John Wyndham actually started by writing standard repel-the-martian-invaders type science fiction in about the 30s, but that stuff has all been forgotten (deservedly). What he then began to write was stories about ordinary people placed in strange/supernatural situations, and his purpose was to explore the way they reacted to those situations. As well as the Triffids and the Chrysalids, there’s The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed twice as Village of the Damned), The Kraken Wakes and a number of others. I can’t bear most sci-fi because it’s basically cops and robbers in outer space, or dungeons and dragons in outer space, but there was quite a lot of genuinely thoughtful sf written over the years. Penguin did several collections of short stories just called Penguin Science Fiction, More Penguin Science Fiction, etc, of which pretty much every one was worth reading.
I’m actually reading a thing called The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel that’s quite interesting. She’s Canadian, and she’s written at least two others, Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel, where there’s time travel and there are ghosts and some interesting ideas. No murders and no light sabres.
Anyone ever read the Lensman series? E.E. “Doc” Smith. A truly epic space opera that probably fed into Star Wars. Certainly the sense of scale that lead to ideas like the Death Star imo. Dates back to the 1930s. I would re-read the Lord of the Rings and the Lensman series every year when I was younger. The sci-fi and fantasy poles of my imagination.
Don’t Let Me Be Misundertood, Eric Burdon with J. Marshall Craig.
I managed to see him perform once, in a little pub in the back streets of Richmond in the early 90’s. His voice then, as good as it had ever been, a marvel to me that a sound so big and rich could come out of such a small stature. Burden is one the greatest voices in all of rock, he sits comfortably in my top 5 favourites of all time. There is a world weary quality to his voice, reading his story l can understand why. The book is liberally sprinkled with the names of the immortals of that era, Alan Pric & Chas Chandler, Hendrix, the Stones, Morrison, McCartney, etc. Through it all Burdon stumbles through a haze of “sex, and drugs and rock and roll, is very good indeed,” (as Ian Dury told us).
Oh dear. I’ve had to abandon this 3/4 of the way through as I couldn’t take any more of what is the literary equivalent of the “Difficult Second Album” syndrome.
Toltz tries too hard with this one and it just becomes a tedious slog. As much as I loved his debut novel, the follow-up is one to be avoided.
He had one of the truly great rock voices, but after becoming a star with The Animals, he never really went on with it – playing in the back streets of Richmond rather than Rod Laver Arena. I hope that was a lifestyle choice – which I could completely understand – and he’s not envious of Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, etc, who went the 100% commercial road.
Just finished Stacy Schiff’s popular history “The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.” Schiff’s prose takes a bit of getting used to but if you’re an American history fan the content is riveting. According to Schiff, Adams was relegated to the background in the early historiography of the rev, largely because he lacked interest in the type of self-promotion his cousin John Adams specialised in. Schiff helps to restore his position as the key revolutionary catalyst. She breaks his political life into 3 acts, pre rev, war years and post rev, and then rightly devotes the vast majority of the book to the first act, the final act detailing his sad decline is almost an afterthought. Adams emerges as the steel in the revolution, the backroom wrangler and street wise manipulator who was the single-minded engine who drove the Royalist Hutchinson to distraction and the narcissistic Hancock into the revolution. Many of the key figures in the rev owed their position to Adams and most of them were expendable to the cause, but on Schiff’s reading it’s hard to see how independence could have been achieved without Sam Adams.
Just finished The Wrong Woman by J P Pomare on Audible.
It covers a PI, Reid, who’s hired to go back to his home town (American fictional) to investigate a fatal car crash for an insurance company. He left in disgrace, 10 years before, hated by his fellow cops.
The crash involved a college professor who died, and his wife, who’s in a coma.
Twists and turns all over the place. Too many? I think maybe one or two, but a pretty satisfying listen. Well done on Audible.
Pomare is a Kiwi, who now lives in Victoria…Melbourne and Clunes.
I’ve listened to another of his on Audible, Home Before Dark, which has lots of surprise twists. Set during the Covid curfew.
I use BorrowBox quite a bit, through my local library. The only audio reader I’ve used. I never seem to be able to find anything that I’m specifically looking for on there but having said that I usually find something worthwhile. Only borrowed a couple of non fiction from there so not sure how extensive their range is.
Stumbled across The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte. The tale of a group of German medics occupying the Tolstoy estate during a short period of WW2 and their relationships with each other and the Russian custodians of the estate. …beautiful writing, compelling story, perfectly narrated.
Won’t disagree with you there. I thought the third was much better (Trust?), then the next two were both good (The Tilt opened my eyes on some geographical things).
Despite my misgivings after an earlier experience, I’m giving Dean Koontz a second chance and reading Darkfall. Much better than that rapey other novel of his
Adopted Aussie author S. R. White, whose first two novels Hermit and Prisoner I found most enjoyable, has just had his third book Red Dirt Road published.
It again features Detective Dana Russo and I look forward to renewing my acquaintances.