Flesh & Blood / Graham Masterton

Flesh & Blood
a book by Graham Masterton
category: Horror
published 1995
read in October 2012
rating: 4 out of 10

A horror story written by the numbers.

1. Start with a brutal killing.
2. Add several more deaths, pointless and with plenty of blood and pain.
3. Switch to beautiful people in a pornographically detailed sex scene.
4. Use unbelievable coincidences to link magic, murder, science and human sacrifice.
5. Wrap it all up with a non sequitur, extremely violent ending.
6. Save the last paragraph for, "To be continued..."

What a load of rubbish.

Let's start with number three, the sex scene. Hog Girl, we are told, likes to be dominated because her friend the boar always dominates the sow. So how often have you heard of a boar using several silk scarves to tie up his sow-of-the-moment?! Good grief.

Oh, and the point of the sex scene? Could have been made more clearly, in far fewer words. Without the sex. (Sorry.)

Move on to number five where, we are told, it has been predicted that evil mutant villain will be destroyed by his own, more mutant, offspring. So what happens? Mutant child does nothing more than beg mutant grandad to kill him. Until policeman hero uses police issue shotgun to blast mutant grandad to pieces.

Following which, kindly hero -- and all his police buddies -- stand in a circle and blast mutant child. (Who is now a giant pig. Don't ask.) No worry that missing the pig will shoot a policeman on the other side of the circle. No thought of using the anaesthetic dart then giving the child/pig a painless death. Good grief.

Back to point four of the horror writers' primer, where mediaeval magic is "explained" as being scientifically possible. Just two words: Good grief.

It's violent, there's an irrelevant sex scene, it's easy to read. Feel free to read it. I don't recommend it.

====
Problems ? Solved

Talisman of Blood / Brad Higgens

Talisman of Blood

category: fantasy, author:

Brad Higgens

book 1 of Shadow of the Gryphon
original copyright 2005

read in September 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10, bad but could be read

There are the makings of a good story but it has failed.

Written in a simplistic style with very poor logic. It seems to be a series of incidents thrown together, with not enough thought given to transitions.

The characters are also somewhat flat. Actually... they are quite realistic. So realistic that they are boring.

There is action, there are parallel plots and some interesting characters. Just not very well presented.

Potential... but needs a complete rewrite.

Finally: As I suspected, the publisher is vanity press. For a price, they offer a complete publication service, from go to whoa. This includes copy editing...

And the copy editing has failed.

You pay for copy editing, you expect copy editing. So why are there repeated errors?! Can the copy editor read English? If I were Higgens I would ask for some money back, for failure of the copy editing.

The included-with-your-one-payment critical appraisal process was also weak. Sure, you are really paying to get printed. But was the appraisal truly critical -- or did the author fail to respond to constructive criticism.

Inside Talisman of Blood is the material for a good book. The good book has failed to eventuate.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

Evil for Evil / K.J. Parker

Evil for Evil

category: fantasy ?, author:

K.J. Parker

book 2 of Engineer Trilogy
original copyright 2006

read in July 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10, bad but could be read

This book is second of a trilogy. Perhaps there is something positive to say about the third book; perhaps some of the gloom and misery is dispelled in a somewhat happy conclusion.

Happy conclusion ? Who am I kidding ! If anyone is still alive -- anyone vaguely likable, that is -- if any likable character is still alive at the end, I would be surprised.

Let's consider the "category" of this book. The library identify it as science fiction. I've settled on fantasy. What is it really ?

There are the various city-states which are destroyed. Standard medieval places, with princes, cavalry, archers, foot soldiers with swords and pikes. Other than being not from our own history, there is no "fantasy" element to these places. No science fiction, either. Boringly standard, really.

There's a city-state where everyone operates to rules. Very strict rules, where trying to improve is punishable by death. Okay, could be fantasy or science fiction. They produce some machines which are apparently quite sophisticated. btw: This place is due to be destroyed in book three.

It's not just cities and states which are destroyed. Characters are also destroyed. Either physically or mentally or morally.

What if you asked Cormac McCarthy to write a "fantasy" novel -- but with less of the cheerful positivism that failed to grace The Road... You could end up with Evil for Evil.

What if you asked Woody Allen to define characters for a "fantasy" novel -- self-pitying, whining, ineffectual -- but with less reason to like them and with no chance of self-improvement... You could end up with Evil for Evil.

Characters do something, go somewhere, look as though they may just make a fair go of their lives. Then they are dragged back to an even worse situation. Or they just hang around, doing nothing. And are dragged down. Or killed.

Sometimes, the characters talk to themselves, for pages at a time (or so it seems; it drags). They explain to themselves how absolutely useless they are. How everything they do is wrong. Then they carry on being useless and doing the wrong things.

There is one central character (the eponymous engineer?) who is central to everything. He is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of strangers, to kill people who trust him, to kill people who are almost friends. He is also happy to destroy cities and countries. This is the central character of the series... Really, he sets the miserable tone for this story.

Forget it.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell / Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

category: fantasy, author:

Susanna Clarke

original copyright 2004

read in April 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10: bad but could be read

When I say, "Read in April 2012" I mean, "Attempted to read in April 2012". I reached as far as page 127 -- in a book of 782 pages. Long... boring... interminable... pages.

Let's try to look for the positives:

It's a history of the revival of magic in 19th century Britain. Written as a history, with footnotes and references. Set in what is -- I guess -- a culture which matches that of the "actual" early 19th century Britain.

This is possibly quite clever. Except that the book is every bit as boring as the worst of boring history books. Oh, okay, I've already run past the positives from this book. So:

The characters are also unlikable. The title indicates two main characters. So far (by page 127) I have met one. He's a creep. As it says in a title page:

He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to listen to him.

Yes, he's boring. And -- you guessed it -- the book copies his boring style. (Is that intended to be a clever authorial technique? It fails.) He also has a history of -- apparently -- murder of other people who are able to practice magic.

There is nothing at all pleasant about this central character.

I have no interest in finding out what happens to him. He mixes with society in order to further his own ends. He does not enjoy the mixing. Neither do I.

He is supported by a servant(?) -- a person whose role is described in a rather mysterious fashion. Yet there is not -- yet? -- any indication that the servant is anything more than an intelligent and useful person. Whose advice is generally ignored. And who disappears for long stretches of the narrative.

Further support is provided by other nasty people. People who are nasty enough to be unpleasant but not nasty enough to be interesting.

The story itself jumps along with nothing much interesting except for what does not happen...

So far there have been just three examples of magic. With no explanation of what really happened, nor of how it was made to happen. Mysterious? Or just boring...

The closest we get to actually seeing magic performed, is when a woman is brought back to life. There is some bargaining with the fairy who does the actual work. Then -- it's done. No further explanation.

The bargaining is interesting: The fairy brings the woman back to life in exchange for half of her remaining life. (The woman is not consulted. Nor is her fiance.) Which half of her life? I wondered...

Will the woman be happily married for another 40 years and then disappear off to fairy-land? Will the fairy prefer to take his half now, while the woman is still young? Or will she spend six months here and six months there... We are not told.

The magician did not seem to consider practicalities. Did the author? Who knows.

Judging by the list of chapters, half the book is dedicated to each of the magicians in the title. We are told, indirectly, that the second magician will be the pupil of the first.

Will the pupil be any more interesting than the teacher? Perhaps the dedicated reader will find out, as they struggle through the remaining 600-odd pages of this tedious book.

I don't know.

And I don't care.

---

Footnote

I have just spoken with someone who bravely struggled all the way through to the end of this book...

Apparently -- there is a plot. Something does happen. The book gets to be rather exciting... for the last hundred or so pages.

So there.

If you're a fast reader. Able to skim lightly over boring material. Willing to suspend judgment for 600 pages... You may enjoy this book.

Maybe.

Good luck !

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

The Year's Best Science Fiction #20 / Gardner Dozois

The Year's Best Science Fiction: twentieth annual collection

category: science fiction, editor:

Gardner Dozois

book 20 of The Year's Best Science Fiction
original copyright 2002

read in February 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 3 out of 10: so bad it's embarrassing

I grew up on science fiction. For years I read only science fiction. (Okay, and various myths and legends.)

Then I drifted to fantasy. Read less and less science fiction.

A collection of "the year's best science fiction" seemed like a good book to refresh my enjoyment of SF.

Wrong.

The first story was sort of interesting. A girl growing up in a strange -- to us -- culture. All seems to be sweetness and light, except that it's not. But that is not the point of this overlong story. Girl grows up to be a space pilot. No surprise, hardly worth wondering if this is the point of the story. Through the magic of unexplained time travel, girl's friend seems to have killed girl's pilot mentor, who seems to be the girl as an old woman. So what? A pointless story complexity. The story is sort of interesting, but overlong and ultimately pointless.

Another story -- a novella -- begins with the protagonist attending a night-club. The main act is a man who talks to his penis. Or perhaps it's a woman who pretends to talk to her penis; we never see the penis. Whatever, I gave up reading before the end of the act.

One story followed an interesting idea: humans can't reach the universe so they go small... Shrink themselves, adapt in various ways, live in microscopic "universes", all within a very small physical area. It's possible that the three or four sets of characters all live as bodily bacteria on one man... That's just my best guess. It seems a reasonable explanation of the role of the "narrator" who dances naked and jerks off between the mini-chapters of the story.

Then there's the story of the woman who herds sheep. She sees a flying saucer and its dog-like occupant. Most of the story tells us about the techniques of sheep-herding... Boring and pointless. The woman sees the space dog a few times, briefly. When the space dog crashes its saucer -- for no apparent reason -- the woman comforts it as it lies, dying. "Good doggie," she says, as she pats its head. Nice, but so what?!

I know that there is at least one good story in the book... but it is lost amongst the dross. So what has gone wrong? The clue is in the introduction to each story.

Each introduction mentions previous stories by this author. "So-and-so has had a story in The Year's Best numbers 2 through 7, 9, 11 and 13 through 19..." Get the picture? Dozois (the editor) likes certain authors. He has not changed his opinions in the last twenty years. He keeps on selecting stories from the same, select group of his favourite authors...

And if you don't like Dozois' favourite authors, this book is not for you.

I don't like Dozois' favourite authors. I think this book is rubbish.

---

btw: I originally rated this book as "4: bad but could be read". Then I changed my mind.

Nearly every story -- as far into the book as I could bear to read -- is overlong and boring. Some are also stupid. I could not finish this book. I did not want to finish this book.

And some of the stories are embarrassing: So bad -- when categorised as "science fiction" -- so bad that they give science fiction a bad name.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

Storm Born / Richelle Mead

Storm Born

category: fantasy, porn, author:

Richelle Mead

original copyright 2008

read in January 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10: bad but could be read

It's funny, really. I read this book and quite enjoyed it. Left it a day or so. And decided that it was really not a very good book.

I enjoyed it -- but it is not a very good book?! Why not? First, check the labels at the foot of this review...

It is "cat:fantasy". Okay, witches, fairies, shamans, Earth and fairy-land. Fantasy. It is also "cat:porn"... It could have been "cat:romance" -- but it is closer to porn.

The heroine is beautiful. The heroes are handsome. There are lots of significant looks and lots of heavy breathing. There is also lots of heavy sex.

So I read -- and enjoy -- books with lots of heavy sex. So I quite enjoyed reading this book. Even so, the sex was... well... not right. Not right for a romance, that is.

No matter how tough, how sassy, the romantic heroine, they do like to have an even tougher hero. But -- in my opinion -- a strong preference for rough sex and bondage is going beyond romance. And into porn.

The heroine is, of course, torn between two strong, handsome men. That's almost essential in a romance... or in any book with a "love interest". Having sex with both the men, though... weakens the romantic appeal. Where's the conflict of the romantic triangle, when she simply sleeps with both of them?!

By chapter four, the first hero had proven his worth by giving extremely good sex. Half a book later, the heroine was still resisting the second hero. Until she decided that it was a good idea to exchange sex for favours.

Prostitute with heart of gold is an old cliche. Heroine with heart of prostitute is less common. And less likable.

From there -- from "6/10 read to pass the time" -- the book rapidly degenerated to "4/10 bad but could be read". As the heroine slipped from sassy-and-strong to slutty-and-uninspired, she lost my sympathy. And the book lost its appeal.

Then there is the final risk-all-for-her-lover scene...

The heroine followed her (first) lover's spirit to hell, to bring him back to life. On the way, she faced a series of challenges.

Except that they were not really challenges...

There's the army, set to invade. The heroine is against the idea of invasion. So what does she do? She simply says, Okay all, let's go invade...

There's her father, who raped her mother. He says, now I'll have you, too. So what does she do? What clever stratagem does our heroine use to get by this threat of rape by father? Oh, okay, have me, she says...

These are not challenges. These are situations that the heroine does not like. And all she does, is to go along with every nasty action. No moral indignation. No attempt to find an alternative solution. Just, do the bad thing.

At best, this is a "morally ambiguous" heroine.

At worst, it's a novel which ignores conflict and conflict resolution, to set up a series of violent action scenes to loosely link the somewhat violent porn.

Good sex. Bad story.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

The Left Hand of Darkness / Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness

category: science fiction, author:

Ursula K. Le Guin

original copyright 1969,
read in Jun 2011 (and before, in about 1972)

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

I read this years ago. Back then, I devoured science fiction... I read so fast that I often could not remember the names of the author... I read and enjoyed -- or not -- and moved right on to the next book. Perhaps that is why I have no negative memories of The Left Hand.

This time -- it's boring.

From the blurb, this book "poses [questions] about sexuality, gender roles and the organisation of society". Yes, that's the way I remember it. This time, though, I seem to be struck by a heavy dose of cynicism.

The planetary setting is both freezing cold and populated by hermaphrodites. As I read it, the lack of wars is due to the hermaphroditism of its inhabitants: because they spend most of their time as neuters, they do not have the testosterone drive to start wars.

On the other hand,

All Tomorrow's Parties / William Gibson

All Tomorrow's Parties

category: science fiction, author:

William Gibson

original copyright 1999,
started reading in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

The most interesting thing about this book is the word map generated by my review:

The map was generated by Wordle... What a brilliant idea! I simply pasted in the text of the review...

Then found that the word "good" was highly visible. I had used "good" in the negative sense, of "no good reason" to read the book. Yet the single word "good" leaped out of the word map...

Just goes to show: It's not the words that give meaning, it's the way we use those words.

btw: The above map was generated by pasting the text -- with the word "good" removed. So the map is meaningless but at least it is not misleading.

---

I started reading this book. Found it a bit hard to get into it, read another. Read a couple more. Read a few more chapters of this book. Gave it away as a bad job.

Near future science fiction: don't like it. Miserable characters: no thanks. Confusing story with random jumps to unexplained situations: need a good reason to read on... I found no good reason.

I don't know what was going on. I don't know who the characters were, neither the ones we met nor the ones referred to by the characters we did meet.

Gave up reading.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Walks, Tracks & Trails of Victoria / Derrick Stone

Walks, Tracks & Trails of Victoria

category: travel, author:

Derrick Stone

original copyright 2009,
read in April 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

This is a glossy book with a lot of information. As a potential tourist -- someone who plans to visit Victoria and who would like to do some walking -- this book is useless. For a start, there is no overall map. Where are all these walks?!

The walks are grouped by area: north-west, central west, south-west and so on. But where are they? These areas may make sense to a Victorian -- but I need more information. For example...

Okay, so "north-west" will be to the north-west of Victoria. How big an area? In Western Australia the "north-west" could be a quarter of a very large state. What is it in Victoria?

What sort of country would I expect to find in the "north-west"? Flat? hilly? mountain? desert...? There are a dozen "easy" walks and one "easy/med". In "central west" there are four "hard" walks... They seem to be in mountains ("Grampians"). How hard is "hard"?! Is "north-west" also mountains but the walks are in the easy valleys?

The book needs an introduction to each area. With a brief description -- for people who do not know the area. And a map, to place the walks in their area, within Victoria.

Then there's the Major Mitchell Trail. According to the icons it's for experienced walkers, day hike, family walk, drive and walk, push bike and horse-riding. The trail is 1700km and should take six days. All that, in six days!

Then there's the photos. Take -- as an example -- page 19:

There is a photo of "River red gums." And another of "Scar tree at Wood Wood." Are they mentioned in the text? Not as far as I can see. Are they at all relevant to the text? Well... I can see Wood Wood on the map, though there is no sign of where a "Scar tree" would be found.

This seems to be the standard approach for Australian "guide books": a few large scale maps, lots of text explaining why it's worth visiting the area, a few very pretty photos. No clear relationship between the text, the maps and the photos.

It's not a guide to the Walks, Tracks & Trails. It's an advertisement. All very glossy, all very attractive. Obviously these would be great places to visit. Pick any one and the book tells you how to get there.

But no help whatsoever if you are trying to decide, Where can I go to enjoy a whole lot of walking in Victoria.

The Dreaming Void / Peter F. Hamilton

The Dreaming Void

category: science fiction, author:

Peter F. Hamilton

book 1 of Void
original copyright 2007,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

When I say, above, "read in October 2010" I mean, I attempted to read this book. Years ago I would read and finish each and every (fiction) book that I started. Now, if a book makes no sense -- I give up.

The Dreaming Void makes no sense.

To confirm my guess -- as to why this book makes no sense -- I searched for some reviews. And found this: "this is one of the later books in a series which keeps referring to events and people that are alluded to in earlier volumes." Yes, that's what I thought... the book makes no sense if read by itself. From that same review: "buy every book this man writes and read them in order. Rather than write a 10,000 page book, Peter Hamilton has broken it up into many volumes..."

Alternatively: don't bother trying to read The Dreaming Void. It makes no sense.

This does introduce a difficulty with my rating scale.

I rate The Dreaming Void as "4: bad but could be read." But the book is not really "bad", it's just not worth reading -- by itself. Perhaps this book would improve if you have, in fact, read all of Hamilton's books in order... But -- somewhere back in the past -- I do seem to remember reading another Hamilton book. With the same result: complex, boring, unreadable.

Oh well. I read 'em, I rate 'em, I review 'em. And I recommend that you don't bother reading this one.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

London Fields / Martin Amis

London Fields

category: fiction, author:

Martin Amis

published by Penguin, original copyright 1989, read in Jun 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10

(Agamedes' remembered opinion of
The Phoenix Guards: 8 out of 10)

Have you ever read Brust's The Phoenix Guards? It is written with rolling, long-winded sentences, circumlocutions which leave the reader breathless and, quite often, confused. Yet the end result is an entertaining adventure with humour and heroics. The pretentious style and apparently irrelevant diversions (which are, often enough, actually irrelevant) make for a greatly enjoyable book. A book which my wife gave up reading after barely a chapter. A book which I really should reread and formally review...

Anyway...

London Fields is written in a somewhat similar style. The London Fields sentences are shorter but the wandering style is similar. Instead of a single plot thread which rambles to and fro, Amis has several closely linked plots which jump to and fro, leaving the reader to struggle against confusion. Amis' writing style is -- like Brust's -- pretentious. But Amis fails to write a book which can be enjoyed.

To tell the truth, I'm sorry that I have attempted to compare London Fields with The Phoenix Guards. Even though I use Brust as an example of "good" against Amis' example of "bad" -- I believe that Brust could be embarrassed to be in the same sentence as Amis.

London Fields is populated by characters who are smart but cruel, or stupid and senselessly cruel, or innocent and the target of deliberate or unthinking cruelty. The petty crim is gypped when he buys some dodgy stolen goods; he quickly sells the dodgy goods, only to be paid in counterfeit notes, which he quickly shifts of to another petty crim... That's one of the funny paragraphs, amongst the 200 pages that I was able to read. Most of the "humour" is just too cruel to be enjoyed.

A few nights ago, ABC TV had a show about some sort of "financial instrument" called "Timberwolf", being sold by Goldman Sachs Group. According to the report, Goldman Sachs recognised Timberwolf as being "shitty" -- destined to lose all value, presumably. So what did Goldman Sachs do with their "shitty" Timberwolf? They sold as much Timberwolf as possible -- backed by their own then-solid reputation -- to other investment companies and financial advisors... And that is a lot like the amoral and unethical behaviour which underpins London Fields.

Do you want to read a book about stupid or scheming, amoral and unethical characters who emphasise their disregard for others with brutal violence? A book which is written in a pretentious pseudo-literary style... The "days of sun and storm", for example: "They make us feel -- and I'm on the edge of nausea as I write these words -- what it is to live in a universe." Yes, I am indeed on the edge of nausea as I reread that sentence.

Do you want to read an I'm-so-clever yet so unpleasant book? Apparently, plenty of people do: the cover of my copy says, "The no. 1 bestseller".

My rating on the first few chapters would have been 6: read to pass the time. As I read further, I downgraded to 5: readable but only if there's nothing else. Then I took the book away for the weekend, thinking, stuck in a hotel, nothing else to read, I'll get a fair way through this book...

In that hotel room, with nowhere else to go, London Fields my only book, nothing much on TV -- I read my wife's Women's Weekly. And downgraded London Fields to 4: bad but could be read. "Could be read"? Yes, I think so. If I were on a desert island. Without a Women's Weekly.

Read it at your moral peril.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Teranesia / Greg Egan

Teranesia

(category: science fiction)
by

Greg Egan

published by Gollancz in 1995, read in October 2009

Agamedes' opinion:

Okay, so there's this creepy boy who grows into a creepy adult. He starts weird but gets weirder when he does something silly that results in his parents being killed. He has a younger sister who is worse: screams, throws tantrums, demands her own way. Somewhere in this story of the boy growing into a man, there is an almost incomprehensible threat of genetic mutation: a gene which acts as a quantum computer in order to get best results for its own future reproduction. The brilliant young sister finds a scientific solution, to save the world in the last chapter. Okay, it's quite a good idea. Cut the guilt-stricken "hero" rubbish, explain the new gene more clearly, there's a potential SF story there. As is, it's SF meets Mills & Boon.

Agamedes' rating: 4 out of 10

Amazon claim to sell it for 56 cents. Go ahead, follow the link, buy the book. If you really must.

..o0o..

This blog is supported by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your own documents, email nick leth at gmail dot com.

The Road / Cormac McCarthy

The Road

(category: science fiction)
by

Cormac McCarthy

published by Random House in 2006, read in February 2010

Agamedes' rating: 4 out of 10

Agamedes' opinion:

I think that the final paragraph of this book indicates something mystical. It's hard to be sure since it has no link to the rest of the book. I know that it is the most miserable book that I have read for a very long time. Half way through and I couldn't sleep for the awful images that the book had put into my mind. (If the only measure of a book were impact, this book is well-written.) The traditional end of this type of post-apocalyptic book is to find the small pocket of embattled but surviving civilisation on the horizon. (The Chrysalids, for example.) In The road, the father dies -- no great surprise -- and the boy is taken in by a small family. But so what? With what we have been shown of the world -- how will that small family survive? From all that we have been shown of the world, the only survival strategy is cannibalism... and with no other sources of food, even cannibalism has limited potential. So it's a miserable book with an ending which has only delayed the miserable inevitable. Think of reading Playboy to help with a sperm donation; this is equivalent reading for the suicidal.

Feeling suicidal? Need help to keep in the mood? Follow the link, buy the book and know that at least one person will benefit, when I get the sales commission.

Providence Road: in the Name of Friendship / Carol Marvell

Providence Road: in the Name of Friendship

by

Carol Marvell

published by Zeus Publications in 2007
read by Agamedes in July 2009
fiction
book 2 of In the name of...

I thought, here’s an interesting -- different style of -- book: a cover picture of attractive women, computer avatar quality... White slavery, evil villains, tough heroines... It’s the second book by an Australian author. The writing is really, really... bad. “An evil smirk twisted her thin lips...” And the point of view jumps amongst any of six or more characters. Still, it was readable. But I stopped after just a few chapters. There was violence, violent rape and heroic escapes (with violence). With most of the book still to go, I could see more violence and suffering still to come. Worse yet, this is “book two” -- so even the end may turn out to be continuing suffering. All too much for me!

Agamedes' rating: 4 out of 10

Okay, it's Australian. It's still not worth buying.

Luckily enough, Amazon don't seem to stock this book. So buy Lord of the Rings instead. Or any other well written book.

Murder Most Fab / Julian Clary

Murder Most Fab

by

Julian Clary

published by Ebury Press in 2007
read by Agamedes in May 2009
"humour"

Claims to be humorous. There are a few laughs. It’s soft-core porn for male homosexuals, with a few murders. Except for the dead people, most characters end up okay, or at least in a satisfactorily good or bad situation. It could be a searing insight into male prostitution, or into current affairs tv, but I don’t think that it is. Perhaps it’s a sit-com, where the humour comes from a different perspective on the situation. In which case, much of the humour is lost since I don’t know the “normal” perspective. Which brings it back to being a dirty book with unlikeable characters.

Agamedes rating: 4 out of 10

No, no, no! Don't buy it! Don't even follow the link to Amazon... If you want a book, go to another of my reviews and follow that link... Don't embarrass me from this link! Please!