First published 1970. Arrow paperback, 1981. pp 210 c.50,000 words. What if we could use some device to transport us, and anything else, instantly to wherever a receiver had been set up? Harrison explores the possibilities of this notion in a set of otherwise unrelated stories, from the founding of the idea through to the […]
One Step From Earth — Harry Harrison Read More »
First published 2016. Penguin paperback, 2017, pp 218, c.95,000 words. Everything in this novel is ambiguous: we are never sure what is real and what is only desired or feared. Ostensibly it is a simple story, told from the point of view of a young woman, Sophia Papastergiadis. She and her mother have come from
Hot Milk — Deborah Levy Read More »
First published 1885. Penguin paperback, 1977, translated by Leonard Tancock, pp 499, c.175,000 words (main text). Hell is an appropriate description for the working condition of miners in late nineteenth century France – toiling deep underground with little light, dust, damp, too hot or too cold, the ever-present risk of explosion, flood, or roof collapse.
Germinal — Emile Zola Read More »
First published 2022. Amazon paperback, 2022, pp 269, c.70,000 words. Fundamentally this book is a celebration of friendship, couched in an amiable thriller/who-done-it. It is the fourth ‘Jon Ball’ story and it concerns a woman who went missing, last seen at the Oxford University Press where she was cleaning up after a book-launch party. Jon
Under Pressure — Colwell Hopper Read More »
First published 2011. Atlantic Books paperback, 2011, pp 273, c.55,000 words. This book notoriously was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2011, the year that Stella Rimington, thriller writer and former head of MI5, declared that one of the criteria for the prize that year would be ‘readability’. Hurrah, who wants to read an unreadable
Snowdrops — A. D. Miller Read More »
First published 1988. Grafton paperback, 1988, pp 301, c.95,000 words. This is the sequel to Dayworld (which I haven’t read) but it stands well enough on its own. It explores one of the dominant themes of mid-twentieth century science fiction – what will happen if the world gets over populated (although the current global population
Dayworld Rebel — Philip Jose Farmer Read More »
First published 1977. Johnathan Cape hardback, 1977, pp 704, c.265,000 words. The trouble with being a very successful writer is that when your next book is a turkey everyone is going to tell you it’s a swan. Fowles is quite capable of writing some really elegant and powerful prose and putting that together with absorbing
Daniel Martin — John Fowles Read More »
First published 2014. Picador hardback, 2014, pp 261, c.45,000 words. There is no doubt that St Aubyn is a very clever chap, but unfortunately that doesn’t always make for good reading. Presumably this was a vanity project that the author’s publisher allowed as an intermission after a successful series. Some parts are quite amusing. The
Lost for Words — Edward St Aubyn Read More »
First published 1976. Pan paperback, 1998, pp 471, c.150,000 words. One might expect a book with this title to somehow reference the moral fable from which the phrase is best known, but it doesn’t. Rather the reverse in that the world ignored the Italian atrocities in Ethiopia in the 1930s from before their colonising campaign
Cry Wolf — Wilbur Smith Read More »
First published 2024. Profile Books paperback, 2024, pp 368, c.90,000 words. This is a very accessible analysis of how likely the world is to get to net zero (increase in CO2 in the atmosphere from human related sources) by 2050. On the whole it presents an optimistic picture, making a convincing case that plausible routes
Possible — Chris Goodall Read More »