USS Walker, are trying to escape a battering from the Japanese navy post-Pearl Harbour (the battle at the start of the book did actually take place) when they seek refuge in a nasty-looking squall. Coming out the other side of the storm they find themselves in the same world but different. They're not in Kansas anymore. The start of this book is somewhat stodgy. It throws a lot of characters at you in very quick succession, tells you what their rank is on the ship, then throws a load more at you without pause. Then the battle happens, and all these characters are running around and shouting a lot, and I couldn't remember who half of them were or what they were supposed to be doing. Fortunately, Andersons knows his stuff when it comes to WWI destroyers and the action is written in decent fashion and is pretty exciting. Once they pass through the squall it becomes a little like Jurassic Park. They see a bunch of big lizards on the shore but it doesn't yet occur to them that they're not in the world they knew. You can pretty much guess what happens when they send a party ashore. It was around about halfway through the book that I started to get a bit bored. Being an alternate world, life on this particular version of Earth has evolved in quite a different way. I think my interest began to wane once the sword-fighting cat-monkey things turned up and began talking in Latin (there was a reason for it, but it did little for me . . . ). Who are they fighting with their swords? A race of lizard warriors that look a lot like velociraptors. I would've preferred the latter without the former, tbh. I actually think this could've been a pretty entertaining if silly read, especially if Anderson had taken the snarky approach that Meluch takes with the Merrimack books. But, unfortunately, he seems to take it all very seriously and there's very little in the way of humour on show. The characters are two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs and the two new races he's created just didn't work for me at all. After a brief respite in the middle third, the stodginess of the early stages returns and the book gets horribly bogged down. It rallies a little towards the end, but by then I didn't really care. I wanted the book to spend more time on the problems they encountered in terms of ammunition, fuel, food etc etc, but all of that seems to be sorted out rather too easily. And as for the fact that there are only two women on board a ship full of men . . . I mean, would all these people really continue to follow orders given that they're stranded on an alternate world with no hope of getting home? I doubt it! I'd say never judge a book by its cover, but the covers of this series should've told me enough I'm quite tempted to go and re-read ERB's The Land That Time Forgot, though 4/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 What a shame. How on earth did he manage to make dinosaurs boring??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 What a shame. How on earth did he manage to make dinosaurs boring??? I know! He deserves an extra slap for that achievement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Awww, it's a shame it wasn't as good as you'd hoped. I enjoyed reading the review though. I hope your next read will be more enjoyable ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 # 66 Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell 1990 - Orbit paperback - 500 pages From Amazon: He is Parmenion. A hated outsider, he must fight the hardened heroes of Sparta. He will survive. Dark forces have marked out his destiny as the most fearsome warlord the world has known. He is the Lion of Macedon. The man called Death of Nations will reshape the glory of Greece before he faces the wrath of hell... Thoughts: Lion of Macedon is the first in a two book sequence (the second book being Dark Prince) about Parmenion, famed general to Philip II and Alexander the Great. The story begins when Parmenion is a youth in Sparta and despised by his fellow recruits for being a half-breed, part Spartan, part Macedonian. It then charts his rise, covering a period of around 30 years in his life. With typical Gemmell style the story is off and running from the very first sentence, the back story and historical setting gradually sketched in as the novel progresses. A lot of familiar Gemmell elements are there, from the pacy, economic style to the muscular dialogue and even more muscular characters. He takes a risk in, I felt, making Parmenion quite unsympathetic character in the beginning. He is resentful, prone to uncontrollable fits of rage, and quickly resorts to violence. The book begins with him being beaten by his adversaries, yet Gemmell shows him going to extremes. In this respect, Parmenion reminded me a lot of Connavar from Sword in the Storm, although from a character development standpoint their reasons for getting there are quite different. Like much of Guy Gavriel Kay's work, this is historical fantasy. Unlike GGK, who creates his own worlds and writes stories and characters based on historical periods, Gemmell took the approach of setting the story in our own world, with real people and events. When he sticks to this the book is fabulous. Parmenion's burgeoning military genius is wonderfully developed, as are his friendships with the likes of Xenophon and Philip II. Where it comes slightly - slightly - unstuck for me is that, having set the story in the real world, he then chose to incorporate some major fantasy elements weaved around his much-loved Source from the Drenai books. This, for me, sat a little uneasily with the setting and characters. Had he set the story in a secondary world, re-named the characters and such, I don't think it would have been an issue. Having said that, needless to say the Ancient Greeks placed a lot of faith in their gods, so maybe it's not too much of a leap. It never overwhelms the otherwise marvellous story, but it occasionally distracts. I would rather he hadn't used the Source, though, and stuck to Zeus and co (who are still worshipped in this book, so why bother with the Source at all?), in an Iliad or even Jason & the Argonauts kind of way. As it is, for a good chunk of the novel it was heading for a 10. It's that good, on a par with the Troy trilogy. This minor niggle, though, knocks it down a mark or so. Still brilliant, just not perfect. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Great review! I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I can understand your minor niggle, it's a shame about that, though I'm glad you liked the book otherwise. How many Gemmell books have you read in total? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 That was my 20th Gemmell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 That's a lot, well done ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Hmm, apparently Gemmell originally wrote Lion of Macedon as pure historical fiction, but his publisher then turned around and refused to publish it under his own name unless he re-wrote it as fantasy. And apparently the sequel, Dark Prince, takes it further into the fantastical as a result. I wonder how often this sort of thing happens to authors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Wow, that's quite interesting. Maybe it happens more often than we think.. a real shame to be honest. I personally find that 'what the publisher thinks will sell well' not as interesting as 'what the author him/her self wants to create'. I guess it now makes sense though what you didn't like about it, it wasn't what Gemmell wanted. Do you plan on reading the sequel, knowing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Oh yeah, I'll definitely read it some time in the next few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 # 67 The Cormorant by Stephen Gregory 1986 - Valancourt ebook - 147 pages From Amazon: A young family receives a welcome surprise when old Uncle Ian dies and leaves them a cottage in north Wales. For Ian's nephew and his wife Ann, it seems a stroke of incredible good fortune, enabling them to leave their unfulfilling lives in the city for a newfound freedom in the remote seaside cottage. There's just one catch. Uncle Ian's will has a strange condition: the couple must care for his pet cormorant or forfeit the bequest. They think nothing of it at first: Uncle Ian was eccentric, and the bird is amusing in a way. But when the cormorant begins to show a violent and malevolent side, they soon find that Uncle Ian's gift may not be a blessing, but a curse. Thoughts: As it's Horror Month I thought I'd read one or two horror stories. This debut novel from Stephen Gregory won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1987. It is the story of a young family who move from their stale suburban life to a village in Snowdonia when the husband's uncle leaves them a cottage in his will - along with a cormorant which he had kept as a pet. The couple and their small child must keep this pet and treat it as one of the family for the conditions of the will to be met, and therefore for them to keep the roof over their heads. They don't really bat an eyelid at first. Sure, it's a strange condition, but then the uncle was a tad eccentric, and they had only ever met him at family weddings and funerals. Quite why he singled them out for this particular honour is a mystery. But, as time passes, the cormorant begins to wreak havoc on their idyllic new life and the cracks begin to appear. Told in the first person, with the husband a nameless narrator, there is something so effortlessly natural about the quality of the writing that you know it can't have been effortless at all. The narrative flows beautifully from one event to the next without any jarring changes in tone or character. Gregory's descriptions of the Welsh countryside have an otherworldly, poetic quality to them that is wonderfully atmospheric. There are a couple of sustained sequences that should, in theory, break the pace (one where the family goes to the beach, or a Christmas shopping trip as the snow begins to fall, another where the narrator succumbs to drink) but the description is so vivid and tangible that it just carried me along. But there's always a hint of a darker undercurrent. "The coming of Christmas affected everyone," the narrator tells us. "Nobody was unchanged, no-one escaped. It strengthened the bonds between the happy, the lovers, the members of united families; it emphasised to the unloved and the wounded the bitterness of their plight." It's a tale of obsession that steadily ramps up and spirals out of control. It's classed as a horror novel but it's never scary, although it is unsettling, occasionally deeply so: ghostly presences, a whiff of cigar smoke where there should be none, heavy footsteps in the dark, a string of hints that the child might somehow be possessed (one bathroom scene in particular is just wrong). Yet because it's told in the first person, and because the reader is party to the narrator's obsession, it is somehow difficult to sympathise with the characters, and the sum of the parts doesn't quite add up to the whole. The ending is hinted at from very early on but still manages to shock, as much for the characters' inability to prevent it as anything else. I think people who liked The Woman in Black or Dark Matter might like this story. It's more about a sense of foreboding than it is about scares or violence or gore. Be warned, though: a couple of things happen in the story that might not sit well with animal lovers. And as for Archie the cormorant . . . Well, he's a bird, and a bird's got to eat. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 (edited) The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 1950 - Harper Voyager paperback - 305 pages From Amazon: The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection.The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame. Thoughts: The Martian Chronicles is a collection of linked short stories about the Red Planet, and it is quite unlike any other book I've read about Mars. This is a Mars of seas and canals and crystal cities - and that's before mankind even gets there. But whilst the science is obviously showing its age, and we have learned so much more about the fourth planet since the book was first published, these stories are more importantly wonderful flights of imagination and social commentary. Coupled with Bradbury's gorgeous, lyrical prose, I found it quite unputdownable. Is that not a word? It should be! “The Men of Earth came to Mars. They came because they were afraid or unafraid, because they were happy or unhappy, because they felt like Pilgrims or did not feel like Pilgrims. There was a reason for each man. They were leaving bad wives or bad towns; they were coming to find something or leave something or get something, to dig up something or bury something or leave something alone. They were coming with small dreams or large dreams or none at all...it was not unusual that the first men were few. The numbers grew steadily in proportion to the census of Earth Men already on Mars. There was comfort in numbers. But the first Lonely Ones had to stand by themselves...” Naturally, the social commentary is very much of its time and could be seen as a drawback for today's readers, but I found it fascinating, enthralling. On one occasion it's obvious (in the story entitled "Way Up in the Middle of the Air", where a bigot's efforts to stop African Americans going to Mars are used to examine and deplore racism) but in other cases it's far more subtle. It could even be seen as a book about our ecology, for mankind - once it reaches Mars - immediately sets about destroying it and rebuilding it in Earth's image. To begin with I thought the stories seemed quite dated, perhaps even a little twee. But something clicked with me very early on: this was, in effect, like reading episodes of The Twilight Zone, complete with dark undertones, touches of the macabre, plenty of stings in tails, and Rod Serling's distinctive voice compelling me onwards. Even though there is no single character to latch onto and follow through these tales, the urge to finish one story and dive straight into the next is irresistible. In that - of many ways - said tv series mimics its storytelling style perfectly. In the end, I don't think there's a bad tale in this book. "The Third Expedition" stands out as a particular highlight, largely because it was with that story that the book really clicked with me, but that really is to pick one diamond from among many. I finished the final tale late on Saturday night and sat there re-reading the last page several times because I wanted to savour it. It's the sort of book that amazes me for the author's imagination, for his haunting imagery, quirky humour, and his unwillingness to let the ever-present dark undercurrents within the stories be swept away with happy endings. I can see myself returning to it again and again. It's my favourite read of the year to date. “It is good to renew one's wonder, said the philosopher. Space travel has again made children of us all.” 10/10 Edited October 20, 2014 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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