Review of 'My Antonia' by Willa Cather

'My Antonia' by Willa Cather is a story set in the early years of the 20th century in the prairie plains of Nebraska. The book is notionally the third in the author's Prairie Trilogy, but as far as I can tell the only connection is they share a theme and general setting and were written one after another within a few short years. There doesn't appear to be common characters or storyline, but I could be wrong about this as I haven't read the other two yet.

'My Antonia' is the story of Antonia Shimerda a Bohemian girl who moved from her European home to a farm on the prairie in Nebraska. The book is told by the narrator Jim Burden, and so it is also a story about him (some sections of the book don't even have Antonia in). The book follows them, and their family, friends and neighbours, from their homes on the farm to living in the nearby town of Black Hawk, and then to Jim's life away from Nebraska as he goes to study at Harvard. Other characters include the vivacious Lena Lingard, the shady Black Hawk moneylender Wick Cutter, and the Harling family who live next door to Jim while he is growing up.

The story starts with Jim, meeting an unnamed friend. "Do you remember Antonia?" one asks the other. Jim decides to write Antonia's story down, and this forms the main part of the book. Inside that story, are the stories of the individual characters what they are like growing up and what they make of their lives. Many of the characters are immigrants, including Antonia, Lena, Otto Fuchs, Tiny Soderball and Cuzak. They come from all over Europe - Austria, Bohemia, Norway, Sweden - and the story partly of an earlier generation of immigrants integrating in American society. The children of many of these characters would still be alive today, and their children and grandchildren would have spread across the country, American born and bred. Worth thinking about as much anti-immigrant feeling is alive today.

I loved this book. The rich descriptions of the Nebraska prairie was beautiful and sublime. It is not a long book - only about 230 pages - but by the end you feel at home there, and the characters feel like old friends. All the stories in the book are interesting, they draw you in and create a wonderful tapestry of life on the great plains of the mid-west a century ago. It also has quite a bit to think about in it, and the author skillfully compares the differing ways of life and philosophies on living as we find out what the characters make of their lives. The end of the story, wraps things up wonderfully too, and I went away with a warm, happy feeling and something of a "wish I was there" emotion. I really do like books that do that!

This was the second book I've read by Willa Cather, the first one being her later work 'Death Comes for the Archbishop'. I loved that one too and wasn't sure which I was going to prefer, but the last couple of chapters edged it in favour of My Antonia. My edition of the book had a relatively recent introduction which gave some biographical information on the author. She obviously put a lot of her own experiences into this book as her early life followed a similar path to the narrator, Jim Burden. Both moved from Virginia to Nebraska when they were around 9 or 10, spent a year or two living on a farm before moving into a town, and both left for good in their early twenties. Willa Cather clearly knew well what she was writing about, and this authenticity, and her love for the landscape, really comes through in this book.

A truly great book, 5/5 from me.

Review of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Genre: Classic/Russian Literature
No. of pages: 964
Date of publication: 1873-77 (originally serialised)
Author: Leo Tolstoy

About the Author

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 into an aristocratic Russian family, and went on to become one of the most famous and critically acclaimed novelists ever, writing two especially famous books, War and Peace and then later Anna Karenina. Both are giant tomes, considered the pinnacle of realist fiction and containing more than a few autobiographical elements. The author renounced his aristocratic background, gave away much of his wealth and became an advocate of non-violence, being a major influence on many people including Mahatma Gandhi.

Synopsis

Anna Karenina is the story of a group of aristocratic characters in 19th century Russia, their trials, tribulations and relationships. Central to the book is the eponymous Anna Karenina who is stuck in a loveless marriage (fairly common at the time) and embarks on a passionate affair with a dashing young cavalry officer, Count Vronsky. It is also the story of country gentleman Konstantin Levin and his quest for happiness and fulfilment in life.

Verdict

This book is long first and foremost, like a giant multi-series soap opera. It is not however a difficult book to read at all. I had the impression before that it would be dense and impenetrable, but it flows along very nicely and is much easier to read than, say, much of Charles Dickens' works. It is the story of many different characters, and their intertwining lives. About a quarter of the way through it, if you didn't know better you could think that the book was nearly finished - the plot starts slowly, jumps forward very fast and then slows down again after the first quarter. One way of looking at this book is that there is almost a thousand pages where nothing much happens, at least compared to more plot heavy books. I found myself however getting slowly, inexoraly drawn into the book, invested into the characters and their world, and by the end of the book I felt I'd spent half my life with them.

Some characters in the book I liked, some I found quite annoying, some sections were a bit boring for me, some quite fascinating. As well as the story of the characters, the book was an examination of life, it's meaning and how one can live it well. It does this through examining the characters thoughts and motivations, particularly Levin's, and to me this gave the book added weight and substance and helps me understand some of the book's greatness. This was certainly a very good book, though for me just a little bit too long. I'm giving it a solid 4 stars.

Who Should Read This Book

You should consider reading this if you enjoy reading classics, and like experiencing life in a different place and time through the pages of a book. You should read this book if you are up for a challenge, and what better challenge than this which was voted recently by a poll of writers as being the best novel of all time. It's also, believe it or not, a bit shorter than Tolstoy's other masterpiece, War and Peace. You should only read this if you've got time, and preferably decent chunks of time each day. Just reading 5 or 10 minutes at a time you are probably going to take an age to get through it and will probably get frustrated part way through. Finally, read this if you like, slow, thoughtful character led fiction - if you are a plot junkie that likes a fast paced novel you probably aren't going to enjoy this book.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Genre: Non-fiction, mythology
304 pages, 6.5 hours (Audible)

Neil Gaiman is a popular writer of short stories, novels, graphic novels, comics and more. He is particularly known for his novels Stardust, American Gods and Coraline, as well as the Sandman comic book series.

Synopsis

Norse Mythology is exactly what it says on the tin, a book about Norse Mythology. This is not a novel. Technically it is a non-fiction book, depending if you call mythology fiction or not. What it is, is a collection of mythological stories from Norse Mythology, telling tales of Odin, Thor, Loki and a whole host of other gods, giants and men (but mostly gods and giants). The stories are roughly chronological - starting with creation and ending with Ragnarok, the end of the world - and are told in a contemporary style.

Who Should Read This

You should read this if you are interested in Norse Mythology, particularly if you are not overly familiar with it or want a recap. You should consider reading it if you have struggled with the style of previous books on this topic. Even if you've never been interested in Norse Mythology before, you should consider reading this if you like short, interesting adventure stories. Readers of fantasy particularly will probably enjoy these tales.

My Verdict

I really enjoyed this book. I'm vaguely familiar with Norse Mythology, having come across Odin, Thor and Loki before in other books, but most of the stories I was hearing for the first time. As the author suggests in the introduction, I imagined myself sat warming myself round a campfire on a cold Nordic winter night, listening to these tales. They're all easy to read, fairly simple stories, and none of them are long. The author adopts a fairly colloquial and modern style for these tales, no high blown language but a simple, direct approach. For me it really worked. As one continuous narrative it doesn't work too well, there were some gaps, but you've got to remind yourself that this is real not fiction (again, as far as mythology can be considered real), the stories have been passed down the centuries and not all have survived. I'm not sure to what extent this book covers all the surviving Norse myths, or whether it is just a selection of what still exists, but it has whet my appetite to read more about Norse myths and mythology in general. Which I think is what the author had in mind.

I liked most of the stories a lot so picking favourites is difficult, but I did particularly like the story about how Thor's Hammer and other treasures of the gods came to be made, and also loved the story of Thor and Loki's journey to the land of the giants. Oh and Freya's wedding!

Notes on the Audiobook

I listened to this as an Audiobook, from Audible.co.uk, and as an audiobook I have to say it really worked. The author narrated the book himself, which adds something to it I think, it is more expressive and more real. Listening to the stories on audio is in a funny sort of way listening to them in their original medium - these were oral stories passed down the generations and only written down relatively recently so it is no wonder the audiobook works so well. That said, I'd like to get a paperback copy too when it comes out, to re-read some of the stories and that will help me to remember them. There's a lot of names of people (gods) and places which I can't imagine how they are spelt, and perhaps wouldn't recognise them written down which is a shame, but that can't be helped.

I'm giving this book 9/10.

'Terra' - A decent board game where you learn stuff!

I like board gaming. I like all sorts of board and card games, but tend to prefer the 'Euro style' strategy board games, good two player games and fun party games. There's a rare class of games I'm always on the look out for though, and that's a decent game where you learn something new. Now there's plenty of so called educational games out there that are popular with schools and teachers but to be honest they're usually pretty awful. There either basic roll and move games with a pasted on theme and no meaningful decisions, or they info dump knowledge onto kids which puts them off completely. Some basic trivia games are alright, but I like it when they do something more interesting than just firing off a succession of questions.

Which brings me nicely to 'Terra' a board game from noted board game designer Friedemann Friese. This is all about geographical knowledge but rather than just testing your trivia knowledge - do you know the capital city of Peru etc - it gets you thinking about geography, and a bit of history too.

The board is quite simple - it's a map of the world, dividend into many different regions, and there are also three number lines, a distance line, a date line and a general number line. Each round, a question card is shown, and players take it in turns to place cubes on the board which they think correspond to the correct answers. It helps if I show you a card.

When the card is in the card holder, only the top card half of the card is displayed. It will display the name of something, a place or a thing, along with a photo. In this case it is 'Sunsphere'. Below the photo there's three questions you can answer. One is always the Area, i.e. where on the map this is, the other two will be some other measurement or date - in this case, the diameter of the sunsphere, and the year when the World's Fair was held here.

Players take it in turns to drop one of their cubes on the board, either in an area, or on one of the number/date lines, until everyone has passed. Then players get 7 points for each correct answer, or 3 points for each cube that is close, i.e. adjacent to a correct area or zone on a number line. Careful though, if you get incorrect answers, you might not get all of your cubes back.

The second half of the card displays the answers, and some additional information. This only gets revealed when everyone has passed.

There's 200 cards in the game, which may not seem a lot, but you only actually play with 6 cards in each game, so it should last you a while. What I really like is that it really gets you thinking about the topics, and even if you don't know the answer, you can have a guess, or tag along with another player who you think does know the correct answer (you can only have 1 cube per space, but you can get points for playing adjacent, and sometimes, the answer will cover several spaces).  We played this with just two of us, and it was a good game. I can't wait to try it with more players though, as I think it would provoke more discussion and debate, which can only enhance the game.

'Europe: In or Out: Everything You Need to Know' by David Charter

Now that the date of the Referendum on Britain's membership of the EU has been announced, I wanted to read up on the relevant facts and arguments, to be able to make an informed decision (okay so I'd effectively already made a decision, but wanted it to be informed nonetheless!) and to arm myself for debates/arguments in the next few months. Anyway, after looking at a number of books about the EU referendum, I settled on 'Europe: In or Out' by David Charter who is a renowned journalist, the Berlin correspondent for The Times.

The book is well set out and each chapter covers a different theme / policy area, with key facts, the arguments for leaving and for remaining, as well as a general discussion with examples. There were chapters covering immigration, the EU budget, trade, justice, farming, fishing, defence and foreign aid amongst others. It draws on a number of studies and reports, going into a fair bit of detail. It's not a long book, 300-350 pages, but it is long enough and certainly longer than many of the books about the EU referendum that are springing up.

I thought this was a really good book that covers all the main areas that you'd want it to. What it doesn't do is explain what the EU does or how the various EU institutions work, instead it assumes a certain degree of prior knowledge on the subject. This isn't actually a problem, even if you don't know the ins and outs of the system, you get the gist of how things work. The only area where it becomes a bit of a problem is in the discussion of the "democratic deficit", i.e. the extent to which laws are passed affecting us where we haven't had a say in it. Without a good understanding of the workings of the European Commission, EU Parliament etc it is difficult to judge the argument either way. This is a minor flaw though, and one that is easily rectified if need be with a bit of reading on Wikipedia or similar.

One of the book's main strengths is it's balance, even something close to impartiality. There is plenty in this book for both sides in the referendum argument to be happy with. It is very difficult to work out which side the author favours - some chapters it looks like he's in the Leave camp, others that he's pro-EU. I think though that just shows that some themes and policy areas favour remaining in the EU, others lean more towards us leaving. 

Those readers looking for the book to tell them which way to vote will be left disappointed (though there are plenty of biased books that will do that). Instead it leaves you with a lot to think about and allow you to make a more informed judgement which can only be a good thing. I'm giving this a solid 8/10.

A note about versions

This book was written shortly before the 2015 General Election, after David Cameron had announced he'd hold a referendum if the Conservatives won the general election, before the referendum was formally agreed. It therefore doesn't cover David Cameron's recent EU deal. Having just been on Amazon however, it appears that a new version of the book is to be released in the next couple of weeks, which presumably will cover this. So it could be worth waiting for then to buy the book. I don't think it matters too much however, as Cameron's deal doesn't change the key issues.

Review of "The Game" game. Erm...

Back from a great holiday to Paris and Amsterdam. While I was there I randomly came upon an excellent board gaming shop, Descartes. Of course, it wasn't ideal for me personally, as most of the games were in French and my French is somewhat sub-par. However I did pick up a copy of a great little card game called, rather unimaginatively, "The Game". Or to give it its full title: "The Game": Spiel... so lange du kannst". It has no in game text, so is language independent apart from the rules which I already knew, so snapped it up.

In case you are wondering, Spiel... so lange du kannst is German and translates as 'Game... as long as you can'. Though my copy says "le jeu n'est pas votre ami!" which I think translates as "The Game is not your friend". Which is somewhat different. Anyway...

Type of game: Co-operative card game
No. of players: 1-5
Age: 8+
Difficulty: really easy
Length of play: 20 minutes

"The Game" BGG link (you need the link otherwise you'll never find it)

This is a really simple game to play, one of those 'why didn't I think of that' games. It's also a co-op game which is interesting for a simple little card game like this. It reminds me a bit of Hanabi, purely because you are working together to put numbered cards on piles in some kind of order. It doesn't have Hanabi's twist though - in The Game you can see your own cards and no-one elses.

How to Play

The game consists of 98 numbered cards, going from 2 to 99, and four base cards. Two of the base cards start at 1 and cards played increase in number each time. The other two base cards start at 100 and you play cards in reverse numerical order. Each player gets a hand of cards, 7 with two players, 6 cards with 3+ players, and this hand gets replenished every turn.

On a players turn they have to play at least two cards, but can play more if they like (note however - when the draw deck runs out they only need to play one card)They can play on any of the piles they want, and can play on multiple piles in a turn. Each card they play must be bigger than the last card played for the piles going in ascending order, or smaller than the last card on the piles going in descending order. The only exception to this is that if you are able to you can play a card different by exactly 10 on a card to go back. For example on the ascending pile, if the last card played was 37, you either play a card greater than 37, or you can play a 27 card. Similarly, if playing on a descending pile and the last card played was 37, you would have to either play a card less than 37, or you can play a 47. This is really useful as it allows more cards to get played on a pile.

Playing the Game on the train to Amsterdam

The aim of the game is for everyone to successfully get rid of all of their cards (once the draw pile is empty your hand doesn't get replenished). Often this doesn't happen, as once someone can't play, the game ends, and then everyone adds up the number of cards in their hands, and the number of cards (if any) left in the draw pile. A score of less than 10 is good.

The trick to this game is getting the right amount of communication between players. You have to communicate with other players to co-operate in what cards to play, otherwise you'll lose badly. However too much communication will ruin the game by making it too easy. The rule is you can't mention numbers at all, but you can say things like "please don't play on that pile as I've got a good card for it", or "only go up a little bit on this pile if you can" but can't be more specific than that.



The Verdict

I really like this game. It is so simple to learn and play (after much pleading with us, we relented and taught my six year old daughter the game and she keeps asking to play it), but playing it well and winning can be really challenging especially if you stick to the minimal communication rules. If you are finding it too easy and you are winning too often, there are ways to make it harder too. It's good value for money (mine cost 12 euros), and has lots of replay value.

I've played this game with two, three and four players and it plays well with all player counts. It is an easier game with two players, communication is more complicated and with four players you can't as easily ensure no one plays on the pile you want to play on (sometimes they just have to, or ruin another pile completely). But even with two players it is a good, fun challenge.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig review

Today I'm going to review one of my favourite games at the moment, 'The Castles of Mad King Ludwig'. First some details.

Publisher: Bezier Games
Designer: Ted Alspach
Age: 10+
Number of players: 1-4
BGG rank: 52
Length: 1-2 hours (two player can be played in an hour)
Difficulty: Easy-medium




What's it all about?

The game is all about designing your own crazy castle. You start off with an octagonal entrance foyer, and from there you buy rooms, corridors and stairs to add on to your castle. You are seeking to beat your fellow players to some shared goals, as well as working towards your own secret goals, both of which earn you victory points. You also earn victory points whenever you put down rooms.

How Do You Play?

Game Board - The Master Builder Chooses the cost of available rooms

Every round, each player gets the opportunity to buy a room and add it to their castle (or take money if they prefer). One of the neat things about the game is that each round, a different player gets to be the Master Builder, and set the price of the rooms available to buy. When the other players buy a room, they pay the Master Builder, thus earning him or her an income. The Master Builder still has to pay if they buy a room, but they pay the bank. So the Master Builder has to weigh up how to price the different rooms. They might want to make a room they really want cheap, but not too cheap that other players buy it first (they have to buy last after all other players have gone).

Here's a close up of one of the rooms

Players usually only to buy one room per round, which must be placed immediately, and a room cannot be changed once it is placed (fairly obviously, rooms aren't usually portable!). Each room scores a certain number of points when played, plus additional points are scored depending on the rooms adjacent to it. This usually fits in well with the theme, so that the Master Bedroom will score negative points if it is situated next to the Singer's chamber or the Lute room for instance.

Here's my castle at the end of a recent game

As well as scoring points, players can earn bonus for completing a room - linking all doorways with other rooms or corridors. Different room types have different bonuses, like having another turn, getting money, earning extra victory points etc.

So What's the Verdict?

As I think I've already said, I like this game a lot. It's a really easy game to learn, but there's a lot of strategy with players having to weigh up quite a few different factors. Despite this though, play is quite quick with very little downtime in choosing what to do, even for AP players (Analysis Paralysis). I haven't played the solo variant but it is excellent with 2, 3 or 4 players. In my opinion it is just as good with 2 players as with 4, which isn't the case for a lot of games. The only slightly tricky bit is making sure you keep up with the scoring and don't miss points.

As well as actual game play, there's a lot of fun to be had with the theme, which is present throughout. Several times we've played we've had a good laugh at the unusual combination of rooms we've built in our castles, and what the inhabitants might be getting up to!

If you've played the designer's previous game, Suburbia, you might be wondering how this compares. Well I've played both, but much prefer this game. It's easier to play and a lot less confusing, as you are building your own castle rather than contributing to one joint suburbs. In Castles you really get a feeling of satisfaction with your own creation that just isn't there in Suburbia. I also think the theme is much better, as is the artwork.

Compenents - 4/5
Ease of play - 4/5
Theme - 5/5
Replayability 5/5

Overall: 5/5

A very enjoyable, light strategy game that's easy to learn with tons of replay value.

So that's my review. Tomorrow however I'm going to try something a bit different as I delve a bit into the background to the theme of the game (now available - click here). Who was Mad King Ludwig? Was her really mad? What strange, crazy castles did he build?

Guards! Guards! (Arrest that dragon!)

Book:  'Guards! Guards' by Terry Prachett
Series: Discworld series (book 8, but standalone)
Genre: Comic Fantasy

I'm a bit of a sucker for a beautiful book. I'm talking here about a really beautiful looking book (though obviously beautiful writing is good too). This is the way the publishing industry is going too, publishing really lovely hardback editions of books to try and entice readers to buying actual physical books for way over the odds. It worked for me. This is one of those gorgeous, textured hardcover books that feels great to hold. It's stylistic cover is all oranges, yellows and silver, with a large fire breathing dragon gliding over the cityscape of Ankh Morpork.

They do say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover though, so lets go and see what's inside. 'Guards! Guards!' by Terry Pratchett is a Discworld^* novel, the eighth in the series. For those that don't know, the Discworld novels - of which there are about forty to date - is a series of comic fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett, set in the fictional Discworld. Novels can, by and large, be read in any order and in fact many Pratchett fans would argue that the first couple of books aren't the best starting point. This book is the first book to feature the City Watch^{^} - Captain Vimes, Carrot, Nobby and Colon amonst others and is as good a starting point as any (Mort is another really good one to start with).

I'm not a diehard Pratchett fan by any means, I've read a few books before, but never any of the City Watch books, though friends have suggested these are some of their favourite Pratchatt books. So I thought I'd give this one a go. The premise of the book is that the City Watch is at an all-time low, the Captain is a hopeless drunk and his two sub-ordinates are just...hopeless. Then Carrot, an eager six foot plus dwarf joins the watch, the first volunteer in... well, a long time. Soon after his arrival a dragon arrives in mysterious circumstances and the Watch actually have a job to do for once.

I really enjoyed this book. Pratchett is a very funny writer. He makes a lot out of metaphors and word-play - for instance when one Vimes tells one of the Watch to 'throw the book' at the bad guy, that's what he does, literally. He makes good use of footnotes^# for particularly amusing additions to the main story, and so it is always worth reading those. Sometimes 'comic' authors try to be funny but just fall short, but not this author, he actually is very funny. What's more though, there is actually a good story - it is a somewhat stereotypical fantasy story - dragon threatens city - hero arrives to challenge it - but that is entirely the point here! This completely turns the story on its head and makes much fun of the stereotypes.

So that's good humour, good story and to add to that, there's good characters which you really care about too. They're funny and a bit silly, but sincere too, you believe in them. The main character Captain Vimes, starts out a drunkard who barely does anything, he doesn't want to be that way, but doesn't know how else to be. The arrival of danger in the city gives him the impetous to actually change, and be more the person he always wanted to be. Then there's Carrot, an eager young recruit who believes in (and knows off by heart) the law, when no one else does. He also takes everything literally, which is rather funny a lot of the time.

Pulling off both being funny and telling a good story is quite a challenge, but Pratchett really manages it well in this novel. I'm going to give this a solid 8/10.

If you enjoy this book, then you'll probably enjoy the rest of the Discworld novels. If you particularly like the characters in this book, then you'll want to check out the other two books in the City Watch trilogy - 'Men at Arms' and 'Feet of Clay'.

^*These are 'must read' books for  members of the Flat Earth Society, as the Discworld is literally that, a flat disc. Resting on top of four elephants. Who are atop a giant turtle. Which is flying through space. All fairly normal really.
^Watch is probably an apt name, as it is not like they actually do anything.
^# Like this. Not that I'm copying or anything. Erm.

Crime, Overstuffed Armchairs & a Time Before the Internet

I've just finished reading Sunset Express by Robert Crais, a private detective crime novel featuring California PI Elvis Cole and his sidekick, Joe Pike. It's the six in the Elvis Cole series, and while I've been reading them in order it has been a while since I read the last one.

I'll come on to why I like the series and what I thought in a minute, but first a brief synopsis.

A woman has been murdered, and the evidence all points to the husband, a super rich businessman. However there are suggestions that the female detective who found the crucial piece of evidence and made the arrest will do anything to get ahead - some even believe she has falsified evidence before and would do so again to get her career back on track. Elvis Cole is hired by the defendant's legal team - headed by celeb hotshot lawyer Jonathan Green - to look into the Detective's background, and follow up on some other leads.

This is a good, solid detective novel. There are some good twists and turns, but overall you know roughly what sort of book you are going to get before you set out. They've all been good so far, and I liked this one at least as much as the others. One quirk I noticed about the book though, is that whatever house Elvis Cole goes into, whether victim, suspect or witness, there always seems to be an overstuffed armchair. And this got me thinking. Now that it's on my mind, I'm sure there's always overstuffed armchairs in crime novels, and don't read about them elsewhere. Come to think of it, who overstuff's their armchairs? I'm not sure if I've seen one before in real life!

Anyway, moving on from that, what is it I like about the Elvis Cole novels? One of the most noticeable things, and something I've noticed in other crime novels (such as Sue Grafton) is that the books take place in the modern day, but before mobile phones or the internet. It is a time when, if you need to find something out you do some good old fashioned detective work you don't just fire up Google. It's also a time when, if you are stuck somewhere, you can't just whip out your iPhone... I like this about it, and think detective crime novels like these would be much less enjoyable if they featured lots of modern technology (note - just realised it was written in the late 1990s when the internet was in its infancy and the populous were only just starting to get obsessed with their mobile phones. It will be interesting to see if later books keep the traditional pre-internet perspective).

I also like the Elvis Cole books because they are funny. Elvis is a real wisecracking smart-ass, and really likable about it too. Over the course of the books you really feel like you are getting to know him. The reader is invited into his home, find out what he's cooking, what he's drinking and anything else that's going on. There's a bit of a sub-plot involving his girlfriend that spans several books, and he's not a dysfunctional loner unlike many detectives you meet in crime fiction. All of this makes the books quite a refreshing read.

If you are thinking of picking up an Elvis Cole novel, you might want to start at the beginning with 'The Monkey's Raincoat' but you can I believe read them in any order, certainly in the case of the first 7 books anyway. The 8th book, LA Requiem, is deeper and darker, and mark something of a turning point in the books. Or so I've heard anyway, I'm not there yet though.

'Proxima' by Stephen Baxter

I discovered this book in my local library shortly after reading a couple of favourable reviews so had to pick it up. I used to read a lot of Stephen Baxter's books, and was particularly fond of his Xeelee series, but some of his later books I wasn't as keen on so not read any of his for a few years. This caught my eye because it is proper science fiction set in the future (he's written quite a few quasi-historical sf novels which I'm not always as keen on).

There are two plots two the book. The main one is about a small group of colonists who are basically deported from the solar system and abandoned on a world around the giant star Proxima Centauri as part of a hands off colonization effort (the authorities hope they'll breed and develop a colony outpost without them having to do anything much). The second plot is set in the Solar System and is about a futuristic Cold War between the Chinese and the United Nations. There are colonies on Mars, Mercury, the moon and one or two asteroids so it is not just about Earth. Oh and its the late 22nd century just in case you were wondering.

One of the really interesting things about this book is the colony planet Per Ardua, as it is christened, around Proxima Centauri. This is a so called 'exo-planet' similar to one of the hundreds that astronomers have discovered over the last few years. It is much larger than Earth, the planet is stationery around its star so one side is in permanent daylight, the other in permanent night. The topography, terrain and climate of the planet is very different from Earth - it shows Stephen Baxter's creative imagination as well as his scientific background.

I really enjoyed this book and it felt like Stephen Baxter is back to his best. It is imaginative, but plausible. The world of Per Ardua, and the general setup in the solar system is very interesting and well conceived. The plot is good, and the characters are decent too.

After reading, I skimmed through a few of the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It generally gets favourable opinion, but with a few criticisms. I thought I'd give my take on these.

Blurb doesn't match the book - apparently there were some problems with an initial description, but my copy was fine. It did talk about billion year old secrets and galactic threats, though all you get of these is hints towards the end. I guess this will be picked up in book 2.

Too much like a Dan Dare comic strip - I don't see the problem with this. Yes it has some action in it, but this is well balanced by the other elements in what is a really well rounded novel.

'The bad guys were paper mache who melted when given a good talking to' - this one they may have a point with, I'm struggling to think of any real bad guys/gals/aliens, and the ones there were did just disappear far too quick. But this didn't seem like a problem at the time, and if anything the environment on Per Ardua was the enemy.

Overall, if you like your science fiction to be plausible with a good plot, great world building & dark hints of cosmic danger, then I really recommend this book. If you enjoyed any of Baxter's early books, you should enjoy this. 9/10.

'Ships of My Fathers' by Dan Thompson - review

I recently asked over on Google Plus for recommendations for an 'indie' self-published science fiction book to read. I had various suggestions, several of which I intend to have a go at, but the one that most attracted me was this book, 'Ships of My Fathers' by Dan Thompson, which was recommended by Nathan Lowell (who himself is a quite well established self-published author I've now realised, and his books look rather good so you'll be hearing more from me about his books before long I think). Incidentally, the title may seem a bit of a strange one (too many plurals?), but a couple of chapters in and it makes perfect sense! Before I get into the review, my biggest reservation about self published books is the editing - other books I've experienced have been shocking, lots of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors etc. This book has none of those. It reads completely like a book published by a major publisher. Congrats to the author and their copyeditor, you've restored my faith in self-published indie books!

Michael Fletcher worked on his father's starship when, aged 17, he was suddenly orphaned after his father died in an accident. His father left him his starship, but he can't captain it until he's turned 18 and been able to pass his captain's his exam. Unfortunately, he learns that he was adopted, until he turns 18 he is under the guardianship of an Uncle he didn't know he had, and there are family secrets that need to be uncovered...

The story is a relatively simple one of family secrets, space travel and a little bit of piracy. It doesn't bore you with tonnes of descriptions, biographies, historical backplot etc, instead getting right down to the story. One thing I really liked though is that it goes into a lot more detail (without becoming boring) about life on board a starship, how it works and what people's jobs are. There's also quite a bit about how starships travel faster than light - it covers this much better than most sci-fi books which just stick with 'go to warp speed'... I was curious to know more about

The book is approximately 300 pages, and is the first in a planned series. The storyline in this book comes to a satisfactory conclusion so you don't need to read any more books, but there's enough unresolved plot hooks in there to make you want to read more. The quality of the writing (and editing) is very good - the book really flows, and there are no silly errors or clumsy writing to jar you out of the story.

Have now looked at Dan Thompson's other book, 'Beneath the Sky' the story of which is really, really interesting. A generation ship travelling for hundreds of years to the nearest star gets overtaken by a faster than light ship. What will be waiting for them when they reach their destination. Billed as being like the pilgrims on the Mayflower journeying to the new world, only to land in modern day Boston. Definitely high on my to be read list!

Film review - Star Trek: Into Darkness

I finally got around to watching the new Star Trek film earlier in the week, and it's a really good one, up there with The Voyage Home & First Contact for best Star Trek film. One of the things I really love about these new Star Trek films is the cast. I mean, there's a much sexier version of Uhuru, there's the classic geekiness of Simon Pegg as Scotty and the slightly nervous geek factor of Anton Yelchin as a Chekov, and this film has got the actor of the moment, Benedict Cumberbatch as bad guy Khan.

What's interesting about this film is that its a sort of re-make of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I say sort of because it is only loosely similar. There's a bad guy called Khan who lived hundreds of years in the past, but was cryogenically frozen. In the original Star Trek series, after being woken, he was exiled by Kirk after attempting to steal the Enterprise. Years later he escapes and goes after Kirk to extract his revenge, hence the 'Wrath of Khan'. In the new film he's had no prior dealings with Kirk, so doesn't have a vendetta against the Enterprise or its captain but is merely pursuing his own agenda. In fact, at a couple of points you are questioning whether he really is the bad guy, then you remember he's called Khan... In the hands of another actor, this might detract from the role, but Cumberbatch plays it very well.

The ending of the film is quite different too, but again superficially similar. If you've seen the original film and remember what happened, you'll be wondering if history will repeat itself. I won't spoil it by saying any more, except that the the Tribble is the clue...

I've heard that you would enjoy the film more if you re-watched Wrath of Khan first. I didn't, and loved the new film. I am tempted to go back and watch Wrath of Khan again now though...

I'll give it 9/10. A thoroughly enjoyable film that I'd watch again.

Old Farts Go to War... a review of 'Old Man's War' by John Scalzi

I don't really like military science fiction. Or at least it doesn't really appeal to me, I probably haven't read enough to really pass judgement. I just think that while military concerns play an important part in a lot of science fiction, particularly space based science fiction, it is just one of many facets of a good story. That said, I've been hearing a lot about Scalzi recently and I enjoyed his Hugo award winning 'Redshirts', so thought I should give it a go.

In Old Man's War, the only way for most people to get off earth and explore the galaxy is to join the army - the Colonial Defence Force (CDF). However the CDF doesn't take recruits until their 75th birthday. Everyone knows the Colonial Union and the CDF have much more advanced technology than Earth, including some sort of rejuvination treatments for the elderly. They much have, because what use would aching, arthritis ridden geriatrics be in an army?

The book follows John Perry and his new found friends (the "old farts" as they christen themselves) as he joins the CDF and leaves Earth behind. He gets his training, and then is sent on a series of assignments round the galaxy against various different unusual and horrific aliens (one alien race sent its celebrity chefs with its invasion force to explain how best to cook and eat humans).

The book is fairly short and is an easy read. As I suspected, it does concentrate on the military aspect, and you are left wondering about the politics of the galaxy, what life is like for colonists, what the motivations of the aliens are like etc etc. However the characters, particularly Perry, are appealing and Scalzi writes in an easy, fun style with lots of humour and subtle jokes scattered throughout. In the hands of another author this novel would probably be quite boring, but Scalzi makes it a really fun read.

If you enjoyed this book, as I did, there are several sequels that continue the story and also continue following the main character John Perry. The next one is 'The Ghost Brigades'.

I'd give this book 8/10.

'Redshirts' by John Scalzi

Redshirts is  a relatively short novel by American science fiction author John Scalzi, best known for his 'Old Man's War' military science fiction novel and its sequels. The book is about 300 pages, but the last 80 or so pages actually form three 'codas', linked short stories that add extra content to the book. The book won the 2013 Hugo Award, arguably science fiction's greatest accolade, but reader reviews on Amazon are decidedly mixed and some think a book as light and frothy as this shouldn't have won a Hugo.

Redshirts follows a group of junior Ensigns on a starship, the flagship of the United Union fleet. The main character, Andrew Dahl, is a new crew member who gradually realises that being an Ensign or 'redshirt' on the ship is a very dangerous occupation, as people keep dying horrible, meaningless missions on a seemingly endless stream of away missions. Senior officers never die however... What is going on?

The book starts off as a spoof on Star Trek - even referencing it in a couple of places. It gradually develops a rather interesting storyline. It's also rather funny, I laughed out loud in a few places, and quoted several bits to my wife - much to her delight! I read a few reviews of this on Amazon before picking it up, the most helpful of which said something along the lines of: 'If you read the first couple of chapters and think it is a really badly written story, then persevere. It intentionally starts out like this, and is an important part of the story.' Good advice, because this is exactly what happens.

A final note about the 'codas' at the end of the book. I got to about page 220 and went 'huh?'. The story had ended and what were these things at the end. Should I read on? I actually googled it and found a blog post from the author explaining about them. I did read them. The first was quite interesting, but not spectacular. The final two were shorter, and really good. The first coda adds a funny, interesting perspective. The other two add quite a touching, emotive and thought provoking element to the book and round off the whole thing nicely.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It a good story that had me hooked, it was very funny and also touching towards the end. While I see why some people complained, I feel it is a worthy winner of the Hugo Award, and am going to give it 9/10.

'Redemption Ark' by Alastair Reynolds

Redemption Ark is the sequel to 'Revelation Space' and the second book in the Revelation Space trilogy. There are actually five books in the Revelation Space universe, but the other two are standalone novels that don't add substantially to the overall story arc. So if you haven't already, start with Revelation Space. You could read this book on its own, but you'll get a lot more from it if you read them in order.

Humanity is teetering on the brink. The Inhibitors have been awoken, and their cold machine sentience starts the process of wiping out the human race. They've sanitized the galaxy of intelligent life countless times before in the billions of years since their creation, and they will do it countless times again. Can anything stop them?

This book, as with Reynolds other books, is part space opera and part Hard SF. It is set a few years after the events of Revelation Space; there are some overlapping characters, but a cast of new characters as well. The story starts slowly, and the first quarter of the book takes time setting the scene, introducing new characters and backplot. The last 10-15% of the book is also quite rushed, almost as much happens in the epilogue as in the rest of the book. Still, these are minor points in what was an extremely good book. It's got great characters it is easy to care about, a cracking plot and a real sense of wonder about it.

I'm really starting to like Alastair Reynolds stuff, after just two books and one short story. Inevitable comparisons can be made to Peter F Hamilton's epic space operas. Reynolds books, so far at least, are darker and a bit stranger along with being more tightly focused. Each book seems to be focused on at most several sets of characters. Peter F Hamilton, in contrast, fills his books with countless different groups of characters on many diverse worlds. Given the effective lack of faster than light travel/communication in Reynolds book, it is always going to be this way. It does make Alastair Reynolds books easier to keep up with and remember what is going on!

Overall I'm giving this book 8/10. Not perfect by any means, but pretty damn good nonetheless. Roll on Absolution Gap (book 3/3 in the trilogy).

'Way Station' by Clifford D Simak

I read this while on holiday in Shropshire. Pastoral SF is the ideal book to read while staying in a country holiday cottage on a farm in rural Shropshire, England! Anyway, here's the review.

"They don't make 'em like they used to" is an apt phrasing fitting many different things, not the least of which is science fiction. Way Station was written in the 1960s, and I can't imagine a book anything like it being written today. I don't think we have anyone like Clifford D Simak writing science fiction today though.

Simak writes 'pastoral sf', a heady mix of technology, philosophy, and a love of backwoods America. He is equally at home describing the beautiful countryside, or the sound of skylarks on a spring day as he is imagining strange aliens, advanced technology and weird science.

Way Station centres around Enoch Wallace, an American Civil War veteran, living in backwoods America, who meets an alien one day and is asked to be the keeper of a Galactic 'waystation' for travellers journeying between the stars. As it is not a part of the Galactic community, Earth is off-limits but is a necessary stopping place (like a rest area service station on the motorway or interstate I guess!) Enoch meets many strange creatures and wonderful things, but keeps his feet firmly on the ground of mother Earth. Things stay this way for more than a century with Enoch barely aging. Eventually though, someone's bound to notice...

Way Station isn't a long book, but fits quite a lot in. We learn a bit about the strange - and some not so strange - aliens that Enoch Wallace meets as they travel through his station, and find out something of what he has learned about the galactic community. We get a bit of philosophical musings, and Enoch's worries about the state of humankind, as Earth teeters on the brink of nuclear war (this was written in the 1960s, so at that time nuclear war was a very real and dangerous threat). Slowly though, Enoch's century of peace and quiet is shattered as a crisis builds both on Earth and out in the galaxy too.

Not everyone will love this book. If you like your science fiction full of nasty aliens with big guns, or hot bosom babes with lots of sex in it, you are going to be sorely disappointed and very bored! But if you like experiencing a sense of wonder, a little adventure and aren't a bit put off by the slightly dated historical backdrop and old fashioned technology, you might just enjoy this. It is a classic of golden age science fiction and well worth the reading. I'm giving this 9/10, and will be reading more by Clifford D. Simak soon.

Three Apolcalyptic Short Stories.

I was going to call these post-apocalyptic stories, but all are set just shortly before the apocalypse, so apocalyptic is more of an appropriate title in this instance. All three are from 'The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF' edited by Mike Ashley. This was a 99p purchase, part of last year's '12 Days of Kindle' offers. It's sat on my Kindle since, and have finally decided to dive in. I'll be reviewing more stories from this anthology in the next few weeks, but here's the first batch.

'Sleepover' by Alastair Reynolds
This story comes hot on the heals of having my first Alastair Reynolds book, Revelation Space (read my review of it here). It's quite a long short story , heading into the novella category (it took about an hour to read, so I'd estimate about 15,000 words). A billionaire inventor and businessman is put into cryogenic suspension in the mid-21st century, along with about 200,000 others, awaiting the day when medical science can make them live indefinitely which they are led to believe won't be far off. More than a century later, he is woken, but the world is far from the one he was expecting...

Okay, so this is quite a cliched idea that has been used and over-used many times before, but don't let that put you off, this is very different from any other stories with this plot device that you may have read. The future world is brilliantly conceived, it is a great concept, with a proper story and characterisation. It feels like a much longer story than it actually is, which is all credit to the author.

'Fermi and Frost' by Frederick Pohl
Frederick Pohl is one of the masters of science fiction's Golden Age. I've read his classic novel, 'Gateway', before, but this is the first time I've read one of his short stories. It's set in presumably the 1960s, when nuclear war commences between the USA & the USSR. Almost all of the world is destroyed, and more than 99% of the population die within the first few months. This story is set in one of the last pockets of survival, and it is not the place you are probably expecting.

This story is on the shortlist of the best short stories I've ever read (admittedly, so far I've not read many - I'm still at the start of my journey through the world of SF short stories). It is quite haunting and evocative, not lessened in any way by the fact that the probability of nuclear war is (for now) thankfully quite a remote one today. It is unusual in science fiction as being something of a 'what if' tale. It probably came quite close to actually happening once or twice. As well as telling a great story, it outlines one of the big theories of science and cosmology very simply and well. A fabulous short story.

'The Last Sunset' by Geoffrey A. Landis
Compared to the previous two short stories, this is quite small and small scale (or as small scale as the end of the world can be). It is a very touching and emotional tale about a young astronomer who discovers that the world is about to end within hours. It's a short short, at a guess I'd say less than 2,000 words, so quick to read and well worth it. I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil it, but it is definitely worth reading.

'Idea Man' by Paul Allen

For those of you who don't know who Paul Allen is, he is the multi-billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, with Bill Gates. He left the company in the mid-eighties before Microsoft became the technology giant that it is today (though crucially, didn't sell his shares until many years later). 

The book is part autobiography, part history of technology. Paul starts off telling us about his childhood and love of computers, before moving on to when he met Bill Gates. Microsoft wasn't the first business they set up, and the book charts their early efforts and then the founding of Micro-Soft as it was then called. We find out about how they came up with BASIC computer language for the PC, the foundation for their later success, and then how they got the opportunity to write an operating system for IBM. The book also covers the strained relationship Paul Allen had with Bill Gates leading to Allen leaving the company.

Interestingly the book doesn't stop there, in fact it is only halfway through. The rest of the book is taken up with his life after Microsoft, his thoughts on technology and what he did with his money. Find out what he lost $7 billion on, or how close he came to a prize to make his billions made with Microsoft look like small change.

This is really a book of two halves. I won't lie - I was more interested in his time at Microsoft that what he did after, and consequently I enjoyed the first half of the book more. It probably helps that I'm a bit of a geek, but then I suspect a lot of people picking up this book will be. It's not heavily technical though, and the first part is as much about business as it is about computers. I did know a bit of the early history of Microsoft but still learned a lot.

The second half of the book is a mixed bag, at times fascinating, at other times merely interesting but always worth reading. My favourite chapter here is probably the story of Space Ship One and the attempts to win the X-Prize for the first private sector manned spaceplane leaving the Earth's atmosphere. I did also enjoy the chapter about when he bought an NBA basketball team, despite not being American and not having a particular interest in the sport!

Overall, this is a very good book, and Paul Allen is refreshing in his honesty, both in describing his relationship with Bill Gates, and in particular how he dealt with having so much money, and the mistakes he made. I'd give this a good 7/10.

'Love and War in the Apennines' by Eric Newby

‘Love and War in the Apennines’ is a travel book which I picked up recently from a second hand book stall, in the military history section of all places (given I rarely read military history, I’m not sure how I spotted it, but I am glad I did). It is not even close to a military history book, but I can see how the mistake was made, as it is the author’s account of his time as a prisoner of war and his story of escaping and hiding out in the rural world of the Appenines in the autumn and winter of 1943.

Eric Newby is an acclaimed British travel writer who came to fame with his first book ‘The Last Grain Race’ in 1956, and particularly with his second book ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’ which is considered one of the best travel books of all time. During the Second World War he was an officer in the Special Boat Service, and was on a mission to sabotage an airfield in Italy, when he was captured. The book briefly documents this mission, his capture and time as a prisoner of war, and then for the majority of the book he recounts his time on the run in the rural Apennines, being put up by kind, brave country folk, and staying in shepherd’s huts, caves and woodburners shacks. If you are expecting tales of gung-ho derring do, then you will be sorely disappointed.

For me, the book has a certain stature to it because of the time in which it is set and the enforced nature of the author’s travels. This is not the story of someone who set off on a journey of discovery to see the world and meet new people (though I’m not belittling those books, for there are many fine books of this ilk). I’m really rooting for the narrator and willing him along, enjoying the story. As well as a survival narrative it is a love story too, because along the way the author meets and falls in love with a woman who ultimately becomes his wife. It’s worth noting that the book only really gets going 50 pages or so in, once he has escaped into the countryside. Before that it has something of the feel of a war memoir, so if you’re not enjoying the first few chapters, I do urge you to persevere - it will be worth it.

What makes this book what it is though is the beautiful descriptions of a world now long gone, and a cast of wonderful characters, the likes of which have also now sadly all but passed from this world. As well as enjoying the overall story, I savoured every page, drinking in the sights, sounds and experiences the author so masterfully communicates to us through these pages. That is the mark of a truly great book. It is difficult to pinpoint any favourite moments, there are so many, but if I had to I’d probably pick Newby’s description of the storyteller cum-craftsman’s little cottage, where almost everything in it was made by his own hands. Or the shepherd’s hut and his many thick shirts, handmade before the industrial revolution from the wool of his ancesters’ flock. Erm, I guess you just have to read the book!

The book itself is a little over 200 pages, but the type is small and there are quite a lot of words on the page, so while not a long read, it will keep you going a while particularly if like me if you hang on every word and skip back to read a particularly haunting or beautiful paragraph. It is not a difficult read, and he sticks to the point and doesn’t meander off topic into art, history, literature and so on very much, except where it fits into the narrative (in contrast to some authors, who regularly and artfully deviate into all sorts of fascinating topics). Really highly recommended to just about anyone that likes serious travel books.

'A Time of Gifts' by Patrick Leigh Fermor

I thought long and hard about what should be the first book I reviewed here, and I eventually settled on what  is the most magnificent travel book I've ever read, 'A Time of Gifts'.

A Time of Gifts is a travel book by acclaimed writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. Published in 1977, it is actually based on travels in 1933-34. When the author was just 18 in 1933, he decided to walk from Rotterdam to Constantinople (now Istanbul), a journey of more than a thousand miles. This book, the first in what was intended to be a trilogy, covers his journey as far as Hungary. It is based partly on recollections, and partly on a notebook which he rediscovered many decades later in a castle somewhere on his route!

The book is not overly thick, weighing in at almost exactly 300 pages, but the type is small and a lot of words are packed onto each page so it isn't a particularly quick read. Leigh Fermor is a master of the English language, and the book has many lengthy and beautiful descriptions in. It is at its heart a travel book, but covers quite a bit of history as well as art, literature and various other topics.

The book is regarded by many as one of the finest travel books written in the English language, Leigh Fermor is a highly regarded writer and this is considered his masterpiece. So what is it actually like to read?

It starts off with a lengthy letter to a former colleague from WW2, which serves as the book's introduction. I skipped past this at first, eager to get started with the book, but came back to it when I was part way through and found it full of useful backplot and biographical detail. I found the book overall a joy to read, it gives a wonderful view of pre-second world war Europe, painting a picture of a world long gone. Much of the book is beautifully written. The author does use a lot of long words and bits of German and other languages (mostly though not always with translations), as well as references to literature and art which I wasn't familiar with. My advice is just enjoy the book, and don't get bogged down in the sections where he is discussing a (now obscure) old literary text, or an old historical-political situation which has long since evapourated. Just enjoy the book for what it is, a wonderful travelogue.

I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, as it is not an easy read and written in an old fashioned style (i.e. nothing like Bill Bryson). But I loved it. I can't wait to read more books by Patrick Leigh Fermor, and it has got me itching to explore more great travelogues. A maximum 10/10.