Adventures in Charity Shops, an occasional series…

Warning: This post isn't as exciting as the title makes it look. Anyone who used to watch 'Mr Benn' as a kid should pay particular attention to this warning...

If I found ten pounds on the floor (oh I wish I could find ten pounds on the floor…) you would see me heading off to either a charity shop or second hand book shop to see what I could find. I don't have anything against Waterstones etc but as I've got older I find myself drawn to slightly less obvious places to find my books. I could stay out of Waterstones for weeks and still be able to tell you what's on the shelves, almost book for book. Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation shop (amongst others) though? Not a clue and that's what I love about book shopping in these places; I have no idea about what I'll find until I find it. How cool is that? Much better than going into a bookshop with a 'get in, get the book and get out' plan in mind. Where's the fun in that? I'm all about browsing these days, how about you?

Yesterday say me take a little wander up Bromley High Street in search of a couple of 'Horus Heresy' books, that I fancy reading again, but also with an eye open for anything that stood out. Little did I realise that by the time I got back to my desk my Fantasy Masterworks collection would have grown by one and I'd have my own copy of a sci-fi classic that I hadn't read since high school. Have a look at the picture,

'Voice of Our Shadow' is a book where I'm actually really glad that I never found a copy of the Masterwork edition. It's slightly defaced (thanks to an overly sticky price tag…) but look at that bird and how well drawn it is, much more detailed than the Masterworks edition (Google it). I've been looking for a spooky book to read on Halloween and it's currently a tie between this and Joe Hill's 'N0S4R2'.

The last time I read 'Fahrenheit 451' was way back in high school, possibly for GCSE but more likely because I absolutely tore through the sci-fi shelves in our school library. It was either that or play football and have you ever seen me play football? Reading sci-fi it was then… I've got vague memories of a hard going old read, I'll be interested to see if my mind changes now.

So, charity shops all the way then in terms of amazing surprise book finds :o) Please feel free to use the comments bit to tell me about anything cool that you've found in a charity shop recently. Just so long as it isn't 'Know No Fear', that was the book I was looking for and I'll get all jealous if you've bought that already...

'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Trailer

I know the whole internet has seen this already but it is still awesome enough to post all over again. How many days to go until we can see the whole thing...?

And as a bonus, here's the 'Honest Trailer' for 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', just because it made me laugh. You're welcome :o)

My Favourite 'Book Place' in Lewisham

Books are great; as a child some of my very best friends were books (not that I didn't have real friends but, you know what I mean) and there are still some dog-eared books on my shelves that I'll never get rid of because... I feel like I owe them a bit more than that.

All the other books though...

One of my first jobs, when we moved to London, was to go into the homes of the recently deceased and sift through their belongings, looking for information on next of kin and how they could be contacted. Seriously, it is a job that people do.
One thing I realised, fairly recently, is that I don't want to be the book equivalent of the dead guy who we found had filled his house full of thousands upon thousands of biros. I'm also getting to a point now where if I'm never going to go back to a book then it needs to go somewhere it will feel appreciated again. It's only fair after all.

A lot of books are leaving the house then and I wanted to show you where they're all going, just because I think it's a great idea and more people should do stuff like this.
I take a ten minute walk up the hill, from my house, and leave my old books here...

Yep, it's the 'micro-library' I've mentioned here a couple of times. It operates a 'take a book, leave one behind' policy which I've turned into a 'take one occasionally, leave thirty or forty books behind whenever I happen to be passing'; I'm sure they don't mind. I know I used to donate my books to charity and I do feel a little guilty that I'm not doing that now. There's something really cool though about a community coming together and sharing their books via an old phone box that would have been removed. Like I said, it would be great if we could see more of this happening.

I dropped some books off last night and this was what I was greeted with when I opened the door,

Maybe not the most inspiring sight for a fan of SFF fiction but funnily enough, that's what I like most about this phone box full of books - you never know what you will find until you pay it a visit. I went a few weeks ago and someone had filled an entire shelf full of old crime books; there were comics to be had a few weeks before that. While I'll always know what to expect from a bookshop (and that's not a bad thing) there's something a little magical about stepping into this phone box and not knowing what you will find once you are there. If it comes down to it, I know which side I'd choose.

That's me then, other than to say that there are some good books, waiting in the micro-library, for someone just like you you to pass by. I should know, I left loads there last night. If you pick one up, happy reading :o)

Things that the Discworld books have taught me...

A Wizard's staff has a knob on the end.
The hedgehog is a particularly lucky animal :o)

There, now we've got those out of the way... (And yep, I made up at least two verses to the 'Hedgehog Song' when I was a teenager. I'll bet you did too)

I haven't picked up a 'Discworld' book in a few years now (whenever I reviewed 'Unseen Academicals' on the old blog, that was the last time) but I still remember some of the things that I learned through laughter. Genre fiction takes itself far too seriously and needs a little fun poked at it from time to time. The series as a whole wouldn't miss 'The Colour of Magic' at all. If you laugh with a character (no matter who they are) then you'll want to follow them right to the bitter end. And sometimes, it's ok to admit that the jokes just aren't tickling you any more and that new laughs are waiting over the horizon.

The thing that has struck me just recently though is how Pratchett does away with the whole notion of good and evil. People are just people, trying to do their thing and continuously running smack bang into other people who are just trying to do their thing. Trying to create something for themselves out of the raw stuff of daily life. What really scares Pratchett though (or at least, what he thinks should scare us) is the grey conformity of the Auditors where creation and growth are stifled and there is nothing left to do but exist (and don't you just feel the note of despair in those passages).

I'm in a grey area right now and have been for a long time. The greyness of depression played a part in my old blog finishing and it's doing its level best to tread all over this one too (hence the lack of posts just recently). It's hard to muster up the energy to do anything other than just exist sometimes.
I'm not done yet though (not quite yet) and if you're feeling anything like me then hang in there for a bit longer. If you can, be a Terry Pratchett character trying to create a little something for themselves out of the raw stuff of daily life. Even if it's just writing a sentence or two; once you've done it then depression can't take it back, no matter how much it wants to. It's all yours and you can be damn proud of what you've done.

I'm rambling a bit now so will stop just about here before all meaning is lost. I just wanted to let you know that depression is a bitch but I've got your back. And read 'Guards! Guards!' One of the older Discworld books but still the best of a pretty amazing bunch ;o)

The 'If my commute had been ten minutes longer...' Blatant Filler Post!

Seriously, if my commute had been ten minutes longer this post would have been all about what I thought of 'The Rhesus Chart'. With my commute taking the time it did though, all I can say on that score is that everything up to the final forty pages has been superb. I'll give you something a little more in-depth tomorrow.

There is the possibility of a couple of mini-reviews before the end of today but in the meantime, have a video of small dogs dressed up as characters from 'Game of Thrones'. Why? I love 'Game of Thrones' almost as much as I love cute dogs; that's all the reason I need :o)

Oberyn vs. The Mountain, how it should have gone...

I'm still catching up with the HBO show (need to get the Season Three box set...) but I know how the 'Oberyn vs. The Mountain' fight turned out. This is how it should have gone... :o)

Action Philosophers!

It's been a frantic old day today so this is all I've got for you. There'll be a review tomorrow though (promise). In the meantime...

I don't normally post blatant adverts like this but... Can anyone tell me who these five philosophers are? Absolutely no prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing philosophers better than anyone else ;o) 

Reasons that I love books (Or, 'never take your two year old daughter to a book signing...')

Books have always been a huge part of my life, to the point where all of the books on my shelves (the ones that are mine, not review copies that have been sent) come with their own memories of where I was in my life when I bought and read them. Timothy Zahn’s ‘Heir to the Empire’ trilogy was purchased the morning after my 21^st birthday while I was in the throes of the worst hangover I have ever had. Thank goodness you only turn twenty one once :o) ‘Memories of Ice’ will always be the book that I tried to read after just having woken up from a general anaesthetic (and not having read the previous two books). That reading experience did not go well at all… After having got rid of my original ‘Winter of the World’ novels (yet another ill-advised purge) I’ll always remember finding another copy of ‘The Anvil of Ice’ in an Oxfam shop, in Islington, and promising that I’d never make that mistake again. What? I love books :o)

With books and I being the way we are then, it makes it even better when I can get a book signed; another memory tied up in the pages. I was looking through my books the other day and remembered taking Hope (two and a bit at the time) to get some books signed by Daniel Polansky. The conversation kind of went like this…

Daniel Polansky: (Looking at Hope) “And who’s this?”

Me: “This is my daughter Hope, I thought I’d bring her along as she loves book signings.” (To be fair , what Hope actually loved was getting off her face on sugar at the Strange Chemistry launch; a small but important difference as there wasn’t much in the way of sugar at Forbidden Planet…)

Daniel Polansky: “She’s cute, hi Hope!”

Hope: (Scowling) “…”

Daniel Polansksy: “She’s not really into this at all is she?”

Me: “Erm… No”

After a conversation like this, there was really only that Daniel could write in my book…

How about you? What's the funniest/oddest thing an author has written in your book while signing it? Photographic evidence will be insisted on here otherwise I'm afraid it never happened... In the meantime, all this talk has reminded me that I still need to read/finish 'She Who Waits'. My 'To Read' pile can't stay in the same order for more than a day at time...

Getting a Little Nostalgic...

As a child, did you ever find yourself trying to find out what happened next by going back a few pages? And did you ever find yourself in a position where you were using all your fingers and thumbs as bookmarks? If you answered yes to both of these questions then, just like me, you were reading Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks back in the nineteen eighties, they were great weren’t they?

Like you, my introduction to Fighting Fantasy came in the classroom where all my mates were reading these books with covers full of monsters , dark forests and sinister looking castles. And they weren't like normal books either; reading over people’s shoulders I saw that you got to choose how the story went and it could just as easily end in death as it could glory. I wanted in and promptly pestered my folks for my own FF books.

For someone like me, FF books were a godsend as you weren’t just reading a book anymore, you were actually living the adventure and deciding what would happen next. They were amazing times; wandering strange lands on quests for treasure and glory and frequently dying in incredibly gory ways (check out ‘Seas of Blood’ for the best examples of how to die messily). I’m not going to lie, most of the time I cheated like a madman. I’d nip ahead in the book to see what happened next and then make my decisions based on that. And the number of times I killed monsters without even rolling a dice (because I was just that good apparently…) It wasn't playing the game that did it for me though, it was the feel of travelling those lands and yes, escaping for a bit and being someone else. The books were written very well as far as that went, it was incredibly easy to get immersed very quickly.

So I got all nostalgic a year and a bit ago and set out to find some of my favourites from back in the day. There’s still a few that I’d like to find (‘Island of the Lizard King’ is one) but I’m in no big hurry. What I’ve got here will keep me happy for a bit.

‘Forest of Doom’  and ‘Deathtrap Dungeon’ were the first two FF books that I got way back in Christmas nineteeneightysomethingorother. I was a big fan of forests in fantasy novels even then and so it was amazing to be able to go off and have an adventure in one myself. ‘Deathtrap Dungeon’ is the FF book that everyone knows I think. I've spent hours playing/reading this one (stands up to repeated reading very well I think) and I still have a little chuckle every time I see the barbarian with sunglasses. Seriously, he’s wearing sunglasses; go and see for yourself.

‘The Citadel of Chaos’… You know what? I've only read this book through the once but it still left a lasting impression on my young mind, possibly through use of the word ‘citadel’ which I found really impressive for some reason. And it has an Ian Miller cover! Even back then I knew I liked Miller’s work :o)

I like forests and I also like cities in fantasy fiction as well. ‘City of Thieves’ was my first excursion into one and I barely made it out alive. I’m going back in again this weekend to see if I can get the better of Zanbar Bone once more. Wish me luck?

Did you ever read FF books as a kid? Any favourites?

'Rags & Bones' - Cover Art and Table of Contents

You know those books that you wouldn't normally read but somehow just look intriguing? Books that you end up reading despite the fact that you have a heving pile of books to read anyway? I reckon 'Rags and Bones' could be one of those books for me. I normally stay away from YA books (just because there's a lot of adult books that I want to read first) but the authors in the table of contents, along with the whole 'reimagining of classic tales' thing, has got me wanting to make a little room in my schedule. Have a look at the TOC and see if you don't feel the same (what's in the brackets is what is being reimagined),

That the Machine May Progress Eternally by Carrie Ryan (E. M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops')
Losing Her Divinity by Garth Nix (Rudyard Kipling's 'The Man Who Would Be King')
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman ('Sleeping Beauty')
The Cold Corner by Tim Pratt (Henry James's 'The Jolly Corner')
Millcara by Holly Black (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla')
When First We Were Gods by Rick Yancey (Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark')
Sirocco by Margaret Stohl (Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto')
Awakened by Melissa Marr (Kate Chopin's 'The Awakening')
New Chicago by Kelley Armstrong (W. W. Jacobs's 'The Monkey's Paw')
The Soul Collector by Kami Garcia (The Brothers Grimm's 'Rumpelstiltskin')
Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed (Sir Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene')
Uncaged by Gene Wolfe (William Seabrook's 'The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban')

Early 'must reads' for me are the Wolfe, Ahmed, and Gaiman so no real surprises there then. 'The Soul Collector' looks interesting though and maybe 'Losing Her Divinity' as well. Would you read any of these stories? I'll let you know how it goes...

Happy New Year!

What the title said ;o) I hope you all had a good one last night, I was fast asleep at midnight and that was the best way to see in the New Year I think! Hopefully 2014 is going to be amazing for each and every one of us (even him, he deserves a good 2014 as well you know).

I wasn't going to make any reading resolutions this year (plenty of other resolutions that I do need to make though), figuring that if I enjoy what I'm reading (and can say why if not) then that would be enough for me. And then this happened in 'Any Amount of Books' on the Charing Cross Road...

I only went in for a quick browse of the SFF section, honestly! 'Darker than you think' was a no-brainer (that's another one ticked off the Fantasy Masterworks list) and I do have a bit of a soft spot for the 'old' SF Masterworks books so the other three pretty much bought themselves really. 'Grass' is a book that I definitely wanted to read after Gav has been saying so many nice things about it.
I've got two shelves full of Fantasy and Science Fiction Masterworks now (with more to follow) so it's about time I started reading them isn't it? The resolution then is to read at least one a month, more if I can, and post reviews here. 'The Phoenix and The Mirror' is being read at the moment so you should hopefully see what I thought in the next couple of weeks. There are some really interesting looking books on these shelves and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in.

That is pretty much my only reading resolution although it's (very) early days and I daresay that more plans will be made. What about you though, what are your reading resolutions for 2014? Whatever they are, I hope you have a great year and all the stuff you're planning comes to fruition :o)

So Long 2013...

On the old blog, I used to do ‘Big Fat End of the Year’ posts but this won’t be one of those; partly because I don’t want to rehash stuff like that but also there were large parts of 2013 that I have no interest in dwelling on. I’m leaving the long period of unemployment and the litigious neighbour right where they are and looking forward to a much nicer new year in 2014. That’s not to say that 2013 was all bad though, just that all the good stuff seemed to happen right at the end :o) I’m now in a job that I enjoy, working with good people, and my youngest daughter is about three and a half weeks old, happy(ish) days are here again ;o) I guess that’s one thing I’ve learned over the year, wading through a sea of crap is never good but you will always be able to reach dry land in the end; I feel for anyone who’s going through similar stuff right now (it will get better).

2013 was also the year that I started this blog and it’s been a lot of fun so far, definitely good to be back chatting about the stuff that I love. I’ve posted 70 reviews which isn’t bad given all the other stuff that has been going on; I’ll be aiming for a few more than next year I reckon… I’ve covered a few new books but I’ve actually had a lot more fun re-reading books on the shelf and going back to read books that are a lot older. Covering some Robert E. Howard short stories was a lot of fun (I knew it would be, that’s why I did it) but what was even more enjoyable was checking out Lord Dunsany’s poetry and some short fiction by Clark Ashton-Smith for the first time. I reckon there will be a lot more of that next year too. This blog is already taking a bit of a different direction then, one that felt totally needed if I was to keep enjoying genre fiction. I will still be reviewing the new stuff though so stick around for that. I’m reading ‘The Phoenix and the Mirror’ (not a new release but new in this edition), ‘The Boy with the Porcelain Blade’ and ‘The Barrow’ at the moment and they are all books that I think you will get a lot out of next year.

Like I said, I only posted 70 reviews this year and the balance of stuff that I read makes a ‘Best of 2013’ list a little bit, well… unfeasible really. A ‘Fiction that I Really Enjoyed’ list though… Yeah, I reckon I could do one of those though ;o) Here’s a list of all the stuff that really stood out for me then (in no order), here we go…

‘The Desert of Souls’ – Howard Andrew Jones (Head of Zeus) – An absolutely spellbinding read that has got me hassling the poor publicity lady, at Head of Zeus, for the next two books. If you haven’t read it then you really need to do something about that.

‘The Copper Promise’ – Jen Williams (Headline) – I don’t think I’ve enjoyed reading a fantasy novel so much in a long time. Fantasy that you used to read as a kid but for the 21st century.

‘The Year of the Three Monarchs’ – Michael Swanwick (‘The Sword & Sorcery Anthology’, Tachyon Press) A tightly spun tale that drips with atmosphere and clever bits that make you go, ‘oohhh…’

‘Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven and The Red Death’ – Richard Corben (Dark Horse Comics) Richard Corben does amazing weird horror art work and it feels like he was born to do the art for these. Corben doesn’t disappoint.

‘The Riders’ & ‘The Quest’– Lord Dunsany. Just because that’s the way I feel whenever I pick up a fantasy book.

‘The Charnel God’ – Clark Ashton Smith. Probably the whole reason why I bought a copy of ‘Return of the Sorcerer’ and am still keeping half an eye open for ‘The Emperor of Dreams’; an amazing slice of the darkest kind of fantasy.

‘Prince of Thorns’ – Mark Lawrence (Harper Voyager) I’m horribly late to this party (and still need to read the other two books) but it is so clear why everyone has been saying good things about these books. An awesome story with a compelling lead.

And that was my 2013 in terms of books that I read; I reckon you could pick up any of those books and not be disappointed.
As far as resolutions for next year go, I’ve got loads of books on my shelves that I planned on reading but never got round to. I’m talking ‘Happy Hour in Hell’ and ‘She Who Waits’ in particular, both awesome books that I never got round to. 2014 will be the year that I do something about that I think :o) There are also a couple of series that I want to re-read just because it’s been too long and way past time I revisited. More importantly though, the plan is to keep enjoying how this blog is going, I don’t think that will be too hard ;

Have a great New Year’s Eve and I’ll see you all on the other side ;o)

All genre books should start like this.

'This is the reader's book. All proper names are therefore to be pronounced in any way he chooses, except in conversation with another reader, in which case the two must settle their differences as best they can, for there is no rule.'

From the 'Author's Note','The Well of the Unicorn' (Fletcher Pratt)

As someone who regularly mangles carefully constructed fantasy languages (Steven Erikson and GRRM in particular) this sentence made for welcome reading when I picked the book up for a quick skim through :o) I'm working my way through Moorcock's 'Daughter of Dreams', along with the second Fantasy Masterworks 'Conan' collection, but 'The Well of the Unicorn' just moved itself up the pile, almost without my realising it... Anyone here read it?

Because sometimes the title says everything that you need to know...

Pretty much says it all doesn't it? :o)

What, you want blurb as well? Oh go on then...

When the Government's latest crime deterrent, Obmoz goes completely off the rails and starts to destroy everything from the underfunded super team Planetronix to the president himself, who ya gonna call? Not Zombo, because he s dead and not in a zombie-type of dead way, but in a brain-melted-by-laser kinda way! Now the only thing standing between mankind and total annihilation is a male stripper and a well padded pair of underpants! I don't think we're going to make it...


I think my weekend reading just sorted itself out. I'll let you know if 'You smell of Crime' is as irreverent as 'Can I eat you please? sometime next week. My money is on 'yes, yes it is...' :o)

Nostalgic Cover Art Post - 'Neverwhere' (Neil Gaiman)

I've spent the last few days clearing out loads of books that I know I will never read again. It's been hard to let some of them go but if I'm not reading them then it's time isn't it?
One of the good things about this though is that I'm finding books that I had totally forgotten I had but will definitely read now I've remembered them; like this one...

Under the streets of London there's a world most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There's a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining... And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city.

It's not often you find a cover that just fits the book perfectly, this is one of those covers. You've got London Above (with a little hint of foggy magic hiding in that skyline) and London Below looking all dark and mysterious erm... below. What I love about this book is that the cover opens up onto another cover showing a little bit more of those tunnels.

I'd read 'Neverwhere' before moving to London and was more than a little disappointed to find that London wasn't all that magical when I finally moved there. Or is it? Every so often I wonder...

I've got the 'Black Company Re-Read' to finish off but once that's done I reckon I'll be picking up 'Neverwhere' again. Have you read it?

Anyone Fancy A Big Box Of Books (With Tiny Caveat...)?

I'm trying to be a lot more strict with myself about what stays on the shelves these days. If new stuff comes into the house then I'm really trying to balance that out with stuff headed in the other direction. There were loads of books that I realised I would either never re-read or, in some cases, read at all. I want my bookshelves to be all about books that I want to keep coming back to so...

I don't know how many books I've got rid of here but they're all in good condition (like I said, some haven't even been opened) and I reckon they could make someone a pretty good Christmas present. So, would you like this box of books?

Before you get too excited, I did mention something about a caveat... I don't have the money to post this box anywhere so you'll need to come and pick it up (it's worth it). That pretty much limits this to anyone living in London who either has a car or a couple of large suitcases. If you fit the bill, drop me a line at graeme@graemesfantasybookreview.com (yep, I need to sort out a new email address) and we'll sort something out. First email gets the box, I'll leave it about a week or so then these books will start going to the charity shop.

And by the way, don't worry about coming to the house of some strange guy from the internet. The worst that can happen is Hope doing her impression of a bouncing bomb (she was watching 'The Dambusters' the other day).

I've just seen some more books that need to go in the box so I'll see you all tomorrow ;o)

'Calvin & Muad'Dib'

I saw this linked on Twitter this morning and, even though it's been on Tumblr for a while, I thought I'd share :o) I'm enough of a fan of both for it to be a nice Friday chuckle. Anyone care to hazard a guess at how humanity would have fared if Calvin had taken charge of Arrakis and its supply of spice...?

You can find the 'Calvin & Muad'Dib' tumblr over Here.

Thoughts on 'Thinking about Book Collecting'

So I was reading 'Thinking about Book Collecting' (over at Pornokitsch) and, funnily enough, it got me thinking about book collecting. More specifically, the collection(s) that I am attempting to build (SF and Fantasy Masterworks). Or is it just an excuse to go into second-hand bookshops? A little bit of both, I love second-hand bookshops :o) Anyway... Because it's late I'm going to use Jared's questions to frame my own post. Here goes...

I started collecting Fantasy Masterworks because I was daft enough to let a couple of them go to the charity shop several years ago. I want to read them again (in particular 'Land of Laughs') so the hunt began. Things somehow changed from a couple of titles to collecting all the titles and then the 'SF Masterworks' got incorporated into the whole thing as well. What? I want to read them all and see what the big deal is.
Somewhere along the line, I've found myself focussing on collecting titles rather than editions. Editions are preferable but I figured that if I ever wanted to read these books then I was going to have to compromise a little. It's making the 'Masterworks Shelf' look a little more funky at the same time; I love some of those old covers that seem like they have very little to do with the book itself :o)

Am I looking for value or completeness? Completeness, definitely. If you saw my copy of 'Gloriana' then you would know what I mean. I'd always rather buy a nice looking book but so long as all the pages are there then I really don't mind too much; especially if I can pick up a book for pennies (very important right now). The reading is the thing.

Is it more important to search or to find? Amazon could bring the collecting to an end very quickly but the fun is very much in the hunt. That's the rule in fact. Books as presents? That's ok(ish) and I will treat myself to a little spree when I finally land that increasingly mythical looking job. In the meantime, it's charity shops and second hand book shops all the way. And that's how I like it. There's something almost magical about second hand bookshops anyway; to go into one and discover a book that you never knew was there but were searching for anyway? That's where the real magic lies. I was lucky enough to score a couple of 'hits' the other day. Check 'em out...

'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' (Cornerstone Books) was an amazing find as it is one of the books that ended up in the charity shop all that time ago. Same edition and looking rather good for it's age, I'll take that :o)
'Flow My Tears' (St Luke's Hospice Book Shop) though... This was a book that literally burrowed its way to the top of the box while I was telling Hope that she could have the 'Disney Princess' annual that she really wanted. And I'd swear that it wasn't there the last time I looked... That's what it's all about for me and why I don't actually want this collection to be complete any time soon.

What are you guys all collecting?

My 'Essential Zombie Fiction Reading List'

I know I said I was going off zombies (still am a little) but I see things like The Essential Zombie Fiction Reading List (on the Barnes & Noble blog) and it's like a little red flag goes up in my head... And then I find myself posting here :o)

Don't get me wrong, I haven't got anything major against this reading list; lists like these are subjective and so on... I'd query the inclusion of the 'Newflesh' books (never got what all the fuss was about), Rhiannon Frater's trilogy is worth a read and when I finally get round to reviewing 'Plague Nation' I suspect I'll have a lot of good things to say about it. It's just that there are other zombie books out there that do the job a lot better and should have been included. What's that? Lists are subjective? Well, yes but... This time I know I'm right, I've read a lot of zombie fiction and know what I'm on about ;o)

So here's my list then, full of books that you can actually pick up right now this very second (in one form or another). If you want to get into zombie fiction then you could do a lot worse than check these out...

'The Rising' (Brian Keene) - These 'zombies' aren't technically zombies (being demon possessed corpses) but they still eat the living and the wider breakdown of society is depressingly well covered. 'The Rising' is the book credited with kick starting the zombie genre and it's where you need to start if you haven't already.

When you're done here, read...

'Dead Sea' (Brian Keene) - We're dealing with 'proper zombies' here and Keene does just as well here (even better I think) as he did with 'The Rising'. Read it! This one is underrated (I think) and deserves a wider audience.

'Pariah' (Bob Fingerman) - The zombie apocalypse isn't just about people getting eaten; it's about survival whilst dealing with a constant feeling of being trapped. 'Pariah' really nails that atmosphere with one apartment block of survivors surrounded by a Manhattan crammed full of eight million zombies. You can almost touch the claustrophobia here and Fingerman charts the downward spiral of certain characters in such a way that it stays with you for a long time afterwards.

The 'Autumn' series (David Moody) - If you've ever found yourself wondering how a 'British Zombie Apocalypse' might pan out then pick up 'Autumn' (which might still be free online, I think..) and read on from there. The plot is compelling but it's the background that Moody paints which is the key here. Everything is soul-crushingly bleak with little or no hope of salvation, just like all good zombie apocalypses should be.

'The Reapers are the Angels' (Alden Bell) - I almost didn't include this one as the character studies are so well done that you almost don't notice the zombies at all. 'Reapers' makes the cut though as I don't think I've read a zombie book that handles its characters as well. Hard times make for hard choices but you can still have a shot at redemption.

Otto Penzler's 'Zombies' Collection - I haven't made it all the way through this book but any anthology that has the first ever zombie story inside is essential reading for fans, no argument.

Last but not least, Joe McKinney's 'Dead City' is a favourite of mine with a great mix of citywide meltdown, intriguing questions and human drama. I think you'll like it and McKinney has written three more books (I think) following it.

It's clear then that my work is not yet done in terms of pointing out all the great zombie fiction out there ;o) While I'm not going to be reading all the zombie fiction that comes my way, I'm definitely back in the game here as well :o) Would anyone else like to add their recommendations?

Books, Books & Books...

You may have heard me go on about this elsewhere but I'm on a bit of a mission to collect the old Fantasy Masterworks series. The rules are simple; all purchases can only be made through second hand book-shops/market stalls etc. When I finally get a job, one small excursion into the world of 'Amazon New & Used' will be permitted :o)

With this in mind, there was no way that I could pass up a visit to the Hilly Fields Fair (just up the road from where I live, always fun) without a little nose around the second hand stalls after time spent watching Hope try to kill herself on the bouncy castle. No Fantasy Masterworks this time, the search continues, but I did manage to find this...

Last time I came across one of the 'Eternal Champion' books in hardback ('A Nomad of the Time Streams' in case you were wondering) it set me back £15 for a first edition. I'm not sure if 'Von Bek' is a first edition (how do you tell?) but it only cost me a pound so I'm not too bothered if it isn't :o) I don't often get luck like this on the second hand book trail so am feeling pretty pleased with myself right now. All I need to do is to find some 'Jerry Cornelius' at a similar price and I'm all set :o)

In terms of books that have come through the door recently; I put down whatever it was I was reading (must have been good then...) to have a go at these two...

'Man of Steel' is the kind of book that makes me want to go out and buy a coffee table just so I have something to put it on. It looks absolutely gorgeous inside and out with all those shots from the film and the double spread concept art. That's where the appeal ends for me though... 'Man of Steel' is one of those books that gives you a lot of background in terms of actors insight into a character, location details etc and that's just not my thing. I love to escape into a story, not have it stripped down into the mechanics of what made it in the first place. If this is your thing then I would totally recommend 'Man of Steel' but, if I can't get to the cinema, I'll wait for the novelization to show up.

I'm about fifty pages off the end of 'Terminus' so won't say too much right now other than that I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Have some blurb,

The world has been overrun by a lethal infection, ravaged by a pathogen that leaves its victims locked half-way between life and death. New York, bombed to prevent the spread of the disease, has been reduced to radioactive rubble.

A rescue squad enters the subway tunnels beneath Manhattan, searching for the one man who can create an antidote.

The squad battle floodwaters, lethal radiation and infected, irradiated survivors as they race against the disease that threatens to extinguish the human race.

Review to come later this week I reckon.
I was going to say that 'Terminus' is a great way for Baker to round off his series but the books haven't been written in order of events so, erm... It's a great way for Baker to begin the series? You can read these books in any order so I'll let you make up your own mind ;o)