Ulujain.org v6.0

• The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon Jr. Meta-fiction at its finest. In theory, it's about a woman in 60s California dealing (and double-dealing) with a host of wacky and oddball characters. An underlying conspiracy theme runs through the novel. Disjointed and discursive, and it needs to be read carefully.

• Iron Angel - Alan Campbell. Sequel to Scar Night. If anything, this is weirder than the first book. Starts out as a direct sequel occurring in Deepgate, but the scene and action soon shift to other, more bizarre locales. Thoroughly oddball and throughly enjoyable.

• The Time Connection - Thomas F. Monteleone. Competent and enjoyable little story about an archaeologist in the southwest of the USA meeting a young woman and the time-travelling adventures they have. Good stuff.

• Arena - Julian Jay Savarin. Three inter-connected novellas, the first about a primitive man, the second about a black slave in England and the third about a future totalitarian society in Britain. The second of these is wonderful and sensitively written. Quite a surprisingly good read.

• Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson. First of a trilogy. As with all three, it's part essay, part work of fiction. In this installment, a hundred settlers come to Mars and a new history begins.

• Green Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson. Sequel to the above. Drags more than the first book did. Mars begins to splinter into several different factions, including those who want to terraform, those who don't, those who want dealings with Earth, those who don't, etc. Well-written, but sometimes I felt I was reading Robinson's theories on future history here, and the characters within were merely ciphers to act out his beliefs.

• Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson. Concluding book of the trilogy. Far more wistful than the others. Mars is independent from Earth, and some of mankind is looking toward the stars. Advances in propulsion technology have made planet-travelling a relatively simple manoeuvre and the action takes place not only on Mars, but on Earth, Miranda and Mercury. As I said, it's wistful and many loose ends get tied up, and one feels there's the beginnings of utopia. Satisfying conclusion to a landmark series.

• The Stone and the Flute - Hans Bemmann. Long, rambling fairytale about a man named Listener who has myriad adventures. Part fantasy, part cautionary tale, this is a big book, though it's constantly enjoyable. Translated from German.

• The Real Thing - Robert G. Barrett. A collection of five related tales about Les Norton, Sydney bouncer and all-round stand-up guy. This was one of Barrett's first books and the writing skills aren't all there yet. Still an enjoyable book, full of larrikins and vibrant Sydney life as seen through Les' cynical eyes.

• Guns and Rosé - Robert G. Barrett. Les goes to Terrigal on holiday, but has to babysit one of his workmate's nephews. Pretty good escapade with some surprising twists at the end. Better written than the The Real Thing.

• The Wind and the Monkey - Robert G. Barrett. Les Norton heads up to Shoal Bay to help take out a crooked cop and his equally corrupt buddy. Gets involved with a strange young lady and has some pretty involving adventures. Great stuff.

• The Road - Cormac McCarthy. Post-apocalyptic tale about an unnamed father and his equally nameless son travelling in a ruined and burned America. I say America, but the location is never actually stated with any definition. A stunning piece of fiction, more so for McCarthy's unusual dialogue and spelling style. Sombre book, and highly recommended.

• Twelve - Jasper Kent. I borrowed this thinking it was about Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Well, it is...but, at its heart it's a vampire tale. And a damned good one. There are no LeStats or other Twilight-ish groovy hip vampire types here. Not at all. It's all very matter-of-fact and a very damned good story. Highly recommended. Looking forward to the rest of these.

• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein. A lunar colony comprised of libertarian free-thinkers rebel against their Earth-side overlords through the agency of a supercomputer and a few cunning humans. As much a treatise on various human freedoms as it is a work of fiction. Not bad, but nowhere near the masterpiece some claim it is.

• An Evil Spirit out of the West - Paul C. Doherty. First of a trilogy. Excellent historical fiction dealing with the rise to power of the Great Heretic, Akhenaten, as seen through the eyes of his boyhood friend and chief of police, Mahu. Double-dealing, plots, back-stabbing, deception, power plays...it has it all. Wonderful book.

• The Season of the Hyaena - Paul C. Doherty. Second of the trilogy. Akhenaten has disappeared, and a young Tutankhamen has come to the throne of the Two Lands, lorded over by his grandfather Ay and bigger half-sister, Ankhesenamun. As with the first book, there is scheming and plotting and betrayal out the wazoo. Told from the perspective of Mahu once again. Wonderful material, and wonderful reading.

• The Year of the Cobra - Paul C. Doherty. Last of the trilogy. Is Akhenaten alive or not? Are the Hittites going to ally with Egypt or go to war with her? Who really are Mahu's friends? Deals with events from the reign of Tutankhamen to the ascendancy of Horemheb. Full of double-dealing, back-stabbing, scheming and the like, and it all makes a compelling wonderful read. Excellent conclusion to a fascinating series.

• Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham. A bright young woman and her employer simultaneously stumble upon an anti-ageing drug found in a type of lichen. Part feminist treatise, part cautionary tale. Like everything else Wyndham has done, it is written with an odd sensitivity. Wyndham apparently didn't think much of this book, but I reckon it's pretty good.

• Imager - L. E. Modesitt Jr. Steampunk variety fantasy and well-written and constructed at that. First of a series that follows the life of Rhennthyl, former apprentice portrait artist and now imager, a variety of magician. Examines the whys and wherefores of the implications magic (or the unrestrained use thereof) would have on everyday life. Takes its time to warm up but when it gets there, the going is good. A few too many -thyl type names in it, though.

• The Tree of Life - Christian Jacq. First of a series of historical books set in the Middle Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt. The pharaoh Senwosret III (Senusret or Sesostris, if you like) fights to re-unite Egypt from the grip of independent warlords while the young scribe Iker survives an attempt to sacrifice him and sets out on a journey of revenge and discovery. Not as cutthroat or involving as the Doherty books, but still a grand effort. Looking forward to reading the rest of these.

• The Conspiracy of Evil - Christian Jacq. Second of the series. The enemy of Senusret III becomes known: a shadowy figure known only as the Herald, who's seemingly imbued with fell supernatural powers. A lot more metaphysical and mystic than the first book, a trend that continues through the series.

• The Way of Fire - Christian Jacq. Third in the series. The Herald tries to flood Egypt by destroying one of the Cataracts in Upper Egypt. The Middle Kingdom Pharaoh Senusret III fights him every step of the way, aided by the scribe Iker and his daughter, the priestess Isis.

• The Great Secret - Christian Jacq. Last in the series. The Herald's plans are finally laid down and it's up to Senusret III to thwart him. Not as good as the preceding three books and the resolution seemed a little weak for my liking.

• Green Girls - Michael Kimball. One of the best books I've read in ages. Excellent thriller about a Maine writer who becomes entangled with lesbians, assault charges, slimy psychoanalysts, the travails of fatherhood, and a whole lot more. Wonderfully convoluted plot, superb characters and fast pacing. It's all there. Highly recommended.

• The Seedling Stars - James Blish. Four related novellas about "Adapted Men" - genetically engineered humans designed for inclement environments. It's all very dry and humourless reading for mine. Some critics view it as an important book. Me? It bored me to tears.

• The Medici Secret - Michael White. Better than average thriller in the Da Vinci Code vein. Narrative switches between Renaissance era Florence and the life and times of Cosimo de Medici to modern day Florence and Venice. Concerns a dread secret that Cosimo de Medici allegedly learned and a modern day plot to discover and learn that secret. It's a better book than the potboiler description I've given here. Recommended.

• Spiral - Joseph Geary. Well-crafted thriller about a biographer on the trail of some nasty and secret aspects of a dead artist whose life he's writing. Awkward and disjointed beginning gives way to a thought-provoking story that only gets better. Highly recommended.

• Harm's Way - Colin Greenland. Unreadable. There you go.

• Mouth to Mouth - Michael Kimball. Another exceptional thriller, this time about a dysfunctional family and their deadly secrets. Convoluted book for sure, but it's all good and it's a totally wonderful read. Very much recommended.

• Slaughterhouse-5 - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Short, sharp and exquisitely entertaining little book about a WW2 veteran who "time slips" between various eras in his life, including a period where he was abducted by aliens. Funny, telling and poignant in equal measure. I'm cross at myself for not reading this earlier. Very much recommended.

• Galileo's Dream - Kim Stanley Robinson. A pseudo-biography of Galileo from about 1610 or so onward, depicting his struggles with the narrow-mindedness of the Roman Catholic Church. However, it's interspersed here and there with his trips into the future to observe the goings-on of a future society that have colonised the Galilean moons he discovered. Trips into the future or dreams? Hard to say, but it's a long, rambling book and nothing like his Mars Trilogy in style or flair. Nothing special.

• Undone - Michael Kimball. More wonderful stuff from Kimball. I'm not going to give too much away about this one, but it involves staging one's death and how it all falls apart. Gripping read from stem to stern.

• Jailbird - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Another gem by this reliable author. This time it's the recollections of a convicted Watergate felon as he describes his life over various eras. There's a lot more to this book than just this, but this is something you'll need to find out for yourself. Recommended.

• The Borgia Ring - Michael White. A contemporary crime thriller set in London dealing with a mechanical ring once allegedly owned by Lucrezia Borgia. Narrative is interwoven between modern times and 1589 AD where there's a plot to kill Elizabeth I. Good solid stuff, though it is crafted in a quickfire pot-boilerish way.

• Count Zero - William Gibson. Three inter-connected novellas set in Gibson's Sprawl milieu. The stories and narrative are all over the place structure-wise and I couldn't finish this book. Not my cup of java, sorry.

• Beneath the Dark Ice - Greig Beck. About a mixed military/scientific team exploring a cave system in Antarctica. Well, here's a pretty potboiler. It's one in every understood sense of the term. Stock situations, cardboard characters straight out of a cartoon, hackneyed set pieces, and yep, there's even a military officer named Hammerson, who's nicknamed - you guessed it - the "Hammer". Draws its inspiration from a whole bunch of others, not the least of whom was Lovecraft. A completely disposable book, but it's perversely good fun. Oh, there's your typical Hollywood Russian bad guy thrown in for good measure - and a Vladimir Putin parody too.

• The World Without Us - Alan Weisman. Unique amongst this lot in that it's non-fiction. In it, the author goes over a variety of locales and imagines what would happen if humanity disappeared from the scene suddenly. The problem with this book, is that this theme doesn't happen nearly enough. Instead, it's a conservationist's treatise, gently warning us of how destructive humans can be. Still an intriguing book, even if it doesn't quite live up to its premise.

• Time's Eye - Stephen Baxter and Sir Arthur C. Clarke. First of a series. I imagine Baxter did most of the writing, as I saw very little of Clarke's style in this book. In this book, an alien intelligence messes with time on Earth, causing various sections of the world to either go back or forward in time. The result is that most people and known places are gone. We even have Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan fighting one another. Easy to read, but lightweight.