Reading List

Below is a list of some of the books I have read recently. This is not intended to be an exercise in literary criticism, more an indication of my personal taste and influences for those who may be interested.

The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin

I loved the first Tales of the City book, wasn't so impressed by the next. I picked this one up at random, and I'm glad that I did. The lead characters gradual realisation that maybe he wasn't the person he thought he was is painful reading. What about the ending though?

Never Let Me go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Are you supposed to by kept in the dark about what's going on in this book? Does it matter? This reminded me of a certain sort of '70s and '80's SF, focussing in one or two characters in order to examine the bigger picture. The character of Ruth was, I thought, stunningly well executed. Thoroughly recommended

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

Okay, I read this years ago, because Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite writers and I've read just about everything by her at least twice. But my daughter just read it for the first time , so that was excuse enough to plug it here.

Diaspora by Greg Egan

I think that Greg Egan is an indicator of how much SF has grown up. Unashamedly technical and very very clever, he doesn't wait for the audience, but drags them up to his level. We need more of this sort of stuff in SF. Let's stop pandering to the critics who don't understand what we're doing; let them catch up with us if they are able.

The Light Ages by Ian R MacLeod

I read this over a year ago and thought it okay at the time... but this is definitely one of those books that stays with you and grows on you. MacLeod constructed a world that has written itself into my head in 3D. I keep finding myself coming up with a wonderful setting or plot, only to realise I am ripping off Ian again.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

I'm currently half way through this. I wanted to read the book before watching the much trumpeted BBC version. I came to Dickens in my early thirties, and I think I'm glad I didn't read him when I was younger as I don't suppose I would have enjoyed him so much.

I'm loving it so far: the sense of place, the moral indignation, the characters. What I always like best about Dickens, however, is the way the underlying plot seems so modern in its structure and its delivery.

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Is it SF? Maybe it would have been thirty or forty years ago. It had some nice SF touches in it, and it 'worked' on an SF level to a greater degree than I expected. I enjoyed it more as a romance, I think, though I couldn't shake the feeling that Henry was grooming Clare.

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick

Not my favourite Dick (that would have to be The Man in the High Castle) but interesting nonetheless. I loved the Dialogue, and I loved the revelation of the theme in the last few pages.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

I seem to have missed the 1990s when it comes to SF. I keep trying to remember what I read back then but the memory is blotted out by Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong. I know I read Birdsong, but I can't remember anything about it apart from the fact that I hated it.

Anyway, I read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion while I was on holiday. I thought the second book was too long, but so what? The first was magnificent. Time tombs, the Shrike, Galactic War, The Canterbury Tales, Keats, AIs and the imminent destruction of humankind. What else could you ask for in a novel?