FEARSOME MAGICS

BOOK REVIEW: FEARSOME MAGICS / AUTHOR:GARETH NIX, TONY BALLANTYNE, K.J. PARKER, FRANCES HARDINGE / PUBLISHER: SOLARIS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Editors don’t get nearly enough credit. A vital part of the creation process of any novel, we tend to give the writer all of the credit and pay little regard to the person who makes sure the work is the best it can be. Jonathan Strahan is an editor who has been up for a Hugo Award for his short fiction editing many times and seeing his name on the cover of a collection of short stories is a very good sign indeed; Strahan knows how to bring together lots of different tales to create the literary equivalent of a top notch dance remix.

Fearsome Magics brings together 14 short tales with the broad themes of magic and fear. Highlights include Grigori’s Solution by Isobelle Carmody; a tale that is one of the more mundane sorts of magic – that of numbers. It is full of a gentle sort of fear, however, and revolves around the discovery of a most terrible equation and how humanity deals with an impossible thing that effects them all.

Tony Ballantyne’s Dream London Hospital is interestingly surreal and quite amusing. On Skybolt Mountain, by Justina Robson, is equally entertaining but also bitter and sweet. Garth Nix’s contribution, Home is the Haunter, is a superb lesson in world building as well as a rollicking tale of knights, puppet wizards, ancient hags, and a huge cannon. Why-isn’t-she-better-known fantasy author Frances Hardinge produced a charming little tale called Devil’s Bridge for this collection. It features a lonely girl with the supernatural ability to create a bridge that will take you anywhere. Despite its brevity, the story is jam packed with stunning ideas and fantastically engaging writing that will really capture the imagination and sets the tone for the entire anthology.

Most of these tales are of the sort with a solid twist and the majority have some sort of a fantasy setting, though there is a smattering of magic in the real world-style stories. The common thread throughout is quirky, twisty tales in which magic is neither a help nor hindrance; it’s simply an added complication to already difficult lives. Though the stories themselves are very different from each other, the theme remains strong throughout and the quality consistent.

Over all, Fearsome Magics is the sort of collection you can easily dip into and pull out an enjoyable tale; a cracking collection from someone who is a master at assembling these sort of things.

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SPARK

BOOK REVIEW: SPARK / AUTHOR: JOHN TWELVE HAWKS / PUBLISHER: BANTAM PRESS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Jacob Underwood is afflicted with Cotard’s Syndrome; he believes he is dead. To him, emotion is a mystery, ambition is meaningless and life is a struggle to create order from chaos. Not effective ingredients for a rounded human being, but the perfect personality for a hitman working for a bank where the customers are career criminals with dirty money to hide. When an employee disappears after stealing sensitive information, Jacob is tasked with tracking her down. But to find her, he must first attempt to understand her, a task that threatens the foundation of his clinical detachment.

John Twelve Hawks is the pen name of an anonymous author living off the grid. His real identity is unknown, reportedly even to his agent and publishers, and his writing champions the freedom of the individual and the limitation of government and corporate interference. Abandoning the cosmological dominions of Tibetan Buddhism featured in Hawks’s Fourth Realm trilogy, Spark takes place in a real world near-future, eminently recognisable as not that different from the present day, where people are routinely asked to sacrifice personal privacy in the name of social order and national security.

After a coordinated bombing of schools across the world known as the Day of Rage, legislation was put in place to allow unregulated governmental access to the lives of its citizens with via mandatory ID cards that track their holder’s movement and behaviour (the Freedom From Fear Act), the effective censoring of the Internet (the Good News For Americans Act), and constant surveillance along with people’s personalities are mapped to predict behaviour, anything falling out with specific parameters immediately labelling them suspects for potentially committing a hypothetical crime and justifying incarceration in a Good Citizen camp (the Liberty For All Act).

Only the slightly advanced technology separates this Orwellian nightmare from contemporary reality, the implication being that present day governments would also readily intrude to such an extent upon the lives of their citizens if only they possessed the means to do it. Much like the righteous oratory that you’ll experience in anything written by Aaron Sorkin, Hawks makes no attempt to disguise it when characters become direct mouthpieces for his own anti-establishment philosophies.

Jacob perceives his existence as a conscious entity constrained within a physical form (a Spark in the Shell, if you like), his affliction providing the perfect viewpoint to describe the setting without sounding preachy. Right, wrong, love, hate, good, evil, unfairness, justice: all are words that mean nothing to him. His lack of emotion means he describes everything objectively, and so the hypocrisy of those who effectively control the lives of everyone in the country is revealed without sounding like the ravings of a paranoid technophobe or the diatribe of an idealistic anarchist.

Like the title character of V For Vendetta, Jacob exists separate from the artificiality of the world and sees the meaninglessness of life within the system for what it truly is. His is a journey of personal growth, from a veritable blank slate to a free thinker questioning what those above him dictate as truth; and if nothing else, the book’s purpose is to, at least in part, do the same for the reader. 

LIGHTS OUT (DOCTOR WHO)

BOOK REVIEW: LIGHTS OUT (DOCTOR WHO) / AUTHOR: HOLLY BLACK / PUBLISHER: PUFFIN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Holly Black’s Twelfth Doctor short story eBook Lights Out features the Doctor between TV stories, having popped out to fetch a coffee for Clara.

For the show’s 50th anniversary, Puffin commissioned a series of eBook short stories for young adult fans of the show and released them once a month during 2013, with each Doctor getting their own month (note: there was no War Doctor story!). With Peter Capaldi now in command of the TARDIS (as much as any Doctor is), Puffin has added to their range with this short story from Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Magisterium).

It’s set on a coffee processing space station where every time the lights fail, someone dies! A death occurs in the queue for coffee and the Doctor joins forces with 78351, an alien with an unusual past. Together they explore the space station as the lights keep on failing.

This is a well-written story with some excellent descriptions of a fascinatingly realised alien, and their world. Black takes plenty of time to paint the details of 78351’s space ship, fear of the dark and observations of the Doctor. What’s particularly impressive is that this portrayal is unmistakably that of the latest Doctor, no mean task given the time available for Black to have seen any of the episodes. Whoever ensured the quality of this needs to be congratulated.

For anyone who read the first eleven Puffin releases, this is a highly recommended buy.

NYCTOPHOBIA

BOOK REVIEW: NYCTOPHOBIA / AUTHOR: CHRISTOPHER FOWLER / PUBLISHER: SOLARIS  / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

As the nights draw closer and everything gets colder, sometimes the thing you really need is a nicely-paced ghost story to help you go and make friends with the winter months. Nyctophobia is Christopher Fowler’s latest horror novel and it’s just the thing for dark nights.

Nyctophobia is defined in the dictionary as a fear of the dark, and that is sort of the set up for the novel. The plot focuses around a British architect called Callie, who falls in love with an older man called Mateo, who happens to be from Spain. Not only does this set-up a rather splendid pun, it also gives the narrative the right sort of mix between the ordinary and the exotic. Callie is swept off her feet by her charming lover and soon finds herself married and looking after Mateo’s daughter. Callie also ends up living in an architectural oddity somewhere out in Cadiz. This strange structure, called Hyperion House, is designed to take full advantage of the Spanish sunlight. Callie quickly discovers that some of the rooms are permanently locked and begins to suspect that there is something terribly wrong with the building’s shadows.

This is a slow moving horror story, with an incredibly unreliable narrator as the central character.  Fowler skilfully adds mystery after mystery, keeping the reader guessing until the very end. The pacing might not suit everyone and it’s steady and gentle throughout; even when things get awfully frightening, the narrative remains steady. In many ways it’s like a country drive in South West Spain; mostly calming with the occasionally terrifying change of scenery.

One of the books key issues is that it sometimes difficult to empathise with the main character; as we get to know Callie better we realise that they are mysteries, and at this point the protagonist serves as a bit of a barrier to the plot. The fact that we become so engaged with Callie as the book progresses is a credit to Fowler’s storytelling, though it is also quite frustrating at key points.

Nyctophobia is a classic British horror story, of the sort that will appeal to fans of James Herbert and Sarah Pinborough. The characters are so middle class you can easily imagine them shopping at Waitrose for some red wine, but this isn’t a bad thing; it brings a powerful sense of reality to the tale and makes the journey all the more enjoyable.

PLANET OF THE APES: THE EVOLUTION OF A LEGEND



BOOK REVIEW: PLANET OF THE APES: THE EVOLUTION OF A LEGEND / AUTHORS: JOE FORDHAM, JEFF BOND / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW


Planet of the Apes: The Evolution of a Legend is yet another fine addition to the re-emerging coffee table film reference book library. From its fur-like embossed cover, to the stunningly sharp behind the scenes pictures from the original Apes saga, this book simply screams quality.


After the requisite author introductions, and a heart-felt forward by John Landis (who had a very minor role in Battle for the Planet of the Apes) the book wastes no time in delving into the origins of one of the most beloved franchises of all time.


Beginning with Pierre Boulle’s novel Monkey Planet, which Planet of the Apes is adapted from, this book is full of fascinating facts including such nuggets as the fact that Boulle (whose other most well-known work is perhaps The Bridge on the River Kwai) considered Monkey Planet to be amongst his lesser works, and that POTA composer Jerry Goldsmith thought the film so bizarre that he insisted upon wearing an ape mask during the first day of conducting the score.


Naturally the bias is on the original Planet of the Apes movie which is discussed at some length. The concept art is gorgeous and reveals how the famous hunt scene was originally to feature apes flying helicopters rather than being on horseback. The sequels, however, have less time devoted to them. This is a shame as all the films have their merits and you can’t help but wonder at what a wasted opportunity this was as it left me hungry for more. The subsequent live action and animated TV series’ fare little better.


As you would expect the ground breaking make-up has a large section devoted to it and, surprisingly, so too does the music to both the classic and modern movies.


The book continues by looking at the expansion of the franchise into merchandise, potential projects that never came to pass and the successful but often derided Tim Burton reboot.


Dawn and Rise of the Planet of the Apes round off the proceedings and along with more beautiful concept art, reveal the extent of just how pivotal Andy Serkis, and the other performance capture artists, were in bringing the apes to life. There’s also a very surprising revelation on the genesis of the idea that became Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.


Whilst there may be more comprehensive works available detailing the making this simian-based franchise, none can possibly look as handsome as this particular volume. Written in a conversational yet informative manner this is a book that can be read from cover to cover, or dipped into as when the mood strikes. Either way this is a book that will always have you reaching for it as you browse your bookcase.


HARRY POTTER: THE CREATURE VAULT

BOOK REVIEW:  HARRY POTTER: THE CREATURE VAULT / AUTHOR: JODY REVENSON / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE:  OUT NOW

The Harry Potter phenomenon has spawned seemingly endless spin-off media, and the movies have become a huge source of joy and nostalgia for a whole generation. Given that eight movies were produced in total it is unsurprising that there is a vast wealth of information available about the production of the series.  Harry Potter: The Creature Vault exploits one single element of this vast project; namely all of the cool monsters that we saw in those features.

Harry Potter: The Creature Vault is a thick tome, designed to look pretty on a coffee table or shelf, and is filled to brim with illustrated plates.  The prose that accompanies it is pretty straight forward stuff, serving mostly to explain the creative process behind putting each monster on screen, and also to explain the difference between practical and computer generated effects.

This pleasingly purple tome is pretty comprehensive, covering the monsters that you see in the movie, and we get to see the evolution and logic behind the designs, as well as explanations for each of the character designs. The plates also show us pieces that were cut from the movie, such as the monster designs intended for a scene with garden gnomes that never made it to the filming stage.

The illustrations themselves are a nice mix. Not only do we get really nice line art, we also get some on-set photographs, a few movie stills and various CGI renders. The result is a complete explanation of the movie magic required to bring giants, dementors, werewolves and giant spiders to the silver screen. The section on dragons is also particularly well done, though nothing that a hardcore Harry Potter fan won’t have seen before.

Extras are pretty standard with a book like this and we get two; the Eeylops Owl Emporium catalogue, which is a simple booklet insert with some nice-looking drawings of owls and a removable Harry Potter Bestiary poster, which is pretty, though a tad on the small side. These little add-ons are nice enough but do seem a little pointless, especially as the poster isn’t really the sort that will look good on a wall.

Harry Potter: The Creature Vault is aimed at two markets; those who like big thick books on movie special effects and those who happen to be huge fans of Harry’s world. It’s adequate as a reference source for mythic beasts (there are better), but as an insight into some of the most popular fantasy movies produced, they’re fantastic.

THE MONSTER HUNTER

BOOK REVIEW: THE MONSTER HUNTER / AUTHOR: KIT COX / PUBLISHER: BOOK GUILD PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 23RD

The Monster Hunter is the story of Benjamin Jackson Gaul, an eleven-year-old boy whose world is turned upside down by the sudden death of his mother. She is murdered by a mysterious creature causing Ben to leave his native Ceylon in search of a new life in Victorian England. But all is not what it seems when he reaches the orphanage in Kent as he hears of strange creatures lurking in the countryside and soon the children come down with a strange illness which is not as simple as it first seems. With the help from local gypsy girl Rosalie and the orphanage’s new Governess, Nanny Belle, Ben must solve the children’s illness before it claims any more of their lives and face his fears in the monsters that are on his doorstep.

The book opens with the murder of Ben’s mother and it quickly becomes clear that in this mysterious but monstrous universe the things that go bump in the night are something more horrifying than could be imagined. It would have enhanced the narrative to have sketches of them in the relevant chapters, as it’s hard to picture the monsters featured at times, but this didn’t take away from the momentum of the story. Similarly, the cover to the book is initially off-putting, albeit relevant to the narrative, and may put off some readers. If this is surpassed, and it isn’t literally judged by its cover, they will be rewarded and drawn in to a vastly enjoyable story. Additionally, the fact that the book is only 189 pages long and is a simplistic story makes it an excellent introduction to the genre for any reader, but it seems to target a younger audience.

The Monster Hunter has no deep political agenda, nor does it have a great deal to say about the state of society, but it’s still a compelling read. Ben’s isolation throughout the narrative is relatable and emotive, and when he meets a kindred spirit in Rosalie, it is uplifting. The cryptic nature of Ben’s background regarding his father, and to some extent his mother, and then the unexpected reappearance of his absent father in the closing chapter of the book is intriguing. Overall, the novel is very well written, and as such should prompt readers to purchase Kit Cox’s first novel, How to Bag a Jabberwock in a view to read further into the universe he has benevolently created. We’re sure this won’t be the only adventure that Ben Gaul finds himself on, as the ending certainly leaves the reader wanting.

WITH UMBRELLA, SCOTCH AND CIGARETTES – AN UNAUTHORISED GUIDE TO THE AVENGERS SERIES 1

BOOK REVIEW: WITH UMBRELLA, SCOTCH AND CIGARETTES – AN UNAUTHORISED GUIDE TO THE AVENGERS SERIES 1 / AUTHORS: RICHARD MCGINLAY, ALAN HAYES / PUBLISHER: HIDDEN TIGER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Doctor Who fans don‘t know how lucky they are. Frustrating as it is that ninety-seven of the Time Lord’s 1960s episodes are still  missing from the BBC Archive, fans still have access to the show’s entire canon thanks to the availability of top quality audio soundtracks, scripts and off-screen telesnaps. Fans of The Avengers – another perennially-popular cult favourite created in the early ‘60s – aren’t quite so fortunate. Only two episodes (and the first fifteen minutes of Hot Snow, the very first episode) from the first 26-episode series, screened erratically across the UK in 1961, still exist. Startlingly, only fifteen scripts from the remaining episodes have been located. Of the remaining nine episodes there is nothing; no scripts, no audios – just the odd promotional photograph. Yet despite this extraordinary dearth of reference material, Richard McGinlay and Alan Hayes have managed, against the odds, to put together a work which in part attempts to fill in the gaps, simultaneously putting considerable flesh on the previously bare-bones of the early days of one of the most iconic and ground-breaking TV series in UK history.

The Avengers is rarely screened on UK TV these days. This might well be because just one of the show’s fast-paced, vibrant, imaginative episodes would underline just how dreary, formulaic and uninspiring modern British drama has become. But interestingly, the early days of The Avengers weren’t really that far removed from many of the Police procedurals and identikit detective dramas which clutter up today’s schedules.

The Avengers was created in a hurry (the show was on screen eight weeks after it had been devised) as a replacement vehicle for rising star Ian Hendry whose Police Surgeon series was cancelled in December 1960 for some unspecified contractual reason. Debuting in January 1961, The Avengers saw Hendry playing Dr David Keel (often erroneously assumed to be the same character from the earlier series) teaming up with the mysterious, shadowy agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee) to avenge the death of Keel’s fiancée. The pair continued to work together across the series (although due to the show’s production schedule there would occasionally be episodes in which either Keel or Steed would work alone) in stories which dealt with rather more prosaic subject matter than the later, more extravagant and better-remembered episodes. These nascent Avengers would find themselves investigating kidnappings, murders, racketeering, insurance fraud (the excitement!) and the activities of numerous nefarious drugs syndicates. Only occasionally would storylines verge dangerously close to science fiction in episodes such as The Radioactive Man, The Yellow Needle and Deadly Air.

But it’s clearly the presence of Hendry and Macnee which gave these early shows their tougher, more hard-boiled veneer. Theirs was clearly a partnership based on mutual respect rather than trust and one senses that the relationship between the two was often edgy and unpredictable. Of course, with so many episodes missing it’s hard to be quite sure what these stories were really like but McGinlay and Hayes have made valiant attempts to piece together all the clues, correct popular misconceptions and present ‘best guess’ scenarios for many of these first-series stories lost forever.

With Umbrella… isn’t just an investigation into the series’ missing episodes, it’s also a production guide to the entire first series of The Avengers. McGinlay and Hayes’ research is breath-taking and their attention to detail astonishing. They painstakingly examine and present what’s known of each episode, supplementing it with fascinating biographies of the show’s major players, writers, directors and supporting performers whilst pointing out significant story strands and character developments which paved the way to the show finding its feet and its format in the following years.

It remains incredible, though, at a time when it appears that every significant television series in history has been dissected and analysed to within an inch of its life, that much remains unknown about the early episodes of The Avengers and that McGinlay and Hayes often have no choice but to admit that they can’t completely reconcile the fruits of their research with what may or may not have actually appeared on screen.

With Umbrella, Scotch and Cigarettes (also available is companion publication, The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes which looks in much more detail at the individual ‘lost story’ narratives) is hugely impressive in its own right, the occasional dryness of some of its content offset by its importance in chronicling the birth-pains and subsequent first faltering steps of one of the UK’s most celebrated TV classics. As a book it’s recommended both to Avengers fans and TV historians alike.

DRACULA (PENNY DREADFUL COLLECTION)

DRACULA (PENNY DREADFUL COLLECTION)/ AUTHOR: BRAM STOKER / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Titan Books has released a set of Penny Dreadful classic horrors including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s presented in hardback with a new cover and livery to match the other titles released in this set. The pages are edged in red and the book is scattered with new illustrations by Martin Swift.

Various films have presented different elements of the Dracula story and most focus on lost travellers, the mysterious count and his castle. All this is normally set in the wilds of Transylvania. If you haven’t read Bram Stoker’s novel, it may come as a surprise that much of the book is set in England (Whitby to be precise) and is a far more intriguing tale than many realise.

The story is presented as a collection of letters, journal and diary entries, starting with a solicitor called Jonathan Harker, sent to visit Count Dracula in his home near Transylvania. He starts as a guest, but soon finds he is a prisoner and is left to the mercies of a group of female vampires, only just escaping with his life.

Back in England, the number of characters expands – Dracula is after Jonathan’s fiancée Wilhelmina Murray, whose friend Lucy Westenra has three offers of marriage to juggle. This is where the plot is at its most strained. Lucy rejects Dr Seward but stays friends. It’s Dr Seward who not only spots the influence of the vampire on Lucy, but also invites his former mentor Abraham Van Helsing to help out. While Van Helsing is frequently re-created in film and television versions of Dracula, there is a more sinister figure lurking in the wings. One of Dr Seward’s patients is the insane Renfield, who’s obsessed with eating flies as part of his path (like the old woman in the nursery rhyme) to move onto spiders then eventually rats and birds. This is all driven by his insanity, and is exploited by Dracula also providing a back-channel whereby Dr Seward and Van Helsing can also get clues as to Dracula’s plans.

The tale moves through plenty of vampire coffin hunting and chasing across Europe before the heroes finally face the Count back in his castle. Gripping stuff!

Dracula is a classic of the genre on any measure and deserving of serious attention by any devotee of horror and the gothic novel. If you don’t own a physical copy, or wish to collect the set of Penny Dreadful titles this is heavily recommended. If you just want to read the story, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives, though they don’t all come as attractively packaged.

ELRIC VOLUME 1: THE RUBY THRONE

BOOK REIVEW: ELRIC VOLUME 1: THE RUBY THRONE / AUTHOR: MICHAEL MOORCOCK, JULIEN BLONDEL, DIDIER POLI, ROBIN RECHT, JEAN BASTIDE / PUBLISHER: TITAN COMICS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The Ruby Throne is the first volume of a French comic book adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s Elric stories. The adaption is written by Julien Blondel, with art by Dider Poli, Robin Recht and Jean Bastide. It is a thin hardback, lavishly illustrated.

For those who don’t know, Elric is Michael Moorcock’s famous albino sorcerer, an aspect of his Eternal Champion who wielded the sword Stormbringer and was subject of many stories in the 1960s and 70s. Over the years many artists have interpreted Elric visually; this latest project is a collaboration of French artists and has Michael Moorcock’s full blessing. Indeed, he writes a foreword praising this as the best realisation to date.

For those familiar with the original stories, this covers the early days on Melniboné, Elric’s love for Cymoril, and the treachery of his cousin Yrkoon. It sets out the decadence and corruption of Elric’s race as they hide away from the world in their city, with him as their Emperor. These are the last days of Empire and the city is attacked by various barbarians, allowing us the chance to see Elric as both a warrior and a sorcerer. The character portrayed is well realised if not quite the figure from memories of stories read forty years ago.

In terms of style, the first part of The Ruby Throne does focus on the shocking and the debauched, but once the action commences, and Yrkoon appears on the scene, the visuals are frequently stunning and really support the telling of the story of the doomed Emperor. The action sweeps the reader away and ends leaving you waiting for the next volume.

This is a very good interpretation of the story that works as a comic and heralds what might become the definitive visual version of these tales. For long-term fans, we suspect that it will also remind people to go back to the originals. For those new to the character this is a thorough introduction – welcome to the tale of Eternal Champion!

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