Doug Lewars's Blog, page 18

High Table, Lower Orders

High Table, Lower Orders: The Complete Series 1 and 2: The BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama by Mark Tavener

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

There were a number of places in this book I found myself laughing. I recommend the audio version because the formal English accents add a great deal to the story. Cambridge may never be the same. This was by far the best comedy I've encountered in years. If you like Tom Sharpe you'll like this.



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In the Red and Other Mysteries

George Cragge: In the Red & Other Mysteries by Mark Tavener

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Technically this is a mystery book but if you're an aficionado of the 'whodunit' genre you may be disappointed. The author is just using the genre as a framework for some incredible satire. It may be a trifle dated as I believe the BBC has undergone a radical transformation since it was the home of pompous individuals who knew precious little and accomplished less. In addition, the author has fun with the politicians of the day. Even if it was set in a time before this one, it's still made me chuckle and I highly recommend it.



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The Insatiable Volt sisters

The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Rachel Eve Moulton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This is a gothic horror story and like many of the genre, has a fairly slow pace as the author works to build tension. It is narrated by four women each of whom is an unreliable narrator providing some, but not quite all the pieces of the puzzle and a few red herrings as well. The setting is Fowler Island, not the real one but a fictitious island set in Lake Erie. There is a dark and brooding house, a water-f9illed quarry known and The Killing Pond which seems to draw female suicides like a magnet, and plenty of dripping water, some slime, and a few monsters. As horror stories go it's pretty good. If you read the blurb it's also described as being from a feminist perspective. However the author doesn't get really political until the epilogue so it's tolerable.



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Up On The Woof Top

Up on the Woof Top by Spencer Quinn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Just from the title you know what you're getting into; and, yes, it is a cozy mystery, but it's not nearly as saccharine sweet as many in the genre even though it has a Christmas theme. It's a perfectly good mystery although you'll probably figure out the villain by about the mid-point. That doesn't make it unpleasant. The whole thing is narrated from the dog's perspective and it helps tone down the sweetness to some extent. Even if you don't like cozy mysteries - and I seldom read them - this one is passable. As with all cozy mysteries, the author allows a few plot holes to slip in like why a professional detective hired for one thing would focus on something entirely different. It's the way these books work. I doubt I'll read any more of the series but, as the saying goes, never say never. I listened to the audio version and it was a pleasant background while I was doing chores.



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The Private Life of Spies and the Exquisit Art of Getting Even

The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even: Stories of Espionage and Revenge by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This book is classic Alexander McCall Smith. It seems two smaller books are compressed into one. In any event, if you're familiar with the author's work, you'll have a reasonable idea what to expect. This is particularly true if you've read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The author writes what I think of as 'soft' fiction. The keyword 'cozy' doesn't apply because there's nothing maudlin about the work, but at the same time there is no hard conflict, no life and death struggle. For example in one story a student comes across a double agent, someone who is probably ruthless and a member of some shadowy group. He could expose the individual and risk retribution. Instead he simply leaves, moves to another city and takes up a new profession there. You won't find violence or car chases here. I definitely enjoyed this book and I've read other works by this author; however, he's someone I prefer to take in small doses. Now and then a McCall Smith book is a refreshing change from the high drama found in many books, but I think if I read too many in too short a time I'd find them becoming just a bit tedious, so while I enjoy his books, I like to space them out.

If you haven't read this author you may be a bit disappointed, particularly if you expect explosive action. On the other hand, this author is a particularly nice individual and his writing reflects that.



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Something Wonderful

Something Wonderful: Stories by Jo Lloyd

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I picked up this book by mistake. I was in a hurry, went to the Sci-Fi shelf in the library and simply grabbed a book. Only later did I realize it have been shelved incorrectly. Rather than make an extra trip I read it.

What some authors forget, is the whole purpose of writing something, be it a novel or short-story, is to tell a good story. It is not to fill the page with pointless twaddle. It is not to explore the hidden depths of the human psyche, and it is certainly, positively, absolutely, NOT to omit the ending.

If you enjoy pretentious drivel, you will probably enjoy this book; otherwise, move on.



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Lucky Jim

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I enjoyed this book although it is not without it's flaws, or perhaps, missed potential might be better wording. It was good. It could have been brilliant.

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend who said the style was similar to that of Tom Sharpe, my favorite author. There are some parallels but this book is no Porterhouse Blue. It's not even Wilt. It takes place in an academic environment but that's about as far as it goes.

The character of Dixon is a petty, mean, spiteful individual with utterly no center to his personality. He dislikes his students, colleagues, superiors and just about everyone with whom he comes into contact. He is also lazy. All this could have been played for laughs had the author caused him to be a little more aggressive but such actions as he takes are trivial or absurd. Mr. Amis makes use of the same literary device as does Tom Sharpe - namely getting his protagonist into scrapes from becoming drunk but this technique has its limitations and both authors use it too extensively.

Ont thing which could have improved the book is to have Dixon enjoy his work - not the colleagues, superiors or students. It's fine for him to despise them, but had he enjoyed the academic life, the cloistered digging through archives in pursuit of something academic, the story would have improved because then his objective would be to avoid all extraneous interruptions while they pile up on him. In this case he hates everything which makes it difficult for the reader to sympathize with his ongoing efforts to remain employed as a college lecturer. This reader concluded the best thing for him would be to quit or get fired, so those parts of the plot involved in his attempts to ingratiate himself with the higher ups seemed like a waste of time.

Almost this entire book revolves around his relationship with two women. To one he is attracted and to the other, bound by duty. I think precious few readers would consider a relationship viable when one party feels duty bound to be nice to the other while the other is attracted to the first for no better reason than she can't seem to do any better.

Mr. Amis does a good job of satirizing certain elements of academia and Victorian pretentiousness but that's about as far as it goes.

The book focuses entirely on Dixon. Had the author spend more time on the supporting characters he would have achieved considerably more humour. Mrs. Welsh, for example, was a proud, self important matron who could have been a classic comedic character. She reminded me of Mrs. Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances but she was never developed. Likewise Margret, who turned out to be a scheming manipulator as well as neurotic, could have contributed something if only dark humour to the story. As it was she was merely an anchor around Dixon's metaphorical leg tying him down.

In terms of scenes, the lecture was okay but with all the chaos going around it could have been better. Instead we just see a few snippets observed by Dixon. Done correctly that scene could have been as hilarious as the church scene in A Prayer for Owen Meany. Likewise, we never learn much about Evan Johns and while Dixon at last has a form of revenge on this antagonist, we never learn if it was effective of if her merely burned some obsolete policies destined for the garbage.

It's a pretty good book but it could have been infinitely better with a few changes.



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The Dragon Lords: Fools Gold

Fool's Gold by Jon Hollins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I very much enjoyed this book but it is not without failings. I'll concentrate on the good stuff first.

The pacing is excellent. The little band of heroes is always facing imminent disaster or are plotting to avoid it. The author does an excellent job of describing fight scenes, some on a massive scale. I was particularly impressed by the final battle with the red dragon. Overall, this is an exciting adventure story set in in fantasy world.

Now on to the negatives.

At some time in his life, Jon Hollins aka Jonathan Wood, learned it was important to provide character arcs and so we are treated to an inordinate amount of useless soul searching and recriminations both self and otherwise. The only character comfortable in his skin is Balur an eight foot lizard man whose motto appears to be 'kill 'em all and have done with it.' Being without self doubts he's also portrayed as having low intelligence. Personally, I liked him best.

If you don't like foul language, you might do better to take a pass on this book. I'm not 100% opposed to such language but it can be grating at times. It works if it fits the characters. In this case it mostly adds clutter to the story. Consider a statement like, 'We're so f___ed.' Put it in the mouth of a certain type of person in an urban setting and it works. However the syntax and use of the word, is characteristic of a modern environment. It feels incongruous in a fantasy where modern colloquialisms wouldn't apply. This isn't true only of crude language, although it's more noticeable there, it's true whenever a modern expression is used in any setting where it would not be known and therefor feels out of place. It appears many authors are incapable of distinguishing the difference between the way they talk and what characters in a fantasy environment would say.

If you want a fine rip-roaring adventure with plenty of blood and gore, and if you don't mind some meandering soul searching and crude language, I think you'll enjoy this book. It was, however, given the keyword of 'humour' and while I may have smiled once or twice, as comedy it doesn't work. Just look for action and adventure here. I won't say 'never' but I'm in no hurry to read the other two books in this series.



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Highfire

Highfire by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was a pretty good book, lots of action and interesting character traits. For those who object strongly to crude language you might do better elsewhere. Generally I don't like it myself but I think it's important for the language to fit the character. If a character would naturally swear I find it tolerable. If I think it's the author who is swearing and just putting words into a character's mouth, I'll quite possibly DNF the book and assign it a 1. It's a vague line and sometimes I wince and move on; others I give up. In this case the crude language fit and I barely noticed it even though it seems to crop up in just about every sentence of dialogue.

I thought there was a bit of a plot hole. Highfire has a strong sense of smell and can detect Squib from a long way away; yet he fails notice the constable hiding of the far side of the river.

As an author, I sometimes have difficulty creating plausible villains. The villain in this story is a dandy. He's bad from beginning to end with no redeeming features. In addition, the author spends enough time in his head so we can follow his plotting. I really enjoyed that.

Despite a few failings, there was action, humour, and some interesting and likable characters. I highly recommend this one.



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The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

A nice little horror story although the ending becomes regrettably apparent long before the author is ready to reveal it. I checked other reviews and it seems most critics who don't like this book say it deviates fare to much from the Night Vale podcast. Since I had never even heard of the latter, must less listened to any episodes before starting this book, I wasn't influence by them; hence I quite liked the book. I particularly enjoyed the villain. It can be tough writing a proper villain and this one is a dandy. I quite recommend it for most readers who aren't Night Vale followers and I particularly recommend this one for authors who can learn a great deal about villains from it.



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