Too clever by half. Or maybe five-eighths. If this was the only exposure I’d ever had to this author I’d say he was the most insufferable intellectualToo clever by half. Or maybe five-eighths. If this was the only exposure I’d ever had to this author I’d say he was the most insufferable intellectual poseur....more
How has the world conspired to keep me from any knowledge of Richard Morgan? It's not as if I am a complete stranger to SF. I have read SF since I wasHow has the world conspired to keep me from any knowledge of Richard Morgan? It's not as if I am a complete stranger to SF. I have read SF since I was a teen. I have edited SF for a magazine. I have been to SF cons, at one of which I was a Guest of Honor. Why, I count some SF authors as friends. But of Richard Morgan I knew nothing whatsoever until this summer when I happened to pick up 'Altered Carbon' in a secondhand bookstore in a small town in South Wales. It's not as if it's that obscure, either - Morgan has continued in the same vein and I believe that his works have been adapted for televisual emission. So, how could I have missed this? I feel like the fellow in a radio sketch I once heard in which one of the characters has never heard of 'Friends', even though his favorite sitcom is 'Joey' and the Rembrandts are his favorite band.
But I digress.
'Altered Carbon' is a futuristic cyberpunk whodunit in which ex-con Takeshi Kovacs is hired to investigate the murder of mega-rich Thomas Bancroft -- by the victim himself. This is a world in which the essence of people is digital, and people can change bodies almost as often as their clothes, and the super-rich always have a few spares handy. This doesn't just give concepts such as mistaken identity a jolt so much as taking them behind the bike sheds and kicking them to death.
It's very sexy (I like sex) and horrifically violent (even better). But best of all it's done as a noir with all the cliches of that genre - the first-person protagonist is a world-weary loner with a dark past; the villains are super-powerful and inscrutable; the women are vamps and, as for, hard-boiled: lady, you're twenty light years....more
Matthew Shardlake is a crippled, ageing barrister-at-law practicing in London in the early sixteenth century. Despite wishing earnestly for a quiet liMatthew Shardlake is a crippled, ageing barrister-at-law practicing in London in the early sixteenth century. Despite wishing earnestly for a quiet life, he finds himself being drawn into mysteries involving grisly murder, which he runs down with the tenacity of a terrier, and can't help getting involved in the dangerous politics of the day. In the first book, 'Dissolution', Thomas Cromwell sends him to a monastery in Sussex which King Henry VIII orders dissolved. In subsequent stories he gets embroiled in the seismic religious schisms of the age; the execution of Anne Boleyn; the faithlessness of Katharine Howard; the religious ardour of Katherine Parr, and much more. He gets locked in the Tower of London - twice. In 'Sovereign' he meets the gigantic figure of Henry VIII himself, a memorable encounter for all concerned.
In 'Tombland', the latest and greatest of the series, the 15-year-old Lady Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I (Shardlake manages her property portfolio) sends Shardlake to Norwich -- England's second city -- to look into a land dispute and murder involving one of her distant Boleyn cousins. It is 1549, and the country is being run, very badly, by the Protector Edward Seymour on behalf of the 11-year-old Edward VI. This time Shardlake gets caught up in Kett's Rebellion, part of a generally little-known series of peasant uprisings against the harsh economic climate of the time, in which the gentry was illegally enclosing common land, depriving the countryfolk of their ancient grazing rights.
Apart from being a terrific mystery story, it's a great view of a turbulent time in English history. It had added resonance for me as Norwich is a city I know well, and I could imagine myself very accurately in the places Shardlake visits, some of which are prominent even today -- the church of St Peter Mancroft, the market square, the Guildhall, Norwich Castle, the city walls and much more. Tudor Norwich was rather smaller than the current city, but also much more violent. And smelly. This is a big book that I deliberately took a long time to read, as I wanted to savour every page.
Oh, and you don't need to have read all the other Shardlake books to enjoy this, though it helps....more
Engaging history of interplanetary probes from the earliest moonshots to current missions to Mars, with some intriguing looks forward to possible futuEngaging history of interplanetary probes from the earliest moonshots to current missions to Mars, with some intriguing looks forward to possible future missions. It was spoiled by three things. First, the absence of any account of the recent New Horizons Pluto flyby, which is unforgivable in a book published in 2019. Second, the use of the Fahrenheit temperature scale. I know Americans are wedded to this, but in a book about space, when temperatures are so extreme, it's as ridiculous these days as measuring distance in cubits and spans. Why oh why oh why can't U.S. authors get used to Centigrade, or Kelvin? Third, the writing style. I admit this is a matter of personal preference, but it was far too slangy and vernacular for my taste, without a shred of elegance. The subject deserves better....more
Loading...