Yes, I Have Read That Many Books! - Part V: Otherland

This is a series written by Tad Williams, consisting of 'City of Golden Shadow', 'River of Blue Fire', 'Mountain of Black Glass' and 'Sea of Silver Light'. Once again this is a situation where I enjoyed the books immensely but have not warmed to his other work. Possibly, this is due to the subject matter rather than his writing as the story of "Otherland" is very intriguing.

All four novels are incredibly long so, even for a fast reader like myself, it is quite a mission to get through them. Nevertheless, it is worth the effort if you can stick with it.

The story is set some time in the early 22nd century and revolves around a virtual reality network called the Net. The people of this time log on to this as often as we log on to the internet. This concept is partly why I decided to read this series in the first place.
We live our lives online, thinking nothing of emailing, tweeting, banking etc whenever the mood takes us. Therefore, virtual worlds such as Otherland are not as futuristic as they seem!

As with our internet, people use the Otherland for both work and play, with various simulations. Themes include 'through the looking glass', 'war of the worlds' and 'the wizard of oz', the majority of which are for the purposes of entertainment.

The plot itself is fairly complex so it is difficult ti keep track of who is who and what is what. However, the more you read the more sense you can make of it.

Bizarrely it all starts in the trenches during the second world war, with a soldier named Paul Jonas. Of course, at this point, you are not aware that he is within a simulation. By all accounts, he isn't aware either, until his friends (Finch and Mullet) turn on him. Throughout the novels they are constantly in pursuit as he flees from one world to the next.

Once we are acquainted with Mr Jonas, the tale moves in to the 'real' world and we meet Irene Sulaweyo (Renie). I would say she is the lead character in the saga. Renie is a Virtual Engineering Instructor whose younger brother, Stephen, falls victim to Tangadore Syndrome. It seems that, whilst using the net, something is occurring, causing children everywhere to fall into a coma. Unable to disconnect Stephen, Renie seeks help in the form of French woman Martine, who was involved in the early development of Otherland.

Along with Renie's assistant, !Xabbu, they discover strange goings on and set about investigating.
Meanwhile, Orlando and Sam are competing in the middle country simulation. Orlando joins with the others when Sam is killed in middle country and it is felt in the real world. As a leading contestant he knows that this should not affect the physical body.

Soon enough they all realise that they cannot log off and are effectively trapped moving from world to world. An assassin, John Dread, is sent after them by the Grail Brotherhood (creators/owners of Otherland). They are clearly involved in something sinister and refuse to be exposed.

The mysterious Sellars gathers the characters together and sends them to find, Jonas, in order to set things right. As the search progresses, adventures ensue!

The plot has numerous twists and turns and confusion but I think this actually makes you want to continue reading and solve the puzzle.
What I found fascinating was how many parallels you can draw between their existence and ours. All right, so we aren't chased around by kitchen utensils on a daily basis! What I mean is the technological side. They have virtual engineers, we have web designers. When our children go online or play computer games they turn in to non-responsive zombies, in the books they are in a coma.

So, in short, the internet is bad! I am only joking, of course, as I am online all the time. However, I do think it is wise to spend more time interacting with people face to face. Social media is wonderful and all but actual physical contact is important. Strike a balance between the two. :)

Yes, I Have Read That Many Books! - Part IV: Camelot

So I'm on to the individual authors that i like and decided to start here with Bernard Cornwell. I should point out that i am not hugely into all of his books. Those written about Arthur and Merlin etc are wonderful though.
Definitely highly recommended by myself.

Funnily enough, i had dragged my partner into the library with me and annoyed him no end, when i couldn't make a decision. It came as a massive surprise when he told me he had read these books and that i might like them. Not once, in the 10 years I've known him, have i ever seen him pick up a book, let alone read one! He was dead right though.

The Warlord Chronicles ( The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur) are a trilogy written by the fictional Dervel for his Queen. So the story is told from a third person's perspective. Initially i was dubious but soon enough i was hooked. Once i am engrossed i feel compelled to continue until the very end. This was the case here.

Naturally, i was already familiar with the tale of Arthur and his knights etc but the way Bernard Cornwell tells it is utterly unique. He keeps the sorcery and myth but also adds realism, that is absent in the work of other authors. The battles and daily hardships are portrayed in all their brutal and graphic glory!
The characters appear real which allows the reader to buy into the mysticism also. On occasion i had to remind myself that these novels are works of fiction, not historic fact! The old style language is not to everyone's taste, i realise, although i stopped even noticing after a while. They're that good!

Almost completely the opposite are the 5 novels in The Pendragon Cycle, written by Stephen Lawhead ( Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon and Grail). Whilst these also tell the whole Camelot story, they are very very different. He begins his tale with Atlantis and ends long after Arthur's demise.

In some ways his books are better as they provide more background and details of what followed the life of mythical King Arthur. In other ways it made sticking with the story difficult for me. To be honest it was the Arthurian legend that was captivating, not the rest.

Whilst Cornwell's writing is honest and un-sugarcoated, Lawhead's is magical and fantastic. His portrayal is far more typical of the Camelot stories i had heard previously. Not that this is a bad thing, by any means.

For a harsh depiction of the well known saga, Cornwell delivers. But, myth and magic also have their place if your imagination can carry them. In this, Lawhead excels.

Also by Bernard Cornwell -
the Sharpe novels
the Starbuck chronicles
the Grail Quest novels
the Saxon stories
the Thrillers

Stephen Lawhead -
Dragon King trilogy
Empyrion saga
The Song of Albion
The Celtic Crusades
King Raven trilogy
Hero
Bright Empires

Yes, I Have Read That Many Books! - Part III: The Library

Throughout my life i have loved the library. Of course, it has grown bigger and the volume of books has increased over the years. However, now that i have an ebook reader, i don't bother going down there at all. This is actually very sad because without it i would have missed out on numerous wonderful authors. Since i am also a really fast reader, i practically lived down there!

It was a special place to me as it gave me the freedom to discover what i was interested in.
The members of my immediate family all have very different tastes from me and, i can honestly say, i have never been tempted to borrow a book from them!

My Dad's reading material is all on the subject of Angling or Ireland. Literally, that is it, no fiction whatsoever! Mom, on the other hand, reads romantic mush like Mills&Boone. Each to their own i say but i can't be bothered with them. A story needs to be able to make me think and keep me enthralled. These do neither. Boredom sets in fairly early on and i give up.
One of the funniest things ever was being accused of borrowing mom's books and not putting them back. It turned out it was my older brother. He believed they would tell him how to get women! To be perfectly honest i was more shocked that he knew what a book was. Previously, i had only ever seen him read the football news and scores on teletext!!

My younger brother is lovely but his choice of reading material is incredibly random. Mostly, he is online reading or writing fanfiction (whatever that is!) and all his books are Star Trek and things like that. There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, but, since i am not a fan, they don't appeal to me.

It's not even worth considering my little sister's books as she is a typical teenage girl. Books about One Direction and JLS aren't aimed at my demographic at all. All her other books just make me laugh. Sadly, i am way past the age when the right hair, clothes and make-up were important. Whether boys 'like' me is not a serious issue!

So, there i was at the library, rapidly getting through all the Stephen King they had. I wanted to branch out and there was so much choice!

Best get started! :)

Yes, I Have Read That Many Books! - Part II: Stephen King

In a million years, nothing written here will ever do the man justice. His books account for a serious amount of my reading hours. Whilst i adore his work, it has to be said that he is one terrifying individual! One has to wonder where the ideas come from and what is going on in that mind of his!

'Kingdom Hospital' was written specifically for tv and, crikey, did that spin my head! Much as i think he writes well, after watching that series from start to finish i still had no idea what the heck was going on! The SyFy series, Haven, is based on 'The Colorado Kid' by him and isn't bad. Maybe his books work better than film or tv though as there is more scope for your own imagination.

There are far too many novels to go through individually, especially including his work as Richard Bachman. This is a shame because each book has particular aspects that stand out and make them special. So, i am going to pick 4 and let you draw your own conclusions on the rest.

The very first book of his that i read was 'The Tommyknockers'. My mom took it on holiday to Ireland with her one year and i robbed it. As with all his novels, the story is disturbing and creepy. Since it centres around an alien spaceship being unearthed, though, you would expect some abnormal goings on! The section where dolls come to life is as bizarre as it is terrifying. I have always classed this as being one of my first 'grown-up' books as there is bad language, sex and he holds absolutely nothing back. My reading tastes changed from then on.

'Thinner' is one of King's best novels and is also fairly well known since it was made into a film later. He was writing as Richard Bachman then and, if i remember correctly, this was the last he wrote under that name (until The Regulators). Basically it is about an obese lawyer who, whilst being...um... 'caressed', mows down and kills a gypsy woman. His judge friend acquits him but outside court the gypsies stop him and whisper 'thinner' in his ear.

Throughout the book he loses weight, hence the title, and strange things happen to the judge and police chief involved in the case. I won't ruin the story if you haven't read it but, we are talking about Stephen King here so, it's not a happy one! The moral is either to concentrate when you're driving or that you should face the consequences of your actions. Probably the latter but both are valid. (Haha)

The majority of Stephen King novels seem to have some sort of moral issue within them and i really like that concept. So, although the content can be disturbing and sometimes horrific, there is always a way that the characters cod have avoided these nightmares.

'Needful Things' is another good quality read. I am told that this has also been transferred to the big screen but i have never seen it. Initially i found the scenario very amusing. A friendly old man, running a shop (Needful things), selling anything you ask for at rock bottom prices. Providing you play a trick on one of your neighbours of course.

The elderly know all the gossip, grudges, feuds and scandals so, by carefully selecting the targets of these pranks, he incites the whole town to craziness!
Once again the la-di-da ending is absent but I'm sure noone is surprised by that at this point. Is the moral here - 'be careful what you wish for'? Or maybe it's something to do with 'what you want not necessarily being what you need'?

So, i've done the first, my two favourites and now on to the last book i read penned by him - Dreamcatcher.
According to Mr King, this book was written during his recovery from a car accident and was originally titled 'Cancer'. (Interesting little factoid there i thought!)

'Duddits' is a child with down syndrome. One day he is picked on by bullies and 4 friends wade in and rescue him. They stay friends and move away then, after having troubles in their private life, decide to go on a hunting trip and visit Duddits at the same time.

Naturally there follows weird occurrences and subsequently an army quarantine zone! The flatulance issues are hilarious but non-essential to the plot, therefore i think our quirky author was having a giggle with that. Anyway, we end up with an alien 'Ripley' virus spreading around and all manner of other goings on, such as telepathy and yet another crashed spaceship. It's very action packed and incredibly complicated!
The sad part is that Duddits is the key to stopping it but is dying of leukemia.

Not everyone appreciates Stephen King, in large part due to this weirdness and the lack of happy conclusive endings. However, even those who aren't fans can see he has been hugely successful.

The paranormal element appeals to me and beyond that i refuse to examine too closely why so many of us are drawn to the bizarre and twisted tales he creates!