Reading Material

While I was away in NY I was able to do a bit of reading, these are the books and my comments on them:

Supping with Panthers - I've read one of Tom Holland's previous books (Deliver us from Evil). He has some interesting ideas with regards the lore of vampires, mixing the Dracula story into many other myths and history. Panthers includes the British Empire, Kali worshipers, 19th century London and Jack the Ripper. The book does seem to labour the ideas a little bit but its still good to see someone doing something different with the vampires.

Lint - Did not get this at all. I see what Aylett is trying to do, but a mock biography (mockgraphy?) has to have more basis in reality to work. There is an underlying Woody Allen style to the work but whereas Woody keeps his prose style to the short story, this 178 page style is exhausting.

Just One Look - I saw the film 'Tell No One' in the year so decided to give Coben a try. His style is fast and to the point. His thrillers seem perfect for the screen. Interesting element of this is that it is all set in New Jersey close to the out of town shopping complex we visited. I didn't know this when I started reading.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier: I was looking for to this, a third LOEG comic but was actually a bit disappointed. The visuals are great (especially the 3D comic) but it feels more like the deleted scene elements on a special DVD. The sort of thing you'll look at once and then never bother with again. It felt like a scrap book rather than a story.

Angel of Darkness: De Lint wrote this many years ago under the pen name Samuel M. Key. he claims it is the 'darkest books I've written, and probably the most gruesome as well', well is true. Very different from his Newford books but worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed it and those short the story seems well formed.

Read this week:
Supping with Panthers by Tom Holland
Lint by Steve Aylett
Just One Look by Harlan Coben
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Angle of Darkness by Charles de Lint