Reading Update 26/05/08

Having been reading John Scalzi’s Whatever blog for a while I thought it was about time I checked out his Old Man’s War (Tor UK, 2005) SF novel, the first of his books to get a UK release. It’s military SF, with the emphasis on fast action and snappy dialogue rather than in-depth military tactics and deep philosophical meanderings, and liberally sprinkled throughout with a healthy dose of humour. Very entertaining, I’ll certainly be reading more of Scalzi’s books.

The 1st Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories, released last year by UK based small press Humdrumming and expected to be an annual event, serves as a showcase for the writers with whom the publisher has current or forthcoming titles. It’s a mixed bag, as most anthologies tend to be, and not all the stories within appealed to me but it ably demonstrates the wide variety of subject matter and styles currently being offered within the horror genre. Humdrumming are definitely a publisher to watch, I’ve ordered several other titles off them already.

The Bamboo Sword and Other Samurai Tales (Kodansha, 2005) by Shuhei Fujisawa, and translated by Gavin Frew, is a fine collection of eight stories originally published in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s, and set in 17th century Japan after the unification of the country under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The title story provided the basis for the award winning 2002 film The Twilight Samurai, directed by Yoji Yamada. The longer tales include some historical and cultural background to help put the narrative in context; in fact I had to keep reminding myself when these stories were written, so successful is Shuhei in bringing the period to life.

 

The Good, The Bad and The Weird trailer

Not more musical variations on a film theme tune but the new movie from acclaimed South Korean director Kim Ji-Woon, known for The Quiet Family, A Tale of Two Sisters and A Bittersweet Life. This time around he’s giving us a western, with Jung Woo-Sung, Lee Byung-Hun and Song Kang-Ho in the three title roles respectively.

(Original link via Kung Fu Cult Cinema)

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, on ukeleles

The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain

Reading Update 13/05/08

Since discovering the wonderful world of PS Publishing a couple of years back via their Postscripts quarterly short story magazine I’ve been catching up on some of the back catalogue that takes my eye, in particular the novellas (three of which are featured here). As PS tends to publish in limited quantities quite a few of their earlier titles can be difficult to find, and even then the more collectable hardback editions tend to fetch silly prices, but the more affordable paperback versions can occasionally be found in specialist genre second hand dealers.

Tim Lebbon’s Changing of Faces (2004) continues on from the earlier Naming of Parts (2000). As with the previous novella the story centres on 12-year-old Jack, who has had to grow up fast since waking up in a world that no longer bears any resemblance to what he knew before. Tim once again successfully tells the story from Jack’s perspective, as he tries to make sense of what is happening around him. According to Tim’s website there’s four novellas planned for this sequence; I wonder when we’re getting part 3.

I’d only previously read one Conrad Williams short story, which didn’t really click with me, but the whole premise of Nearly People (2001) sounded interesting. The setting of Howling Mile is a thoroughly hostile environment, inhabited by some very unpleasant characters. By no means a comfortable read, it is certainly a captivating one. I’ll admit I’m not sure I fully got what was going on towards the end, but this didn’t spoil my overall appreciation of the story.

Leningrad Nights (1999) by Graham Joyce is set in the city of the title during the 900-day siege of World War 2. Graham vividly brings the city to life, atmospherically portraying the hardships the populace face in their struggle to survive the ordeal they’re going through, and in which 13-year-old Leo has his adventures. It may be a short tale but there’s a lot packed in. This was my first experience reading Graham Joyce and I don’t intend it to be my last.

Reading Updates idea

I thought I’d try out an idea I’ve seen on a few other blogs. I’ve only posted four book reviews and they were so short they probably can’t really be classed as proper reviews, more like a couple of comments. This is an approach I feel comfortable with, I’m not a book critic or professional reviewer. I don’t generally receive ARCs of books, so virtually all the books I read I buy myself so don’t feel obliged to review them. One look at my Books Read page shows I’m very far behind with the individual reviews, which may well indicate a lack of enthusiasm for the whole idea (that and finding time), plus there’s no shortage of much better book reviewers out there in the blogosphere.

With all that in mind I thought I might try posting a reading update every couple of weeks with a few comments, positive or negative, on what I’ve been perusing. This should help to provide a bit more detail to the pics at the top right of the blog; I may even dispense with that part all together. Any comments on this approach will be gratefully received, and I hope to have the first Reading Update posted in the next day or two. I might even try a similar Viewing Update to cover films and TV shows.
 

What is Einstein’s Relativity?

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity made simple, by Michael Shirber, over on LiveScience.com

(Link via Slice of SciFi)