My Empire Strikes Back

I'm about a quarter of the way through the new book. It's coming on and I think I know where its going, but it still throws up the odd surprise. It's not as simple and straight forward as the first book, but then second books never are. It's my Empire Strike Back rather than Star Wars.

Not much else to report. I'm still trying to find an agent for the first book. The Missing is still coming out this summer, I want a holiday (thinking Marrakech and the desert) and I was so nearly a juror on a High Court case.

You'll see twitter updates to the right. If you haven't already joined, do. It's a great way to keep in touch and I promise to be your friend.

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Around the World in 80 Days from my memory contained a balloon sequence. The book doesn't, so I must be remembering the film version. It's a witty fast read but somewhat strange when compared to most modern material as it uses a third person omniscient narrator, which ages it considerably.

The Compleat Moonshadow (that's how it's spelt) is something I've been wanting to read for a long time. It's a surreal adventure through the mind of a young man, struggling with growing up, love and death. It might all be a dream, in which case it's a haunting but beautifully watercoloured dream in which anything could happen. Fantasy via Brunelle, a modern Don Quixote.

Primal is a very short comic book rendering of a Clive barker story. I don't really think it works. It's too disjointed, trying to be too clever and the art work is too dark to appreciate what is going on.

Revelations on the other hand is much better. Another Barker story, this one is clever and in places funny. A murder playing out many years later, the ghosts witnesses to the real world. The art could have been better, as it's a little rushed in places, but the story more than makes up for it.

****

Read this week:

Revelations by Clive Barker

Primal by Clive Barker

The Compleat Moonshadow by John Marc DeMatteis

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne