Some books I've read recently

(BTW some info on Rome is being prepared behind the scenes, watch the space above this one...)

"Arthur and George" - Julian Barnes. I went through a brief phase of reading some of the shortlist of the Booker Prize. This one was there too, and for good reason. Again, like On Beauty it's well-written and engaging. Cleverly, the book starts with separate stories for Arthur (Arthur Conan Doyle) and George (George Edalji) but dovetails them elegantly about halfway through. The plot revolves around the conviction of George for crimes carried out in his village, but he protests his innocence - Arthur takes up his case and fights to clear his name. Justice, evidence, and human rights are all themes running through this story, and like the above, I really got involved in the book and found it very hard to put down. Top marks again for this one!

"Use of Weapons" - Iain M. Banks. Another of Banks' thrilling sci-fi outings, this one deals more closely with the Special Circumstances and Contact sections of the Culture, the organisations that try to "influence" the fates of other worlds and races. It's less technology-focussed than others of his books, - not that that would take away from the story, it's still set in the same universe - it concentrates instead on the subterfuge involved in trying to pre-arrange events on alien worlds (which we are all, no doubt, familiar with...!?). Thoroughly enjoyable, if (for me anyway) a little less so than Excession by the same author.

I went for a walk yesterday, along Glenbarrow and the ridge of Capard, in the Slieve Blooms. With fantastic weather and lovely scenery, I had a lovely couple of hours. Found the route here. And, the Slieve Blooms are much closer than the Wicklow Mountains. There's a full programme of walks starting in May, and I hope to tag along with at least one or two. (Some piccies below!)

2 more book reviews....

I'm back from a few days away in Latvia (more on which later on today). Whilst enjoying the benefits of flexitime, I thought I'd recommend 2 books which I've recently finished.

Iain M. Banks' Excession. One in Iain's (notice the M initial, which isn't used in the non-science fiction novels) excellent series of science fiction novels. Set in a world where humans have far advanced and artificial intelligence has advanced even further, the Culture and rival civilisations investigate an anomaly that has appeared again.

Naturally this draws everybody into conflict (gasp!) and the story revolves about how the ship Minds and their human inhabitants investigate and deal with the Excession.

I must say I really love Banks' sci-fi universe. The immensity of the ships, the power with which they act and the way he writes about it it is always entertaining and enthralling. So if you like science fiction, read some of his stuff!

The other book, which I bought in Latvia as a slimline pocket book for reading in cafés etc, is H G Wells' War of the Worlds. You've seen the film, heard the music, now read the book! Written in a reporter style, as you know this is the story of the invasion of Earth by technologically advanced Martians.

I find it quite pessimistic in its outlook, as the defeat of the Martians is not brought about by human endeavour, but it's interesting in its view of potential alien technology and physiology. Definitely one of the most influential science fiction stories I think I've read. And also, there's very interesting and realistic behaviour from the protagonist and some of the people he meets along the way, some of whom are utterly non-heroic, others of whom are driven almost to madness by the events on Horsell common!

For those of you who have only seen the film, the story is really set in England around London, not in America!

Continuing the recommendation theme today, I also recommend War of the Worlds for your reading pleasure, particularly as an important work in the development of today's science fiction, and an enjoyable story in its own right.

Happy Back to Work Tomorrow Day!

Hope you all enjoyed your break, cos it's over tonight. Make the most of the rest of today.

Arthur C Clarke's Fountains of Paradise has been read and enjoyed recently. In fact, anything of Clarke's that I've read has been enjoyable and intriguingly prescient. Perhaps the existence of Arthur C Clarke is proof of time travel, as he seems to be able to uncannily make realistic future predictions in his science fiction. Perhaps his use of science helps....?

Anyway, this book's about an engineer who wants to build a space elevator after feeling a little underwhelmed by the completion of a bridge over the Gibraltar Straits. Perhaps the fact that somebody else got their name on the bridge aggrieved him? So the book follows the story of the construction of the space elevator and the problems encountered during the construction. Well in fairness, a novel without problems would be quite short.

If you like sci-fi, you should read Arthur Clarke.

And I hope I'm able to read in to the future like Arthur C Clarke, by wishing you a Happy New Year.