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December 2014
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Recent Posts Saying goodbye to Clive Cussler |
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| Saying goodbye to Clive Cussler | 30th December 2014, 00:27 | |
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I was introduced to Clive Cussler in my teenage years by my friend Dan. He'd been reading them for a while, and attempted on several occasions to convince me to check them out from the school library. I resisted, so he gave me the first book, Pacific Vortex, for my birthday - let's say my 15th for the sake of narrative (it was around then, as Atlantis Found was already out). I was soon buying up the then 18 books in the series - the rest of the main Dirk Pitt series and the first two 'Numa Files' stories. Having completed the set within two years, I've bought in hardback every book in those series, plus the newer Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Fargo series - usually on the release day - I have 56 novels in all. Until now. Havana Storm, the 23rd Dirk Pitt novel and the 7th since authorship of that series moved to Cussler's son Dirk was published in the UK in late 2014, and I haven't bought a copy. I believe that the best books were the earliest ones. This is a claim even I doubt, having not re-read any of them, and so in fact having not read any of what I consider the 'originals' for ten years. I felt at the time that the story had 'jumped the shark' with the introduction of the teleport suitcase and the main character's surprise adult children in Valhalla Rising, and generally feel that the main series has become more and more generic since. There have been a few standout books since then - the first few in the Oregon Files series, and the first Isaac Bell book (The Chase - also the only 'recent' book with only Cussler's name on it). There have also been some that were terrible (Corsair really annoyed me). I've kept going though, because it's something I do, and with the expectation that there will at some point be an end... but that seems less and less likely. Other authors, such as Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy, who also use named 'co-writers', have both continued publishing after their deaths, and I certainly expect now the Cussler brand to be continued, as clearly it's still making money at four books a year. For me though, I think it's time to check out. I'll probably go back to the early books and have another read at some point, but I'm in no rush (and they are in storage for now anyway). Goodbye Clive Cussler. It was fun. |
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| Book of the Year 2014 | 30th December 2014, 01:08 | |
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At the start of the year I published a post listing my books of the year from 2009 - 2013 and promised that I'd announce a 2014 winner. I've read just over 100 books in 2014, and of those awarded five stars to eleven of them. I've spent some time this evening working out which to shortlist for the award. I assembled the 11 books on the longlist, lined them in alphabetical order, and paired them off. I then re-read my reviews of each and eliminated one from each pair. The last book alphabetically got a bye giving me 6 books remaining. I repeated the process to get down to a final three: Dead Tomorrow by Peter James A story in the Roy Grace series, in which a woman with a desperately ill daughter is dragged into a plot to buy organs. Really good characterisation and a completely believable plot. On The Last Day of Christmas by Chris Brookmyre A novella, really short, that re-introduces the journalist Jack Parlebane, down on his luck and working for a daily in London, as he's offered the story of a lifetime. Takes real world events in the world of journalism and uses them to good effect in what's nominally a comedy but is actually quite serious. Police by Jo Nesbo Possibly the final Harry Hole story. Really emotional - it's rare a book can get me that involved with the characters the I honestly fear for their lives. So who will win? Or will I read something better in the remaining 48 hours of 2014? |
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