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Book Review: Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner
Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by nikbutler in Books, blog
[disclosure: I was sent this book to review and yes I am planning on buying a copy ]
I have a soft spot for pulp fiction noir styled detective novels so when I was given the choice of books to review I was always going to opt for the story of an Undead Detective who works the monster crowded streets of Nekropolis.
Matt Richter the Zombie Private Eye (un)lives in an alternate-reality city populated by monsters of every fictional contrivance possessed cars , were-whatevers, vampires ( which thankfully never sparkle ) and plenty Elder and Dark Gods. Nekropolis technology ranges from the conventional to reanimated body parts sewn together to create devices like mobile phones ,surgical operating tables or door entry speakers. Whilst there is nothing new in this book when it comes to a genre and the plot plods along like its undead protagonist, it is not until the end of the first act that you realise the story has an inevitability which will keep you reading just to stay ahead of that plot Zombie. Sure your going to work out the whom the villian is but thats not going to stop you getting to the end of the book. Like all good pulp fiction your not in this to be invested in the characters your in it because the whole world feels, bloody gritty.
Dead Streets is like a lot of other books on my shelf in that it is the soul food of my reading. It is the book equivalent of ‘mac n cheese’ and it is the sort of book your pack to read on the train then lend to a friend [1] .
Thanks for reading
Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner is available online and through Angry Robot Books
[1] don’t do that though because loaning books is copyright theft! [2]
[2] yes I have a sense of humour , who knew ?
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Review : The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar
Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by nikbutler in Books, blog
The punkgenre has a new term, BookPunk. The Bookman pokes at the fat and waddled body of steampunk with its walking cane and leaves it on the roadside with its fresh take on Victorian London without loosing any steam on its way.
The Bookman takes a little of Verne and a little more of Gaimen and wraps the story of Orphan into a tale of personal discovery , romance and action across London Hospitals, Pirate Ships and secret lost islands. Lizard Kings rule as a social elite and books explode in the face of their owners and The Bookman chases and is pursued by the Orphan. Orphan , his name as well as his status, is Poet living in a London that feels like it may have been created in collaboration between Jasper Fforde and Neil Gaiman every character fills the page with their own vices and histories. The Bookman is a masked Terrorist whose actions motivate Orphan and take the adventure on sea bound adventures more reminiscent of Jules Verne. There much in the story that reflects familiar concepts and characters which feel most natural as Orphan encounters them and the pacing of the adventure left me turning pages ( well pressing page turn ) and enjoying the voyage.
The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar is available from Amazon and is published by Angry Robot Books
Thanks for reading..
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