New Books and The Science Fiction Novel - Neil Gaiman

What did you have for brekkie, Daddy?

Clyde and I are relaxing on the sofa, watching curling with the sound off and listening to Deadline: White House. Bonnie is in the front hall on the half landing making sure nobody dares drive into our crescent and Jo is upstairs also listening to D:WT. I went out this morning to get bread at Cobbs Bakery, also picked up brekkie at Tim Horton's. I also dropped off some books at Nearly New Books and while I was there got a couple more.

Being a watchdog is hard work!

I'm enjoying the five books I'm currently reading although I have to admit that I'm beginning to have doubts about The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox. I'm about 20% through, 100 pages of 600 and I don't know whether I want to continue. I probably haven't given it a fair chance so I'll read it for a few more days and see if it grabs me somewhat more. I'll let you know.. 👀

Anyway, below are my new books and my ongoing look at the Sci-Fi novel.

New Books

1. Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty (Sean Duffy #4).











"Belfast, 1985, amidst the “Troubles”:  Detective Sean Duffy, a Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), struggles with burn-out as he investigates a brutal double murder and suicide. Did Michael Kelly really shoot his parents at point blank and then jump off a nearby cliff? A suicide note points to this conclusion, but Duffy suspects even more sinister circumstances. He soon discovers that Kelly was present at a decadent Oxford party where a cabinet minister’s daughter died of a heroin overdose.  This may or may not have something to do with Kelly’s subsequent death.

New evidence leads elsewhere: gun runners, arms dealers, the British government, and a rogue American agent with a fake identity. Duffy thinks he’s getting somewhere when agents from MI5 show up at his doorstep and try to recruit him, thus taking him off the investigation.

Duffy is in it up to his neck, doggedly pursuing a case that may finally prove his undoing."

2. A Cast of Falcons by Steve Burrows (Birder Murder Mystery #3).











"The threat from above is an ever-present danger.

A man falls to his death from a high cliff face in northern Scotland. From a distance, another man watches. He approaches the body, tucks a book into the man’s pocket, and leaves.

When the Scottish police show Inspector Domenic Jejeune the book, a bird guide bearing his name, he can truthfully say he that he has no idea how it came to be in the dead man’s pocket. What he does not tell them is that he recognizes the book instantly. So, while puzzled, he is not entirely surprised when his brother Damian emerges from his fugitive existence to reveal that the dead man is a notorious “taker” — a poacher of live wild falcons.

The case gets personal in a way Jejeune has never experienced before. He is acutely aware that with each passing day, rare birds are being illegally taken from the wild. And hovering over his every move is the threat that if he gets this one wrong, no one in the North Norfolk Constabulary will escape the wrath of the nation’s highest-placed officials."

The Science Fiction Novel - Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is an English author, born in 1960 in Portsmouth, England, of novels, short stories and graphic novels. He has worked on The Sandman comic series and a number of novels. He is the first author to win both the Newberry and Carnegie awards for one novel, The Graveyard Book. He has also won Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards. Numerous of his books have been turned into movies or TV series; Stardust, American Gods, etc. I've enjoyed two of his books so far and have another on my book shelf.

a. American Gods (2001).











"American Gods is the 2nd book by Neil Gaiman that I've read and enjoyed. I wanted to read this especially because I wanted to start watching the TV series based on the book.

I have to say that this was so very interesting. I can see similar themes between American Gods and the other book I've read, Neverwhere, but on a bigger scale. You have this blending of the 'real' world with the world of gods and demons, the breaking down of barriers between the two and you have these supernatural beings that wander between both worlds.

American Gods is basically about Shadow, who has just been released from prison and discovers that not only was his wife, Laura, unfaithful to him, but she was also killed. Shadow meets Mr. Wednesday who hires him as a chauffeur, and since he has nothing to go home to, he agrees. Wednesday is an 'old' god who is trying to unite the varied old gods who live in the US to battle against the new gods; god of internet, god of airwaves, etc. who are out to destroy them. That is the story on its most basic level, but there are so many questions to be answered as the story develops.

Who is Shadow really? Who is Wednesday? Which is the good side? Why is his dead wife following him around? It's a fascinating, interesting concept and a well-developed story that gets more and more interesting as the story moves along. I loved it, found it to be a page-turner and most enjoyable story. I will continue to check out Gaiman's stories; Stardust awaits me on my bookshelf. (4 stars)"

b. Neverwhere (1996).











"My first attempt at reading a Neil Gaiman story. Loved it. My kind of fantasy story. An interesting quest, an interesting world (London Under), an interesting concept, using the London Tube system to develop characters. I enjoyed the characters very much, Door, Richard, Hunter, even the villains. I want Gaiman to do a sequel! A strong 4.5 stars. Excellent and will make me read more of his books."

Synopsis - "Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart - and an ordinary life that is changed forever on a day he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed existed - a dark subculture flourishing in abandoned subway stations and sewer tunnels below the city - a world far stranger and more dangerous than the only one he has ever known..."

c. Stardust (1999). I bought this after enjoying the movie but have yet to read it. I've read the other two books since. I hope to finally dig into this book in 2020, then try some more of his books.

"What happens when you make a promise to bring back a fallen star? Teenager Tristran Thorn is about to find out, as he ventures beyond the wall of his English countryside town. After falling in love with the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester, he sets out on a quest to fulfill his promise to his beloved--and stumbles into the magical realm that lies beyond."

The complete list of Gaiman's works can be found at this link. 

Enjoy the rest of your week. Tomorrow is Hump Day..