So, now onto an almost mid-month reading update.
Completed
(I've completed 3 books since my last update, six for the month of July so far)
"Domain is the 3rd book in the Rats trilogy by James Herbert. If I want to get technical, there was also a graphic novel, The City which was a 4th book in the series but I have been unable to find a copy. So unless something changes, I consider the series complete from my perspective. (#Ed Note. I did find a copy online but it was for $150+. I can't justify spending that much for a graphic novel... not yet anyway) 😉
So, with all that bafflegab out of the way, Domain was an apt completion of this excellent horror trilogy. Herbert started writing horror and fantasy back in the 70s with the first book in the Rats trilogy, aptly named The Rats. I didn't really discover him until my wife and I watched an adaptation of his The Secret of Crickley Hall. After reading that back in 2013, it took me a few more years to start exploring his work. I've since read The Fog, Nobody True, Lair (Rats #2), The Survivor and now, of course, Domain.
The stories the mutant Rats are set in London. In each book, the come out of hiding to attack the citizens of the city. In Domain, the story moves into a dystopic future where there is a nuclear war which devastates London (and presumably the world but that's not relevant to this particular story). The story focuses on 3 citizens, Nick Culver, a commercial pilot, Alex Dealey, a civil servant and Kate Garner. As the attack commences these three are inextricably joined together. The city is collapsing and Dealey is blinded by the explosive flash. When Culver assists him, Dealey indicates that he is trying to get to an underground government shelter and offers to take Culver with him. They meet Kate when they are attacked by rats and as they flee them, are suddenly dragged into this shelter.
It seems that there are government shelters all over the city and country, prepared in the event of such a war / disaster. The second part of the story deals with their situation with the people in the shelter, their efforts to ascertain what remains of the city (as they have lost communication with any of the other shelters) and the breakdown of this situation when the shelter is flooded and also attacked by the rats. Part three follows the remaining survivors of the shelter as they try to escape the rats, disease and sundry roaming humans as they try to get to safety, or maybe locate the main government shelter.
It's a huge story and the focus on the main 3 is also interspersed with looks at other individuals who are affected by both the attack and the invasion of the rats. We also go deep into the city to see the leaders of the rats, the Mother, a huge, disgusting mutated rat.... Yucchh! And that reaction is appropriate for much of the story. It's dark, regularly grossly violent (I mean what do you expect when you're being swarmed by rats, right?) but also a neat little character study of the people in the shelter as they try to survive. The story does ramble a bit and sometimes tries to be a bit of all things but it's still an engrossing, dark, scary, creepy horror story. Read all three of the books if you DARE!!! (3.0 stars)"
"I've been enjoying the Saga graphic novel series by Brian K. Vaughan for the past couple of years and decided to check out some of his other series. Paper Girls, Volume 1 is one of these series. I just finished #1, which collects Chapters 1 - 5 in a single volume. Did I like it. Yeah, definitely.
Erin, a young girl, living in the suburbs of Cleveland, Oh, is getting up to begin her day as a paper girl, delivering newspapers on her bike, in the early hours of the morning. She seems to be having strange dreams (hoping these might be explained in further volumes). This particular morning, just after Hallowe'en, she has an encounter with 3 costumed young thugs (let's call them) but is assisted by 3 other paper girls, Mac, KJ and Tiffany. They decide to continue their routes together, splitting up in two and communicating with Tiffany's walkie-talkies.
Tiffany and KJ are attacked by a group of 'teens?' who steal Tiffany's walkie-talkie. The group decide to go after them and when they finally encounter them in the basement of an abandoned building (YES! They went down the basement), they discover an old space capsule and that the 'teens' are more than they seem.
Now begins a real adventure. Different groups of 'aliens' or maybe 'time travelers' seem to be in a war. And there are also various strange creatures. Everyone in Stony Stream, except the 4 girls, seem to be disappearing. It's all very fast paced and exciting and these girls are wonderful! We're getting tidbits of explanation, but of course you can't discover everything at once. Chapter 5 ends with a cliff hanger as all comics / graphics do but it's such an entertaining story that I will continue it.
Great characterizations by Brian K. Vaughan, great art work, coloring and lettering by his team of Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson and Jared K. Fletcher bring the story to life. The 4 main characters are all smart, independent teenagers and so far the supporting cast has sparked my interest. Check this young adult series out. (4.0 stars)"
"Back in my university days (yes, the '70s) I read Michael Ondaatje's Collected works of Billy the Kid; Left Handed Poems. I've read it once again more recently and enjoyed it again. I've also read two of his fiction works, Anil's Ghost (my favorite work of his so far) and In the Skin of the Lion. And no, I've never read The English Patient nor seen the movie. I am Elaine in that regard... (cool Seinfeld reference) When I saw A Year of Last Things: Poems, his most recent work and another poetry collection, I thought I'd give it a try.
It's beautifully written but for the most part, I had difficulty relating to many of the poems. It's a voyage through Ondaatje's life, past and present, and I did like the references to locations, to other authors and poets. There were some longer pieces, more short stories then poems that I found very interesting. I especially liked 'Winchester House' in that he relates it to one of his characters in Anil's Ghost. That was also a very painful, traumatic story about his and other children's difficulties at a boarding school in Sri Lanka, that being Winchester House. There was a particularly portion about the aging priest who caused their pain, who still inflicted it on his dog and that really bothered me, especially since I've just lost our beloved dog / friend. In that regard, the poem Stella also hit me deeply. Odd that it came up so closely after we had our dog, Clyde, put to sleep.
'In the last hours before her death
her enemies came A raccoon, that storm,
the FedEx truck manned by a gentle woman
who'd recently lost her own dog.
Considering the woman who was usually her enemy
our dog perhaps read the grief in her,'
'Now we are less. How do we become more?
How to die courteous and beautiful
protecting her house, guarding our door.' (This did strike very close to my heart)'
As I say, it's beautifully written and well worth exploring Ondaatje's unique writing style. (3.0 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Commander Craig Battles for Survival on the Planet Thand
If Craig makes one false move in this grotesque tournament of cunning and savage skill, he sacrifices his life and the lives of everyone in the galaxy.If he wins, the deadly League of Outer Space Thieves will be prevented from blowing up the universe. As part of his reward, Craig will receive the exciting beauty Mylitta.
John Craig races against time as he struggles to save the world in the most dangerous adventure of his incredible career."
Our world is full of fault lines--growing inequality in income and opportunity; systemic racism; health and economic crises from a global pandemic; mistrust of experts; the existential threat of climate change; deep threats to employment in a digital economy with robotics on the rise. Mark Carney argues that these fundamental problems and others like them stem from a common crisis in values. Drawing on the turmoil of the past decade, he shows how market economies have evolved into market societies where price determines the value of everything.
When we think about what we, as individuals, value most highly, we might list fairness, health, the protection of our rights, economic security from poverty, the preservation of natural diversity, resources, and beauty. The tragedy is, these things that we hold dearest are too often the casualties of our twenty-first century world, where they ought to be our bedrock.
In this profoundly important book, Mark Carney offers a vision of a more humane society and a practical manifesto for getting there. How we reform our infrastructure to make things better and fairer is at the heart of every chapter, with outlines of wholly new ideas that can restructure society and enshrine our human values at the core of all that we build for our children and grandchildren."
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