Ian Simpson
Film fan: horror, science fiction, comic book, noir, independent. Book fan: anything that can't happen to me (esp. urban fantasy, science fiction, zombie horror, magic realism). Comic fan: Sandman, Hellblazer, Moore, Whedon, Civil War, Planetary, Walking Dead. TV fan: Whedon, Star Trek, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica. Love food, wine and whiskey. Follow me @ianjsimpson
The Magician King, by Lev Grossman
Reviewed on October 14, 2012
The Magician King is Lev Grossman’s follow up to The Magicians; a series which is billed as ‘Harry Potter for Grown-Ups’. What that means in reality, is that the protagonists are all in their early twenties, have sex and swear. Both books are very much tales of growing up and facing the realities of the [...]
The Apocalypse Codex, by Charles Stross
Reviewed on September 8, 2012
What do you get if you cross middle-management bureaucracy, religious cult-based urban fantasy and science-fiction? Charles Stross’ The Laundry Files series, specifically, The Apocalypse Codex. Take one Bob Howard, Junior Secretary For Eating Of Souls, Fourth Grade (otherwise known as civil servant chinless wonder); add a Johnny and a Persephone, who may or may not [...]
Asbury Park, by Rob Scott
Reviewed on August 1, 2012
Sailor Doyle is in trouble. The cop has been shot, his marriage is in a mess, he’s convalescing hundreds of miles from home while his career is on the brink, and now, apparently, the dead won’t let him rest. I wasn’t aware of New York native Scott’s previous novel, 15 Miles, so I was coming [...]
Some Kind of Fairy Tale, by Graham Joyce
Reviewed on July 14, 2012
There is a familiar trope in fiction of the unreliable narrator. Can what we read actually be true? Is it in their head, or did it really happen? Joyce takes this idea and with his usual skewed-just-to-the-side-of-reality imagination, twists it a tad. While most of Some Kind of Fairy Tale is told from a mystery [...]
The Minority Council, by Kate Griffin
Reviewed on May 25, 2012
The famous ‘law of diminishing returns’ suggests that The Minority Council will of course be the weakest of the Matthew Swift novels by Carnegie Medal winning Kate Griffin (awarded as her alter ego Catherine Webb). That may be true, but there is plenty to recommend about this raw slice of urban fantasy. In Griffin’s first, [...]
In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, by Margaret Atwood
Reviewed on May 8, 2012
Margaret Atwood has written three science fiction novels: The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake and Year of the Flood. She has been known in the past to be slightly prickly on this fact. The former won the inaugural Arthur C Clarke Award in 1987 for best science fiction novel. She has been quoted as saying [...]
Shadow’s Son, by Jon Sprunk
Reviewed on March 22, 2012
A damsel in distress and her flawed hero. Not the most original of scenarios, but then some say that there are only 7 basic plots. So, how is Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk any different from any other fantasy novel of recent times? The plot centres on our assassin (anti-)hero, Caim. He lives in a [...]
The End Specialist, by Drew Magary
Reviewed on February 24, 2012
Drew Magary’s debut novel (also known as The Postmortal) has an interesting and under-used premise; what if someone discovered the cure for death? Well, not specifically dying, but old age? You could still catch a disease or my killed, but you would never get old beyond the day you were cured. Our story follows John [...]
Neonomicon, by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows
Reviewed on February 20, 2012
[Reviewer's warning: This material contains content which is likely to offend, including images of extreme graphic sex and sexual violence.] With the above warning in place, a review of Alan Moore’s latest trade collection appears to be a bit futile. How can it be recommended to a reader with a statement such as that? How [...]
The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
Reviewed on January 24, 2012
I have to say that, despite the spelling, I found the title of Lynch’s début quite misleading. I wonder if it was deliberate on his part, or maybe it’s just me? Before I read the blurb, I assumed it was about a place, perhaps in Scotland. No. Locke is the protagonist of the tale. And [...]
Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles: The Authorized Adaptation, by Dennis Calero
Reviewed on January 16, 2012
Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles is widely regarded as one of the greatest books in science fiction. It is a series of short stories, often called ‘future histories’, which are both self-contained and which contribute to the narrative whole. It was originally published in 1950, and had 28 parts starting in 1999 and ending in 2057. [...]
The Islanders, by Christopher Priest
Reviewed on December 18, 2011
The Islanders is Priest’s first novel since 2002’s The Separation, which, in this fan’s view, is way too long. So, is this latest work worth the wait? Presented as a fictional gazetteer interspersed with a series of short stories, it is set on various islands in the Dream Archipelago. Each island has a variety of [...]
Lost at Sea, by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Reviewed on November 27, 2011
O’Malley is best known for his Scott Pilgrim series, but Lost at Sea was his first original work, published in 2003. I recently stumbled upon a 2008 second edition. I love the Scott Pilgrim film but wasn’t overly impressed by the graphic novel series, as I thought it was far too drawn out and featured [...]
Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
Reviewed on November 26, 2011
Peter F. Hamilton’s introduction to this striking yellow and purple Gollancz 50 edition (to celebrate 50 years of the science fiction and fantasy publishers) of Dan Simmons Hyperion, clarifies that the novel mirrors the structure of The Canterbury Tales. I work in Canterbury and had no idea. Shamefully, I’ve never read Chaucer’s opus, although I [...]
Hell Ship, by Philip Palmer
Reviewed on October 19, 2011
In history, a hell ship is a POW transportation vessel noted for having a reputation for cruelty, forced labour and extreme living conditions. In another universe, join Jak, Sai-ias and Sharrock on an adventure of mind-boggling inventiveness. The titular vessel travels across space, and from universe to universe, conquering planets and wiping out species, save [...]
Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero, by Grant Morrison
Reviewed on October 18, 2011
Supergods is an epic work of non-fiction. The nature of the book cannot be easily distilled. It is a history of the comic book superhero, but it is far from comprehensive. It is Morrison’s biography, yet contains only a few anecdotes. It is a study of society in the twentieth century through the eyes of [...]
Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi
Reviewed on September 19, 2011
Sadly, I have no strong feelings either way for Ship Breaker. Bacigalupi’s second novel is described as young adult fiction and I’m no young adult. However, I have read and enjoyed other works aimed at the younger reader, especially Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Bacigalupi’s first novel, and also a novella of his, won multiple awards, [...]
Horns, by Joe Hill
Reviewed on August 20, 2011
Horns is described as a horror fiction or a suspense thriller. Publishers and reviews should be very careful how they label fiction. Horror fiction needs to be horrific. A suspense thrill needs to thrill and have moments of suspense. Clearly. This is the son of King’s second full novel and comes with a little bit [...]
Hull Zero Three, by Greg Bear
Reviewed on August 9, 2011
Greg Bear used to be one of my favourite SF authors, signifying a guarantee of quality. Eon (1985), Darwin’s Radio (1999) and Blood Music (1985) are in my all-time favourites list. However, 2008’s City at the End of Time left me cold and disappointed. I picked up Bear’s latest with low expectations, especially as the [...]
The Filter Bubble: What The Internet Is Hiding From You, by Eli Pariser
Reviewed on August 2, 2011
Eli Pariser is a political activist who has a special interest in public policy with a track record of working for not-for-profit liberal organisations. I consider myself a liberal and for the purposes of full disclosure, a fan of Google. I use Google+, Google Calendar, Google Books, Google Reader, and Twitter. I’m not a fan [...]
The Neon Court, by Kate Griffin
Reviewed on July 13, 2011
London, as any modern metropolis, thrives at night. It lives and it has power. Kate Griffin, otherwise known as Catherine Webb, understands this as well as anyone. She uses an intimate knowledge of the many foibles of London and the commonalities of many an urban cityscape to fuel the magic of sorcerer and Midnight Mayor, [...]
The Dervish House, by Ian McDonald
Reviewed on June 27, 2011
The Dervish House is a complex tale of several characters that all live in the titular abode in near-future Istanbul. A detailed plot synopsis would be as long as the book. It is so rich, detailed and bristling with ideas that at times it might seem to be drowning under its own weight. It’s 2025 [...]
Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch
Reviewed on June 19, 2011
There must be a million “What if Harry Potter was a…?” written every year. I imagine a tiny fraction actually gets published. Rivers of London is essentially “what if Harry Potter was an ordinary rookie police constable?”. Meet probationary constable Peter Grant, working for the Metropolitan Police in London (clue in the title). He’s about [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Mark Oldfield
Mark Oldfield has worked in criminological research for over 20 years. He has a PhD in Criminology from the University of Kent and has carried out research in the areas of risk assessment and prediction and as well as evaluative research on policing, prisons and probation. He has also taught in various Universities on research, crime and criminal justice.
