Reading in Nov 2022

 

Robert Harris, Munich

Unusually for Harris, no so much a thriller as a straight historical novel.  Possibly because the events around the Munich Conference and the nascent contacts between the German opposition to Hitler and the British don't need much embellishing.  But probably also because the conference has been a long-term interest of Harris' (he made a documentary about it for the 50th anniversary in 1988), and he feels that he needs it to be written about to rescue it from being a byword for craven capitulation.

Derek Wilson, A Brief History of the Circumnavigators

I enjoyed this overview of circumnavigation from Magellan to the solo yatchsmen.  I wonder why he missed out Darwin/FitzRoy?

It reminded me that I have Dampier's account of his journeys half-read by my bed and shelves of exploration books I haven't touched in years.

Mike Ashley (ed), Born of the Sun: Adventures in Our Solar System

Another in the British Library's series of works of classic science-fiction.  This one is an anthology, providing a story for each significant location in the solar system (excluding the Earth/Moon).

Like others in the series, I found that it dragged, and I couldn't help but wonder if some of the authors were neglected for good reason.  Having read the books in the series that I'd bought, I don't think I'll go back for any more.

Books & Stuff (NS, No 26) - Reading in Mar 2022

 Books Finished

HP Lovecraft, The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Other Stories

A collection of seven (not six, as it says on the back cover!) stories by Lovecraft, including the title story and 'The Colour Out of Space'.

Introductions to modern Lovecraft anthologies have to go out of their way to admit that he was a horrid racist, but that one can separate his works from the man.  In this 1971 collection, the introduction gives an almost avuncular description of him!

Ruthanna Emrys, Winter Tide

I decided to re-read Winter Tide, the first of 'The Innsmouth Legacy' books, in which Emrys subverts Lovecraft by taking the side of 'the other'.  Her heroes are the two Hybrid survivors of the concentration camps (being released alongside the Japanese internees at the end of the war).

They are recruited by an outcast FBI agent to research into secrets hidden in Miskatonic University Library, with the promise that they might also be able to recover some of their stolen heritage.  It's not only the Soviets who are watching Miskatonic though...

I originally read this in Oct 2019 and found it a little contrived (it did make my Best of 2019 list though).  This time, I came away with a better impression, and therefore read the next in the series.

Ruthanna Emrys, Deep Roots

Aphra Marsh's quest to resettle Innsmouth leads her to New York in search of lost relatives.  Instead, she finds a settlement of Mi-go who are divided among themselves as to how interventionist to be in human affairs, given the threat of atomic war.

Natasha Pulley, The Bedlam Stacks

A bit of magical realism set in C19th Peru as a British expedition is sent out to steal cuttings of the cinchona plant (the source of quinine).

Robert Harris, The Second Sleep

Something a little unusual for Harris, best known for his historical thrillers.  This one is set in a post-apocalyptic future, hovvering on the end of a new medieval age.  But as competent a tale as you'd expect from Harris.

Andy Weir, The Martian

Every so often I re-read Weir's tale of an marooned astronaut's refusal to give up in the face of everwhealming odds.  It's a bit of a comfort read for me (especially when I'm giving up).