yes, indeed it does feel strange addressing you as a fellow reader when at this stage i am writing, look you see. but, presumably, you worked out that this is in reference or if you like relation to yet more books what i have read.
oddly, or to be sure with some curiosity, it's an old school style three book reviews i bring this time. although only two of them fall into the "better" category of the title. those of you who read these review musing things i do from time to time (and happened to have read the last one last month) will know the last two what i read were quite poor. happy days are here, then, for these ones were much better.
quite, yes, a look at (two of) the books what i have read, followed by something close to quick, spoiler free comments about them.
Blacklands by Belinda Bauer is one of the best, if most eerie and disturbing, books what i have read. not what i was expecting but most impressed with what i got. Artemis (pronounced "Artemis") would be the much anticipated second book off of Andy Weir, him what wrote The Martian. it kind of sort of delivers some more of the same in a slightly very much different way, and is just as wonderful to read as his famous debut.
the third book is not pictured here, so as not to desecrate the quality of these two. we will get to that in a bit. for now, though, please be so kind as to observe that a splendid *** SPOILER WARNING *** is in place, but of course i shall do my best not to give too much away. and, as ever, links are for your convenience, and are in no way, shape or form an endorsement or affiliation from me. i intend to keep this blog all ad and sponsorship free, so long as them what do the bloggger and the google allow me to do it all gratis.
provenance? provenance. no idea why this is so important to so many of you, but very well. from what i remember, £2 at Tesco when they still did the books cheap (i bought this a number of months ago). i tend not, however, to simply buy their cheaper on sale novels on autopilot. this one had an interesting and intriguing suggestion of a plot on the back, one which reminded me of aspects of Problem Child, a much loved film.
anyway, actual plot? sure. Steven is a fairly average young teenage boy. not too bright, not to dim, and a bit socially awkward. his life comprises of putting up with the domineering ways of his one good friend, avoiding the local bullies, and feeling a sense of sorrow, sadness and nothing being as it should be in terms of his relationship with his Gran and his Mum.
he stumbles on a well guarded family secret. Steven was supposed to have an Uncle, but he is missing, presumed dead at the hands of a serial killer. this all happened when the Uncle (Billy, i think) was the age Steven is now. and so Steven sets off to dig up the Moors where the serial killer buried his other victims. when he finds this quite tough going, he can think of no reason whatsoever not to write to the killer himself and ask for some help.......
this is dark and disturbing stuff, broken up at times with some wonderfully dark, macabre humour. i give you another warning on that front, but still i say this is one of the finest novels i have ever read. i mean, it's just plain brilliant. you feel all sorts of empathy, sympathy and what have you with/for Steven, and the nature of his plight really breaks your heart. all the young lad wants is for his Mum and Gran to at least stop begruding him or resenting him, at best he wants them to hold him, to love him. that's why he quietly and secretly goes about his quest, hoping it will put everything right.
i am not sure if i have said too much or too little with my account of Blacklands, in truth. my instinct is to kind of just leave it there as it is, now. there are warnings, to be sure, but if you are confident you can handle the emotional turmoil and upsetting content, then i would encourage you to go off and read it, as soon as chance allows or otherwise permits.
at the other end of the scale of that would be The Executioner - Chicago Wipeout by Don (pronounced "Don") Pendleton. from what i can work out this is or was book six or maybe seven in the Mack Bolan Executioner series.
provenance? charity stand at a supermarket, possibly Tesco. i think i paid 50p or £1 for it, really hope the charity what it went to got some benefit.
the plot? it seems this Mack Bolan goes from city to city around the world knacking any and all mob or mafia types he can find. in this case, and there is a clue in the title, he does it in Chicago. whereas the cover promised loads and loads of sex and violence, the actual book contained very little, at least in any graphic way. perhaps we in the UK got a heavily censored version of it; the book was published in 1973 when the government of the day was pushing for a return to Victorian values.
why did i read it? well, i wanted to take something away with us on holiday to read. i thought it would be a quick, short read, and it was. also, an awful one.
provenance? Tesco, but full whack £4 for it, which is their premium or prestige price for a paperback. there was no argument from me, The Martian was such a brilliant read (and in fairness a fairly decent film version) that i wanted this one as soon as possible.
the plot? we, as in people, as in the humans of earth, have quasi colonised the moon (at last, maybe). this is kind of for tourist reasons, but mostly as it has turned out that manufacturing certain things (doing my best to avoid spoilers) on the moon in fact turned out to be the cheapest option. so yes, just like with countries on our very own planet, the colonisation of space is only likely as and when commercial reasons come to the fore and businesses may profit from such. don't blame me, that's the way our world has been made, and we all just stand by and accept it, do we not?
anyway, of course there's a working population on the moon. yes, indeed, they are normal, working people, with wishes to access certain things what are contraband or if you like illegal. getting such items in is tricky, but not impossible. Jazz, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, happens to be the best at this. And so she is a natural choice to turn to for an illicit attempt to disrupt business on the moon.....
this is all as wonderfully well written and engaging as The Martian was. let us not forget, dear reader, that The Martian was engrossing, entertaining and hard to put down stuff, even though the first 100+ pages were effectively all about farming. Artemis is somewhat shorter and more taunt, but the delivery is the same.
just as was the case with The Martian, Andy Weir takes a science fiction scenario that seems to be preposterous but makes it all vividly believable whilst keeping the science stuff down to a level that a simple chap such as i can understand. no, i have no hesitation at all in recommending this one to anyone; it's a really fun and enjoyable read.
well, then, that's that. two most superb and splendid reads, and yet also one which was not really either of those but might have been.
let me get on with reading some more, then. as ever, hopefully this has been of some, if only the slightest, use to someone somewhere out there.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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