Gav Reads

A Web Log of Reading

  • [Contains Spoilers] What was the Point of The Lightspeed Trilogy? 

    Niall Harrison’s review in Locus magazine does provide answers.

    Beyond The Light Horizon

    However, I was unsatisfied with the ending. This feeling wasn’t helped by my e-reader telling me that there was 12% left. It ended on the first of what I was hoping were several post-script chapters. And I was promoted to post this on Bluesky: 

    I have just finished [Beyond the Light Horizon], and I feel like I have been cheated out of chapters at the end. Hmmmm.

    Have I forgotten that one of Science Fiction’s roles is to look at the big questions, and it uses a story wrapper to do that? 

    From my reaction to this work, it seems I have. Niall hasn’t taken much more away from the trilogy than I did.

    In a nutshell, an AI called ‘Iskander’ is a predictive AI that can anticipate your needs and set things in motion so they happen at the right time. Think of it as wanting to go out and finding you don’t have to wait for a taxi because it is already outside.  

    What it sets in motion in the trilogy is the discovery of Faster Than Light Travel, which results in a submarine/spaceship being built in Scotland. This then causes a chain reaction to open the world’s eyes to a deep conspiracy in which FTL has been a worldwide secret project.

    On reflection, this series is tackling a lot of big ideas: 

    • there are at least three versions of AI supporting/controlling the three main human geopolitical alliances 
    • the way the countries have aligned themselves
    • the socioeconomic impacts of those allegiances
    • the impact of climate change, either natural or manmade 
    • experimentation with evolution (and seeding/sharing flora and fauna) across different planets 

    After planting the seeds, MacLeod leaves it up to the reader to decide what happens next. And I think he does his story and audience a disservice here. Partly because he places his main character, Grant, back in a box and back on his original rails. And partly because there doesn’t seem to be anybody to take up the mantle. 

    Sure. Treaties are reinforced by force. New economic ties are arranged for between world trade are established but in the flashforward postscript those aren’t addressed for their impact or how integration between the Earth factions, and the other worlds they’ve colonised are working out – and more importantly for me if those other world inhabitants have been to Earth to establish themselves there.

    But overall, the grounding of Grant popped a bubble; it felt like the author didn’t want Grant to grow or change despite the extraordinary things he’d be instrumental in initiating.  

  • #BookTok Rocks

    Someone on BlueSky mentioned that #BookTok, aka the bookish part of TikTok, might make people hate literature.

    I assume this is reaction to some very big accounts who mention some very big books. But I have a very different perspective. #BookTok revamped my love of reading. I saw so many passionate readers sharing such a huge variety of books that I ended up making a very big TBR from all their recommendations.

    I thought I’d share a small sampling of some of my favourite #BookTokers in case you want to find some recommendations

    @baker.reads
    If you’re looking for Horror – this is the account for you.
    @realmsofmymind
    Recent SF&F news and reading recommednations
    @thedogearedbook
    A bookshop owener who is overflowing with book recommendations – check out New Book Tuesday

    https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolereads98

    Looking for Weird or Translated fiction? Here! Sooo many good recommendation.

    @bewareofpity
    In a more literary mood? Well that’s exactly what you’ll find.

    https://www.tiktok.com/@sineadhannacraic

    More spooky, weird horror recommendation.

    I have a TikTok Account but I don’t really use it to post @gavreads. I do use it to comment. And do check out who I follow for so many more good book pushers.

  • Review: Broken Light by Joanne Harris (2023)

    Title: Broken Light
    Author: Joanne Harris
    Pages: 443
    Genre: Fiction
    Stand-alone/Series: Stand-alone.
    Year of Release: 2023
    Publisher: Orion
    Review Copy via the Publisher

    Bernie Ingram is forty-nine, menopausal, and lonely. Bernie feels herself growing less visible, less surprising, and less lovable with every passing day. Until the murder of a woman in a local park unlocks a series of childhood memories and, with them, a power that she has suppressed for all her adult life.

    Until now.

    When a woman finally breaks, watch out for the pieces…

    I loved Broken Light. Harris takes the familiar life story of a woman getting pregnant too soon, settling down, and slowly becoming invisible but adds the rage of King’s Carrie being released at menopause.

    Does Bernie seek revenge for all the women that men have wronged? She could, quite easily, because with great power comes great responsibility, doesn’t it?

    Everyone has a choice, and when Berinie Ingram’s power reappears, she believes she will make better choices and control her powers. But life doesn’t work like that; there are consequences to interfering.

    Harris demonstrates how easily women are diminished, sidelined, used and abused. As Bernie’s power grows, her rage is unleashed, as do the strength of the voices in her head that dare her to go further, to take more extreme actions.

    Social media is ingrained into so much of our lives, and it’s integral to Bernie’s story. It might feel a little alien if you don’t spend time interacting on social media.

    Does Bernie (via Harris) focus too much on the impact of social media discourse?

    I did find it a little too open and maybe a little too laboured in the points it was making, but many corners of social media focus on convincing people that one group or another is the source of all their problems.

    The format is mostly Bernie’s LiveJournal Entries with the occasional linked extract from her childhood friend’s new book on Bernie (published the year after the events Bernie describes). So it is going to reflect Bernie’s thoughts and feelings on things that are central to her and her world.

    I can imagine this will frustrate or put off some readers and might cause a little Marmite-like reaction.

    For me, Broken Light is utterly devastating but contains so many shards of hope. If every person could pivot slightly, the world can be such a better place.

    Why haven’t I said much about the plot? #spoilers. I will say it made me cry and left me more hopeful than when I started it.

    Read it and see if you feel the same.

    Rating: 5/5 Date: 6 May 23

    Additional Information

    There is more insight and a Q&A on Joanne Harris’s website. Warning it does contain spoilers, so you may want to look after you’ve read it.

  • Audiobook Review: Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater (2023)

    Title: Death of a Bookseller 
    Author: Alice Slater
    Narrators: Emma Noakes, Victoria Blunt
    Pages/Length: 384/12hrs 58 mins
    Genre: Crime/Thriller
    Stand-alone/Series: Stand-alone.
    Year of Release: 2023
    Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
    Review Copy via NetGalley

    Roach – bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

    That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.

    This tale of obsession is told from the dual perspectives of the person who carries the flame and the person who is their focus.

    It quickly becomes apparent that True-Crime-Podcast-loving Roach feels she has a connection to Laura that’s not reciprocated. But Roach isn’t deterred; she sets out to become friends.

    I find thrillers hard to review. Their strength is in the tension that builds as the story unfolds page by page. I don’t want to spoil things by revealing too much.

    Slater’s skill is keeping pages turning. I listened to the audiobook, and each chapter is short, sharp and alternates between each character’s point of view. I kept listening

    And due to the medium, I couldn’t flip forwards or backwards; I was trapped in each uncomfortable moment, and half-closing my eyes made no difference. I had to relive them from both sides over and over again.

    I think Slater likes both Roach and Laura. You may disagree with me, but Slater has created characters who have sympathetic traits. Or at least they garner compassion, to begin with at least; whether you remain endeared to them by the end, that’s on you.

    The entire bookshop’s staff rota is memorable, and how Roach and Laura see them gives a truer reflection of their individuality.

    She also gives an insight into what really happens in a bookshop. It’s not just happily handing over books to the next customer. There seems to be more than one day working with a hangover.

    I need to mention the performances of Emma Noakes & Victoria Blunt. They are perfect for the roles. The creepiness of Roach and the coldness of Laura come across strongly. There is a small point where Roach’s voice slipped; it was less than a chapter, but then the persona came back strong and clear. The editing was clever when Roach was taking off Laura’s voice, and vice versa, when the narrators swapped to say their own lines, which felt natural and creepy.

    I spent time in their heads that I have the compulsion to change the locks and have vowed never to pick up a true crime book.

    If you’re a lover of creeping dread, bookshops or are just curious about what’s in the mind of a True Crime lover, then Death of a Bookseller ticks all the boxes.

    Rating: 4.25 Date: 26 April 23

  • Review: Siblings by Brigitte Reimann[trans. Lucy Jones] (1963/2023)

    I finished Siblings by Brigitte Reimann (trans. Lucy Jones) is rightly described as a ground-breaking classic of post-war East German literature. 

    This, I believe, is its first translation from German to English. 

    Set in 1960 (and published in 1963) when the border between East and West Germany was closed. It examines the relationship between a brother and a sister as they each examine their place within the Deutsche Demokratische Republik/German Democratic Republic (GDR). 

    The tension underlying Reimann’s style had me reaching to add tabs to moments I found notable. The pressure is mirrored in our main character Elisabeth’s relationship with her ideals, family, and co-workers. 

    There is probably a literary essay to be written on reading this contemporary novel as historical commentary, as I have done. 

    It is 129 pages, plus notes added at the back. I’m very grateful for the notes adding extra context.

    It feels more profound and denser than its slight paperback form promises. 

    I don’t want to give any spoilers but trust Reimann to lead you through the story, and you’ll get the answers you need, but perhaps not the answers you want.

    Book of the Year, so far.

    Rating: 4.75 Date: 26 Feb 23