The Bookian

Finch

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:13:54 +0000

The new book out by Jeff Vandermeer, Finch, has garnered some pretty good reviews from around the webosphere [latimes], and we have to say theyre pretty close to right. Hes pretty much known for the Ambergris city setting and Finch continues the series. Finch centers around the kind of metaphysical detective endemic to the Cohen Brothers films, without the overt humor quotient paradox. Characters include a dead historian who isnt quite dead, “memory bulbs” that grow from the heads of dead people, and all manner of fungal felicities. A great, fast moving read.

Red Book by Jung On Horizon

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:44:52 +0000

It looks like the CG Jung Red Book (review), also known as Liber Novus, will be getting published soon. Gauging from the review above and this article on the NyTimes, sounds like it will be a bumpy publication. And if theres one thing thats good for sales, its turbulence. Either that, or burnings. (note: we do not now, nor will we ever, support the burning or damaging of any book.) Lets hope it brings in some more readers of Swedenborg, like Heaven and Hell.

The Wooden Sea: A Novel

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:44:17 +0000

Small towns. Police chiefs. Resurrected dogs. Like TC Boyle, Jonathan Carroll is part history, part personal bard, but with an additional mixture of scifi and magical realism. The Wooden Sea is an excellent purview of what life in a small upstate new york town might be like if Neil Turoks physics were in charge of the town council. The lives of everyone and everything seem permeated across multiple dimensions with everything, and everyone, else. Carroll is an impressive writer with more than a few books out, kind of an authors author, more known amongst other writers than a broad public. If you havent read him yet, The Wooden Sea is one of his strongest novels, although Bones of the Moon is a close second. – reviewed by jim

Welcome to a Week of John Christopher Novels

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:39:17 +0000

Today we start our Bookian Homage to the great author John Christopher. This exceptionally prolific British author, whose books are unfortunately difficult to come across, and many of which are now out of print, has entranced youngsters since the late 1960s with tales of post apocalyptic worlds and those who live within them. His most well known series, The Tripods, needs no introduction, but if it does, just read it. His adult literature is similarly post apocalyptic, though it is difficult to tell if his adult themed books are scarier than his YA lit. It has often been remarked upon that the roles of women in his novels is fairly undeveloped, although it can be said his stories are of harsh times, dystopic adventures in the realm of pirates and boys, and as such are relatively genre heavy. However, especially with the historically recent arrival of extraordinary women authors such as Andre Norton, Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, James Tiptree, Jr (Alice Sheldon), Ursula K. Le Guin and Madeleine LEngle, we are in times of change, and so it must be mentioned. That said, outside of these criticisms, anyone who feels a stirring at the possibilities our world faces, both of the psychological and the scientific, must read at least one of these books in their lifetime. We have compiled some of our staffs picks and they have each written a short review of one of his books. By no means a complete bibliography, as Cristopher has been exceptionally prolific with over 70 novels, it still is a good survey and hopefully a small homage to this outstanding author. The complete list can be found on the John Christopher Bibliography page. – reviewed by bookian john cristopher

Beyond the Burning Lands, The Swords of the Spirits Trilogy

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:34:17 +0000

In the second of the Swords of the Spirits trilogy, John Christopher continues the story of an unruly, angry youth who attempts to do right. The burning lands are a vast stretch laid to waste in the future by violent uphevals of the earth. This series is set in a luddite ruled world, where the use of technology must be hidden from the hoardes, who see it as a form of religious evil which must be destroyed.. and any who are tainted by it must also be destroyed. Sounds so contemporary, doesnt it? – reviewed by apocalyptic kids

Bad Dream

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:29:17 +0000

An awesome book, one of John Christophers latest from 2003, in which Britain and the European Union are dealing with the strange threats that new technology brings to age old notions of freedom, humanity, et al. Once again Samuel Youd displays his craft at psychology: the characters are incredibly well written. He has a penchant for the real life versions of inner narrative that are amazing. In part this book is interesting because, in comparison with some of his much earlier books such as the Guardian, it shows how, even buried amongst all the technobabble and rapid changes in our tool-making landscape, similar, older, biological stories still seem to be running the show behind the show. A definate library addition. – reviewed by virtual being

Bella on the Roof

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:24:17 +0000

This book is almost impossible to find, but well worth it. I will not give anything away, in the hopes of creating enough demand to bring about a reprint. – reviewed by reprint bella

Wild Jack

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:19:17 +0000

Along the lines of John Christophers fascination with the everpresent struggle between the status quo and the individual, fertile and important ground for aspiring adults to live through, Wild Jack is one of those unfortunately out of print books which must be brought back into print. Written after the 1960s and in the closing mists of the era of the Chinese Revolution and the Communist Threat, its one of those rare books in no way about the lording of Western Civ over the Eastern Bloc. Bring it back! – reviewed by retraining school headmaster

The White Voyage

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:15:17 +0000

An excellent adventure set in earlier times. Along the lines of Jack London, The White Voyage is about a ships crew, with all the psychological suspicion and tension of a submarine crew locked underwater, turns into a shipwreck, and a struggle northward. – reviewed by kreya

No Blade of Grass

Bookian — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:10:17 +0000

In the spirit of the Cosy Catastrophe fiction, we begin an all out tribute to the works of John Christopher. The man of many pseudonyms, Samuel Youd aka John Christopher, Hilary Ford, William Godfrey, Peter Graaf, Peter Nichols, Anthony Rye, Stanley Winchester, is one of the great unpraised authors of the twentieth century. After No Blade of Grass, he wrote a long series of childrens books which must be considered amongst the best of all time. perhaps it was that adult science fiction often does not deal with the emotive psychology of the human organism, but for whatever reason, if you read any of them as a child, you know what im talking about. A master storyteller. No Blade of Grass, also known as The Death of Grass, was made into a movie in the 1970s. Does this sound familiar? A virus sweeps the earth, killing off rice, wheat and other grain staples. Hello, Monsanto calling! But the foresight is not the benefit of the novel: rather, hes just an awfully good writer. Out of this world, one might say. – reviewed by monsanto