 | Emily Cockayne, Hubbub: Filth, Noise & Stench in England Genre mix: Social History, Anecdotes, Historiography, Historical Phenomenology I found the presentation engaging, dense and well structured. Cockayne provides a glimpse into the 17th and early 18th centuries and how the less pleasant aspects of life felt. |
 | George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones Genre mix: Heroic fantasy, Political Thriller, Horror, Celtic Myth, Mystery Martin wrote a vibrant and engaging novel, a pleasing mix of genres featuring a multitude of characters, diverse plot elements and awful adversaries. |
A fantasy rendition of a make-believe British Isle around the first half of the fifteenth century (the era of the War of the Roses.) The perspective switches between several protagonsists, each in quite dramatic and interrelated situations. Avarice, the difficulties arising from 'honor,' a sense of destiny and an increasingly nuanced set of conflicts and threats make up the bulk of this novel. Most protagonists play a heroic role, though even the 'antagonists' are engaging and almost admirable. Magic, the most important genre element in Fantasy, plays an 'embellishing' role - in the form of portents and looming strategic threats. At the same time, magic doesn't interfere with most medieval realities (travel, healing, communications) nor especially character development or differentiate between the potential scope of actions of protagonists and secondary characters. This first volume in a series of seven, with 807 pages, will launch the reader into a long and absorbing venture.
 | Clive Barker, Mister B. Gone Genre mix: Horror, Historical Fiction, Trite Supernatural, Superficial Religion This book is not worth your time to read. |
The promising premise attracted me: The book itself is cursed and endangers the reader. Unfortunately Barker breaks this promise. His hell is a modern suburbia and the first person narrator a whining demon with a troubled working class background. The weak beginning trails off to an entirely dissatisfying conclusion. At one time the novel seems to strive to articulate a disturbing idea (amidst nearly incessant attempts to revolt the reader.) The Forces of Heaven and Hell are only interested in Money and Power, not the Fate of Mankind. Hmmm. Without any context or development of these weighty abstractions this only serves as a worthless ornament on a pointless trashy novel.
 | Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Genre mix: Young Adult Drama, Mystery, Coming of Age, Alternate Perspective, Autistically Disabled Narrator Many fresh and unique stylistic and story telling elements keep this novel fresh and agreeable from beginning to end. |
On the surface, the story has the structure of a mystery tale, told by the detective. The relationship between the first person narrator and his family however are key to the story and the 'realistic' aspects serve mainly to add drama and poignancy to the novel. The narrator has a very limited range of the reactions and sensitivity to human affairs, so in many ways the mystery he must solve is the conditions of his own life. Many devices lurk beneath the surface of the story - for example parallels between the father and the son, especially similarities of problematic behavior between them. These call into question just how different an autistic kid is from people who are cut off from their own feelings, deaden their responses to their life with alchohol, lash out brutally and so on.
 | Clark Ashton Smith, The End of Story: The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Vol. 1 Genre mix: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Mythic Mode The stories vary from fine to sublime. For those who enjoy Dunsany and Jack Vance's The Dying Earth, Smith's lush prose and expansive dramatic scope will please immensely. |
This collects Smith's first published short fictional works in chronological order. Though not consistently great, the finer amongst these stories are sublime. Though lacking the editorial finesse and presentation of this fine volume as well as the interesting the end notes, Smith's short stories can be found free of charge at The Eldritch Dark website.
 | Frederik Pohl, Gateway Genre blend: Science Fiction, Horror, Space Opera, Psychological Thriller A superlative science fiction book. Ignoring the genre elements and narrative devices, the story concerns the shallow people with unbounded desires; the dangers that await them. |
Individualism and lottery mentality bring risk takers to Gateway to undertake immensely dangerous jaunts in hope of "rewards." The story proceeds before and after some cataclysmic event that (as is obvious from the beginning of the novel) brought great affluence and success to the protagonist. Both before and after this reward, our unheroic story teller and main character remains deeply unhappy and troubled by his past. Much of the book considers the cause of this unhappiness, often amidst reflection or dread, during a psychotherapeutic treatment. Never considered in the story is whether the cause of dissatisfaction, greed, etc. is total naricism. Though the protagonist seeks redemption, Pohl never directly challenges him (or the reader) to consider whether a higher purpose or values beyond personal desires (or 'love') might be what is really called for. The "Good of Mankind" arises in the story as a cynical joke, though ostensibly the reason for the activity on Gateway. Perhaps this reflects the general disenchantment of the mid 1970s when the novel was written.
