Oh, I see I didn't post beyond 8 here last year - was mostly on the other computer that doesn't have the password saved...

I intended to try starting 2022’s recreational books with Dickens’s The Cricket On The Hearth, but it’s more a Xmas book, which was past already, and it was tiny print that was also repro to Victorian paper, so somewhat broken up, and also I just couldn’t get into it. So one we hit 12th night, I gave up and went with...
1) LATER by Stephen King
This is one of his Hard Case Crime books, but very definitely a horror/supernatural story that echoes a lot of his earlier stuff- notably the kid seeing dead people as in The Shining (he references The Sixth Sense, as to reclaim the concept), deadlights, and (a different version of) the Ritual of Chud from It.
With the narrator being the sone of a literary agent, there’s a wealth on in-references to the publishing businiess and King’s experiences in it (the fact that this is a 250-page book coupled with a line about authors reaching a stage where they refuse copyediting or any editing). The main plot concerns what happens when the narrator who can see dead people gets involved with a bombing case because his mum’s girlfriend is a (dirty) cop, and finds that some things are worse than the merely dead.
On the crime front, we have a dirty cop story told from an unusual aspect, which is a great change, even if some of the developments are a bit sudden and shaky – but then they would be, being from a 9-13 year-old’s memories, who isn’t an omnipotent narrator. On the horror front, we have something that starts off as King reclaiming his themes from the likes of The Sixth Sense, adding to the Kingverse mythos, and – best of all – takes a lovely orbit around MR Jamesian territory, in particular Oh Whistle And I’ll Come To You. Interestingly the text refers to the “title of a famous ghost story” but not to the Burns poem that MRJ got it from, which is definitely an element in the story, so that side is nicely held as subtext for the MRJ fans.
In a lot of ways it feels like what the Odd Thomas series would be if it was written by Kin rather than Koontz – not in the sese of King doing a version of that, but just my feeling of how they play. If the book has a downside, it’s that the one last twist is kind of irrelevant and unnecessary, and comes out of nowhere, though with that said, it does tie into the background of the Oh Whistle title, just in an an out of the blue tag scene way.
Overall it’s a hugely enjoyable page-turner, and being shorter than the average King doorstop means it flows that much faster and fresher. Good characteriation and… You know it might just be the most enjoyable and accessible King, unburdened by hundreds of pages, in years. Highly recommended- it only came out last summer and has been a great start to the reading year for me.

#8) STONEHENGE by Rosemary Hill.

A book about a subject that’s under constant study is always at risk of being superseded by new discoveries, and, having come out in 2008, this one was before the latest revelation a year or so back that a version of the monument had been set up in Wales first and was physically brought with its builders to the site in Wiltshire and remade…. And that doesn’t matter, where this book is concerned.

This book, you see, isn’t a history of the monument and how it developed. No, this is a book about the history of how it has been viewed and studied since its discovery- by Medieval chroniclers, 17th Century Antiquarians, Victorians, artists, archaeologists, architects, governments, and (of course) wannabe Druids.

It’s a highly readable and fascinating tour through history, taking in why people in different eras thought it was built by Romans; how the different focus of architects, antiquarians, and archaeologists gave them different views; just how the various Druid wannabes got so intertwined with it and their internicine feuding, and sidesteps into intriguing and often amusing bits of the lives and works famous people in the abovementioned fields away from Stonehenge. (To pick a random example, how Frederick Bligh-Bond impressed the Church by discovering lost wings of Glastonbury Cathedral very quickly, then got fired for revealing he had been told where to look by one of the original builders in a séance).

The chapter on more recent decades is also a good brisk eye-opener as to how it became a counterculture icon and the location for protests and violence in the 80s, and where English Heritage really spawned much of that.

And of course there’s a great round up of the physical facts of Stonehenge to start with, and some tips on visiting and further reading to end with.

Engaging, fascinating, good fun, educational, highly readable… Lovely bit of popular history. Very recommended.

I came in to post #5 and saw I hadn't posted #3 or #4.

I guess I'll have to do a combination post later in the day...

2021 booklog #2 BETWEEN TWO THORNS by Emma Newman

A light entertaining mixture of fae fantasy and mystery. Starts off with two magic-themed mysteries, gives us two great characters in the forms of Cathy, a woman with a very strange past that gets her into present trouble, and a detective with a gargoyle sidekick, who I’d love to see done in a TV series.

From there on in it splits in style, between the mystery element with magic and characters dealing weirdness, and of course a gargoyle sidekick, and the machinations of posh families that feels like Pride And Prejudice And Fae. Newman’s style is pleasant and accessible throughout, but the two plot strands are sufficiently different that I enjoyed the one side way more than the other.

It’s thankfully not the typical fae/human story I’d half expected, and so I did enjoy it a fair bit – there’s some good dialogue – and I like the lead characters too. The other downside, however, is that there comes a point where you realise only one of the two main mysteries is solved and there isn’t enough book left for the other one, so it ends of a somewhat artificial cliffhanger for a sequel, and actually forgets in that cliffhanger all about a giveaway from early on that ties in. That makes it feel like it’s been written as one volume and been retroactively split as an editorial decision. I’ve no idea if that’s what happened, but that’s what if feels like.

Nice, fun, but annoyingly incomplete.

THE CHIMES by Charles Dickens

You can tell A Christmas Carol went well for Dickens, cos he tried to repeat the effect a few more times, in his Christmas Books. The Chimes is the second one, published only a year later, but definitely suffers from what we’d now call sequelitis. This follows a similar path of a lead character – albeit one far more sympathetic from the outset than Scrooge – shown visions of the future to make him change his ways. The main differences being that this time it’s about New Year’s Day rather than Christmas, and about the virtues in looking forward instead of back. And also the quality has dropped from genuine classic to all over the map, like a studio-demanded instant sequel to a surprise hit. Which basically is what it is.

Anyway, it starts off well, with vibrant and spooky descriptions of a church and belltower that M.R. James must have found very inspirational, then turns into a tour of fat cat landlords, justices and capitalists stamping down on poor Trotty and his friends, and Trotty getting a big dream sequence of how awful they’ll end up if they believe what the scumbags say of decent poor folks, and look towards a past golden age that never was (Jeez, that sounded familiar, doesn’t it?) instead of raising the poor workers to better lives in future. In this sense it still rings totally true – all the fat cat scumbags could be writing in the papers today from their Cabinet offices.

However, Dickens has probably hit the gig here where he gets paid by the word, and sentences run on for whole pages, making them confusing as hell – there’s also a character death where he forgets to confirm who it actually is! - and it’s all topped off with an appalling “it was all a dream, now lets all sing and dance with all the good characters, who have miraculously turned up at home like in a Muppet version finale”. And the “goblins”, the voices of the Chimes themselves don’t have a memorable or even notable character the way that all the Xmas Spirits in the previous one did.

So, there are good bits, like the opening descriptions, the early fart gag, and the chilling speeches of the – well it’s hard not to say Tories, franjkly, they haven’t improved since. The message is fine and correct, but the delivery is also confusing, long-winded, and despite being two-thirds the length of A Christmas Carol, took three times as long to get through, and has no deep or interesting characters

I did manage to compile a 66 track score for 2020, and here it is. As always, the tracks do reflect specific events or moods, but only I know what they are...


1)Exercise at Gibraltar [John Barry, The Living Daylights]

2) Don’t Lose Your Head (Carry On Don’t Lose Your Head)

3)Persistence (Jeff Russo, Discovery season 1)

4)The Woman He Loves (Murray Gold, the Husbands Of River Song)

5)And Somewhere Else The Tea Is Getting Cold [Dominic Glynn, Survival]

6)The Dead Are Already Here [Ramin Djawadi, Game Of Thrones season 8]

07)Impossible Choice [Murray Gold, Dr Who Series 5]

08)Contemplations – [Ron Jones, ST TNG Best Of Both Worlds]

09)Ghosts Of A Future Lost, [Clint Mansell, Requiem For A Dream]

10] One Word[Murray Gold DW series 9]

11] Palpatine’s Theme Epic Medieval version [John Williams, Samuel Kim].

12] What Must A King Do –[Tyler Bates, 300]

13] Anakin’s Betrayal/Dark Deeds [Samuel Kim mix]

14] Data Awakes In Engineering [Jerry Goldsmith, First Contact]

15] Rebirth, [Bear McReary, Godzilla King Of The Monsters]

16] Order 66 Sad Cinematic Version, [Samuel Kim]

17 ] Dumpling Warrior [Hans Zimmer, Kung Fu Panda 2]

18] Soul Battles – [Ryan Taubert]

19] Contamination – [Ennio Morricone, The Thing]

20] He’s A PirateMedieval Style[Hans Zimmer/Samuel Kim POTC]

21] Tell Me Who You Are [Murray Gold, Dr Who Series 6]

22] Not Today [Ramin Djawadi, Game Of Thrones season 8]

23] Kylo Ren/Imperial March [JohnWilliams/Samuel Kim]

24] They Are Everywhere [Murray Gold Dr Who series 7]

25] You Win Or You Die [Ramin Djawadi Game Of Thrones season 1]

26] Legend Of The Scorpion King [Alan Silvestri, The Mummy Returns]

27] Definitely Not Swedish [Jerry Goldsmith, First Contact]

28] The Law [Alan Silvestri, Judge Dredd]

29] Leaving Drydock [Jerry Goldsmith, Star Trek The Motion Picture]

30] Obi Wan Kenobi Theme [Samuel Kim]

31] Dredd And Fargo [Alan Silvestri, Judge Dredd]

32] Matrix Main Title [Don Davis, The Matrix]

33] God Of Gamblers Theme [unknown composer, God Of Gamlers]

34] A New Home/Rey [John Williams/Samuel Kim, Rise Of Skywalker]

35] Police Station [Brad Feidel, The Terminator]

36] A Grand Day Out [Julian Nott, A Grand Day Out]

37] The Man [Ennio Morricone, Once Upon A Time In The West]

38] Sitting Ducks/ Borg Reach Saturn[Ron Jones, Best Of Both Worlds]

39] Connor’s Life [Lorne Bailfe, Assassins Creed 3]

40] The Friends Song [ Mark Knopfler, The Princess Bride]

41] Hoist The Colours Davy Jones Mix [samuel kim, POTC]

42] Something I Can Never Have [Ramin Djawadi, Westworld season 1]

43] Matrix Breaks In [James Horner, Commando]

44] Musketeers Piano Arrangement [Murray Gold, The Musketeers]

45] Floating Office [Jerry Goldsmith, ST TMP]

46] The Lab [Jerry Goldsmith, Alien]

47] Reveries [Ramin Djawadi, Westworld season 1]

48] The Course Of My Life [Murray Gold, Dr Who A Christmas Carol]

49] It’s The End [Paddy Kingsland, Logopolis]

50] The Hunt Builds [Wojciech Kilar, Bram Stoker’s Dracula]

51] Remember Remember [Dario Marianelli, V For Vendetta]

52] This World [Ramin Djawadi, Westworld season 1]

53] Everything Has To End Sometime [Murray Gold, Dr Who A Christmas Carol]

54] Through The Flames [John Williams Return Of The Jedi]

55] L3 And Millennium Falcon [John Powell, Solo]

56] Hanging On [Jerry Goldsmith, Alien]

57] Training Begins [Don Davis, Matrix ]

58] The Penitent Man Will Pass [John Williams, Last Crusade]

59] Imperial March Sad Prowse Tribute Mix [John Williams, Samuel Kim]

60] Assault On The Tower [Michael Kamen, Die Hard]

61] Temporal Wake [Jerry Goldsmith, First Contact]

62 ]Imperial March Carol Of The Bells Epic Mix [John Williams, Samuel Kim]

63] You’re Fired [Murray Gold, The Doctor The Widow And The Wardrobe]

64] Rise Of Skywalker final trailer music [John Williams. Rise Of Skywalker]

65] Captain Borg[Ron Jones, TNG Best Of Both Worlds]

66] Blue Skies [Isa Briones/Jeff Russo, Star Trek Picard]

So what did I manage in 2020, my 52nd year? Um... earned not one penny, finished not one writing project [these are probably connected, but Lesley needed to do her writing to stay sane while keyworking, and I can't write when there's typing going on], fought no tournaments, got no auths, nor got my students any auths of prize plays... in fact moved my SCA path from 18 months behind to two and a half years behind. Took on one new novel project, which got canned halfway through when rights issues changed, and one short story project which I'll turn in next week.

Started or announced intentions to start more craft projects than ever. Did finish a couple, like Eowyn's shield, etc [seriously, is it wrong that I made leather vambraces for fencing to hold down a shirt cuff that a button had come off, rather than sew a button on cos it wouldn't match the other cuff?] and new flexible articulated armour carapace is 70% there...

Don't feel I did the looking after people [other than Lesley] thing or did 'my bit' even though I know I did give shelter at the start of the year, and a new duvet in a bag to someone who needed it on Boxing Day... But all the endless, eternal, propaganda of 'do your bit by staying home and keeping away from people' doesn't do it for me, as I always lived like that anyway. Saw they got proof that a mild or asymptomatic case of covid does give some resistance/immunity and wish I could have given some blood plasma to help with that, but I'm not allowed cos mine's.... unusual.

Did read more books, but at the cost of less activity and higher blood glucose. Did build some models, teach Zoom classes, make videos on fencing tips [nothing sparks the impostor syndrome quite like those]... won a prize for cooked stuff the week before Lockdown 1.0 started. Dunno that stuff crammed into te first two months of the year counts for the lack of anything in the other 10. Oh, and did become Principality Rapier Champion, which is nice.

Thought I was doing mentally well for most of it cos it was closer to my normal life, but probably not, in the end.

So what for this year? I usually like to start Jan 1st with new things; write a paragrah at least of something totally new, start a new model, a new game...

Workwise it's impossible to tell. Keep pitching, keep at the stuff I'm already doing, hopefully things in retail will ease in such a way that I can tell Lesley tolet me do my work, if any. Who knows, it all depends too much on other people agreeing to things.

Event wise... nobody can plan anything more than about ten days in advance, so effectively it's still 2020. [Looking at when legislation expires, what platitudes and lies the government are saying, and running the numbers of vaccines actually likely to be rolled out, I suspect we'll see Tiers 3 and 4 solid through Jan/Feb, go random and politicised in March before dropping off and being replaced by something new in a Coronavirus Act 2021 at Easter, such as no tiers but caps on gathering sizes, and even if they get the vaccine rollout up to the quoted aim of 2 million a month by Feb or March, you won't hit effective herd immunity coverage level until... October. And they only have half a million doses, enough for a quarter million people, for January. I'd be confident of having Yule Ball and Xmas Markets next year, and proper Remembrance Day and Strictly Blackpool Week, but everything in summer I'd call 50/50 at this point, and the likes of Eastercon is still buggered.

Healthwise... I'd planned to not take the new tablets until after a Feb/March blood test to see if increasing activity levels would bring the numbers down, because if they came down I wouldn't know whether tablets or activity did it, but they have the pharmacy call to see whether there are any side effects, so I'm going to have to take some anyway to keep them off my back... Bleh.

But for today, write something new, glue something new, play the first level of something new, try to sieze power somewhere.... And finish off and post up the playlist for 2020's musical score.

22 – TWELVE ANGELS WEEPING by David RuddenAn anthology of Dr Who stories ostensibly themed around Xmas, but actually most of the stories mention a festive season barely or not at all. As you might expect from an anthology there’s quite a range styles and also of quality. Some of the stories get the characters and monsters spot on, such as Twelve in the first story [though not the Angels who at one point move while watched], or Vastra and Strax, while others… don’t. [Hello Leela who speaks with normal contractions, and Four who just talks like a normal bloke, in the Sycorax/Ice Warrior story].

Most of the stories have a less than subtle, but well phrased theme, and a thoroughly predictable, usually downbeat, end twist. However, totally worth it for some of the POVs such as the Cyberman and Vastra, and some of the narrations, such as the tradtitional noir private eye, and the Sontaran eduation machine which is so totally written in Dan Starkey’s voice…

Nothing amazing, nothing awful, light and generally pleasant entertainment in easily digestible bursts.

Sadly didn’t quite make a full 24 as I’d hoped,though I did read more than 22 books overall, but the others were more work related and research, so don’t count in this recreational reading annual log. For example, 22 would have been A Christmas Carol, which I often read in December, until I remembered it was for work reference this time, and so Twelve Angels Weeping moved from 23 to 22. Oh well, it’s better than the 8 or so that I ended up with last year. The cancellations and lockdowns helped with that, but the sitting around raised my HBA1C number so I hope there’s a happy medium to be found somewhere in 2021..

21 – MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie.Yeah, I’m familiar enough with the story to remember who did it, but not why or how it plays out, cos my set of the Suchet Poirots doesn’t go up to this one, and I’m planning to watch the Branagh version which is over Xmas, so…

It’s another classic Poirot plot, from 1934, and written most in the form of interview dialogues, with very little description, which actually works to its favour; it reads as if Christie was thinking of turning it into either a play or a radio drama. Poirot’s dialogue does more than enough to give him character - the other characters less so, none are particularly dimensional – and it’s definitely Suchet’s voice I hear, rather than Finney or Ustinov, in the books. If ever I read one that I think sounds like Malkovich, I’ll take that as a viable diagnosis of dementia…

Poirot in it does make up one thing out whole cloth rather tan from clues we’re presented with, which is unusual for Christie. Fortunately for him, it turns out to be true, and to be fair he does admit later to guessing at stuff based on the sort of household he expects an American one to be like. I still thank she was pushing it there though.

The ending is very sudden, and is open to different interpretations of Poirot’s attitude. In the Suchet version ISTR him being angry or annoyed at the decision, but I read the printed version as being perfectly OK with it…

20 – BLITZCAT by Robert Westall

This is a really good one, mostly. The titular cat is essentially the framing device for a portmanteau of affecting stories of people’s lives in 1940 and ’41. Her journey to find her one true person brings her into the lives of various people from wartime widows to carters to a bomber crew… They’re all really good, with just the right balance of threat, thrills, adventure, tragedy, humour, and feline frolics.

I’m going to spoiler it a bit now, in two ways. First, if you’re anything like me, you might want to know in advance whether the cat lives or dies at the end, as is often the case with animal themed human interest stories, before really deciding whether to read it. So, spoiler, she survives for a happy ending. Secondly, between pages 181 and 220 or so, cat and book totally jump the shark, when the cat gets to go on raids over Germany, shoot down enemy planes, get shot down, and make her way home by means of resistance guides into Portugal. Seriously.

Now, cats have made long journeys home, bomber crews did illicitly take mascots with them, etc, but this whole sequence is much more rushed than the other stories, and feels tonally more like something the author was either pressured into doing, or that he got to it when a hard wordcount limit was getting close.

Overall, though, it’s a great read, just so well pitched and affecting, and I’m totally amazed there hasn’t been a movie or TV series. In fact I think this now becomes the one story that I’d more than anything love to find a way to become a film/TV maker to script and direct. But I’d have to either drop or extend, and certainly tweak, that pp181-220 section.