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I really have to watch something, so that my Media Monday can actually be media-y again, instead of just books. Maybe Doctor Who will come back soon. I mean, there's Agents Of SHIELD, obviously, but I don't tend to talk about that. Stuff blows up, Coulson is cool, alien ray guns, boom. Although wouldn't Elizabeth Henstridge make a good Doctor? Yeah, I know - 90% of my f-list don't know who she is! But trust me, she'd be great.
Anyway, books. I'm currently reading something called The Outcasts Of Time, by Ian Mortimer. He usually writes non-fic, and is the author of the excellent Time Traveller's Guides series, amongst one or two others. This is his first foray into fiction, and is basically a time travel adventure. In practice it's a thinly disguised history text book, but I don't mind that: a time travel adventure with a shedload of accurate historical detail is no bad thing. It's an odd one though. In a nutshell, it's about a man living each day ninety-nine years after the last, after making a deal with someone or something, in order to escape the plague. Given the odd complexity of the set-up, and the fact that it appears completely without reason or logic, I can only assume that the Master is behind it all. I fully expect some goateed sniggering on the final pages.
I do quite recommend this one. It's written both in the first person and in the present tense, two literary conventions that I generally loathe, but I'm not minding too much. It's amiable enough, it's very readable, and the historical detailing is lovely. The plot is a bit thin - John arrives somewhere, examines his surroundings and meets a few people, and then hops forward another ninety-nine years - and there's the ever present issue of quite why anybody would set him at his time-hopping in the first place. But it's as good a way as any to read some social history; and maybe there'll be an explanation for it all eventually (I'm still betting on the Master). If you fancy a time travel adventure (and who doesn't, at least occasionally?), you could do a lot worse. That doesn't exactly sound like effusive praise, I know, but it's a first attempt at fiction, and I don't think he's trying to be the next Michael Crichton or Isaac Asimov. I'd prefer a bit more plot, but I'm happy with what it is. If you like his other books, it's a pretty fair bet that you'll like this.
I also read a book called Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, which is a history of humankind. Quite provocative, very readable, and roughly the size of a small country (about five hundred pages). I'm glad I waited for the paperback! Very good, anyway. Not as easy a read as the above, perhaps, but worth it.
And now I'm off time-travelling again. Next stop, 1941!
Anyway, books. I'm currently reading something called The Outcasts Of Time, by Ian Mortimer. He usually writes non-fic, and is the author of the excellent Time Traveller's Guides series, amongst one or two others. This is his first foray into fiction, and is basically a time travel adventure. In practice it's a thinly disguised history text book, but I don't mind that: a time travel adventure with a shedload of accurate historical detail is no bad thing. It's an odd one though. In a nutshell, it's about a man living each day ninety-nine years after the last, after making a deal with someone or something, in order to escape the plague. Given the odd complexity of the set-up, and the fact that it appears completely without reason or logic, I can only assume that the Master is behind it all. I fully expect some goateed sniggering on the final pages.
I do quite recommend this one. It's written both in the first person and in the present tense, two literary conventions that I generally loathe, but I'm not minding too much. It's amiable enough, it's very readable, and the historical detailing is lovely. The plot is a bit thin - John arrives somewhere, examines his surroundings and meets a few people, and then hops forward another ninety-nine years - and there's the ever present issue of quite why anybody would set him at his time-hopping in the first place. But it's as good a way as any to read some social history; and maybe there'll be an explanation for it all eventually (I'm still betting on the Master). If you fancy a time travel adventure (and who doesn't, at least occasionally?), you could do a lot worse. That doesn't exactly sound like effusive praise, I know, but it's a first attempt at fiction, and I don't think he's trying to be the next Michael Crichton or Isaac Asimov. I'd prefer a bit more plot, but I'm happy with what it is. If you like his other books, it's a pretty fair bet that you'll like this.
I also read a book called Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, which is a history of humankind. Quite provocative, very readable, and roughly the size of a small country (about five hundred pages). I'm glad I waited for the paperback! Very good, anyway. Not as easy a read as the above, perhaps, but worth it.
And now I'm off time-travelling again. Next stop, 1941!
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