Peter Hamilton: The Fallen Dragon

A stand alone novel from the creator of Nights dawn. Space opera with a small dash of future philosophy thrown in. There were times when I struggled to keep reading this. For most of the middle section of the novel I wasn't sure who was good who was bad, which characters I liked which characters I didn't like. George R.R. Martin can do moral ambiguity and still keep your interest in his characters but in this book Peter Hamilton can't. Nevertheless there is a good story in there with plenty of clever stuff. Example of the clever stuff: A couple of hundred years after the invention of faster than light space flight the age of space exploration is fizzling out because it has turned out to be uneconomic. Recommended if you are prepared to put in a bit of effort to get to the end.

Mark Haddon: The curious incident of the dog in the nightime

Another book I started reading by accident and a very good one at that. This book is tricksy. For the first few chapters you think you are reading a light hearted whimsical view of the world from a the point of view of a teenager suffering from a form of autism. It is only when you are about half way in that it dawns on you that this is not a light hearted tale at all. It is deadly serious and very very good. Well recommended. Has lots of clever maths in it by the way as the narrator is a whizz at maths even though he is incapapble of empathy.

Garth Nix: The Fall

I must be regressing. I am reading yet another Young Adult fantasy. This book came free with a box of cereal as far as I recall, I read a few pages and hey ... it was pretty good. Lots of imagination in this first book of Nix's Seventh Tower Series. A young "Chosen" in a world that is veiled from light falls upon hard times when his father disappears with the families only proper sun stone. Without the stone our hero is likely to be booted out of the elite chosen ranks so he must set out on a desperate adventure to find one. Good stuff and with magical shadows it is somewhat in the vein of "His Dark Materials" but not nearly as dark.

George R.R. Martin: Deamsongs Volume II

The second volume in this retrospective from the creator of Ice and Fire. This is just as good a read as the first volume although for different reasons. In the first volume I found the retrospective bits more entertaining than the stories. In this volume, perhaps reflecting Martin's developing craft as an author the stories are much stronger and the retrospective bits are more forgettable. For fans of Ice and Fire who missed Robert Silverberg's Legends collection this volume gives a second chance to read the Ice and Fire prequel "The Hedge Knight".

Iain M. Banks: Matter

The latest Culture novel from the Scottish genius of modern literature. Sadly this one didn't do it for me. While Banks creativity and imagination are still there the plot just didn't take off until the closing chapter of the book by which time there was no space left to do anything more than a pretty shoddy wrapping up of loose ends. Dissapointing.

Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod

Hit and Miss. This technological singularity novel does a great job of describing a somewhat chaotic, anarchic post singularity universe. The survivors who have not given themselves over to post human state (the "rapture") live in a world littered with the technological debris of repeated singularities some malevolent, some benign. A case in point is a vast wormhole network ("The Skein") which is controlled by a feudal Scottish Clan who are the main protagonists of the story. While the universe McLeod constructs is rich and intriguing the story itself is a let down. It is quite confusing at times and even after I had figured out what was going on I felt that the confusion arose from lack of clarity rather than any great depth of storyline. Ultimately it is quite unsatisfying. If McLeod writes another novel in this rich universe he has created I will be tempted to try it but he will will have to do a better job of storytelling to satisfy this reader.

The Inferior by Peadar O Guilin: Instant Book Review

Stopmouth and his tribe live at at the edge of existence in a kill or be killed world where every species preys on every other and cannibalism is vital element of the food chain. What then are those strange shimmering globes that float over this barbarian world? Brilliant stuff. It is targeted at young adults so there are no naughty words and you can detect a hint of moralising but the story is easily meaty enough (pun) for mature readers. Peadar's protrayal of the motivations and behaviour of those living in this ativistic world is superb and he gives us a rollicking adventure story to boot. First of a series. Strongly reccommended.

Centurion: By Simon Scarrow, Instant Book Review

Sword and Toga historical fiction set in Eastern Roman Empire. Fairly lightweight but entertaining. I will probably read more from the series.

Older Instant Book Reviews

• Conn Iggulden, Lords of the Bow: Second book in Iggulden's "Conqueror" saga about Ghengis Khan. This is probably a great read but I struggled to get over how utterly dislikeable Ghengisk and his Mongol horde are.
• Gary Gibson: Stealing Light: Start of clever space opera series by a new to the scene Scottish SF writer. The central theme of the novel revolves around a simple premise that has profound implications. Good Stuff.
• J V Jones, The Bakers Boy: Volume 1 of series. Plot is pretty standard fasntasy fare involving lowly kitchen boy's lonely journey to become (no doubt) saviour of the universe. Nevertheless entertaining escapism.
• Kevin J. Anderson: The ashes of the Worlds: Book 7 in the extraordinarily good Seven Suns Saga. Sadly weak but at least it ties up all loose ends albeit sometimes unconvincingly. Made essential by the quality of the first six books.
• George R. R. Martin Dream Songs (bk 1): A Retrospective from the creator of Ice and Fire. Stories range from so so to excellent. Authors commentary though is first rate.
• Demon of the Air by Simon Levack: Detective Story set in Montezuma's Mexico. So so.
• Figure of Hate: Bernard Knight. Medieval Detective Story. Entertaining.
• Blood River by Tim Butcher: True Story of Journalists Journey down the Congo. Gripping but depressing.
• Metal Swarm by Kevin Anderson: Latest in series. Great.
• The Dreaming Void by Peter Hamilton: New Sequence from creator of Night's Daw. SLow to get started but picks up towards the end.