The books of 2001
1. Battleaxe - Sara Douglass
2. Enchanter - Sara Douglass
3. StarMan - Sara Douglass
These books came into my possesion after I suddenly realized I just had to read some big, fat, and straight epic fantasy. After reading half of the first book I knew that I had accidently stubled upon something else. It's fantasy alright, spiced with prophecies, wilderness trekking and men and women with big destinies. The thing that made me really like it though, was that there was a undercurrent of science fiction behind it all. Some artifacts hinted at super technology and spacetravelling. The aliens, fantasy creatures, were cool and felt much more beliveable than the Tolkienesque stuff I last read from e.g. Tad Williams. And thank god! No bloody children which grow up and find their destiny! The only thing I really can say bothered me is the strange logical holes Mrs. Douglass introduced in the plot. I've heard that she has been a much better plotter since then. Sincerly, I don't know what I would I'd thought about these books if I hadn't been a bit fantasy starved...
(One of us - Michael Marshall Smith) unfinished
A boring romp of cyberpunking gadgets and slow moving plot. No thank you, I have a long list of unread books that's more interesting. I didn't read many pages and I doubt I will. Next!
Mr. Banks is one very good writer and a nice fella to boot. The man
is a show! Just listening to him makes you want to read his books. Try
this one.
I can't really say what is happening all the times and after awhile
you're suddenly thrust into a different story written with phonetical
spelling (a very annoying habit of said mister Banks, please
stop it!) and a story set in Scottland. The main of the book is set
on a gigantic bridge that spans a world. People live on the bridge,
and somehow you get the feeling of unreality. Everything is run by the
Administrators, some strange forces that never show up in the book,
and once the main character start to try to find out who he is and how
he came to the bridge the evidence he is looking for is starting to
disappear. You start to feel like it's a novel about something else,
at least a two fold truth hinding in there somewhere. It's like Kafka,
Dick and Swanwick all between the covers of this book. It's a story
of a man and his life, his successes and sorrows and who he confronts
them all in the depths of his own psyche. Heavy stuff, huh? All in all
of the human self. Actually, it's all just an accident. Take care out
there! A good read.
(Little, Big - John Crowley) unfinished
How about a nice fairy tale? How about a mellow feeling of timelessness
and a place which modern civilization forgot? Maybe some strange tales
of oddities in the family and the spooks of a never really seen land
of autumn twilight? This a book of a house, a family, some hints of
fairies and jolly moments. John Crowley is a magnificent writer who
writes with a brush, faded colours and a slow digestion of life. All
of his books are glorious reads, he handles language well and is a master
of moods. This book is just as good as some of his other books, but
the plot is so slowly told that if you read it waiting for something
to happen, then you'll be disappointed. I became bored.
Well written books doesn't get any better than this, but nothing much
happens! Be prepared for mood, or move along...
5. The World Inside - Robert Silverberg
This is one of Silverberg's pieces about the nature of man. His masterpiece from this period is of course Dying Inside, but this one is also very good. It's about a society where privacy is abolished and overpopulation is solved by cramming people together and just telling them to breed! hive mind. The dissidents, bearing the stigma of individuality struggle with their sense of discomfort in this Perfect World(tm). The psychedelic concert where planets and suns swirl and pass by in a merry sensory blast out was great! Even the entertainment is a community effort, a shared vision. This a powerful story about societies and the human individual. All this in less than 300 pages! Silverberg is a craftman with a clear and laidback tone, a kind of weariness that suits his sometimes dour views of mankind. When he is not churning out cheap thrills by the dozen (which he can do like no other, he has written so much you wouldn't belive it!) he sometimes uses his not ignorable talent to great effect. He has a suble feeling for language and the human condition, a sharp style which cuts. Deep.
6. Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
The gods walk the surface of the planet, and the enlightened one called Buddha and Mahasamatman - or just simply Sam - teaches his disciples in the grove. One of them is even said to once have been a holy assasin of Kali herself! This is a very entertaining read. Tightly plotted and exciting. In this tale men with access to technology act out their dreams of godhood. Behind it all they struggle for power and fight out their differences about how to colonize a planet. On both levels this is a tale about equality and the place of religions in society. But first and foremost it's a seriously entertaining story from one of the good story tellers of science fiction, Roger Zelazny. Lot's of action, Hindu myths and high-technology. Loved it.
7. The Face of the waters - Robert Silverberg
Well, what is there to say? Another novel by Mr. Science Fiction. It's about a world totally covered with water and apart from a lot of traveling, not much happens until the end. It felt like the final point could have been made in a short story, but the strangeness encountered on the road kind of craved a thicker book to make them sounds like a myriad of oddities I guess. Not bad, but not especially strong either.
8. (I trädgudars land, Gryninsgfolket, Offerrök) trilogin of trälen Holme - Jan Fridegård
Amongst Swedish litterature of the last century this author is always mentioned. The three books collected in this volume (In the land of the tree gods, The people of the dawn, Smoke of sacrifices //note: my own rough translations// ) telling the story of a thrall in the pagan past of Swedish history has always made me curious. His simple life, hard working as a blacksmith, his sorrows and his anger. All is told in a kind of detached voice. Many of the characters is never named, we know them simply as king or the stranger and it gives the book a curious air of barrenness. I feel that the timelessness of the deep, dark woods is potent. The dark pagan gods are grim and all life is cheap. In fact a deep distrust in the abilities of humans to handle the yoke of power over ones fellow man is spelled out quite clearly. Many poor thrall is treated like dogs and they know no better life and submit to the beating. The christian monks is caught in their powergames and while their betrayal is less physical it's still there. But Fridegård has a strong voice in the couple that the story is about. Holme and Ausi are characters you care for and can sympathize with even when they're not succeeding in what they are doing. The moral of the sory is that nothing is simple and you must fight hard for you belive in even though you can't win. The pagan king and the first missionary are together with Holme and Ausi four parts of a complex and understanding picture of the human life and it's turns and twists towards the end. It's almost like it was written by Plato, so symetric a view of how to live the good life of a philosopher. Coming from me, that's the finest praise and author can get. Well worth reading.
9. Acid Dreams, the complete social history of LSD, the CIA, the sixties, and beyond - Martin A. Lee & Bruce Shlain
This book is written about what happend in the sixties, how the CIA tested LSD and other strange drugs on unknowing American citizens and comitting crimes they accused the Soviets of doing to their citizens. It's also about how LSD and the culture around it has shaped a lot of society today and what part is has in contemporary history. It's based on de-classified repports from the CIA, interviews and many other sources. It's both a sad and exciting story about how men thought they could change the world for the betterment of all, of crackpots, self styled messiahs and a lot of cultural icons of the late 20th century. It's a book I'd recommed to anybody who wants to know more about what really happened during the sixties and what the fuzz was all about. It's also a good book for anyone to read about how the CIA created many of the drug related problems that haunt America today. They brought down poverty, despair and a lot of human suffering on America in their hunt for communists. And LSD is still a drug shrouded in mystery and misconceptions. Read this book and find out. It made me start thinking about what I really think about drugs and what you should stay away from. I wouldn't mind LSD, but I don't think I'll ever do it.
10. Om en vinternatt en resande - Italo Calvino
This is a book Johan Anglemark has mentioned to me many times and at last I borrowed it from him. It's a strange story which starts over many times in the novel, for each unfinished or hoax manuscripts the that half of the nonfinished stories were so interesting that I felt just as annoyed as the readers in the book that they were interrupted. That's the best praise for Italo Calvino, he invents so many storylines in this book that you'll be very impressed by his imagination if not by the book itself! Everything about this book is impressive, read the first page and you'll see what I mean.
This is one of the coolest book I've read in a long time! So much style, between dogs and men and everything that makes up for a goofy trip. The main story is a kind of love story paired with a book-length hunting scene. Everyone runs and jumps out of bizarre subcultures and behind it all are hinted a big system of drugs and VR that keep people both docile, excited and maybe the one center of sane culture. Nothing is really plain and one chapter is just tripping and another is a tight firefight or a love scene. It's a rollercoaster and the language just sparkle and shine. This is rock n'roll and party in such a made mix a just can't help love it. Everything you know is wrong! Take this feather and put it down your throat and let it all go...
12. Sensitiva Amorosa - Ola Hansson
After reading a small ghost-story of this author in the fanzine Minotauren I felt I had to read some of his famous stuff and decided to try Sensitiva Amorosa. It was a fascinating piece which reminded me of the kind of 19th century views on madness I investigated once for writing a paper. If you can stand the time stamped worldview and the romantically exaggerated style, it's quite good. Otherwise it will probably just annoy you. I don't think I'll remeber it two years from now.
The morning paper Metro once had a small notice of this novel when it won the Booker Price and it got me interested in reading it since the author had been mentioned as a excentric and one of the best writers working in the English language. Ought to make one interested, eh? Anyway, this novel is about a middle-aged man with a problematic relation to women and how he loses his job, credibility and through a change of living learns some lessons about life and dignity - from dogs! After and had a lot to tell about relations. Sadly, I felt it, but couldn't grasp it so I lost it again. I think I'll re-read this novel sometime. It's written in a clear and elegant style, a prose of crystal brightness. Still it's not flamboyant. It's tuned down and relaxed. It feels like everything has a meaning and like it flows through a structure built to convey it's message. Since it contained some pretty emotional scenes and a rape or two it made me really angry a few times and made me lost perspective more than once. When I had calmed down I felt that Coetzee had manipulated me, fooling me to feel sympathy for someone and then made my feelings really problematic when I realized that I was both gender and racially prejudiced. And it wasn't like I could have felt otherwise! This novel made me feel that what's right and wrong isn't always easy to tell, and even when you feel like you have seen the light, the question is still not resolved. It's strange, but this has taken me almost a week to understand and I still don't know if I like the book. I will not forget it, but maybe it will fade. It's almost like it was too clean and smoothly written. A too easy read somehow. A strange book but I'll search for more from Coetzee.
14. Confessions of a crap artist - Philip K. Dick
If you haven't read something written by PKD, do! Worth checking out if you want to read reviews, analysis and interviews is the philipkdick webpage. This is not one of the more known works of PKD. Most of his work in the science fiction field has been more or less legendary but I felt that I wanted to read some of his "mainstream" books as well. It's a well written book, with very carefully thought out persons and they all have strong personalities and are fun to read about. The plot is non obtrusive, it's just a story about two couples and their relations and how marriages break down. I guess it's actually a tragedy in the classical sense, but it is quite funny sometimes and the main character is such an oddball that you just can help loving him. Some of PKD's trademarks like the multiple viewpoints is used to its uttermost perfection and the PKD way of focusing on small oddities and making the most of them is shown in full. I think it's really a good novel, not as dizzying as some of his sf, but it's humane! It's a telling of small, regular people and what jealousy can do. Recommended.
15. Mästaren och Margarita (The Master and Margarita) - Michail Bulgakov
This book is one of the classics of modern literature and I've been thinking of reading it for a long time. It's a Russian novel, with many names and a lot of people moving around. Strangely enough, this isn't a political novel or a comedy, it's both and a lot more. Many characters are really funny and some of the hilarious weirdness that happen when the devil goes on rampage through the cultural elite world of Moscow is, fun. Once in a while I feel it's almost like Dante, you don't get all the jokes if you don't know all people involved in drama in Moscow at this time. For a book so talked about I kind of expected more. Sure, you see that Bulgakov has succeeded in writing some subtle criticism of his Soviet contemporaries, but is that's why it's so famous? Maybe I just don't get it. But once in a while it really shines, that's the parts about ancient times when Moscow is replaced by the villa of Pontius Pilatus and the days before, and during, the death of Jesus. Most fascinating! All in all, this is a good book and it reads like a cross between Die Leiden des jungen Werthers and a Shakespearean comedy. A strange mixture, indeed! I think I like it, but can't for my life understand why it's such a famous book.
Last time I read one of his books, I concluded that Koontz writes books by formula but he is so damn good at grabbing you by the throat at the first pages so he gets away with it. This time he did not follow the formula I thought I had detected but it's still a tale that grabs you and gives some excitement and some nice thrills. Big Monster from Beyond threatens and through logic and valour the heroes prevail. A village empties over night and the remains are scary and hints at Strangeness(tm) galore. It's entertainment and pretty good. The best writer of thrilling tales now living in my opinion.
More often than not, gameworld tie-ins are pure trash as litterature. Usually you can hear the dice rolling in the background and stereotypes wander the streets. This one isn't that bad, but not especially good either. It's set in the harsh desert world of Dark Sun and is actually the third in a series but it was pretty self explanatory so I didn't feel like I had to read the two first books. It gave me some inspiration for my future roleplaying, but if you're looking for litterature, look elsewhere.
18. Ett tyskt århundrade 1890-1990 - Christian von Krockow
This is a most interesting book (A German Century 1890-1990 [my translation]) . The author tries to, by covering a full one hundred years of history, to understand how the last hundred years have brought so much misery for Germany and the nations interacting with her. He tries to do some psychological observations and marry them with a good understanding of how historical processes evolve. Basically the history of the German nation is the history of a nation who never grew up. A nation were the citizens had a very dependant relationship towards the state and the image of authority. The enlightenment, in the Kantian definition, never really happend in Germany since the citizens went from being subjects of the sovereign to being model citizens without ever making the choice and because of that lived a life in a state of unreality and discomfort. At least that is how I understood his reasoning. I think it is a good book and sheds some light on the burning questions on how Germany came to be a nation responsible for both horrible wars of aggression and at the same time enriching the world with true treasures of culture, music, litterature and philosophy. I can recommend this book to any student of modern history.
19. Eden utan Adam - Dénis Lindbohm
This is a old, not to inspired tale of a far future of the past. It feels a lot like lot science fiction written ages ago. People don't talk much except to deliver information to the reader and behaves rather cartoonish sometimes. It's about a man who wakes up from cryogenic sleep in the far future when there is no men and females reproduces by themself. He is approached like a freak of nature and get to face a lot of scorn and hatred. Almost everyone think he is an alien invader and treats him like it. The novel do have some ideas about (non)equality between sexes, but none to subtle or well told. Quite forgettable.
20. Richard Wagner - Hans Mayer
A biography of the famous composer. It gives some nice overview of his career and how he developed some of his adeas and how they reflect in his music. It gave me a needed background for some if his strange mix of radical and conservative ideas. Otherwise it was a bit shallow.
21. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
Talky, very talky! This is the kind of novel which has a lot of pages filled with descriptions and adjectives. It gives you a good feel for the milleu and the world in which the characters live, but I actually felt a little bit fed up after a while. It's not fun to read to many pages of people walking around in a big city without anything happening for 50 pages. But, the setting is interesting! It has great feel and the gritty steam-punk feel is a fresh breath in the worlds of fantasy. It has machines with are programmable with punched cards, it has steam and it has thamaturgy! The people are colourful and the alien races are outragous to say the least. To bad the plot is buried in to much talkative purple prose. Some characters are described one time to many by broad strokes of the brush and somtimes they behave like caricatures of themself. Strangly enough, the plot is actually a horror story and fairly gripping once it starts to get under way (after ~250 pages out of 700, go figure...). It reads a little bit like Dickens with steam and a little bit like Lovecraft with explicit sex. If you actually like books with prose that sometimes tumbles into itself, like for instance Gormenghast by Mervin Peake, then you probably like this. After all, China mentions his debt to Peake on the awknowledgments page. I, personally think that the language of Gormenghast is just to convoluted to endure. Ask yourself if you can take it, watered down with sex, horror and steam. A bold mix for sure.
22. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
This is a classic war novel amongst science fiction. The end might feel a little like a anti-climax but was probably fresher when the novel was new. It contains military action in some of its idiocity and dumbness. The men of power comes forward as motivated by power and not caring for what's real. I can understand how a Vietnam veteran composes a novel like this after experiencing a war that had lost all sense and meaning. In this future people get enstranged from themself and their society by both the effects of relativistic effects of time and cruel machinations of the military establishment. Once in a while the soldiers of the book returns to a Earth which they no longer recognize. A few times I actually wondered if Haldeman was making some bold statements about how to run a society or if he is just making fun of them, I mean, forced homosexuality for all on earth? Get real. Apart from some of those jarring bits and a too silly end, I liked the book. I wonder if Jerry Pournelle or Robert Heinlein has read it?
23. Engine Summer - John Crowley
This is an odd one. It's very well written, Crowley know how to slowly fold English to seamlessly construct worlds that seems both very familiar and new. A post-apocalyptic tale this is. Filled with bits and pieces from a former civilization, put to new use. Crowley really must like to write about secrets covering secrets, within all a myth of past and present. Some of the ideas that has risen from the crumbling pasts have been folded into themself and no longer resemble anything familiar, signposts pointing into a world of stranger myths. The people have again learned to live, prosper and flourish. They see around them a world that is again making sense, after the madness of the forgotten past they now tell to one another by the campfires. The summer of the world have passed and it is fall. A fall which is blossoming and still again is warm before the final onset of winter. It's a well structured book, which will take a few readings to understand in all its richness. A lot of what has gone before is now so obscured that you actually has to be initiated into a new life to get to know it, just to realize that first now do you understand the present. The purpose of both time and life is both to be lived and learned before the myth can take shape and everything is again fresh. Then you must read the book again to be sure about what the legends actually told you about. I got very frustrated some times when the myths was folding into themselves. It's a multilayered story about both the future and the past and the language is handled by a master craftsman. Read it, but don't expect it to make much sense until afterwards, when you want to read it again to make sure. A novel about growing both old and young.
24. The Bare-faced Messiah - Russel Miller
If you haven't read this book yet, do it! If the local scientologist have bought them all and pulped them, since the book tells the unpolished truth about their "great" founder. It's a scary book about a very deranged man, about his lust for domination of people and how he shaped the myths about himself. He was a natural storyteller, and started to tell outrageous stries of his own exploits. How he fabricated a myth about himself and started a church in order to get rich is not exactly the kind of facts the so called "church" likes to get around. Believe me when I tell you that those guys are dangerous! They tried once to infiltrate the FBI and other agencies and god knows what they are capable of trying to do! Hitler was a master of deception and mass seduction, L. Ron Hubbard was nother of his kind. He was ready to do anything for power, money and control of the people around him. Read thsi book and find out how he treated his family! It's a scary book, I say it again. It's needed. Check out some of the sites I link to from my starting page for some critical examination of the way scientology still try fools folk like you and me, even today.