Varley's Library
© 2005-2008 by John Varley; all rights reserved
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Varley's Library
© 2005-2008 by John Varley; all rights reserved |
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One of the questions I get asked most frequently is:
What books do you recommend?
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People come to the site and see the extensive list of movie reviews and wonder why I don’t review books. There are several reasons, but the most important one is that I don’t enjoy it. For some reason I’m perfectly willing to praise or pick apart a movie, but don’t like to do it with books. The most I’m usually willing to commit to is whether I liked it or not, and how much I liked it. (Or didn’t like it.) Another reason is that I read almost no science fiction. It just stands to reason that people coming to my site would be looking for SF recommendations, and I don’t have many. The reasons I don’t read SF are complex, and sometimes even a bit silly, but I’ll try to explain. Science fiction is my work. I read almost exclusively for fun, for enjoyment, for relaxation during and after a hard day of writing, and reading SF feels like more work. And I usually have one of three reactions to an SF book:
Stupid, I know, but I can’t seem to get around it. So for many years now I’ve been reading popular fiction, mostly in the mystery genre. Some years ago I read the entire output of both Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, and that seems to have used up my tolerance for the drawing room whodunit. Now what I read is usually a lot more grounded in real life. Hard mysteries, if you will, American mostly, tales of the mean streets starring cops and PIs. Escapist fiction, no doubt, but what is SF if not escapist? The best of it, anyway. True, SF stretches your mind more, but often suffers from a serious lack of good prose style. There are some real wordsmiths working in the mystery field, and I have a long list of them. I also have a few that might be called endearing hacks. I’m addicted to the series novel, and the more of them there are, the better. When I find a good writer, I stick with him ... or her, though I sheepishly admit I haven’t found many female writers in this genre lately that I appreciate. Recommendations in that area would be appreciated. From time to time I try a book from out of left field, from no identifiable genre, such as the works of T Coraghessan Boyle or Patrick O’Brian, and I’m often rewarded. Books on the list are books I finished. That is the only implied endorsement. Tastes differ, and you may hate some of these writers, may love some of them. Very infrequently I finish a book I hate, for one reason or another, and those will be clearly labeled as stinkers. Other than that, you're on your own! |
Index to the Writers
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Kage is the exception that proves the rule as far as my reading SF is concerned. I sold a story to Janis Ian for her collection, Stars, and when my copy came I decided, what the hell, I’ll read it. Mostly good stories, but three were standouts. Two were by old pros, names familiar to everyone, and the third was by Kage Baker. Who is this woman? I found her website, read up on her, and discovered she lives a couple of miles away! I bought the first book in her “Company” series, which she promises will be 7 volumes, and was enchanted. Good, solid SF, a new idea—lots of new ideas—and sly, beautiful writing. I devoured the next 4. IN THE GARDEN OF IDEN ê SKY COYOTE ê MENDOZA IN HOLLYWOOD THE GRAVEYARD GAME ê THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME She also wrote fantasy, and I never read fantasy. (Okay, Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket, but that’s it since Frodo was a pup.) But I gave it a try, and she’s the exception there, too. Wonderful stuff! She’s wonderful at short stories, too. You can’t go wrong with Kage Baker. MOTHER AEGYPT ê BLACK PROJECTS, WHITE KNIGHTS ê THE ANVIL OF THE WORLD |
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Lawrence Block is almost as prolific as Donald Westlake. He got his start writing in the pulp magazines and paperbacks at about the same time as Westlake, they are both New Yorkers, and in fact they are friends. Some of his early books constitute series, and they are pretty much trifles, for the collector or fan. They include Tanner, a man whose sleep center is destroyed and thus never sleeps (THE THIEF WHO COULDN’T SLEEP ê THE CANCELLED CZECH ê TANNER’S TWELVE SWINGERS ê THE SCORELESS THAI (TWO FOR TANNER) ê TANNER’S TIGER ê HERE COMES A HERO ê ME TANNER, YOU JANE ê TANNER ON ICE), and Chip Harrison (NO SCORE ê CHIP HARRISON SCORES AGAIN ê MAKE OUT WITH MURDER ê THE TOPLESS TULIP CAPER). At one time I owned copies of all these books, in first editions, when I was collecting. He has another, more recent series starring a quirky hit man named Keller (Hit Man ê Hit List). Most of his stand-alone novels were written early in his career. They are: AFTER THE FIRST DEATH ê ARIEL ê CINDERELLA SIMS ê COWARD’S KISS ê DEADLY HONEYMOON THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART ê MONA ê NOT COMIN’ HOME TO YOU ê RANDOM WALK THE SPECIALISTS ê SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS ê THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL YOU COULD CALL IT MURDER I’ve read all of those but one. He wrote the first novel I read that dealt with 9/11: Small Town. He is also the master of the short story, with the following collections: SOMETIMES THEY BITE ê LIKE A LAMB TO SLAUGHTER SOME DAYS YOU GET THE BEAR ê EHRENGRAF FOR THE DEFENSE COLLECTED MYSTERY STORIES ê ENOUGH ROPE My particular favorites are those starring Martin Ehrengraf, who never takes a case on a contingency basis, always charges a flat fee, and never loses. If you are Ehrengraf’s client, you are, by definition, not guilty, and will be found to be so, but seldom in a court of law. Unless you don’t pay. Think about it. He has a comic/whodunit character, Bernie Rhodenbarr, who is a compulsive burglar and owns a small bookstore in Manhattan. Bernie handles the locked-room type mystery ideas Block comes up with, with considerable panache. He also gives Block the opportunity for sly digs and inside jokes about the publishing industry: BURGLARS CAN’T BE CHOOSERS ê THE BURGLAR IN THE CLOSET THE BURGLAR WHO LIKED TO QUOTE KIPLING ê THE BURGLAR WHO STUDIED SPINOZA THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN ê THE BURGLAR WHO TRADED TED WILLIAMS THE BURGLAR WHO THOUGHT HE WAS BOGART THE BURGLAR IN THE LIBRARY ê THE BURGLAR IN THE RYE THE BURGLAR ON THE PROWL But Block’s legacy will be the ex NYC cop, Matthew Scudder. He is unmatched in the genre, and it’s a tough genre. He begins as a severe alcoholic, then becomes an AA member but never becomes a pain in the ass about it. As in most series, they benefit from being read in order, thus: THE SINS OF THE FATHERS ê TIME TO MURDER AND CREATE IN THE MIDST OF DEATH ê A STAB IN THE DARK EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE ê WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES OUT ON THE CUTTING EDGE ê A TICKET TO THE BONEYARD A DANCE AT THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE ê A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD ê A LONG LINE OF DEAD MEN ê EVEN THE WICKED EVERYBODY DIES ê HOPE TO DIE ê ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DYING |
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This extremely versatile and weird fellow used to publish under the name of T. Correghessan Boyle until his last 2 novels. I wondered if some publisher convinced him that people are embarrassed to recommend a book by somebody who’s freakin’ name they can’t pronounce? Whatever. I got into him after seeing the amusing little gem of a movie, The Road to Wellville, about the insane human dynamo Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, of Battle Creek, Michigan, the cereal magnate. All the facts and some of the characters in the movie and book are true, though almost impossible to believe. So I started working my way through his novels. No two of them have anything in common, except Boyle's fascinating voice. He is all over the place. One takes place in 1795 in England and Africa. One is set in old New York, in the 1600s. The Tortilla Curtain is in present-day Los Angeles, and brilliantly contrasts the lives of a rich white couple and a dirt-poor pair of illegal Mexicans. One is about growing marijuana. Drop City is a story of hippies in the ‘60s, California and Alaska. There’s one about Alfred Kinsey. One is pretty fair science fiction. Just whatever takes his interest. I can’t guarantee you’ll like all of them (I didn’t, but they were always good enough to finish) but if you don’t like at least some of them you’re seriously challenged. WATER MUSIC ê BUDDING PROSPECTS ê WORLD’S END ê EAST IS EAST THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE ê THE TORTILLA CURTAIN ê RIVEN ROCK A FRIEND OF THE EARTH ê DROP CITY ê THE INNER CIRCLE Boyle is also a master of the short story. Some of the best I’ve ever read, and some of the weirdest. He’s got 5 collections, and an omnibus. I’ve read them all. THE DESCENT OF MAN ê GREASY LAKE ê IF THE RIVER WAS WHISKEY WITHOUT A HERO ê T C BOYLE STORIES ê AFTER THE PLAGUE |
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Not everybody goes for Burke. Sometimes I find him a little much, myself. His prose is poetic, non-linear, and sometimes a bit too flowery. I mean, how many smells can you describe in one book? Usually they come in threes. Atmospheric as hell. And yet, it’s all right, it’s all Louisiana, a place I have some experience of. His mainstay is Dave Robicheaux, ex-Big Easy cop, recovering alcoholic, now cop in the small town of Lafayette. Cajun to his bones. He and his podnah, Cletis, an amiable moose ready to do things like drive a bulldozer through a mansion to steal a floppy disk, run into some bad fellows. I like him. THE NEON RAIN ê HEAVEN’S PRISONERS ê BLACK CHERRY BLUES A MORNING FOR FLAMINGOS ê A STAINED WHITE RADIANCE IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD ê DIXIE CITY JAM BURNING ANGEL ê CADILLAC JUKEBOX ê SUNSET LIMITED PURPLE CANE ROAD ê JOLIE BLON’S BOUNCE ê LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS He has a second character, Billy Bob Holland, from Texas and Montana, a lawyer, who talks about things in similar terms. He’s not as good, but worth reading. CIMMARON ROSE ê HEARTWOOD ê BITTERROOT ê IN THE MOON OF RED PONIES Burke has also written one historical novel: WHITE DOVES AT MORNING |
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Here is a delightful author we won’t be seeing any more of. He died in 2000. He was a TV screenwriter who turned to novels, and wrote quite a few books I haven’t read, then found a really great series character: Jimmy Flannery, an uneducated, plain-spoken, no-nonsense Irishman who works for the city of Chicago. As a sewer inspector! Talk about your average working joe! But he finds trouble regularly, of course, or he wouldn’t be very interesting. And he grows remarkable in this series of cleverly titled books, getting involved in city politics, rising the ladder a lot farther than he ever expected to. THE JUNKYARD DOG (1986) ê THE 600 POUND GORILLA (1987) HIP-DEEP IN ALLIGATORS (1987) ê THE CAT'S MEOW (1988) THINNING THE TURKEY HERD (1988) ê NIBBLED TO DEATH BY DUCKS (1989) THE GIFT HORSE'S MOUTH (1990) ê IN A PIG'S EYE (1991) ê SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE (1995) THE LION'S SHARE (1996) ê PIGEON PIE (1999) He has another series just as good, and a lot grittier. These star a darker character named Whistler, a two-bit private eye based in Los Angeles. Some of the best dialogue and atmosphere anywhere. IN LA-LA LAND WE TRUST (1986) ê ALICE IN LA-LA LAND (1987) SWEET LA-LA LAND (1990) ê THE WIZARD OF LA-LA LAND (1995) Less interesting but still enjoyable are two that are only available in hard-to-find paperbacks, starring Jake Hatch: PLUGGED NICKEL (1988) ê RED CENT (1989) |
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People had been recommending this guy to me for a while, so I finally checked him out. As usual, I started with the first book. The character is Jack Reacher, the “ultimate loner.” He’s an ex-Army MP Major, and in the first book he’s just out after force reductions in the ‘90s. He literally owns nothing but the clothes on his back, and he likes it that way. He’s got a little money in the bank, but has no ID, no suitcase, no nothing. He’s big, and he’s direct. I read an interview with Child where he points out that a lot of series character have sidekicks who get to do the things the hero is too pure to do. Spenser and Hawk, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Reacher is his own sidekick. If somebody needs killing, he kills them, and doesn’t lose a minute’s sleep. The books are very, very tough ... and yet, after a few of them, I realized the books they have the most in common with are the Sherlock Holmes stories. Even Agatha Christie. The puzzles are complex, and Reacher is very deductive. Maybe a little too much to believe sometimes, but it doesn’t matter. What an odd marriage: Holmes and Westlake’s Parker, in a lot of ways. But it works. The most impressive thing, to me, is that Child is a Brit. For a guy who never served in the US Army, he knows it backward and forward ... or at least enough to fool a guy like me, who never served, either. He must be a terrific researcher and observer, as all his detail about America is dead on. Very few Brits can do that. I salute him. KILLING FLOOR ê DIE TRYING ê TRIPWIRE ê RUNNING BLIND ECHO BURNING ê WITHOUT FAIL ê PERSUADER ê THE ENEMY ê ONE SHOT |
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This guy started off with a couple of novels I haven’t read, then created a series character, Myron Bolitar, who began as a high-powered sports agent and ends up mostly as a private detective. He’s a great character. The first one is being developed for the movies. DEAL BREAKER (1995) ê DROP SHOT (1996) ê FADE AWAY (1996) BACK SPIN (1997) ê ONE FALSE MOVE (1998) THE FINAL DETAIL (1999) ê DARKEST FEAR (2000) Since the turn of the century Coben’s been writing top-notch thrillers and has become a bestseller, specializing in edge of the seat stuff where bad things happen to good people, evil inexplicably entering the lives of ordinary people in a sort of Hitchcock manner, and the ways they find to get out of it all. The plots are very good, if improbable. I’m surprised none of them are listed at the IMDb, as they are naturals for Hollywood treatment. (TELL NO ONE has been made in France, and I’ll look for it eagerly.)
PLAY DEAD (1990) ê MIRACLE CURE (1991) ê TELL NO ONE (2001) GONE FOR GOOD (2002) ê NO SECOND CHANCE (2003) JUST ONE LOOK (2004) ê THE INNOCENT (2005) |
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Collins is an insanely prolific writer, and about 80% of his output is stuff I have no interest in. He is the king of the movie and TV tie-in, with a dozen CSI books, among many others. He’s written graphic novels and comics. He also has a series featuring Eliot Ness, and I tried one and didn’t care for it. He also wrote the graphic novel The Road to Perdition movie is based on. And when he’s not grinding them out, when he takes his time and puts his heart in it, he writes about Nate Heller, a 1930s ex-cop turned private eye in Chicago. Heller deals with all the major gangsters of the time, and Collins’ knowledge of the place and period is encyclopedic. TRUE DETECTIVE (1983) ê TRUE CRIME (1984) ê THE MILLION DOLLAR WOUND (1986) NEON MIRAGE (1988) ê STOLEN AWAY (1991) ê CARNAL HOURS (1994) BLOOD AND THUNDER (1995) ê DAMNED IN PARADISE (1996) ê FLYING BLIND (1998) ê MAJIC MAN (1999) ANGEL IN BLACK (2001) ê CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL (2002) Probably hard to find by now are a series about the single-named Quarry, a psychotic Vietnam vet and hired killer in Iowa, which are also good. THE BROKER [APA QUARRY] (1976) ê THE BROKER'S WIFE [APA QUARRY'S LIST] (1976) THE DEALER [APA QUARRY'S DEAL] (1976) THE SLASHER [APA QUARRY'S CUT] (1977) ê PRIMARY TARGET (1987) |
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The Los Angeles cop hero of Connelly’s main books is Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch, kind of a cutesy name but at least he has two of them. THE BLACK ECHO ê THE BLACK ICE ê THE CONCRETE BLONDE THE LAST COYOTE ê TRUNK MUSIC ANGELS FLIGHT ê A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT ê CITY OF BONES LOST LIGHT ê THE NARROWS He has from time to time written novels outside the series, including one starring Terry McCaleb, an ex-FBI agent with a heart transplant that Clint Eastwood made into an excellent movie. These are: VOID MOON ê THE POET ê CHASING THE DIME ê BLOOD WORK |
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The series character is Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who starts out as medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia, is eventually fired and moves to Florida. Her niece, Lucy, becomes a more important character as she grows up. They started out very good, full of fascinating detail about autopsies and evidence. And then the books began to wear on me. I kept at it (see Robert B Parker, Janet Evanovich), but the last one just became too much. A common element I find in so many female series characters is that they seem to have no one friendly around them (see Sara Paretsky). Their relatives hassle and berate them, they get little support even from their friends. Okay, probably this is the way it is to be a woman working in a man’s world, but stand up for yourself! Scarpetta notes every slight in obsessive detail, to the point she comes off as a whiner ... then proceeds to do absolutely nothing about it, even when it won’t cost her anything to do so. In Trace, the newest Scarpetta, Cornwell shifts to present tense, a fashion I’m really beginning to hate. She doesn’t handle it well. Scarpetta bristles at everything; she can’t even have a good relationship with Lucy or her lover. Cornwell has absolutely no wit, no sense of humor; I can’t recall one line of joshing, except by her ultra-crude sidekick, Marino, who was always a bit of an asshole, and has now gone whole hog. I’d detest him on sight. Everything is a source of stress to Scarpetta, there is nothing in her life that is pleasant, even a little bit. Everyone around her is incompetent, and in this book she steps into a situation a saint wouldn’t have touched with a ten-meter pole for no reason that I can discern except there wouldn’t have been a story if she hadn’t, and blunders about. Lucy, the supposed genius, isn’t any better. I skimmed the last 200 pages, just to find out what happened, and it was incredibly stupid. I’m through with Scarpetta. POSTMORTEM ê BODY OF EVIDENCE ê ALL THAT REMAINS ê CRUEL AND UNUSUAL THE BODY FARM (1994) ê FROM POTTER'S FIELD ê CAUSE OF DEATH ê UNNATURAL EXPOSURE
POINT OF ORIGIN
ê
BLACK NOTICE (1999)
ê
THE LAST PRECINCT
ê
BLOW FLY
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Elvis Cole is the self-styled “World’s greatest detective,” based in LA. He’s flip and funny, and gets better as the series progress and gets more serious as it goes. His sidekick is the almost monosyllabic Joe Pike, ex-army, ex-cop, who is almost preternaturally good at stealth and violence. He’s almost a cipher at the beginning, but evolves as well as Cole does. In order: THE MONKEY’S RAINCOAT ê STALKING THE ANGEL ê LULLABY TOWN ê FREE FALL VOODOO RIVER ê SUNSET EXPRESS ê INDIGO SLAM ê LA REQUIEM THE LAST DETECTIVE ê THE FORGOTTEN MAN Crais began a second character, Carol Starkey, of the LAPD bomb squad in: DEMOLITION ANGEL She is involved with Elvis Cole, and is a major character in the latest Cole novel. Crais has also written a stand-alone book that won some awards and was made into a Bruce Willis movie: HOSTAGE. |
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Though DeMille has two series characters, neither series is very long, and I think don’t think of him that way. He is a Vietnam veteran, and has dealt with some of those issues in some of his books. They are generally military or spy oriented, and are excellent of their type. Paul Brenner - THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER (1992) ê UP COUNTRY (2002) John Corey - PLUM ISLAND (1997) ê THE LION'S GAME (2000) ê NIGHT FALL (2004) Singles: BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON (1978) MAYDAY (with Thomas H Block) (1979) ê CATHEDRAL (1981) THE TALBOT ODYSSEY (1984) ê WORD OF HONOR (1985) THE CHARM SCHOOL (1988) ê GOLD COAST (1990) SPENCERVILLE (1994) In 1974 and 1975 he ground out no less than 6 novels, which I haven’t read, and which are probably paperback originals. Learning his craft, I assume. |
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If John D MacDonald is the Godfather of the Florida Gang and Carl Hiaasen the consigliore, Tim Dorsey is that crazy fuck Joe Pesci played in Goodfellas. You never know what he’s gonna do, and not all of it is pretty. He has pulled off something I would have thought was impossible, making his main series character a serial killer. His name is Serge Storms (get it?), and he is a certified psychotic. But what he’s crazy about is Florida, its history and land. He doesn’t kill people out of malice, but because they get in his way, or are doing something awful to his beloved state, and he does it while delivering amphetamine-like (though he actually takes no drugs) lectures on every tiny bit of Florida history. Dorsey’s latest begins with a complaint from the omniscient narrator, who didn’t show up for work on the book on time and was replaced by another narrator. And the books typically end with a gonzo “Note on the typeface.” Nothing is safe. I admit, once in a while he goes overboard, pushes just a little too hard, but it’s worth it. The guy also gets some of the brightest, nicest book jackets of anyone in the business.
FLORIDA ROADKILL ê HAMMERHEAD RANCH MOTEL ê ORANGE CRUSH TRIGGERFISH TWIST ê STINGRAY SHUFFLE ê CADILLAC BEACH ê TORPEDO JUICE |
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New on the scene, Eisler has made a name for himself very quickly, like Lee Child. That’s because his character, John Rain, half Japanese and half American, is very, very tough. He’s a Vietnam vet, CIA-trained, and would like to retire from his profession as assassin who specializes in killing such that it doesn’t look like murder, but of course once you make yourself into a weapon, somebody is going to want to use you. He has lived in Japan for a long time, can pass as a native. His hyper caution sometimes gets a little wearing, but I don’t suppose he’d be alive if he wasn’t that way. It’s just that sometimes I feel Eisler could let some of the details of the pains he takes everywhere he goes be taken as a given, and get on with the story. But it’s a minor complaint. RAIN FALL (2002) ê HARD RAIN (2003) ê RAIN STORM (2004) ê KILLING RAIN (2005) |
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Estleman’s Amos Walker, Vietnam vet private eye in Detroit, carries on the hard-boiled tradition of Philip Marlowe just about as well as anybody working today. And he’s has more of a sense of humor, good at the wisecracks. These are tough-minded books, gritty as Detroit itself. MOTOR CITY BLUE (1980) ê ANGEL EYES (1981) ê THE MIDNIGHT MAN (1982) THE GLASS HIGHWAY (1983) ê SUGARTOWN (1984) ê EVERY BRILLIANT EYE (1986) LADY YESTERDAY (1987) ê DOWNRIVER (1988) ê SILENT THUNDER (1989) SWEET WOMEN LIE (1990) ê NEVER STREET (1997) ê THE WITCHFINDER (1998) THE HOURS OF THE VIRGIN (1999) ê A SMILE ON THE FACE OF THE TIGER (2000) SINISTER HEIGHTS (2002) ê POISON BLONDE (2003) ê RETRO (2004) Estleman has been working on “The Detroit Series,” a sort of fictional history of Detroit in the 20th Century, for a while. I don’t like them as much as the Amos Walkers, but they’re good. WHISKEY RIVER (1990) ê MOTOWN (1991) ê KING OF THE CORNER (1992) EDSEL (1996) ê STRESS (1996) ê JITTERBUG (1999) ê THUNDER CITY (1999) And he also does books a bit farther out, about Peter Macklin, hit man for the mob. He was a bit ahead of Lawrence Block’s Keller, in that he examines the guy’s regular life when he’s not whacking people like the cold-blooded sociopath he is. He’s got a son, and wonders if he should bring the kid into the family business. KILL ZONE (1984) ê ROSES ARE DEAD (1985) ê ANY MAN'S DEATH (1986) SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLACK (2002) ê LITTLE BLACK DRESS (2005) |
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This series, starring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, goes on to nine and ten, with eleven in the offing, but I gave up at eight. They begin well, Stephanie is appealingly scattered, new at her job, learning the ropes. She has a swell grandma who spends most of her time attending and reviewing funerals. But Ms. Plum is still as hapless in eight as she was in one. Every book she wrecks at least one car because she’s a shitty driver, and lets the same felon escape at least three times because of her own stupid mistakes. I have a hard time with people who don’t learn, who don’t get smarter. ONE FOR THE MONEY ê TWO FOR THE DOUGH ê THREE TO GET DEADLY FOUR TO SCORE ê HIGH FIVE ê HOT SIX ê SEVEN UP ê HARD EIGHT |
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This guy is so far out on the edge you can hardly see him with a telescope. He may be too far out on the edge for some folks, but I love him. His novels feature one Thursday Next, who works for Special Literary Operations, whose job it is to do various things concerning literary forgeries ... and things too weird to easily describe. This is a world where people really care about literature and art. There are bloody riots between Raphaelites and Surrealists. People go door to door delivering the gospel that Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him. And it is possible to move into a book, even change the plot. Thursday’s arch enemies are Acheron Hades, a man who loves evil for evil’s sake, and Jack Schitt, who works for the Goliath corporation, which pretty much runs England. The Crimean War has been going on for 130 years, Churchill died as a young man, England was invaded and then liberated, relations are tense with the neighboring People’s Republic of Wales ... and I’ve only scratched the surface. In the second book, Thursday’s husband is written out of history and she has to find a way to bring him back, with the help of the Cheshire Cat and Miss Havisham of Great Expectations ... give them a try. THE EYRE AFFAIR (2001) ê LOST IN A GOOD BOOK (2002) ê THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS (2003) SOMETHING ROTTEN (2004) ê THE BIG OVER EASY (2005) |
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Having read one series of sea stories, I decided to try the granddaddy of them all, Horatio Hornblower. I didn’t regret it for an instant. Hornblower is nothing like the character in the recent series of movies. He is a driven, self-hating, insecure, sea-sick perfectionist, and you like him in spite of all that. Unlike Jack Aubrey, we begin with him at the lowest rank above common seaman. MR MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER ê LIEUTENANT HORNBLOWER ê HORNBLOWER AND THE HOTSPUR HORNBLOWER DURING THE CRISIS ê HORNBLOWER AND THE ATROPOS ê BEAT TO QUARTERS A SHIP OF THE LINE ê FLYING COLOURS ê COMMODORE HORNBLOWER ê LORD HORNBLOWER ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER IN THE WEST INDIES |
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My uncle Don recommend Francis to me many years ago. I was dubious. I don’t much care for horses except to look at. Why would I want to read books by England’s top jockey? Well, because he’s like just a handful of other writers, such as John McPhee, who can make me interested in a subject I’ve never really thought much about. Not all Francis’s stories are about horseflesh, but the great majority are, and that’s okay. He’s written about corners of that world as obscure as the trailers you drive horses around in and the airplanes you use to carry them long distances. Along the way you get a good, tight story, and learn a lot. Francis had one character he revisited a few times, Sid Halley: ODDS AGAINST ê WHIP HAND ê COME TO GRIEF ... but otherwise, each story stands alone. They are: DEAD CERT ê NERVE ê FOR KICKS ê FLYING FINISH ê BLOOD SPORT ê FORFEIT ENQUIRY ê RAT RACE ê BONECRACK ê SMOKESCREEN ê SLAY RIDE ê KNOCKDOWN HIGH STAKES ê IN THE FRAME ê RISK ê TRIAL RUN ê REFLEX ê TWICE SHY THE DANGER ê BANKER ê PROOF ê BREAK IN ê BOLT ê HOT MONEY THE EDGE ê STRAIGHT ê LONGSHOT ê COMEBACK ê DRIVING FORCE DECIDER ê WILD HORSES ê TO THE HILT ê 10 LB PENALTY SECOND WIND ê SHATTERED There hasn’t been a new book since 2000. He’s 85 now, so maybe there won’t be any more. That’s a pity. |
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George MacDonald Fraser Website
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Best known for the chronicles of Sir Harry Paget Flashman, Brigadier-General V.C. K.C.B., K.C.I.E. Sir Harry was a scoundrel, poltroon, coward, and many other unsavory things, managed to get involved in every British military disaster in his lifetime and plenty of other adventures, including fighting on both sides of the American Civil War and surviving Little Big Horn ... and always comes out with a promotion. His papers were discovered in the 1960s and have been released gradually and reluctantly, with copious footnotes. In his lifetime Flashy was a hero to the public, but in his papers he pulls no punches, freely admits and indeed glories in his villainies. ... and at the time of first publication of Flashman, more than a few critics took all this bullshit at face value! Talk about red faces! These books don’t have to be read in any order, as they skip across his scandalous life with abandon, but I’d suggest you read the first one first. Then, if you can stand the fellow (and he has millions of fans, including me and my sister Francine), read all the others. FLASHMAN (1969) ê ROYAL FLASH (1970) ê FLASH FOR FREEDOM! (1971) FLASHMAN AT THE CHARGE (1973) ê FLASHMAN IN THE GREAT GAME (1975) ê FLASHMAN'S LADY (1977) FLASHMAN AND THE REDSKINS (1982) ê FLASHMAN AND THE DRAGON (1985) FLASHMAN AND THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT (1990) ê FLASHMAN AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (1994) FLASHMAN AND THE TIGER (1999) ê FLASHMAN ON THE MARCH (2005) Fraser has also written other novels, a few of which involve Flashy and or his father, and collections of short stories. MR. AMERICAN (1980) ê THE PYRATES (1983) ê THE CANDLEMASS ROAD (1993) BLACK AJAX (1997) ê THE GENERAL DANCED AT DAWN (1970) MCAUSLAN IN THE ROUGH (1974) ê THE SHIEKH AND THE DUSTBIN (1988) THE COMPLETE MCAUSLAN (2000) He also wrote an excellent book about the movies: The Hollywood History of the World (1997) ... and several screenplays, including two films on my Top 25 of All Time. THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1974) ê THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973) |
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I don’t read a lot of English mysteries. There are some good ones, I know I should look into certain people, but so many of them are in the Agatha Christie tradition, a tradition I don’t much enjoy. Gash’s Lovejoy, no first name, an antiques expert and forger in East Anglia, England, manages to get to me because he is quite unusual. Reading these books, you learn a ton of stuff about antiques, something I’m normally not too interested in. But Gash makes it work, like Dick Francis with horses and Stephen Hunter with guns. Lovejoy is a rogue, a coward, and has a sixth sense. He’s a “divvy,” he can tell just by looking at something whether it’s real or fake. You’d think he’d be rich because of this talent, but he’s forever broke, forever making deals for stuff he can’t afford, and forever being taken advantage of by gangsters and other hard cases. It all gets a little much from time to time, you want to grab him by the lapels and tell him to stand up for himself ... but he always manages to outwit his enemies. THE JUDAS PAIR (1977) ê GOLD BY GEMINI (1978) ê THE GRAIL TREE (1979) SPEND GAME (1980) ê THE VATICAN RIP (1981) ê FIREFLY GADROON (1982) THE SLEEPERS OF ERIN (1983) ê THE GONDOLA SCAM (1984) ê PEARLHANGER (1985) THE TARTAN SELL (1986) ê MOONSPENDER (1986) ê JADE WOMAN (1988) THE VERY LAST GAMBADO (1989) ê THE GREAT CALIFORNIA GAME (1990) THE LIES OF FAIR LADIES (1991) ê PAID AND LOVING EYES (1992) THE SIN WITHIN HER SMILE (1993) ê THE GRACE IN OLDER WOMEN (1995) THE POSSESSIONS OF A LADY (1996) ê THE RICH AND THE PROFANE (1999) A RAG, A BONE AND A HANK OF HAIR (2000) ê EVERY LAST CENT (2002) THE TEN WORD GAME (2004) |
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