31. Crysis Legion by Peter Watts

This is possibly the worst book I have read since I started this blog.  That's not necessarily so bad as there have been few books that I truly hated in that time and the quality mean is quite high.  It's more frustrating because I paid $5.50 for it at a used bookstore on West Broadway in Vancouver, that should have known better (or perhaps they did, I bought it after all).  I had high hopes as well.  I like Peter Watts' work a lot, but always found it a bit conceptual and science heavy.  When I heard that he was writing a fiction based on a videogame, I thought it might allow him to focus on his badass action writing.  It did, but the result was not what I had imagined. 

Currently, for the things I enjoy in fiction, videogames are just not a medium that allows for creativity.  Crysis Legion does have tons of cool action, but it's mostly repetitive.  Even worse, the main character has barely any character and even less agency.  It's a first-person shooter, so the story is basically on rail road tracks.  Watts writes it like he is an observer, which I suspect he was, probably basing the storyline on watching walkthroughs of the actual game.  Worse, he relies on a few gimmicks over and over again, in paticular italicizing words constantly (really, like when describing big destruction he will do it several times in a paragraph).  It gets really grating.

It has bits and pieces of Wattsian crazy science reality gussied up into science fiction and the way he describes the final exposition is pretty compelling.  Also, at times you can feel Watts himself exasperated with the constraints and even poking fun at them (or at least pointing them out).  It's a valiant effort, but ultimately, nobody is connected to anything going on (neither Watts nor us) and it became a real slog to get through.  I have been reading this book for over two years!  (and man, what a relief to get it done.)

I love the idea of real authors doing the story behind videogames (Richard Morgan was the writer for the videogame and Watts worked under him for the novel) and I hoped it made the game better.  But going the other way, taking a game to make a novel out of, seems like basically cheap heroin for the Crysis addict who has already finished the game and wants more.  I also hope that it made Watts a good chunk of cash so he could go on writing the books he wants to write.

30. My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart

I really picked up steam on my reading over the xmas holidays this year and am now trying to get through books I stopped and started in the past.  I've been labouring over My Brother Michael for most of the year.  I expect Mary Stewart to be slower and more thoughtful than what I prefer, but this one really took a long time to get going.  The ending paid off, but I almost abandoned it at several points.

It's the story of a young divorcee traveling by herself in Greece when through some mix-up ends up delivering a car to an unknown man in a small village near the Oracle at Delphi (which had been on her tourist wish-list).  The man turns out to be a dashing British archaeologist who was also looking for the dying place of his brother, who had been killed at the end of World War 2.  It takes a ton of meandering, having to do with visiting a bunch of ruins and the picturesque greek town and a bunch of random people about two-thirds of the book before we figure out that there is a solid story here.  Maybe Mary Stewart wanted to do justice to a place she had visited or maybe that kind of travelogue is a big part of the sell of this genre, but it wasn't working for me.  Also, there is always that weird layer of British female romance of this period where they are all weird and coy about whether they are into the guy or not, trying to always be all practical while there are constant looks and finger brushings on cheeks or backs of arms ("like a moth"). 

It all did tie together and the ending is actually quite intense and brutal, restoring my faith in Mary Stewart.  But this one needed a tougher editor, in my opinion.

29. Play Dead by Peter Dickinson

Peter Dickinson was one of my parents favourite authors, but I never got into him (other than his young adult series starting with the Weathermonger) the way I did with other British mystery writers of that period.  It may be that he is just a bit too adult and sophisticated compared with Gilbert, Ambler, etc.  He died this year and received the appropriate respect and I thought I should, being practically an adult myself, read more of his books. 

Play Dead is told from the perspective of Poppy Tasker, a 50-year old recent divorcée in late 80s London who has reluctantly taken on the job of nannying her grandson.  She struggles with the role, feeling pegged into the role of a gran when she still has career and romantic aspirations.  Despite her reluctance, she does begin to enjoy the social complexities of the other caregivers at the play group where she takes her grandson.  Things get more than interesting when a man is seen creepily peeping at the children, then ends up dead–stripped naked, his genitals decorated with flowers– a few days later, in the park where the children play.  There are also several other plotlines going on, involving a squat of radicals, the local election and her own romantic involvement with several men in the community.

The mystery was really quite good and complex and I enjoyed reading from the perspective of this different character, who was not happy with her situation, but never became maudlin or annoying.  You slowly realized what a remarkable person she was despite her own inability to see it.  Still, it was all just a tad too reflective (though some of the reflections were quite interesting) for me to be drawn in and I'll definitely continue to read Dickinson, I believe my initial hesitations were not misplaced.  He is a great author, but perhaps just a tad too intelligent for a simpleton like me.

28. Capital by John Lanchester

This was recommended by every member of my immediate family and happened to be in the bookshelf over the xmas holidays.  A bit of a brick for the year-end reading rush, but I tore through it.  It's a real page-turner.  I guess it falls under the category of literary fiction.  The story follows the lives of several characters, all of whom interact with a specific street in London in 2007 and 2008.  The opening chapter lays out the history of the street and how it went from primarily a middle class neighbourhood to suddenly becoming super valuable with the money and real estate boom in London at the beginning of the 21st century.  The anchoring element is that somebody has been putting postcards in people's mailboxes with photos of their front door and the words "We want what you have".  The characters are a wealthy financier and his materialistic wife, a Pakistani shopkeeper and his family, a Polish builder who does lots of renovations in the neighbourhood, the non-citizen but can't be deported East African meter maid, a young Senegalese soccer star and a dying woman who lived her whole life on the street.

It's a thoroughly enjoyable read, that I am guessing really captures many of the major issues of living in London today, it's massive increase in wealth, the political and social challenges of the muslim populations living there (and other immigrants) and an overheated real estate market.  Lanchester treats the characters with a lot of respect and bad things happen, but never extremely so and you hope the best for all of them. 

27. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester

Found this on the shelf of free books lining the window of the grocery store near my parents house and hesitated to take it at first, but then was drawn in upon realizing it is the first of the Hornblower books (at least within Hornblower's own fictional chronology).  As usual, it is a series of vignettes and I found this to be my favourite so far.  Each vignette describes a stage in Hornblower's early career and I found the contrast between his own lack of confidence and the boldness of his actions quite endearing (as did his senior officers, evidently).  There is also tons of great action, straight up mercenary action like attacking a galley with a jolly boat or jumping on to a burning fire ship to steer it away from its target.  Though I could not agree with it, my biased anglo-saxon side took perverse pleasure in the portrayal of the french and spanish militaries (cruel and inefficient).  Great stuff.

26. White Leopard by Laurent Guillaume

I picked this up on a whim in new trade paperback format at a nice bookstore in Berkeley I had been browsing at for way too long and felt like I should support with real dollars.  It was a good choice, though I wish the format had been a traditional paperback and I wish I had the discipline to have hunted it down and read it in the original french (and maybe I will with some of his other books as this one was pretty short).

It starts out intense and brutal and grabbed me right away.  After that, it was the setting of Mali that kept me hooked.  It's the story of a French cop of Malian origin who is forced to flee France after a revenge killing.  He is now a private detective in Mali, who earned the moniker the White Leopard in the local papers, due to his detecting exploits and light skin.  The story is fast-paced and relies too many times on last minute rescues (he is well-connected), but ultimately pulls together well.  Really enjoyable.

Guillaume has written several thrillers in french.  This one was translated by lefrenchbooks, a line that sources out good french genre books and translates them into english.  If White Leopard is any indication, this looks like a line worth keeping an eye on.

25. Hell House by Richard Matheson

Not my copy, but the version I found

(written Dec 26, 2015 catching up)

Another great find!  A woman at the tam-tam this summer had a blanket with a bunch of books spread out on it and a big sign "free books".  She said she was just doing it to encourage reading.  It seemed a bit odd, but I found this book and a few french Winnie the Pooh books for my daughter.  I am not a big fan of horror, but the period and the author and then the blurb made me pick this one up and I am glad that I did. 

Four practitioners of the occult make a deal to try and exorcise a haunted house as the last request of its dying owner.  All of the characters are seriously flawed or damaged and the history of the house that led to its reputation is just awesome.  In its past, it was owned by an insane megalomaniac tycoon with incredible charisma who turned it into first a playhouse in the forest that got darker and sicker until he and his various guests closed off the outside world and then all eventually died.

The four characters are a beautiful medium who used to be an actress, a psychic whose last use of power was in the house where 4 others died and he was left naked and broken outside, a way-too confident paranormal scientist and his sexually repressed wife.  In different ways and at different speeds, each of them is slowly attacked by the house (and all of them together).  It is really delicious to see the weakness of their character lead to their destruction and to have the history and power behind the house slowly revealed. 

A movie of Hell House was also made and got decent reviews.  I have it on standby.

24. Black Man by Richard Morgan

(written Dec 26, 2015 catching up)

I loved Richard Morgan's Market Forces and found this in hardback for cheap at a used bookstore in PEI.  I was a bit disappointed.  It had a lot of cool near future transhuman cyberpunk technology and politics and some good action.  But everybody was constantly grim and mad at each other and full of tension about their past that after a while it just became a bit tiring.  The protagonist is a variant 13 (or "thirteen" perjoratively), a genetically modified human species that was bred for war then abandoned as being too dangerous and exiled to Mars or secure desert colonies.  Our herois semi-legit because he has chosen to hunt down other thirteens who are hiding out in the rest of society.  The conceit is that the thirteens are modified back so their DNA is structured as society's hunters, before we became agriculture.  It was kind of cool, but his social ostracization got a bit heavy after a while and I had trouble seeing anything of value in its metaphor for today's racism.  It was okay but felt a bit patched together and uneven.

23. Tomorrow's Ghost by Anthony Price

(written Dec 26, 2015 catching up)

I found this book on a small shelf at the back of the Co-Op in North Rustico, PEI.  I have to admit that I am quite chuffed to have found this book there.  It demonstrates that the ever-thinning vein of British crime and espionage thrillers in Canadian culture has not dried out entirely.  Ever-fruitful blogger Existential Ennui made me aware of Anthony Price with his great interview with the author.

Reading this book made me respect Anthony Price's style and thoughtfulness, but I don't know if this was the best introduction.  It is late in a series and structured in a somewhat special way, as if Price was toying with the form.  The exercise was a success but it left me feeling a bit cold.

I will not seek his books out, but will definitely pick out the next one I stumble across in the aisle of a rural supermarket.

22. Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks

(written Dec 26, 2015 catching up)

We lost a huge writer when Iain M. Banks died.  I had been rationing his Culture books even before he moved on, because each one is just so delicious.  I found Surface Detail for really cheap in a used bookstore in PEI and it seemed the perfect book to cap off my vacation with.  Excession is still my favourite, but this comes into second place probably.  I won't go into the story details, but it delivered.

21. Under Stone, Over Sea by Susan Cooper

(written Dec 26, 2015 catching up)

I have been meaning to read these books for a while and found the first one in the library.  I never read these as an adolescent, but wish that I had.  It's a story of a family spending the summer with their great uncle by the seaside and stumbling upon adventure connected to him and his mysterious past.  What I love about this genre of British adolescent adventure is both the sense of the slow discovery of something exciting going on around them (because they are left on their own) and the real threat that the bad guys can deliver.  This one delivers both.

(My nephew had read the first two and got the last 3 for xmas, which made me realize that there are 5 books in the series. What is frustrating is that I have not been able to find all 5 in the same format and it is often unclear in any given volume which number it is in the series.)

20. The Skull beneath the Skin by P.D. James

(written Dec 24, 2015 catching up)

All I knew of P.D. James was my mom saying that she could be "quite nasty", that and her ubiquity made me not interested in checking her books out.  However, this edition, found somewhere free, did pique my interest.  It gave me the sense that she was one of those British authors from the second half of the twentieth century that I enjoy.  The story takes place on an island with an ancient castle, recently purchased by a wealthy fan of the theatre, who wants to restage a play in the theatre on the island.  The protagonist is a female private detective, who had an older ex-cop partner who has since died (this could be in past books, I never researched it yet).  The star actress whose star has faded but has been invited to lead the play on the island had been receiving death threats.  It's a classic closed-door murder mystery (the murder itself is quite nasty) all taking place on the island.  There are many characters, all richly drawn and I totally got into it. The ending was a bit contrived feeling, but the ride was worth it.  I will keep an eye open for future P.D. James.

19. Silver Robot Lover by Tanith Lee

(written dec 24, 2015 catching up)

Some Google+ pals of mine do a monthly book club.  I keep trying to participate, but ultimately just do not have the time.  They chose Tanith Lee recently and that inspired me as I am always looking for more women writers of the kind of books I like and she has an excellent but now neglected reputation.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the specific book they chose so I went with this one and took it on my vacation.  It takes place in a post-scarcity future and is the story of a young woman who rebels by falling in love with the latest model of a companion robot.  His particular skill is music and the two of them become street buskers.  She rejects her snooty upper-class friends, but ultimately gets tracked down by them and the robot company and troubles begin.  It's more about love than about robot consciousness and is a well-paced, interesting story.  The ending was structured a bit like Lolita, oddly enough.  I will read more of Tanith Lee's work.

18. The Pnume by Jack Vance

(review written Dec 24, 2015, catching up)

I picked up the entire Planet of Adventure quadrology in a single volume to read over our summer vacation in PEI.  I will write a single, broad review of the whole series, because I can no longer remember the details of each volume.  This is book four. 

I struggle with Jack Vance.  I find his writing sort of primitive and un-nuanced and yet at the same time there is an underlying sophistication and cynicism in the stories he tells.  His style is like nobody else from his period or from the genre in general.  I get into the unfolding of the narrative, but never feel truly connected to any of the characters.  I am always slightly disconnected when reading him yet never disengaged so that I want to put it down. 

The theme across all 4 books of Planet of Adventure is the competent, scientific and strategic human gradually mastering a strange environment and in doing so, the read slowly learns of this interesting world.  The protagonist is a human space explorer who crash lands on the planet and has to navigate the various species and societies, which are really crazy and cool.  He has his struggles, but he generally kind of dominates, which starts to feel slightly biased over time with shades of colonialist superiority.  However, the portrayal of the societies and species and their power structures is rich and complex and Vance does seem to be really trying to imagine a realistic world utterly different from our own (except that women are also in subservient roles). 

17. The Dirder by Jack Vance

(review written Dec 24, 2015, catching up)

I picked up the entire Planet of Adventure quadrology in a single volume to read over our summer vacation in PEI.  I will write a single, broad review of the whole series, because I can no longer remember the details of each volume.  This is book three. 

I struggle with Jack Vance.  I find his writing sort of primitive and un-nuanced and yet at the same time there is an underlying sophistication and cynicism in the stories he tells.  His style is like nobody else from his period or from the genre in general.  I get into the unfolding of the narrative, but never feel truly connected to any of the characters.  I am always slightly disconnected when reading him yet never disengaged so that I want to put it down. 

The theme across all 4 books of Planet of Adventure is the competent, scientific and strategic human gradually mastering a strange environment and in doing so, the read slowly learns of this interesting world.  The protagonist is a human space explorer who crash lands on the planet and has to navigate the various species and societies, which are really crazy and cool.  He has his struggles, but he generally kind of dominates, which starts to feel slightly biased over time with shades of colonialist superiority.  However, the portrayal of the societies and species and their power structures is rich and complex and Vance does seem to be really trying to imagine a realistic world utterly different from our own (except that women are also in subservient roles). 

16. City of the Wankh by Jack Vance

(review written Dec 24, 2015, catching up)

I picked up the entire Planet of Adventure quadrology in a single volume to read over our summer vacation in PEI.  I will write a single, broad review of the whole series, because I can no longer remember the details of each volume.  This is book two and I had a hard time not constantly snickering at the title. 

I struggle with Jack Vance.  I find his writing sort of primitive and un-nuanced and yet at the same time there is an underlying sophistication and cynicism in the stories he tells.  His style is like nobody else from his period or from the genre in general.  I get into the unfolding of the narrative, but never feel truly connected to any of the characters.  I am always slightly disconnected when reading him yet never disengaged so that I want to put it down. 

The theme across all 4 books of Planet of Adventure is the competent, scientific and strategic human gradually mastering a strange environment and in doing so, the read slowly learns of this interesting world.  The protagonist is a human space explorer who crash lands on the planet and has to navigate the various species and societies, which are really crazy and cool.  He has his struggles, but he generally kind of dominates, which starts to feel slightly biased over time with shades of colonialist superiority.  However, the portrayal of the societies and species and their power structures is rich and complex and Vance does seem to be really trying to imagine a realistic world utterly different from our own (except that women are also in subservient roles). 

15. City of the Chasch by Jack Vance

(review written Dec 24, 2015, catching up)

I picked up the entire Planet of Adventure quadrology in a single volume to read over our summer vacation in PEI.  I will write a single, broad review of the whole series, because I can no longer remember the details of each volume.  This is book one. 

I struggle with Jack Vance.  I find his writing sort of primitive and un-nuanced and yet at the same time there is an underlying sophistication and cynicism in the stories he tells.  His style is like nobody else from his period or from the genre in general.  I get into the unfolding of the narrative, but never feel truly connected to any of the characters.  I am always slightly disconnected when reading him yet never disengaged so that I want to put it down. 

The theme across all 4 books of Planet of Adventure is the competent, scientific and strategic human gradually mastering a strange environment and in doing so, the read slowly learns of this interesting world.  The protagonist is a human space explorer who crash lands on the planet and has to navigate the various species and societies, which are really crazy and cool.  He has his struggles, but he generally kind of dominates, which starts to feel slightly biased over time with shades of colonialist superiority.  However, the portrayal of the societies and species and their power structures is rich and complex and Vance does seem to be really trying to imagine a realistic world utterly different from our own (except that women are also in subservient roles). 

14. Abaddon's Gate by S.A. Corey

(written Dec 6, 2015 catching up)

The third of the Expanse series and things keep on going.  I found this one a bit darker and heavier than the first two and I think just simply three big books of the same style and setting starts to slow down for me no matter how good.  So I lost a bit of steam here but ended up finishing it because I had to return the book to the library before we went on vacation.  I did enjoy the revelation of the backstory, what was the source of the mysterious disease and craziness that spread from it.  It was cosmic and mind-blowing in a way that fit in with the overall story.  I think there is a fourth book and it will be a TV series, so I may continue on in this world a bit in one form or another.

13. Caliban's War by S.A. Corey

(written Dec 6, 2015 catching up)

This is the second of the Expanse series and is very similar in theme and structure as the first one. Also, equally entertaining.  Here, though, we now have the set up established.  A group of ragtag space mercenaries now have a kickass ship and run around getting involved in adventures directly or indirectly related to the solar system-changing events of the first book. 

12. Leviathan Wakes by S.A. Corey

(written Dec 6, 2015 catching up)
Every now and then I get in the mood for some good epic space opera and I was in one of them when this came across my G+ feed.  Turns out the authors are part of George R. Martin's writing group.  It was exactly what I was looking for at the time, a real page-turner with a pretty cool scope.  It's the future, we have colonized most of the inner planets and human society is divided into three major political factions, Earth, Mars and the Belters.  We meet a bunch of disparate characters in cool situations that you know are all going to be connected.  The connection here is some weird package/disease that turns people into a grey stew that may or may not still be alive.  Lots of interplanetary politics and action with a really compelling setup make this book feel like a well put together summer blockbuster.

11. Blood and Judgement by Michael Gilbert

(written Dec 5, 2015 catching up)

This is really the Gilberts I love.  Urban (Londong) procedural investigations with really smart police (often Petrella).  This is early in Petrella's career and though clearly a gifted character, Gilbert never makes it easy for him. His career is often at risk.  The violence is limited, but what there is quick and brutal.  Good stuff.

10. A Kind of Anger by Eric Ambler

(written Dec 5, catching up)
I have a beautiful Atheneum book club edition of this later Ambler (1964), in great condition.  The story is a nice combination of sleazy journalism and current (at the time)events.  A reporter gets caught up in the middle of a murder of an expat Kurdish general and flees with his mistress.  A little more fanastical in the end than is usual for Ambler, and a lot of fun.

9. The Killing of Katie Steelstock by Michael Gilbert

(written Dec 5, 2015 catching up)
I always remember the setup of this one, a popular TV actress is murdered back in her home town and we get to see all the nasty local politics and infighting.  I didn't remember the solution, fortunately, and it hit me with a bang.  Enjoyable as always with Gilbert.

8. The Schirmer Inheritance by Eric Ambler

(written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)

This is the first post-war Ambler that I read in my re-read and it was really enjoyable.  Ambler's style is smoother now, but his treatment of the setting (Greece near the end and after WWII) is complex and subtle as his earlier books, with a great sense of intrigue.

7. The Empty House by Michael Gilbert

(written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)

As you cans see, I was deep (and happily) into my Ambler Gilbert revisiting.  Gilbert does a good job of portraying competent young men who are slightly out of step with the expectations set for them.  Here, Peter Manciple as an insurance adjustor is not really supposed to be making any waves, investigating the death of a scientist who drove off a cliff.  He of course makes a lot.  Nice transition from murder mystery to modern espionage. 

6. The Mask of Dmitrios by Eric Ambler

(written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)
This is probably my least favourite of Ambler's early pre-war books.  It's still really good, but the set up never quite grabbed me, with the writer following the trail of Dimitrios across Europe. He isn't really in danger until the last third, so there isn't a lot of tension. The story and backstory of Dimitrios himself is really cool.  It also has one of the best descriptions of heroin addiction I've ever read.

5. Anything for a Quiet Life by Michael Gilbert

(written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)
I had completely forgotten about this book, thinking it was a novel. It's actually a series of short stories about a super sharp London lawyer who sets up shop in the country to take a break from things.  Really enjoyable mix of fun crime law and investigation with a dash of action.  Great local rural character as usual from Gilbert.

4. Cause for Alarm by Eric Ambler

(written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)

Another one from the Intrigue quartert, A Cause for Alarm, stars a young engineer who desperate for work ends up running an arms factory in Italy.  It's a great telling of the naive guy slowly realizing the forces conspiring around him.  The adventure part of the story is a flight across frontiers, which was really cool.  Great book.

3. The Main by Trevanian

I bought this at a book sale on Avenue de Parc, which is the next big boulevard to the west of the real Main.  I have wanted to read it since I got here and even saw it once at Welch's.  But I got it here for a buck and the time was right.  Me and my adolescent reading buddies back in Lantzville went through a Trevanian phase, but we liked the over the top action stuff (Especially Shibumi) and I at least didn't find The Main appealing at the time.  It is kind of a dour, melacholy book, more concerned with painting a picture (possibly exaggerated and definitely florid) of what Trevanian clearly considers a very special culture corner of North America.  The pages turn quickly.

2. The Country-House Burglar by Michael Gilbert

(written Dec 6, 2015 catching up, actually had not recorded when I actually read this, so the date could be off, but it was definitely part of my Gilbert/Ambler binge early 2015)

I enjoyed this one as all Gilberts, but it is not my favourite.  Focuses on the older people, who are cool, but I didn't find them particularly compelling.  The culprit didn't seem super connected with the rest of the story either, so the ending was not totally satisfying.  Still, I'm picking nits because all of Gilberts books are worth reading.

2. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

(Written Dec 3, 2015 catching up)

It seems like a lot of the classic sci-fi books from the 70s and 80s (is that the Silver Age?) are about first contact, with most of the story following the actual learning process.  Lots going on in this book.  I really enjoyed it, but found it ultimately not sure if it wanted to be a political treatise on xenophobia or an actual story.  The comparison of the alien advanced tech compared to the human was innovative and believable.

1. What's So Funny by Donald E. Westlake

[written Dec 1, 2015 catching up.]

Westlake was still very much in form when he wrote this second to last Dortmunder caper.  Great characters and situations that hilariously and consistently screw Dortmunder yet somehow you love it while still rooting for him.  Love the upstate New York cabin. Though it's comedic, Westlake demonstrates once again his mastery for procedure and description of place.

2014 Year-end Review

[writing this on Dec 1, 2015 catching up.]

I can't actually remember my thoughts at the end of 2014, but looking back, I am pleased at my output and the diversity thereof.  Not bad considering my ongoing internet addiction, which filled much of my little free time between parenting and work.  So basically same excuses as at the end of 2013.  We strive on.  Reading is great.  Let's all keep doing it.