Category Archives: Books

Like many of Greene’s novels, his first volume of autobiography is a beguilingly slim volume which doesn’t hint at the richness contained therein. And it is a richness: from the masterly command of language demonstrated throughout to the fractally wandering … Continue reading →

Coming hot on the heels of 2008′s Little Brother, Doctorow’s second Young Adult novel examines the meaning of workers rights and union solidarity in a world increasingly de-nationalised by technology and communications. As the title suggests, the novel focuses on … Continue reading →

For a reader coming to a book after it has been made into a widely acclaimed film, it is difficult to prevent the hype and dazzle of the film’s release from clouding the perception of the book as a work … Continue reading →

William Strunk’s book on style is almost the epitome of its own central thesis: communicate clearly, aim to be exact, and use only as many words as necessary. In the latter he certainly succeeds — even with subsequent overhaul and … Continue reading →

Consider Phlebas is the first in the Culture sci-fi series which now spans some eleven books and has enjoyed wide critical acclaim. As the book that started the series, Consider Phlebas is notably lacking in many of the motifs of … Continue reading →

To some extent, my dedication to the works of Neil Gaiman started with the terrific Good Omens, which I read more times than I care to remember whilst growing up. The partnership of Pratchett’s dry humour with Gaiman’s characteristic dark … Continue reading →

How To Be A Writer was a gift to me from my wife: whilst I had enjoyed leafing through the book in the shop it seemed rather too slim a volume to merit the list price. I was perhaps wrong … Continue reading →

The brief winter days leading up to Christmas were like moments of light between the winter darknesses, and they fled fast in the house of the dead As fantasy goes, American Gods is of the absolute best, mixing dark magic … Continue reading →

In some respects, the title of Iain Pears’ Stone’s Fall is a metaphor for the book as a whole: say it out loud and it could be a literal statement of fact, the description of a rock’s descent, or a … Continue reading →

I’ve long been a fan of Stephenson’s work, and, having exhausted the canon of his previous work, I looked forward to Anathem‘s publication with some anticipation. When the book finally arrived, snapped up in hard-back format from an online retailer, … Continue reading →