Well this is what happens when I am off work ill – I read a lot!
Here are another two quick reviews. Unusually for me, they are both collections of short stories.
The Dream Archipelago by
Christopher Priest
This is a bit of a strange one for me. Though I can appreciate the author’s craft, I found the individual stories strangely uninvolving. The major themes explored are loss and emotional desolation and the characters are all damaged goods to some extent or another. There is not a lot of cheer here, but I would not give it the thumbs down. Think gloomy Bradbury or Gene Wolfe a la “Fifth Head of Cerberus” and you kind of get the picture.
A Second Chance at Eden by
Peter F. Hamilton
I just picked this up by chance. Lucky me! This is the sort of sci-fi that reminds me why I started reading the genre in the first place. Intelligent and insightful without being hectoring or over elaborate, this is makes me want to go out and hunt down more of the author’s writing. In brief, this is a collection of differing short stories set within an alternative timeline. It contains amongst others, a detective story, an entertaining twist on the rollerball/violent future sport theme and a whole slew of fresh ideas nicely presented. Good work Mr. Hamilton
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Regards
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Mouse
[This message has been edited by Mouse (edited 09-18-2001).]