The festival had its official start on Friday evening (I wasn’t there but I sure heard the fireworks from the castle), and we got to see our first event on Saturday afternoon with a production of ‘On the Waterfront’. Adapted from the film starring Marlon Brando (which I thought I had seen but having watched the play realised I hadn’t) this is Steven Berkoff’s stage adaptation from my old stomping ground The Nottingham Playhouse.
A little disjointed at the beginning with dialogue that was meant to fizzle but fell flat, the play didn’t really get going until the second half. I’ll put this down to first night nerves and the fact both Berkoff and the writer Budd Schulberg (of more below) were in attendance. Once this was overcome and the actors settled into their roles the play picked up speed and moved along to a soaring conclusion. Simon Merrells who took the Brando part made the character his own, shying away from doing a Brando impersonation. There were some nice set pieces on a simple stage, culminating in a funny pigeon coop scene. One of the things that will stay in the memory long after the story has faded is the faces of the actors, Berkoff has put together a group with strong features that put me in mind of Dick Tracy villains, all flat noses and squinting eyes.
As I mentioned Budd Schulberg was in the audience and at the end of the play he was brought on stage by the cast. Now elderly (born 1914), he cut an intelligent and still very much aware figure. Having written such a prominent Hollywood movie as ‘On the Waterfront’ I had a quick google to find out more about him and discovered a man who has had a full and interesting life from meeting and working with F. Scott Fitzgerald, arresting the Nazi film maker Leni Riefanstahl to the dark days of the House of Un-American Activities Commission – a man who has truly been at the centre of US history.
****
I’ve been reading ‘Through a Glass, Darkly’ this week which is good but you’ll have to read my review in the next issue of Prism to get my full comments on this book.
Miracleman is where Alan Moore tried out some of his ideas for Watchmen. It came first but in some ways I prefer it as it deals with one character rather than several and though not as well known as the later work it shows Alan already playing with the superhero concept. The art work is a little poorly defined for my tastes and the lettering is very small (perhaps I need glasses) but the writing is terrific, it almost contains the depth of a novel.
****
There was series of films on BBC 4 last night all looking at the London Underground, its history and effect on modern life. Of particular interest was Arena: Underground which included footage of Margaret Barnett, who sheltered in the Tube during the bombing in the Second World War. Echoes of ‘DarkFather’ – I’ll say no more. You can see the programmes again on the rather good BBC iPlayer
Off to see the very funny Tim Minchin tonight.
****
Read this week:
Through a Glass, Darkly by Bill Hussey
Miracleman Book One: A Dream of Flying by Alan Moore, Garry Leach and Alan Davis
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Gotham Night
Well they did it. It took several attempts but they have finally made a Batman film that fully incorporates the depth of the characters, the history of the comic books and the madness of Gotham City. The Dark Knight is truly a remarkable film, keeping its high octane thrills but lacing it with a well written script, a depth not often found in Hollywood and some excellent acting.
SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU HAVEN’T YET SEEN THE FILM, LOOK AWAY NOW.
I was nervous when I went to see the movie, concerned that the hype would set me up for a fall, but I was wrong. Jonathon and Christopher Nolan wrote the script and they obviously know and respect the character, from the true representation of the Joker’s madness to simple things like Batman’s white soulless eyes so often portrayed in the comic books. It is cool and clever and sets the Batman up as a true anti-hero, forever on the outskirts, wanted by both the criminal fraternity and the law.
Much praise has been heaped on Heath Ledger’s Joker and it is a magnificent performance, but one I don’t think would have been possible without the rest of the cast. His nervous ticks and constant wiggling tongue show a Joker sent mad by a society on which he returns to prey. And most important of all they don’t kill him off like some baddy of the week. Jack Nicholson did a great job of the Joker in the Tim Burton film but they made the mistake of killing him. You just can’t do that as the Batman and the deranged clown are the two sides of the same coin (an allusion to Two Face); the whole mythos runs off this duality and without one you cannot have the other.
****
Just finished Hard Boiled by Frank Miller. It’s good, predictable but good. To be honest the script is very short and you can easily read it in one sitting, what slows you down is the art work by Geof Darrow which is intricate and visually complex. It’s like a ‘Where’s Wally’ for adults, as he makes use of several full page drawings that have to be examined in minute detail. The images are arresting and perverse (he seems to enjoy drawing anatomically precise genitalia on both humans and androids).
****
I’ve been over to South Queensferry for the weekend which is a lovely little place on the outskirts of Edinburgh under the dominating presence of two bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge which is over a hundred years old and still functioning and the road bridge which is considerably younger and ready to be retired. I’m putting together some notes on the bridge which I hope will become a novella; I’ll put these up here when I’ve written them.
Also I would like to mention that the hard working Mr. Hunt has set up a new social networking sight at http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/hivemind/home.php . I notice several names from other sites so plan to spend some time nosing around it and taking some time to engage in considered and engaging debates.
Read this week:
Hard Boiled by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow
SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU HAVEN’T YET SEEN THE FILM, LOOK AWAY NOW.
I was nervous when I went to see the movie, concerned that the hype would set me up for a fall, but I was wrong. Jonathon and Christopher Nolan wrote the script and they obviously know and respect the character, from the true representation of the Joker’s madness to simple things like Batman’s white soulless eyes so often portrayed in the comic books. It is cool and clever and sets the Batman up as a true anti-hero, forever on the outskirts, wanted by both the criminal fraternity and the law.
Much praise has been heaped on Heath Ledger’s Joker and it is a magnificent performance, but one I don’t think would have been possible without the rest of the cast. His nervous ticks and constant wiggling tongue show a Joker sent mad by a society on which he returns to prey. And most important of all they don’t kill him off like some baddy of the week. Jack Nicholson did a great job of the Joker in the Tim Burton film but they made the mistake of killing him. You just can’t do that as the Batman and the deranged clown are the two sides of the same coin (an allusion to Two Face); the whole mythos runs off this duality and without one you cannot have the other.
****
Just finished Hard Boiled by Frank Miller. It’s good, predictable but good. To be honest the script is very short and you can easily read it in one sitting, what slows you down is the art work by Geof Darrow which is intricate and visually complex. It’s like a ‘Where’s Wally’ for adults, as he makes use of several full page drawings that have to be examined in minute detail. The images are arresting and perverse (he seems to enjoy drawing anatomically precise genitalia on both humans and androids).
****
I’ve been over to South Queensferry for the weekend which is a lovely little place on the outskirts of Edinburgh under the dominating presence of two bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge which is over a hundred years old and still functioning and the road bridge which is considerably younger and ready to be retired. I’m putting together some notes on the bridge which I hope will become a novella; I’ll put these up here when I’ve written them.
Also I would like to mention that the hard working Mr. Hunt has set up a new social networking sight at http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/hivemind/home.php . I notice several names from other sites so plan to spend some time nosing around it and taking some time to engage in considered and engaging debates.
Read this week:
Hard Boiled by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
More Underground Links
Just a load of links for underground exploration:
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2008_02_20/more-hidden-tunnels-under-london/
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=393bf2bd-4fce-4714-8ba7-c18a2e46723e&fg=rss&from=34
http://www.nyclondon.com/blog/archives/2004/09/19/churchills_secret_underground_bunker_paddock.blog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/mar/30/pollution.g2
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2008_02_20/more-hidden-tunnels-under-london/
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=393bf2bd-4fce-4714-8ba7-c18a2e46723e&fg=rss&from=34
http://www.nyclondon.com/blog/archives/2004/09/19/churchills_secret_underground_bunker_paddock.blog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/mar/30/pollution.g2
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Best Subways around the world
Just found this link to some great subway photos from around the world .
For me the Gap exists all over the world but is coloured by its location.
For me the Gap exists all over the world but is coloured by its location.
This is how we work...
Started on Ch 4 of ‘The Missing’. We seem to have come up with quite a good way of working through the book. Maureen sends me a chapter in which she has made a few changes, normally grammatical errors (of which, I am sure, there are many). I then spend about four days reading through the changes and making any corrections that I missed on the last draft. Once this is complete, Maureen and I discuss the chapter on the phone (I believe she lives in Spain, so meeting isn’t possible), with her pointing out any areas she had difficulty with or didn’t quite understand. This is a more in depth analysis of sentence structure or a particular phrase or word I’ve used. Sometimes a change is made, more often than not I go away and think about it before completing one more rewrite of that section.
I’m not sure if this is how other writers work with their editor’s, but for me it seems to be working.
****
‘Heart of Empire’ is the follow up to the Luther Arkwright books. Where the first were drawn in meticulous black and white, this book is completed in bright and bold colours (though the work is still highly detailed).
I found this even more enjoyable than the first three books, I think mainly because it is more accessible than the first book. There is a lot to be said for having a clear and concise plot, though the ambiguity of the parallel dimensions had already been created through the first work, confusing as it may be.
There are some great reworking of real people in this book, allowing Talbot to put the boot in with those people he obviously feels garner too much press time for little or no artistic or social integrity, a fop by the name of Sir Joshua Hirst is a fine example. The book does not push the Arkwright mythos forward in any way, but it remains a great read.
Read this week:
Heart of Empire or The Legacy of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot
I’m not sure if this is how other writers work with their editor’s, but for me it seems to be working.
****
‘Heart of Empire’ is the follow up to the Luther Arkwright books. Where the first were drawn in meticulous black and white, this book is completed in bright and bold colours (though the work is still highly detailed).
I found this even more enjoyable than the first three books, I think mainly because it is more accessible than the first book. There is a lot to be said for having a clear and concise plot, though the ambiguity of the parallel dimensions had already been created through the first work, confusing as it may be.
There are some great reworking of real people in this book, allowing Talbot to put the boot in with those people he obviously feels garner too much press time for little or no artistic or social integrity, a fop by the name of Sir Joshua Hirst is a fine example. The book does not push the Arkwright mythos forward in any way, but it remains a great read.
Read this week:
Heart of Empire or The Legacy of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot
Monday, July 14, 2008
Comic Timing
Just finishing off Ch.3 of 'The Missing', with the help of Maureen. Still plenty of work to go and with Madam Vin doing the first read through of 'DarkFather' and the new short story I've started, things are busy, busy, busy.
Been able to do quite a bit of reading over the weekend by sticking mainly to comics:
Skin was banned and few people wanted to publish it when it was first touted. The story of a violent skin head Thalidomide is not going to be every one's ideal subject matter and while the comic is worthy it is intrinsically flawed due to its main character. You never sympathise or really care about Martin 'Atchet and early on you realise the inevitable ending. It is however, well written with clever use of language and the bright almost hypnotic art work is uplifting.
Batman Year One I first read years ago and seems to have aged well. It's Miller's re imagining of the Dark Knight, gone is the ludicrous 70s version (including the rubbish Robin character who I've never liked) and in its place is the darkness and film noir of a Gotham in need of a violent anti-hero. Clever, violent and very, very dark.
Ministry of Space is an alternative history piece concerning what would have happened if Britain had won the space race and not followed WW2 with a decade of depression and a huge national debt. What's best here is the art work, it's magnificent, full of Dan Dare type vehicles and colours. It's only problem is the ending, too quick and too obvious.
It is written by Warren Ellis who also produced Freakangels, which I am enjoying and can't wait to read the next episode of.
The Last American is a futuristic 'last man' story that just doesn't seem to go anywhere. It feels as if the writers and artist both got bored with the project and gave up after several episodes. This a shame because it was building into a good story and the small detailed art work gave it a claustrophobic and empty feel, perfect for the attitude of the hero.
My favourite read has been Batman: The Killing Joke. At last a comic book that understands the Joker, how twisted and unbalanced he really is. This Deluxe recoloured version is amazing, lush and sharp. It also highlights what a good writer Alan Moore can be when working with an artist ready to curb some of his more outlandish digressions. Almost perfect.
****
This blog is now also going out on SFCrowsNest run by the talented (and probably very busy Stephen Hunt. If you haven't read the website or Stephen's work I can highly recommend both.
Read this week:
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
Lat American by Alan Grant, Mike McMahon and John Wagner
Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis, Chris Weston and Laura Martin
Batman Year One by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis
Skin by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy and Carol Swain
Been able to do quite a bit of reading over the weekend by sticking mainly to comics:
Skin was banned and few people wanted to publish it when it was first touted. The story of a violent skin head Thalidomide is not going to be every one's ideal subject matter and while the comic is worthy it is intrinsically flawed due to its main character. You never sympathise or really care about Martin 'Atchet and early on you realise the inevitable ending. It is however, well written with clever use of language and the bright almost hypnotic art work is uplifting.
Batman Year One I first read years ago and seems to have aged well. It's Miller's re imagining of the Dark Knight, gone is the ludicrous 70s version (including the rubbish Robin character who I've never liked) and in its place is the darkness and film noir of a Gotham in need of a violent anti-hero. Clever, violent and very, very dark.
Ministry of Space is an alternative history piece concerning what would have happened if Britain had won the space race and not followed WW2 with a decade of depression and a huge national debt. What's best here is the art work, it's magnificent, full of Dan Dare type vehicles and colours. It's only problem is the ending, too quick and too obvious.
It is written by Warren Ellis who also produced Freakangels, which I am enjoying and can't wait to read the next episode of.
The Last American is a futuristic 'last man' story that just doesn't seem to go anywhere. It feels as if the writers and artist both got bored with the project and gave up after several episodes. This a shame because it was building into a good story and the small detailed art work gave it a claustrophobic and empty feel, perfect for the attitude of the hero.
My favourite read has been Batman: The Killing Joke. At last a comic book that understands the Joker, how twisted and unbalanced he really is. This Deluxe recoloured version is amazing, lush and sharp. It also highlights what a good writer Alan Moore can be when working with an artist ready to curb some of his more outlandish digressions. Almost perfect.
****
This blog is now also going out on SFCrowsNest run by the talented (and probably very busy Stephen Hunt. If you haven't read the website or Stephen's work I can highly recommend both.
Read this week:
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
Lat American by Alan Grant, Mike McMahon and John Wagner
Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis, Chris Weston and Laura Martin
Batman Year One by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis
Skin by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy and Carol Swain
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Iron Arkwright
And the Blogger Buddy seems to work fine. Don't know if I'll use it very often buts it’s a handy little device for when I can't be bothered to sign in.
Just finished Iron Angel by Alan Campbell, this is definitely a book 2 kind of book. It feels like you are in the middle of something and you need to have read book 1 (Scar Night - one of my top trumps of last year) to understand what is going on while the whole book ends without really ending at all, but sets itself up for book three.
Like the first it’s probably classed as dark fantasy and as the plot spends most of its time in hell then lightness is not something you expect to come across. It is perhaps this rendering of hell that is of most interest. Campbell's imagination must have been working over time (or else he's been drinking too much coffee) as it’s beautifully rendered and unlike any version of hell I've ever read about before. It is a truly horrific place where every construct is a damned soul warped to a gods imagining.
The first story was personal while this is vast and that is perhaps my only concern. Because so much was happening across such a vast world to a myriad of characters I felt it was harder to connect with the story (plus Carnival is missing, which is shame. I liked her). It's epic but looses some of the heart of the first book.
Also read the Luther Arkwright series by Bryan Talbot (who I'm seeing in August at the festival). I read this on the back of Alice in Sunderland which was one of my favourites of last year. It's different but also just as ambitious, plotting a story across multiple versions of the same world called the multiverse (which I think I'm heard used before in Interworld (goes to check), it is! I wonder if this was homage or just a result of minds thinking alike by Gaiman and Reaves).
The simple black and white drawings help the complex language and ideas expressed which take some time to adjust to. This is not a graphic story without heart or brains and you have to bring your intellect to the party. It takes a little time to get into it but stick with it, it's worth it.
Read this week:
Iron Angel by Alan Campbell
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 1, 2 and 3 by Bryan Talbot
Just finished Iron Angel by Alan Campbell, this is definitely a book 2 kind of book. It feels like you are in the middle of something and you need to have read book 1 (Scar Night - one of my top trumps of last year) to understand what is going on while the whole book ends without really ending at all, but sets itself up for book three.
Like the first it’s probably classed as dark fantasy and as the plot spends most of its time in hell then lightness is not something you expect to come across. It is perhaps this rendering of hell that is of most interest. Campbell's imagination must have been working over time (or else he's been drinking too much coffee) as it’s beautifully rendered and unlike any version of hell I've ever read about before. It is a truly horrific place where every construct is a damned soul warped to a gods imagining.
The first story was personal while this is vast and that is perhaps my only concern. Because so much was happening across such a vast world to a myriad of characters I felt it was harder to connect with the story (plus Carnival is missing, which is shame. I liked her). It's epic but looses some of the heart of the first book.
Also read the Luther Arkwright series by Bryan Talbot (who I'm seeing in August at the festival). I read this on the back of Alice in Sunderland which was one of my favourites of last year. It's different but also just as ambitious, plotting a story across multiple versions of the same world called the multiverse (which I think I'm heard used before in Interworld (goes to check), it is! I wonder if this was homage or just a result of minds thinking alike by Gaiman and Reaves).
The simple black and white drawings help the complex language and ideas expressed which take some time to adjust to. This is not a graphic story without heart or brains and you have to bring your intellect to the party. It takes a little time to get into it but stick with it, it's worth it.
Read this week:
Iron Angel by Alan Campbell
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 1, 2 and 3 by Bryan Talbot
blogger Budder
Just a quick note to see if my new Blogger Buddy that sits on my laptops desktop works.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
A Load of Links
Things are progressing...slowly. They're getting there but everything takes so much time. 'The Missing' is now a few weeks into its edit under the guiding hand of Maureen and DarkFather has been printed off and had its first read through by an audience (of one, by the name of Madame Vin).
I've been doing a bit of surfing recently and found all sorts of lovely things online. Use the links below to explore:
A great little static film in photos from Jonathan Glancey (architecture journalist of the Guardian) on the watery London of tomorrow with a special guest appearance by the hidden Fleet river: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2008/jun/30/architecture
This seems to be a collective artists site with some beautiful and funny films: http://zune-arts.net/
An article about Central Park at night, which makes me think that my comic book script 'The Park' still has legs. I'll probably go on and have a rewrite of it soon: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/fortean_traveller/1188/central-park-in-the-dark.html
And a load of website dedicated to places underground which I'll put here so that I can find them again next time I'm looking:
http://www.undercity.org/intro.htm
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/09/28/top/a06092804_01.txt
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/rails/disused.underground.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3925259
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/ground_pentrating_radar.htm
****
Currently in the middle of Alan Campbell's new work but last week I read Stella Muller-Madej's account of being a Jewish child during World War II. She ended up in the Warsaw ghetto and then a concentration camp before being saved by ending up on a work detail at one of Oskar Schindler's factories. I was expecting a harrowing account of life during that period but instead found that the violence and death was almost glossed over as another event in the daily grind of life. This is because the Holocaust is seen through the eyes of child, a child who did not fully understand what was going on, allowing her to ask the questions we all want to know, which is the why and how something like that was ever allowed to happen.
The book is written as a memoir many years after the events, and Stella's use of English is shaky which helps to add to the child like quality of the events. It's a hard going book with casual violence and death part of the daily regime but also a reminder of the horror's human can perpetrate against each other.
****
Finally I'm looking forward to the end of Dr Who this weekend and a 'possible' new Doctor. Because Who won't return until 2010 I'll have to put up with a new Batman film instead:
Read this week:
A Girl from Schindler's List by Stella Muller-Madej
I've been doing a bit of surfing recently and found all sorts of lovely things online. Use the links below to explore:
A great little static film in photos from Jonathan Glancey (architecture journalist of the Guardian) on the watery London of tomorrow with a special guest appearance by the hidden Fleet river: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2008/jun/30/architecture
This seems to be a collective artists site with some beautiful and funny films: http://zune-arts.net/
An article about Central Park at night, which makes me think that my comic book script 'The Park' still has legs. I'll probably go on and have a rewrite of it soon: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/fortean_traveller/1188/central-park-in-the-dark.html
And a load of website dedicated to places underground which I'll put here so that I can find them again next time I'm looking:
http://www.undercity.org/intro.htm
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/09/28/top/a06092804_01.txt
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/rails/disused.underground.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3925259
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/ground_pentrating_radar.htm
****
Currently in the middle of Alan Campbell's new work but last week I read Stella Muller-Madej's account of being a Jewish child during World War II. She ended up in the Warsaw ghetto and then a concentration camp before being saved by ending up on a work detail at one of Oskar Schindler's factories. I was expecting a harrowing account of life during that period but instead found that the violence and death was almost glossed over as another event in the daily grind of life. This is because the Holocaust is seen through the eyes of child, a child who did not fully understand what was going on, allowing her to ask the questions we all want to know, which is the why and how something like that was ever allowed to happen.
The book is written as a memoir many years after the events, and Stella's use of English is shaky which helps to add to the child like quality of the events. It's a hard going book with casual violence and death part of the daily regime but also a reminder of the horror's human can perpetrate against each other.
****
Finally I'm looking forward to the end of Dr Who this weekend and a 'possible' new Doctor. Because Who won't return until 2010 I'll have to put up with a new Batman film instead:
Read this week:
A Girl from Schindler's List by Stella Muller-Madej
Sunday, June 15, 2008
All Simian until today
I'm having to oscillate between two different manuscripts at the moment. Maureen and I are going through Chapter 1 of 'The Missing'(or the first part of the novel as it doesn't really have chapters) sending copies backwards and forwards to one another. At the same time I am printing off the first version of 'DarkFather', which is being read by Madame Vin. I'm hoping the stories don't become too intertwined by accident. I would hate for the Missing Man to suddenly pop up in The Gap.
I'm also at the start of a 'get fit for the Cairngorms bike ride' regime, which was going fine until I pulled the tendons on the inside of both elbows. They have been in exaggerated spasm since last Friday causing me to walk around with my arms bent like an Orang-utan. This has resulted in Madame Vin threatening to put things just out of reach and fits of giggles when I bend simian like to pick them up. Fortunately today the arms are once more straight making me feel all evolved.
****
'The Reapers' is the new Charlie Parker novel only it doesn't star Bird and instead focuses its plot on Louis and Angel. I think this book has been at the back of the mind of all John Connolly readers since he introduced us to the characters in the first novel. The two characters have grown with the books but their pasts, often hinted at, has never been fully explored. This book sets the record straight allowing us to watch Louis grow from a poor marginalised southern boy in a racist society through pain and anguish which leads him to becoming a cold hearted killer who is eventually redeemed (as much as a killer for hire can be). It also shows the love and respect Angel and Louis have for one another, the bond that keeps them together and the shadowy lives they must live to protect each other.
It also introduces us to the characters in their lives, from the humble and loyal mechanic Willy and Arno, the local bar owner Nate and the dark brooding presence of Parker, who you realise is just as fearsome (if not more so) than Louis.
As ever the book is well written, cleverly plotted at a fast and rising pace. My only gripe is that the character of Bliss, yang to Louis' ying, is skipped over a little too quickly. I wanted to know more about him, for him to built up like The Collector of previous books. Not that I'm complaining because as usual Connolly has produced a brilliant and creative thriller.
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves however was a bit of a disappointment. Gaiman I've written about before and remains one of my favourite writers but this fell flat in both ideas and the language used. I haven't read anything by Reaves before so have nothing to compare it to. I don't know if it was the fact of co-writing a book that meant their individual ideas and voices were lost in the joint effort but I just found it lacking in imaginative sparks.
The Subterranean volume is as always beautifully produced, however there are a couple of glaringly obvious editing mistakes.
Finally I finished the week reading 'Arkham Asylum,' a 25 th Anniversary release of the Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean comic. I first read this over a decade ago and though the story works only in fits and starts the art work is amazing.
****
Read this week:
The Reapers by John Connolly
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean
I'm also at the start of a 'get fit for the Cairngorms bike ride' regime, which was going fine until I pulled the tendons on the inside of both elbows. They have been in exaggerated spasm since last Friday causing me to walk around with my arms bent like an Orang-utan. This has resulted in Madame Vin threatening to put things just out of reach and fits of giggles when I bend simian like to pick them up. Fortunately today the arms are once more straight making me feel all evolved.
****
'The Reapers' is the new Charlie Parker novel only it doesn't star Bird and instead focuses its plot on Louis and Angel. I think this book has been at the back of the mind of all John Connolly readers since he introduced us to the characters in the first novel. The two characters have grown with the books but their pasts, often hinted at, has never been fully explored. This book sets the record straight allowing us to watch Louis grow from a poor marginalised southern boy in a racist society through pain and anguish which leads him to becoming a cold hearted killer who is eventually redeemed (as much as a killer for hire can be). It also shows the love and respect Angel and Louis have for one another, the bond that keeps them together and the shadowy lives they must live to protect each other.
It also introduces us to the characters in their lives, from the humble and loyal mechanic Willy and Arno, the local bar owner Nate and the dark brooding presence of Parker, who you realise is just as fearsome (if not more so) than Louis.
As ever the book is well written, cleverly plotted at a fast and rising pace. My only gripe is that the character of Bliss, yang to Louis' ying, is skipped over a little too quickly. I wanted to know more about him, for him to built up like The Collector of previous books. Not that I'm complaining because as usual Connolly has produced a brilliant and creative thriller.
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves however was a bit of a disappointment. Gaiman I've written about before and remains one of my favourite writers but this fell flat in both ideas and the language used. I haven't read anything by Reaves before so have nothing to compare it to. I don't know if it was the fact of co-writing a book that meant their individual ideas and voices were lost in the joint effort but I just found it lacking in imaginative sparks.
The Subterranean volume is as always beautifully produced, however there are a couple of glaringly obvious editing mistakes.
Finally I finished the week reading 'Arkham Asylum,' a 25 th Anniversary release of the Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean comic. I first read this over a decade ago and though the story works only in fits and starts the art work is amazing.
****
Read this week:
The Reapers by John Connolly
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Age Banding
You've probably already read about the new initiative by some publishers to add an age range to books as a guide for parents when choosing a new book for their offspring. The story has made the press and a full outline of the issues can be read in The Telegraph and at the BBC. I have to say having just finished 'The Darkfather' I'm against the idea, the reasons being:
a) Books should be read for enjoyment not because they mark base camps along the Everest of reading. I read books that are meant for children but its the story and the characters, the language and the created world that makes it for me, not some arbitrary age grouping.
b) When I set off to write a novel I have no idea about the age group it fits into. The story develops and the language along with it. The language I use is suitable to the story not the age of the reader.
c) As I child I came to books late (I read mainly comics as a youngster) but when I started to read I read voraciously and worked through everything from 'The Hobbit', to 'Great Expectations' to the works of Shakespeare. If I had known that were I to pick up a book and be stigmatised by those around me by the 'age' of the book then I might not have picked some of them up.
d) If you're an adult choosing a book for a child and don't know what to buy - speak to a bookseller or a Librarian. I've worked in both positions and I can tell you the people working in books do it for the love of the works and not the pay (which in most cases is rubbish). Go to a good book shop and ask for help. The staff will impart their knowledge freely and try their best to help you.
So that is why I've added my name to the Philip Pullman lead campaign and ask that you do the same. Details can be found here.
****
Started on the editing process of 'The Missing' today with my editor Maureen. She's leading me down the rubbish strewn path of missing colon's, sentence restructure and tense clarification. Chapter 1 has been reviewed and we should have that finished within the next couple of weeks. She's read the book twice and says she enjoyed it (phew!).
****
My new leather jacket has arrived - hurrah! It's taken some time due to my rather poor Lycos email account which seems to be acting up at the moment and the trip to Japan. But it is now here and looks wonderful and fits perfectly. Many thanks to John at Bad Wolf for sorting it all out for me.
a) Books should be read for enjoyment not because they mark base camps along the Everest of reading. I read books that are meant for children but its the story and the characters, the language and the created world that makes it for me, not some arbitrary age grouping.
b) When I set off to write a novel I have no idea about the age group it fits into. The story develops and the language along with it. The language I use is suitable to the story not the age of the reader.
c) As I child I came to books late (I read mainly comics as a youngster) but when I started to read I read voraciously and worked through everything from 'The Hobbit', to 'Great Expectations' to the works of Shakespeare. If I had known that were I to pick up a book and be stigmatised by those around me by the 'age' of the book then I might not have picked some of them up.
d) If you're an adult choosing a book for a child and don't know what to buy - speak to a bookseller or a Librarian. I've worked in both positions and I can tell you the people working in books do it for the love of the works and not the pay (which in most cases is rubbish). Go to a good book shop and ask for help. The staff will impart their knowledge freely and try their best to help you.
So that is why I've added my name to the Philip Pullman lead campaign and ask that you do the same. Details can be found here.
****
Started on the editing process of 'The Missing' today with my editor Maureen. She's leading me down the rubbish strewn path of missing colon's, sentence restructure and tense clarification. Chapter 1 has been reviewed and we should have that finished within the next couple of weeks. She's read the book twice and says she enjoyed it (phew!).
****
My new leather jacket has arrived - hurrah! It's taken some time due to my rather poor Lycos email account which seems to be acting up at the moment and the trip to Japan. But it is now here and looks wonderful and fits perfectly. Many thanks to John at Bad Wolf for sorting it all out for me.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Catching up
Couple of things came through in the email whilst I was away.
The short story 'Pastoral Effect' will be published in the June 09 issue of New Horizons magazine. This is one of the magazines produced by the British Fantasy Society, I'll check to see if you have to be a member to purchase a copy.
I have an editor for 'The Missing'. The erudite Maureen will be undertaking the task and we hope to get things complete in three months. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
****
Read several books whilst away:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor takes a while to get going but is full of wonderful gothic inventions and is set in a world that might be Victorian England but then again might be somewhere completely different. It tells the story of the orphan Mariah in his new occupation as servant in the Prince Regent Hotel, a massive monstrosity built on supports over a cliff face with steam elevators and something nasty hidden in the basement. There he meets the feisty Sacha and soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery concerning vanishing children, magic tricks, the Kracken and tunnels underground. Once it beds in the story sets a rapid pace and those the language might be difficult for some children the invention should keep them reading. I will now go back and read the book that he first published - Shadowmancer.
In the Miso Soup is a translation of a work by Ryu Murakami from Japan. It's dark and funny and deadly and terrible violent. Sort of stuck half way between a Tarantino movie and an Ian Banks novel. Its well written and the translated with deft by Ralph McCarthy. Short and brutal but with a heart (cut out and pulsating in a clutched hand).
Tokyo by Mo Hayder is a simple thriller involving the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Nanking during their war against China, plotted against an outsiders involvement with the Yakuza in modern day Tokyo. The main character 'Grey' I found a little difficult to understand but the reason for this soon becomes evident and you understand why she has been used. The other great mystery of the story, a Chinese herbal medicine and its contents is the books downfall with its source being obvious early in the story.
Read this week:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
Tokyo by Mo Hayder
The short story 'Pastoral Effect' will be published in the June 09 issue of New Horizons magazine. This is one of the magazines produced by the British Fantasy Society, I'll check to see if you have to be a member to purchase a copy.
I have an editor for 'The Missing'. The erudite Maureen will be undertaking the task and we hope to get things complete in three months. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
****
Read several books whilst away:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor takes a while to get going but is full of wonderful gothic inventions and is set in a world that might be Victorian England but then again might be somewhere completely different. It tells the story of the orphan Mariah in his new occupation as servant in the Prince Regent Hotel, a massive monstrosity built on supports over a cliff face with steam elevators and something nasty hidden in the basement. There he meets the feisty Sacha and soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery concerning vanishing children, magic tricks, the Kracken and tunnels underground. Once it beds in the story sets a rapid pace and those the language might be difficult for some children the invention should keep them reading. I will now go back and read the book that he first published - Shadowmancer.
In the Miso Soup is a translation of a work by Ryu Murakami from Japan. It's dark and funny and deadly and terrible violent. Sort of stuck half way between a Tarantino movie and an Ian Banks novel. Its well written and the translated with deft by Ralph McCarthy. Short and brutal but with a heart (cut out and pulsating in a clutched hand).
Tokyo by Mo Hayder is a simple thriller involving the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Nanking during their war against China, plotted against an outsiders involvement with the Yakuza in modern day Tokyo. The main character 'Grey' I found a little difficult to understand but the reason for this soon becomes evident and you understand why she has been used. The other great mystery of the story, a Chinese herbal medicine and its contents is the books downfall with its source being obvious early in the story.
Read this week:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
Tokyo by Mo Hayder
The long one about Tokyo
I had been told to expect culture shock. Japan after all is Asian in mind and deed, insular and yet modern, but this is a creeping type of culture shock. You don’t experience it all at once, it seeps into you slowly. Rather than the freezing cold shock of ice cubes down the back of your shirt, it is the dropping of the temperature as you move into the frozen waste lands. Things are obviously dissimilar, the signage is difficult to read, the land smells different, the usual becomes slightly more difficult than normal but Tokyo is a city, and you know the way that a city works. They are the same all over the world. But after a time you realise that Tokyo is different - very, very different.
First the expected. Tokyo at night is (and I know that this is almost a cliché) the city of Bladerunner. The soft rain, neon lights pulsating, smoke filled bars up hidden stairs. It is as if you’ve stepped through the screen right into Deckard’s world, a land of replicants and off world colonies. It’s beautiful and raw, with the thrill of possibility around every corner. But you were anticipating that, you’ve seen the pictures, you know what to expect.
First the expected. Tokyo at night is (and I know that this is almost a cliché) the city of Bladerunner. The soft rain, neon lights pulsating, smoke filled bars up hidden stairs. It is as if you’ve stepped through the screen right into Deckard’s world, a land of replicants and off world colonies. It’s beautiful and raw, with the thrill of possibility around every corner. But you were anticipating that, you’ve seen the pictures, you know what to expect.
Day time Tokyo is just as thrilling, but in a calming, clean and polite way. I’ve always thought of cities as dirty, angry places. All those people living cheek by jowl with all the rubbish, noise and pollution spilling out onto the streets, but it would appear not so in Tokyo. With a population of 12 billion they have created a city that is clean and polite, that embraces the future whilst heeding the past. People are courteous and kind, get out a map and look vacant (something I’m good at) and within seconds a helpful local will point you in the right direction. Perhaps it’s because the Japanese have created a city that works. In our two week holiday I did not see a train that was late, an electric door that didn’t fail to open, a ticket barrier that did not work, or a toilet seat that wasn’t gently warmed electronically. I didn’t see rubbish on the floor, wanton vandalism, or any signs of aggression. Either Tokyo works in ways that we at home can and will never understand or else Tokyo has a dark, misshapen portrait in its own attic.We stayed in the plush Park Hotel in a new-ish district called Shiodome (pronounced shi-oh-dom-ee). The hotel staff were brilliant, attentive but knowing when to give you space. The hotel was immaculately kept and wonderfully situated. If you go I can’t recommend it enough. Around Shiodome you have everything you need. The area is ultra modern with underground, over ground and monorail trains next to the hotel. Every type of restaurant you want is within walking distance; from the Japanese salary man barbecue pits to high class (with great views) restaurants. I had the best Italian meal outside of Italy ever in a purpose built Italian section of the city behind our hotel.
We visited like crazy – Imperial parks, museums of the future, Buddhist temples and Shinto (fascinating religion) shrines. We saw Mount Fuji (which is not as easy at it sounds) and failed to see a massive waterfall. We rode the famous bullet trains and drank in the same bar as Bill Murray, and we ate and ate and ate…The highlight for me was learning a few Samurai sword moves from Tetsuro Shimaguchi, the head choreographer in the swordfight scene in the snowy garden in “Kill Bill: Volume One” (he played the role of Crazy 88 (Miki) in the film). Apparently I’m a natural, but I think he says that to everyone. I have a film on VHS of me and Madame Vin that I’ll get copied to the blog as soon as it is on disc and then you can make your own decision.
So that’s it, holiday over, but I will definitely be going back to Tokyo - I don’t know when buts it’s on my radar. For now it’s back to work and finishing off ‘Dark Father’.
Friday, May 16, 2008
'Dark Father' Almost Finished
Well, it's taken plenty of hard work and several late nights this week but the version of 'Dark Father' I wanted to complete before my holiday is, as they say 'in the bag.' When I come back from Japan I'll have a good tidy up, spring clean a few troublesome areas, check the spelling and make sure no characters change sex, get different names or hop the species barrier, and then it'll be ready for its first test readings.
I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow so no updates for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back expect some interesting posts with photos. I might try to post from Tokyo but if that is problematic I'll wait until my return.
I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow so no updates for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back expect some interesting posts with photos. I might try to post from Tokyo but if that is problematic I'll wait until my return.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Iron Angel
Last night we went to the signing for Alan Campbell's new novel Iron Angel, follow up to the extremely good Scar Night. It was a quick affair, as Alan points out that he doesn't enjoy public speaking, but he read a brief snippet from the work and then set about pressing the flesh and signing copies.
I'm looking forward to reading this one after reading the short Lye Street which I commented on just a few short weeks ago.
I'll put up a review after I've read it.
****
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood is a reworking of the story of Odysseus but seen from the point of view of a dead Queen Penelope. It's a slight book, a fast read in 195 short pages, but she manages to convey the brutish and violent acts of the ancient Greek myths for what they are, namely complex, incestuous and verging ever so slightly into melodrama.
Unlike the myths, the characters have a real voice, with an internal monologue giving the queen an intelligent and sophisticated view on the world in which she is thrust via marriage to the scheming Odysseus, a man who she loves and tries to understand. His killing of her handmaids on his return from the Trojan War acts as the catalyst for the story with the handmaids acting as a deathly chorus line throughout the book.
I've also just finished The Black Book of Horror but I've promised a review to the BFS. I might be able to post one here after the next release of Prism.
****
Read this week:
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Black Book of Horror by Various
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I Have Art
I opened the two large packages that arrived today like an excited school boy. After being in the flat for a year we finally took possession of two large pieces of art for the front room. Not mounted prints or copies but two pieces of real bon-a-fide originals. The fact that it has taken so long is that Madame Vin and I have wildly differing tastes when it comes to art and agreeing on two large canvases took perseverance and a cool head.
The first is a piece called Golden Arch by an artist called Yanik.
The second is a piece called Cosmopolitan City by an artist called Muliarta.
Now I know that artist are not in any way well known and their work is classed as simple to produce but just knowing that the piece is unique (and beautiful) and that someone has sweated over its production makes it that little bit more worthwhile to put on my walls.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Heidelberg Here We Come!
I'm off to Germany on Thursday so probably won't post again until next week. I'm visiting Heidelberg on a gentleman's weekend tour. Wikipedia reliably informs me that approximately 600,000 years ago, the "Heidelberg Man", whose jaw-bone was discovered in 1907, the earliest evidence of human life in Europe, died at nearby Mauer. I'll probably be feeling pretty similar by the end of the weekend.
****
Read 'Something from the Nightside' by Simon R. Green last week. This was one of the books I purchased on my excursion to London as the books are currently only available in US versions. I was really looking forward to the start of this series as the ideas contain everything that I find exciting in a story. The books are set in London and the Nightside, a world entwined within the real city where pretty much anything goes. It's a disturbing, threatening, evil place that cares for no one or no thing. The Nightside is well described and Green obviously took his time in thinking the fantasy world up. That said it's just a little bit too 'stateside' in its build to be the other side of London. It feels more like a dark and disturbing Chicago than the capital.
The story itself is very 'pulp', and for me just not complex enough. However I plan to read the next couple before giving up.
'Lost Girls' has been much talked about in the press due to its 'adult' nature and uncompromising position on lesbianism and sexual liberation. It was even briefly banned in the UK as Great Ormond St. Hospital worried it cast a bad light on the character of Wendy from Peter Pan. To be honest I think its a big hoopla about nothing. The book is nicely put together, the art work attractive and the story simple. It's not an erotic masterpiece and I doubt very much that it would shock many people today. I think its a curiosity from another time, something that would have been burnt earlier in this century but can be read and understood from (thankfully) a more mature outlook. Praise must go to Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie for at least trying something new in the comic book world.
Read this week:
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie.
****
Read 'Something from the Nightside' by Simon R. Green last week. This was one of the books I purchased on my excursion to London as the books are currently only available in US versions. I was really looking forward to the start of this series as the ideas contain everything that I find exciting in a story. The books are set in London and the Nightside, a world entwined within the real city where pretty much anything goes. It's a disturbing, threatening, evil place that cares for no one or no thing. The Nightside is well described and Green obviously took his time in thinking the fantasy world up. That said it's just a little bit too 'stateside' in its build to be the other side of London. It feels more like a dark and disturbing Chicago than the capital.
The story itself is very 'pulp', and for me just not complex enough. However I plan to read the next couple before giving up.
'Lost Girls' has been much talked about in the press due to its 'adult' nature and uncompromising position on lesbianism and sexual liberation. It was even briefly banned in the UK as Great Ormond St. Hospital worried it cast a bad light on the character of Wendy from Peter Pan. To be honest I think its a big hoopla about nothing. The book is nicely put together, the art work attractive and the story simple. It's not an erotic masterpiece and I doubt very much that it would shock many people today. I think its a curiosity from another time, something that would have been burnt earlier in this century but can be read and understood from (thankfully) a more mature outlook. Praise must go to Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie for at least trying something new in the comic book world.
Read this week:
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Subterranean Worlds - Pushing Back the Tide
The first in a series of short essays that I'll collect here concerning Subterranean Worlds. Some of them might be about works of fiction whilst others will be about what lurks beneath out city streets - enjoy!
****
The Victoria embankment of the river Thames is the prefect place for a stroll. The street takes you from the old City of London, past the Temple and leads all the way to Westminster, the route lined with trees while the Thames laps gently below you. But the route is a fake, the parcel of land a man made construction that was used to push the river back and hide some of the many tunnels under the city.
The work was begun in 1865, designed and engineered by one Joseph Bazelgette, a truly visionary individual who brought the sewers to London. Before this date the Thames was the only means of removing all human excrement, waste and pollution from the vast and growing capital. It was in no uncertain terms a massive sewer spreading disease through the capital, and people were dying.
Cholera was rife with ten of thousands of people dying in the years leading up to the ‘Great Stink’. Thought to be brought on by Miasma – foul air, the government of the time was finally pressed into doing something.
Further evidence is given by the steps that lead nowhere by the side of the MOD. Queen’s Mary’s steps as built by Cristopher Wren once led from the now vanished Whitehall Palace as built by Henry VIII. Originally the walk led some 70 feet out into the bed of the river, but they are now marooned and stick out of the wall of the MOD building.
****
The Victoria embankment of the river Thames is the prefect place for a stroll. The street takes you from the old City of London, past the Temple and leads all the way to Westminster, the route lined with trees while the Thames laps gently below you. But the route is a fake, the parcel of land a man made construction that was used to push the river back and hide some of the many tunnels under the city.
The work was begun in 1865, designed and engineered by one Joseph Bazelgette, a truly visionary individual who brought the sewers to London. Before this date the Thames was the only means of removing all human excrement, waste and pollution from the vast and growing capital. It was in no uncertain terms a massive sewer spreading disease through the capital, and people were dying.
Cholera was rife with ten of thousands of people dying in the years leading up to the ‘Great Stink’. Thought to be brought on by Miasma – foul air, the government of the time was finally pressed into doing something.
The ambitious plan was to push the Thames back and lay underneath the new street three massive sewer pipes that would be connected to 1,100 miles of small piping to remove all the sewage from the city before dumping it untreated further down stream.
Not surprisingly this was a massive feet of engineering, and luckily for us Bazelgette was a forward thinker. Not only did he realise that the correct shape for such large pipes would be oval and not round but he built them in such a way as to be scaled up for future use. The same pipes are still in use today (thankfully the sewage is no longer ejected untreated into the river).
Bazelgette and the building of the Victoria Embankment form part of the background for the novel ‘The Worms of Euston Square’ by William Sutton.
At the same time that Bazelgette was sorting out the sewers London was also going through the process of having an underground rail system built into its foundations. It seemed only right that while the bank was open they would also put in a rail line. Today, sitting above the sewage pipes are the lines for the District and Circle services, just a few metres down below the surface of the road.
The fact that the road and area used by so many is in truth artificial can best be seen by two pieces of archaeology still evident above ground. The first is the water gate that can be seen in Victorian Embankment Park shown in the painting ‘River by Moonlight’ (I can’t find an artists name). In the painting the Thames is seen lapping at its foot, but now the gate is located in the park, some 150 yards from the river and down in a hollow.
Further evidence is given by the steps that lead nowhere by the side of the MOD. Queen’s Mary’s steps as built by Cristopher Wren once led from the now vanished Whitehall Palace as built by Henry VIII. Originally the walk led some 70 feet out into the bed of the river, but they are now marooned and stick out of the wall of the MOD building.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Busy Lives
Quite a lot going on at the moment with trips away happening and lots of info for the blog. This entry will be a bit of a round up before I write up things in a little more detail over the coming week.
Last weekend Madame Vin and I went to London, mainly to see Tash in her one woman charity show but also to catch up with friends. We flew from Edinburgh straight into City Airport, which I must say is a great way of doing it as it means less delay on the way into the capital and allows you to miss the disaster that is Heathrow.
Saturday night we took a train to Dulwich (put on the map by Edward Alleyn, a friend of Marlowe’s) to see Hampton and family, now somewhat grown with the arrival of twins last year. Much wine was consumed and hearty food eaten as we caught up, having realised we had not seen each other for some two years…my, how time moves at a rate of knots not conducive to seeing and meeting everyone you should.
Sunday morning we went on an organised stroll around Subterranean London. I’ve mentioned before that I want to start pulling work together on the subterranean world and how it’s been the focus of fantasy works in the last one hundred years. I’ll put several small essays up here in the next weeks on what we saw and a few photos.
Sunday night was given over to Tash and her show ‘Rolling with Laughter’. It was held at the Her Majesty’s Theatre in the Westend, with all money going to the Jennifer Trust. It was a great night, with Tash being introduced by the Hamilton’s (which means they’ve gone up a little in my estimation).
Last weekend Madame Vin and I went to London, mainly to see Tash in her one woman charity show but also to catch up with friends. We flew from Edinburgh straight into City Airport, which I must say is a great way of doing it as it means less delay on the way into the capital and allows you to miss the disaster that is Heathrow.
Saturday night we took a train to Dulwich (put on the map by Edward Alleyn, a friend of Marlowe’s) to see Hampton and family, now somewhat grown with the arrival of twins last year. Much wine was consumed and hearty food eaten as we caught up, having realised we had not seen each other for some two years…my, how time moves at a rate of knots not conducive to seeing and meeting everyone you should.
Sunday morning we went on an organised stroll around Subterranean London. I’ve mentioned before that I want to start pulling work together on the subterranean world and how it’s been the focus of fantasy works in the last one hundred years. I’ll put several small essays up here in the next weeks on what we saw and a few photos.
Sunday night was given over to Tash and her show ‘Rolling with Laughter’. It was held at the Her Majesty’s Theatre in the Westend, with all money going to the Jennifer Trust. It was a great night, with Tash being introduced by the Hamilton’s (which means they’ve gone up a little in my estimation).
Final point of call was the Dr Who exhibition, which was a cool in a ‘Adam getting back in touch with childhood wonder’ kind of way. It was also a nice run in to the new series which started last night.
*****
Read quite a bit over the last few weeks and whilst in London I was able to nip to the large Forbidden Planet and stock on some wonderful new hardbacks.
The first in a series by Mike Carey featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor, ‘The Devil You Know,’ is a down to earth horror/thriller. Carey writes for Hellblazer and I was expecting the books to be a bit of a rip off of Constantine but was pleased to be wrong. Felix is his own man and the London that Carey has created is positioned just the other side of normal, which is exactly how I like my fantasy.
His writing style is fluid and descriptive without ever becoming too complex so that it distracts from the tale. There is a good piece of back story and many characters that no doubt will reappear. He reminds me of early John Connelly and I’ll certainly be reading the next two books and purchasing the soon to arrive fourth.
Odd and the Frost Giants is Neil Gaiman’s children novella released for World Book Day. It plays on Norse mythology, introducing their pantheon of gods to young readers without ever belittling the history or storytelling. As always with Gaiman it reads simply, with each word being considered before use that displays simplicity of language that hides the hard work.
*****
Read quite a bit over the last few weeks and whilst in London I was able to nip to the large Forbidden Planet and stock on some wonderful new hardbacks.
The first in a series by Mike Carey featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor, ‘The Devil You Know,’ is a down to earth horror/thriller. Carey writes for Hellblazer and I was expecting the books to be a bit of a rip off of Constantine but was pleased to be wrong. Felix is his own man and the London that Carey has created is positioned just the other side of normal, which is exactly how I like my fantasy.
His writing style is fluid and descriptive without ever becoming too complex so that it distracts from the tale. There is a good piece of back story and many characters that no doubt will reappear. He reminds me of early John Connelly and I’ll certainly be reading the next two books and purchasing the soon to arrive fourth.
Odd and the Frost Giants is Neil Gaiman’s children novella released for World Book Day. It plays on Norse mythology, introducing their pantheon of gods to young readers without ever belittling the history or storytelling. As always with Gaiman it reads simply, with each word being considered before use that displays simplicity of language that hides the hard work.
Violent Cases is an early work by Gaiman and Dave Mckean. An adult graphic novel that deals with the magic of memory and lives seen through the eyes of childhood. The art work uses simply black and white line drawings intercut with McKean’s unmistakeable use of mix media.
I’ve also just read the 6 issue comic book Wanted by Mark Millar. I know there is a film version of this coming out later this year but from what I’ve read I’ll be surprised if that’s the filming they are making. The comic book is nihilistic to the point of being a mockery of itself. I understand it’s a fuck you to the normal comic book world of bad guy vs cloaked superhero but in the process it turns society into helpless drones with no chance of redemption.
I’ve also just read the 6 issue comic book Wanted by Mark Millar. I know there is a film version of this coming out later this year but from what I’ve read I’ll be surprised if that’s the filming they are making. The comic book is nihilistic to the point of being a mockery of itself. I understand it’s a fuck you to the normal comic book world of bad guy vs cloaked superhero but in the process it turns society into helpless drones with no chance of redemption.
Read this week:
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Violent Cases by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
Wanted by Mark Millar
Monday, March 24, 2008
Midlands Marriage
Had a couple of days down in the Midlands for Father's and Yvette's wedding. I must say it all went very well, my speech much appreciated (and laughter in the correct places) with even the snow falling in such a way as to resemble confetti. It was good to see family and friends and my little nephew who is growing up so quick.
We spent the night at a hotel on the edge of East Midlands Airport which was comfier and quieter than I was expecting and allowed Madam Vin and me to continue drinking without worrying where we were going to spend the night. As it was we had an early dinner, a relaxing night and very late morning...so I've definitely caught up on my lost sleep this weekend. The plane was delayed on the way back (as every good piece of bank holiday weekend transport should be) so we didn't get back to Edinburgh until late afternoon.
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Just finished the chapter entitled 'The Gloom'. That's a new chapter added and means I can spend the rest of this week revising it and those that surround it. I want everything sorted before the end of September so I can mention it as completed to anyone I meet at 'FantasyCon'.
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Savage Membrane is the sort of book that I like to read between meatier works. It's short, faced paced and full of dark humour and wit. Called a 'Cal McDonald mystery,' it plays homage to Chandler but moves the action to a US where the dead have very much returned. It's a great romp and I'll be looking for the others. It is also illustrated with light, pencil grey artwork which adds to its comic book roots.
Read this week:
Savage Membrane by Steve Niles
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