To The Last Page

Considering the scope and scale of what Cixin Liu proposes in his Three-Body Problem trilogy, it's not surprising that there some gaps in the passing of eras and eons and that there are inevitably a number of principal figures who come to prominence over the course of the three books. The scope that Death's End encompasses is even vaster than the periods covered in the first two books, but thanks to advances in hibernation, Cheng Xin remains central to take in the galactic scale of what occurs in the final book of the trilogy. We thankfully don't have to wait that long. At the start of the final part of the trilogy, we are still anticipating the principal dilemma of the fact that the Trisolarans have become aware of intelligent life on Earth and that they are on their way to eradicate the problem. That sounds like a pulp science-fiction fiction idea, but while the trilogy has its genre moments - surprisingly often more of the romantic kind than space opera - it's rigo

Despite having limited experience in the field of cinema, Simon Clark's idea for The Protos Experiment seemed a natural for it to be developed as a film script. That ambition has come to fruition with the movie directed by Laurence and Brian Avenet-Bradley premiering at Cannes this year. Although not yet on general release, Clark's own novelisation appears to retain much of that cinematic quality, but also some novelistic originality and ambition. Ironically, for something that has such a strong visual presence, the novel opens with a scene in a room of near complete darkness where, after convincing himself that he is not dead and opening his eyes, a man discovers that he is in some kind of chamber divided by plastic sheets (always a worrying sign) where a number of other people who can't see each other are chained up. John discovers that he himself is chained to a deranged monster of a man who is going to kill them all. It's a bold and compelling way to start the nove

These Burning Stars , the first part of Bethany Jacobs' Kindom Trilogy , set its tone and agenda from the outset, creating a complex world of competing families, religious and military orders in the system of the Treble. With stirrings of revolutionary activity, genocidal acts and bitter rivalries explored, the author established a dark and brutal tone that characterised the nature of the ruling classes and then sent it off through a series of explosive events built around a revenge plot from a mysterious lone assassin known only as Six. By the time we reached the conclusion, Jacobs dense plotting, characterisation and world building paid off with a number of surprise revelations and twists that I will try my best not to reveal in this review of the second book in the Kindom series. Although These Burning Stars wrapped it up well and delivered on the promise, the conclusion felt a little rushed and not entirely satisfying. That appeared to be simply because there was a sense that

When a 9 year old child turns up at 7 Craven Road talking of his fear of a monster in his closet, investigator of the paranormal Dylan Dog is understandably sceptical. Having seen all kinds of horrors in his time though, he says he will think about it further. When his assistant Groucho tells him that the boy left behind payment of £10,000, it spurs him to consider that the boy's fears and his call for help are genuine. Timothy Scare is clearly haunted by something, but rather than leap into battle fighting monsters, Dylan takes a more measured and cautious approach. Advisory almost, seeking to find the source of the boy's troubles. It's not difficult to see where those might lie. Timothy's parents are dead, victims of what lies in the wardrobe. A wealthy family with a manservant who looks after the boy in their stead, Christopher also has doubts about the boy's nightmares, but recognises that Timothy is a sensitive child with few friends who is bullied at school. C

Dylan Dog is a comic series - a fumetto  in Italian - that has been running in Italy since 1986. Originally created by Tiziano Sclavi, it is still published monthly with additional specials, collections and colour editions. With each book running to almost 100 pages, some double that length, there are evidently different artist and writer teams needed which helps keeps the character and the series fresh with ideas and approaches. Published in digest format - a little like the Commando books that I used to read as a child - if not for Dark Horse publishing a few selected books in this and the Martin Mystery series in the same format in the 90s, Dylan Dog would probably remain largely unknown outside of Italy and some European countries where some of the books are translated. Those US translations featured new covers by Mike Mignola, appropriately since Dylan Dog is an investigator of the paranormal, or rather one who seems to attract all manner of horrors. Dylan Dog indeed describes

The variety of his work that I have read so far should have been a clue, but it took a long time nonetheless to get a handle on where Nick Harkaway was coming from - or the direction he was taking - with Tigerman . It seemed partly an exotic adventure, partly a fun exploration of writing employing modern youth terminology and pop culture references, but a political element couldn't be discounted either considering the status of the main character as a representative or semi-Consul for a former British Territory. The island of Mancreu may be fictional and its location vague - it appears to be a former British Territory in the Arabian Sea ocean, V-shaped somewhat like the Chagos Islands. although for some reason I pictured Sri Lanka as I was reading it - but while that plays a part, it turns out not to be the main purpose of the book either. If you want to pin it down, you would perhaps have to think bigger and more universal. Which is difficult, because the novel invites us to into