From ruth.chapple at gmail.com Mon Mar 1 23:18:18 2010 From: ruth.chapple at gmail.com (ruth.chapple at gmail.com) Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:18:18 +0000 Subject: [Bibliogoth London] Long List: March Message-ID: <000e0ce0d82aecc1310480c576db@google.com> Slightly delayed - my apologies. The next meeting is this Sunday, at 15.00 at the Penderel's Oak in High Holborn. We'll be there for lunch from 13.30 so please join us earlier if you'd like! The long list is below - as usual you get your 5 votes on this. 1. George Orwell, "Homage to Catalonia" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Homage-Catalonia-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141187379/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222082856&sr=1-1 I've been quite interested at times in this period of our history when it seemed that maybe something could actually change in the governments of any countries. Having seen a film of this particular book, I've been meaning to read the book for some time and thought it might be worth nominating. 2. Rob Newman, ?Manners? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manners-Robert-Newman/dp/0241139805/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234209842&sr=1-7 3. Greg Bear, "Queen of Angels". http://www.amazon.co.uk/Queen-Angels-Greg-Bear/dp/0099847701/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241429124&sr=1-1 This one might be too long, dark, or impenetrable. Bear has inhaled a huge, dense cloud of Drexleresque nanomachines, Jungian archetypes, and Marvin Minsky, and turned the Holy Shit Quotient up to about twelve. The result is a murder mystery of sorts, with in-depth meditations on morality, punishment, consciousness, and a future world which is neither straight extrapolation, utopia, or dystopia. It is, however, nearly 500 pages. How you will react to it very much depends whether your reaction to all that is "lighten the heck UP already". Um, no warp drives here, either. 4. S Byatt, ?Possession? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Possession-Romance-S-Byatt/dp/0099800403/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222082678&sr=1-1 Part love story, part mystery novel, part poetry in semi episolery format about a Victorian writer's mysterious lost love letters 5. Anne Michaels, "Fugitive Pieces" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fugitive-Pieces-Anne-Michaels/dp/0747529396/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260737197&sr=8-3 I first read this about 9 years ago, and it has remained one of my favouraite books ever since. I must have read it at least 20 times, and still find it interesting and refreshing both in content, style and emotion. (Stolen from Amazon).....The stories of two men from different generations whose lives have been transformed by war. A young boy, Jakob Beer, is rescued from the mud of a buried Polish city during World War II and taken to an island in Greece by an unlikely saviour, the scientist/humanist Athos Roussos. 6. Andrew Davidson, "The Gargoyle" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gargoyle-Andrew-Davidson/dp/1847671691/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260737745&sr=8-1 I picked this up on the chance that it might be ok (whilst on a trip to buy graphic novels!), and it turned out to be an enthrawling read. I guess it is a romance of sorts, but an unconventional one revolving around a horrific accident. It was a book that i didnt want to put down once i started. 7. Nancy Collins, "Sunglasses after dark" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunglasses-After-Dark-Nancy-Collins/dp/0708844790/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261908843&sr=8-1 I find this book amazingly readable, I've re-read it a number of times. And it gives an interesting solution to the writer's problem of how to make your vampire a hero and at the same time keep them dangerous. 8. Sergei Lukyanenko, "Nightwatch" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Watch-Sergei-Lukyanenko/dp/0099489929/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261908966&sr=1-2 I read this after seeing the subtitled Russian movie. I'm glad I had the imagery of the film in my head when I read the book. My mental pictures would have been too English. 9. Laurell K. Hamilton, "Guilty Pleasures" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guilty-Pleasures-Laurell-K-Hamilton/dp/0755355296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261910343&sr=1-1 I know that this is the first novel in a series that went downhill really fast and I have grown to hate novels written in the first person singular by female heroes, but Isaac Asimov once commented on the difficulty of writing valid whodunits in a science fiction of fantasy world where the audience have to understand the rules as well as be given the clues to solve it. This is a good fantasy whodoneit. 10. Bram Stoker, "The Mystery of the Sea" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mystery-Sea-Bram-Stoker/dp/1934555215/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261910961&sr=1-18 I'd like to give this one a go because I came across it while looking for books for the long list and I haven't read it. 11. Luke Rhinehart, "The Dice Man" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dice-Man-Luke-Rhinehart/dp/0006513905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262168596&sr=8-1 I found the idea of making decisions by the roll of a dice quite amusing, and enjoyed the book itself. 12. Neil Gaiman, "The Time of Your Life" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Time-Your-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1563893339/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262168662&sr=1-1 Because I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this story. 13. Steph Swainston, "The Year of Our War" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Our-War-Gollancz-SF/dp/0575076429/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262168722&sr=1-1 (the first in an acclaimed fantasy series about a War between humanoids and alien insects which is mired in a stalemate) 14. Charlie Stross, "Singularity Sky" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Singularity-Sky-Charles-Stross/dp/1841493341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262168746&sr=1-1 15. Kate Griffin, ?A Madness of Angels? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Madness-Angels-Matthew-Swift/dp/1841497339/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267485113&sr=8-1 "Neverwhere for the digital age" is how it's described. It's living up to that thus far- though the flavour has changed since Neverwhere (as the flavour of London has changed since the days of Neverwhere). Hmm... looks like it might be intended to be part of a series as well, though I don't think book two is out yet. Still, I thought I had to suggest it because reading it is making me think I'd like to go to certain places it talks about (the ones I haven't been) to see if the flavour is accurate. 16. Arthur C. Clarke, "The Songs of Distant Earth". http://www.amazon.co.uk/Songs-Distant-Earth-Arthur-Clarke/dp/0586066233/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241429047&sr=1-1 One of Clarke's more lyrical novels, written partly as a response to those who complained that science fiction was unemotional space opera. No warp drives here... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.bibliogoth.co.uk/pipermail/london/attachments/20100301/4944ebee/attachment.htm