Category Archives: Science Fiction
Brazil is not a serious country
Brasyl, by Ian McDonald Sometimes I like to pair books to music. For Ian McDonald’s sprawling celebration of Brazil past, present and future there could only be one choice. Funk-carioca (also sometimes called baile-funk), the music of the Favela. Funk-carioca … Continue reading
Filed under Brazil, McDonald, Ian, Science Fiction
The hallucination of one moment did not fit the reality of the next.
Ice, by Anna Kavan I’ve written before of how sometimes work, life generally, can wreck my reading of a book. A busy period, a week passes without a page turned, and suddenly a great book has become a chore. I … Continue reading
Filed under Kavan, Anna, Science Fiction
This is the best we’ve had it
Moxyland, by Lauren Beukes Lauren Beukes is a South African science fiction writer. The South African bit is interesting, but not that important. What’s important is that she’s a good science fiction writer. Moxyland was her first novel. Her second, … Continue reading
Filed under Beukes, Lauren, Science Fiction, South African Literature
The joys of trickledown
Woken Furies, by Richard Morgan I noticed recently that I don’t read much science fiction any more. I don’t seem to enjoy it as much as I used to. There are always exceptions though, and for me Richard Morgan made … Continue reading
Filed under Morgan, Richard, Science Fiction
The music of chance
Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell Ghostwritten is both brilliant and badly flawed. It’s David Mitchell’s first novel and not his best known. His third novel Cloud Atlas got nominated for the Booker prize and a host of other prizes (some of … Continue reading
Filed under English Literature, Mitchell, David, Science Fiction
The situation seems to be deterioriating…
The Fuller Memorandum, by Charles Stross The Fuller Memorandum is the first novel I have read entirely on a mobile phone. Amazon UK recently launched the new wave of Kindles. I placed an order for one, which should arrive next … Continue reading
Filed under Horror Fiction, Publishing, Science Fiction, Stross, Charles
The street tries to find its own uses for things
Count Zero, by William Gibson It’s been said that genre is an ongoing conversation between a group of writers and readers with similar concerns. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. There are times though in the life … Continue reading
Filed under Gibson, William, Science Fiction
