Tag archives for Fiction - Page 26
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross – book review
This is the 10th of the 40 books I got for my birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and got through it faster than I expected. The review below contains spoilers (below the cut). This is a relatively hard SF book that explores ideas around a post-human robot civilisation with themes of slavery, corruption and what it is that makes tick. The plot that does this is like a corkscrew and at times it takes surprising directions. [DN: link to Charlie's blog post here. (more…)
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Stonemouth by Ian Banks – review
While there are familiar elements to the story, it being set in small town Scotland, it is a new tale from Ian Banks. The story is told in a first person point of view style, and on a first reading at least, realistically leaves some loose ends where the protagonist cannot be sure of who did what and why. Taking place over a long weekend the story unfolds with a mixture of narrative and flashbacks to explain the background relationships and the reasons why Stewart Gilmour ended up an exile from his home town. There is a believable cast of characters, they all seem real and with complex motivations, even the low-key gangster types. The underlying plot is one of relationships and how they interplay over time. It also covers some of the issues of the Scottish diaspora well, how…
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Absolute Friends
This is John Le Carre's latest book, a post-cold war spy novel about two of the cold warriors just over a decade on in the wake of 9/11. This is just a fantastic story, incredibly detailed and well researched (where it follows the historical/factual stuff). It starts off as a fairly normal story, told by flashbacks from 2003-4ish, about a chap who gets caught up in the 68-69 student protest movement in Berlin. After a gap of about ten years he eventually settles down and gets a job with the British Council. This draws him into a meeting with his old student protest chum who is now an East German security type. There follows a cold war double agent story, which in itself is excellent. The falling of the Berlin Wall brings an end to that episode and our protagonist…