Just finished The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It's about a book detective called Corso who gets into all kinds of mischief while trying to authenticate two documents: a manuscript of a chapter from The Three Musketeers and a book entitled The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows, which is supposed to allow one to summon the devil. The book was filmed by Roman Polanski as The Ninth Gate (starring Johnny Depp).
It was an entertaining read but I found the book to be a little unfocused as it jumped back and forth between the manuscript and The Nine Doors. Perez-Reverte's attempts to tie the two together and his penchant for drawing parallels between Corso and his companions and the characters of Dumas came across as a little too flimsy. The conclusion and revalation of how (or if) the documents are connected was not at all satisfying and the resolution of the mystery of The Nine Doors was also weakly handled. Great build-ups but disappointing resolutions.
Overall, Polanski's film version is much more entertaining and focused as it drops the whole Dumas subplot and concentrates strictly on the demonic book.
I was somewhat disappointed with Cell, and that's from a devoted King admirer. I felt this novel basically retold The Stand from a different angle.
I'm a longtime Stephen King fan myself, though I don't think I'd qualify as one of his "constant readers".
Anyhow, I actually enjoyed Cell; I liked the fact that it was relatively short (by King's standards). True, the characters weren't nearly fleshed out as in his other books, but it held my attention and I was able to finish it in a couple of days, a record for a Stephen King novel.
There's been quite a bit of controversy about his new style; some have even dubbed it King-lite. I'll be curious what direction his next book takes.
BTW, for any Stephen King fans in America, TNT is going to be premiering their Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV anthology show this month; it's based on some of King's short stories and novellas. Looking forward to seeing how the material is handed.
BTW, for any Stephen King fans in America, TNT is going to be premiering their Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV anthology show this month; it's based on some of King's short stories and novellas. Looking forward to seeing how the material is handed.
I suppose this will turn up on UK TV in the fullness of time- I'll look forward to it, thanks for the heads-up.
BTW, for any Stephen King fans in America, TNT is going to be premiering their Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV anthology show this month; it's based on some of King's short stories and novellas. Looking forward to seeing how the material is handed.
I suppose this will turn up on UK TV in the fullness of time- I'll look forward to it, thanks for the heads-up.
My pleasure. Here's a link to TNT's page; it has some stills and lists some of the stories being adapted:
My favorite King stories are "The Rage" and especially "The Long Walk", (both from The Bachman Books) And the brilliant Different Seasons where upon a wealth of celluloid was derived,
Also, Four Past Midnight, particularly "The Library Policeman"
Some of my greatest teenage memories took place during that 20 minute walk to the commissary theater to see all those movies made during the golden age of Stephen King adaptions!
And Dean Koontz has never surpassed Phantoms (In my humble opinion)
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
I just finished reading THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde.
Sort of an old school horror novel. More emphasis on "old". I enjoyed it.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
My favorite King stories are "The Rage" and especially "The Long Walk", (both from The Bachman Books) And the brilliant Different Seasons where upon a wealth of celluloid was derived,
Also, Four Past Midnight, particularly "The Library Policeman"
Some of my greatest teenage memories took place during that 20 minute walk to the commissary theater to see all those movies made during the golden age of Stephen King adaptions!
And Dean Koontz has never surpassed Phantoms (In my humble opinion)
My all time favorite Stephen King short story has got to be One for the Road, a sequel to Salem's Lot wherein we find out what happened to the town and its inhabitants (they didn't all perish in the fire). A great read and a very very chilling conclusion.
I'm also a big fan of HP Lovecraft; the whole Cthulu mythos are a fun read and I think Pickman's Model is one of the greatest short stories ever written.
As for more recent fare, I just finished To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh. I'm something of a Trekkie (but I only really enjoy the original series and movies with the original cast) and after watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again recently, I became curious about this book. It basically tells the story of Khan's 15 year exile and the events that lead up to STII. It was a fast and entertaining read and much more well written than your typical Trek novel. The character of Khan is really fleshed out and it succeeds in bridging the gap between the old Space Seed episode in which he appeared and the movie. If you're a fan of the original series or the movie, I'd recommend you check it out.
My favorite King stories are "The Rage" and especially "The Long Walk", (both from The Bachman Books) And the brilliant Different Seasons where upon a wealth of celluloid was derived,
Also, Four Past Midnight, particularly "The Library Policeman"
Some of my greatest teenage memories took place during that 20 minute walk to the commissary theater to see all those movies made during the golden age of Stephen King adaptions!
And Dean Koontz has never surpassed Phantoms (In my humble opinion)
My all time favorite Stephen King short story has got to be One for the Road, a sequel to Salem's Lot wherein we find out what happened to the town and its inhabitants (they didn't all perish in the fire). A great read and a very very chilling conclusion.
I'm also a big fan of HP Lovecraft; the whole Cthulu mythos are a fun read and I think Pickman's Model is one of the greatest short stories ever written.
As for more recent fare, I just finished To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh. I'm something of a Trekkie (but I only really enjoy the original series and movies with the original cast) and after watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again recently, I became curious about this book. It basically tells the story of Khan's 15 year exile and the events that lead up to STII. It was a fast and entertaining read and much more well written than your typical Trek novel. The character of Khan is really fleshed out and it succeeds in bridging the gap between the old Space Seed episode in which he appeared and the movie. If you're a fan of the original series or the movie, I'd recommend you check it out.
Tony, great taste my man. The HPL style might take getting used to for some readers, but when I discovered him I literally devoured everything I could get my hands on. Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of my favs, (as well as famous) And The Call Of Cthulhu cannot be topped in terms of stark raving fear and unearthly horror. There's one little short that at present I don't recall the title to, however there's an old school sub, circa WWI, which is sinking, the narrative by the lone occupant and his views of Dagon territory is one damn gripping story.
I'm also a big fan of Lovecraft's colleagues, two gun Bob Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, the collaboration of the inner circle Weird Tales gang of the 20s and 30s. Short stories that will make your hair stand on end. Written with such evocative style and beautifully worded imagery.
Some of todays authors are just too damn long, phone book sized volume 7 of 10, and they still have nothing to say.
Tony, great taste my man. The HPL style might take getting used to for some readers, but when I discovered him I literally devoured everything I could get my hands on. Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of my favs, (as well as famous) And The Call Of Cthulhu cannot be topped in terms of stark raving fear and unearthly horror. There's one little short that at present I don't recall the title to, however there's an old school sub, circa WWI, which is sinking, the narrative by the lone occupant and his views of Dagon territory is one damn gripping story.
Thank you sir. I think that one was called The Temple; he ties Atlantis into it if I recall correctly.
I'm also a big fan of Lovecraft's colleagues, two gun Bob Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, the collaboration of the inner circle Weird Tales gang of the 20s and 30s. Short stories that will make your hair stand on end. Written with such evocative style and beautifully worded imagery.
I'll definitely check those two out. I think I already have some of their stuff in one of my Arkham House Lovecraft books but I haven't opened them in a long time.
Some of todays authors are just too damn long, phone book sized volume 7 of 10, and they still have nothing to say.
That's pretty much how I felt after finishing the last book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The final volume was OK at best but Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah were almost unnecessary and could easily have been spliced into one shorter volume.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
My all time favorite Stephen King short story has got to be One for the Road, a sequel to Salem's Lot wherein we find out what happened to the town and its inhabitants (they didn't all perish in the fire). A great read and a very very chilling conclusion.
Okay, why haven't I heard of this book before? I loved SALEM'S LOT but I can't believe I let this one get by me.
I've just finished reading SUMMER OF NIGHT by Dan Simmons AGAIN. One of the best horror novels I've ever come across ever and this book came out nearly 10 years ago. The story has the strong potential to become a movie one day if done properly...
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
My all time favorite Stephen King short story has got to be One for the Road, a sequel to Salem's Lot wherein we find out what happened to the town and its inhabitants (they didn't all perish in the fire). A great read and a very very chilling conclusion.
Okay, why haven't I heard of this book before? I loved SALEM'S LOT but I can't believe I let this one get by me?
It's not a novel, just a short story. It was part of the Night Shift anthology. It was also included in a recent limited reprint of Salem's Lot.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
I hate to be predictable, but...I'm currently re-reading all of the Flemings in order...
The last book I read was "From Russia, With Love." :007)
I'm now two-thirds of the way through "Doctor No"---reading a MacMillan First Edition (albeit a very tired one!)---stamped on the inside with "Toledo Public Library."
Nothing beats the smell of an old book :x
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I read this for the first time around 1970, and re-read it only recently. The reason I mention the book is as follows:
Remember the scene in NSNA when the nurse asks Bond to give her a urine sample and he replies "From here?"
I've always read that this was a contribution from Brit comedy writers Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, brought in by Connery to doctor Lorenzo Semple's script, and repeated from their Porridge success.
Well, Gardner got there first- it's in this book, published 1969, almost word-for-word. I wonder if it was said anywhere else before that- perhaps in a Carry On film?
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
I thoroughly agree - our school library has got some of the same books it had when the cshool first opened in 1973.
However I am currently reading SHOUT! The True Story of the Beatles by Phillip Norman. It's very entertaining and much better written than anything on the Beatles I have ever read before! I very much enjoyed the word-for-word quotes from members of the bands - my favourite so far has to be John Lennon's reply to a reporter...
REPORTER: Were your parents in show business?
JOHN: Well my dad used to say my mum was a great performer.
) ) ) ) )
Relax darling, I'm on top of the situation -{
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,663Chief of Staff
However I am currently reading SHOUT! The True Story of the Beatles by Phillip Norman.
That's a decent read - I read it years ago mind.
Just finished Simon Winder's The Man Who Saved Britain. A book about the James Bond books and films and how they fit/are perceived into/by British culture and the way of life throughout the years. An entertaining book, but not quite what I expected.
Cyrano Ce Bergerac. Working on The witch Of Black Bird Pond.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
Just finished "Doctor No."
I'm now 40 pages into "Goldfinger."
:007)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Re-read Licence Renewed...One of the better (but not best) Gardner entries in the Bond canon IMO.
Also enjoyed a quick read: The Case of the Maltese Treasure by Thomas Brace Haughey. The story involves a Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Watson-type duo living on Baker Street in modern day. Fun little twist on Sherlockiana!
Last book I read was Monte Merrick's novelisation of his screenplay for Memphis Belle. I have always liked the film and the novelisation succeeds in bettering the film. It makes the characters a little more believable. Still, a fairly average novel, but most enjoyable.
Or, as it's billed, Alistair MacLean's Red Alert by Alastair MacNeill. It's one of the publisher's many attempts to continue MacLean's name after his death, with "story outlines" (or sometimes just MacLean characters) being written up into novels by another writer (John Denis, MacNeill, Simon Gandolfi, Hugh Miller, Sam Llewellyn). Usually the result is pretty poor, as is the case here.
I used to wonder if there was a name for such books, since it's not strictly ghostwriting as such. I've recently found out that these are called, informally at least, "apostrophe novels"- another example would be Tom Clancy's Net Force, Splinter Cell, and Op-Centre (Center to our cousins) series. Being in the vein of The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy in his role as The Collector, I buy them anyway even though I know they won't have the features that drew me to the original writer in the first place.
The Bond continuation novels by Amis, Gardner, etc, don't strike me as quite the same system, although they're in that ballpark.
(Sideline: There was a court case some years ago with MacLean's publishers HarperCollins being sued over the ambiguity over the authorship of such novels. Alistair MacLean's name would be in huge letters, covering about half of the front cover, and Alastair MacNeill's name in small print at the bottom. Given the similarity between the names (they're only one "l" away from being anagrams!) and the size differential, the publishers were accused of, if I recall correctly, false attribution of authorship. Part of the case was that MacNeill's writing was not in the same league as MacLean's, with which I'm hardly the only one to heartily agree, which leads one to wonder if the only reason he got the job was because of his name. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened (it's certainly happened in the Bond universe- Jason Connery as Ian Fleming?!). Part of the result was that MacLean's name was reduced in size on subsequent books and MacNeill's increased. With the Clancy books, the actual author wasn't named at first although he is now.)
Usually the result is pretty poor, as is the case here.
That's good to hear. I've never liked the concept of 'apostrophe novels' at all, nor have I endeavoured to read one. I assume I'm not missing out on much?
What is your favourite MacLean anyway? I've still got some way to read them all, however my favourite thus far is South by Java Head; exciting, atmospheric and tightly plotted. Definitely a page-turner, war-time Singapore truly comes alive in this book. MacLean's masterful handling of the setting infuses the novel with a wonderful exoticism, similar, sort of, to Fleming's exoticism when Bond is in Jamaica. A fantastic thriller.
For anyone new to MacLean's work, here is the superb opening:
'Choking, dense, impenetrable, the black smoke lay pall-like over the dying city. Every building, every office-block and house, the intact and the bomb-shattered alike, was invested by it, swathed in the dark anonymity of its gently swirling cocoon. Every street, every alley, every dock-side basin was full of it, drowned by it. It lay everywhere, sulphurous and evil, scarcely moving in the soft airs of the tropical night.
Earlier in the evening, when the smoke had come only from the burning buildings in the city, there had been wide, irregular gaps overhead and the stars had shone in the empty sky. But a slight change of wind had obliterated these gaps, had brought with it the rolling, blinding oil-smoke from ruptured fuel tanks outside the city. Where the smoke came from, no one knew. Perhaps from the Kallang airport, perhaps from the power station, perhaps clear across the island from the naval base in the north, perhaps from the oil islands, from Pulo Sambo and Pulo Sebarok, four or five miles away. No one knew. All one could know was what one saw, and the blackness of that midnight was almost complete. There was hardly any light now even from the burning buildings, for these were burnt out and utterly destroyed, the last embers, the last tiny flames flickering to extinction, like the life of Singapore itself.'
You're quite correct, you're not missing much. Paper thin characters, poorly described action in the MacNeill books (Rendezvous was the worst, hardly readable), a bit better in the Millers, and best of all in the Llewellyn sequels to Navarone which aren't bad, at least on a par with MacLean's Force 10. Which reminds me of one great in-joke in the UNACO series- the cover name (a la Universal Export) of the secret organisation is Llewellyn & Lee. Well, it made me laugh quietly to myself anyway...
As to my favourite, it would have to come from his middle period- the first person mystery novels such as Night Without End and Fear Is The Key. I thoroughly enjoyed his earlier war novels (Guns Of Navarone, etc) but feel that he really hit his stride around 1960. His later works (after Bear Island ) were a terrible letdown, markedly affected by his alcohol intake.
(BTW, Lazenby880, thanks for posting the Amis and Larkin reviews in the Lit forum. Any more where those came from? 8-) )
As to my favourite, it would have to come from his middle period- the first person mystery novels such as Night Without End and Fear Is The Key. I thoroughly enjoyed his earlier war novels (Guns Of Navarone, etc) but feel that he really hit his stride around 1960.
Interesting as I prefer the earlier third-person novels. As I said South by Java Head is my favourite, although The Last Frontier is also a solid thriller in my view. Conversely, while eminently readable I don't find HMS Ulysses and The Guns of Navarone to be *quite* as good as others seem to think.
Of the middle period, my favourite would probably be Night Without End or The Golden Rendezvous, both wonderfully gripping thrillers. I'm trying to track down The Satan Bug, published under the pseudonym 'Ian Stuart'. Any thoughts on that one?
(BTW, Lazenby880, thanks for posting the Amis and Larkin reviews in the Lit forum. Any more where those came from? 8-) )
Those are the only reviews I've been able to find, Barbel. I have found other material that I am using for an article I'm writing on Colonel Sun, so I am loath to post it just yet!
I'm trying to track down The Satan Bug, published under the pseudonym 'Ian Stuart'. Any thoughts on that one?
I'll see what I can do. My copy is in an omnibus with four other MacLean titles, of which I have two in stand-alone editions. I'm gradually finding the earlier MacLeans in 2nd hand bookshops, etc (I'm after firsts- it's easy to find pbs.). I'll keep my eyes open. {[]
I'll see what I can do. My copy is in an omnibus with four other MacLean titles, of which I have two in stand-alone editions. I'm gradually finding the earlier MacLeans in 2nd hand bookshops, etc (I'm after firsts- it's easy to find pbs.). I'll keep my eyes open. {[]
Got it sorted. Searched for the novel under MacLean's name on the trusty Abebooks website. Saves a lot of running around. Talking about second-hand bookshops, I found a lovely hard-back copy of South by Java Head I recently bought, with this cover:
[img=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n23851.jpg]A very nice copy.
I'm hoping to get around to[/img]The Satan Bug soon; first I'm re-reading Manning Coles' Drink To Yesterday.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
LOVED Alistair MacLean. I must reread those soon...
"Where Eagles Dare" is quite a lot of fun as well. The cable-car sequence... B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Nice cover for South By Java Head, Lazenby880. I'm after that one!
Re Where Eagles Dare- a great story, good film too. It came out shortly before OHMSS, and I remember reading that the cable-car sequence prevented Maibaum & Hunt incorporating a similar scene into that film. Now that book I've got a first of! I read all the MacLeans years ago- from the 60s to the 80s- and have been re-reading (one of the under-rated pleasures of middle age) them more recently. Ah, nostalgia- still what it used to be...
Comments
It was an entertaining read but I found the book to be a little unfocused as it jumped back and forth between the manuscript and The Nine Doors. Perez-Reverte's attempts to tie the two together and his penchant for drawing parallels between Corso and his companions and the characters of Dumas came across as a little too flimsy. The conclusion and revalation of how (or if) the documents are connected was not at all satisfying and the resolution of the mystery of The Nine Doors was also weakly handled. Great build-ups but disappointing resolutions.
Overall, Polanski's film version is much more entertaining and focused as it drops the whole Dumas subplot and concentrates strictly on the demonic book.
I was somewhat disappointed with Cell, and that's from a devoted King admirer. I felt this novel basically retold The Stand from a different angle.
I'm a longtime Stephen King fan myself, though I don't think I'd qualify as one of his "constant readers".
Anyhow, I actually enjoyed Cell; I liked the fact that it was relatively short (by King's standards). True, the characters weren't nearly fleshed out as in his other books, but it held my attention and I was able to finish it in a couple of days, a record for a Stephen King novel.
There's been quite a bit of controversy about his new style; some have even dubbed it King-lite. I'll be curious what direction his next book takes.
BTW, for any Stephen King fans in America, TNT is going to be premiering their Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV anthology show this month; it's based on some of King's short stories and novellas. Looking forward to seeing how the material is handed.
I suppose this will turn up on UK TV in the fullness of time- I'll look forward to it, thanks for the heads-up.
My pleasure. Here's a link to TNT's page; it has some stills and lists some of the stories being adapted:
http://www.tnt.tv/title/?oid=612966
Also, Four Past Midnight, particularly "The Library Policeman"
Some of my greatest teenage memories took place during that 20 minute walk to the commissary theater to see all those movies made during the golden age of Stephen King adaptions!
And Dean Koontz has never surpassed Phantoms (In my humble opinion)
Sort of an old school horror novel. More emphasis on "old". I enjoyed it.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
My all time favorite Stephen King short story has got to be One for the Road, a sequel to Salem's Lot wherein we find out what happened to the town and its inhabitants (they didn't all perish in the fire). A great read and a very very chilling conclusion.
I'm also a big fan of HP Lovecraft; the whole Cthulu mythos are a fun read and I think Pickman's Model is one of the greatest short stories ever written.
As for more recent fare, I just finished To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh. I'm something of a Trekkie (but I only really enjoy the original series and movies with the original cast) and after watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again recently, I became curious about this book. It basically tells the story of Khan's 15 year exile and the events that lead up to STII. It was a fast and entertaining read and much more well written than your typical Trek novel. The character of Khan is really fleshed out and it succeeds in bridging the gap between the old Space Seed episode in which he appeared and the movie. If you're a fan of the original series or the movie, I'd recommend you check it out.
I'm also a big fan of Lovecraft's colleagues, two gun Bob Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, the collaboration of the inner circle Weird Tales gang of the 20s and 30s. Short stories that will make your hair stand on end. Written with such evocative style and beautifully worded imagery.
Some of todays authors are just too damn long, phone book sized volume 7 of 10, and they still have nothing to say.
Thank you sir. I think that one was called The Temple; he ties Atlantis into it if I recall correctly.
I'll definitely check those two out. I think I already have some of their stuff in one of my Arkham House Lovecraft books but I haven't opened them in a long time.
That's pretty much how I felt after finishing the last book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The final volume was OK at best but Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah were almost unnecessary and could easily have been spliced into one shorter volume.
Okay, why haven't I heard of this book before? I loved SALEM'S LOT but I can't believe I let this one get by me.
I've just finished reading SUMMER OF NIGHT by Dan Simmons AGAIN. One of the best horror novels I've ever come across ever and this book came out nearly 10 years ago. The story has the strong potential to become a movie one day if done properly...
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
It's not a novel, just a short story. It was part of the Night Shift anthology. It was also included in a recent limited reprint of Salem's Lot.
The last book I read was "From Russia, With Love." :007)
I'm now two-thirds of the way through "Doctor No"---reading a MacMillan First Edition (albeit a very tired one!)---stamped on the inside with "Toledo Public Library."
Nothing beats the smell of an old book :x
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I read this for the first time around 1970, and re-read it only recently. The reason I mention the book is as follows:
Remember the scene in NSNA when the nurse asks Bond to give her a urine sample and he replies "From here?"
I've always read that this was a contribution from Brit comedy writers Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, brought in by Connery to doctor Lorenzo Semple's script, and repeated from their Porridge success.
Well, Gardner got there first- it's in this book, published 1969, almost word-for-word. I wonder if it was said anywhere else before that- perhaps in a Carry On film?
I thoroughly agree - our school library has got some of the same books it had when the cshool first opened in 1973.
However I am currently reading SHOUT! The True Story of the Beatles by Phillip Norman. It's very entertaining and much better written than anything on the Beatles I have ever read before!
REPORTER: Were your parents in show business?
JOHN: Well my dad used to say my mum was a great performer.
That's a decent read - I read it years ago mind.
Just finished Simon Winder's The Man Who Saved Britain. A book about the James Bond books and films and how they fit/are perceived into/by British culture and the way of life throughout the years. An entertaining book, but not quite what I expected.
I'm now 40 pages into "Goldfinger."
:007)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Also enjoyed a quick read: The Case of the Maltese Treasure by Thomas Brace Haughey. The story involves a Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Watson-type duo living on Baker Street in modern day. Fun little twist on Sherlockiana!
Or, as it's billed, Alistair MacLean's Red Alert by Alastair MacNeill. It's one of the publisher's many attempts to continue MacLean's name after his death, with "story outlines" (or sometimes just MacLean characters) being written up into novels by another writer (John Denis, MacNeill, Simon Gandolfi, Hugh Miller, Sam Llewellyn). Usually the result is pretty poor, as is the case here.
I used to wonder if there was a name for such books, since it's not strictly ghostwriting as such. I've recently found out that these are called, informally at least, "apostrophe novels"- another example would be Tom Clancy's Net Force, Splinter Cell, and Op-Centre (Center to our cousins) series. Being in the vein of The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy in his role as The Collector, I buy them anyway even though I know they won't have the features that drew me to the original writer in the first place.
The Bond continuation novels by Amis, Gardner, etc, don't strike me as quite the same system, although they're in that ballpark.
(Sideline: There was a court case some years ago with MacLean's publishers HarperCollins being sued over the ambiguity over the authorship of such novels. Alistair MacLean's name would be in huge letters, covering about half of the front cover, and Alastair MacNeill's name in small print at the bottom. Given the similarity between the names (they're only one "l" away from being anagrams!) and the size differential, the publishers were accused of, if I recall correctly, false attribution of authorship. Part of the case was that MacNeill's writing was not in the same league as MacLean's, with which I'm hardly the only one to heartily agree, which leads one to wonder if the only reason he got the job was because of his name. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened (it's certainly happened in the Bond universe- Jason Connery as Ian Fleming?!). Part of the result was that MacLean's name was reduced in size on subsequent books and MacNeill's increased. With the Clancy books, the actual author wasn't named at first although he is now.)
What is your favourite MacLean anyway? I've still got some way to read them all, however my favourite thus far is South by Java Head; exciting, atmospheric and tightly plotted. Definitely a page-turner, war-time Singapore truly comes alive in this book. MacLean's masterful handling of the setting infuses the novel with a wonderful exoticism, similar, sort of, to Fleming's exoticism when Bond is in Jamaica. A fantastic thriller.
For anyone new to MacLean's work, here is the superb opening:
'Choking, dense, impenetrable, the black smoke lay pall-like over the dying city. Every building, every office-block and house, the intact and the bomb-shattered alike, was invested by it, swathed in the dark anonymity of its gently swirling cocoon. Every street, every alley, every dock-side basin was full of it, drowned by it. It lay everywhere, sulphurous and evil, scarcely moving in the soft airs of the tropical night.
Earlier in the evening, when the smoke had come only from the burning buildings in the city, there had been wide, irregular gaps overhead and the stars had shone in the empty sky. But a slight change of wind had obliterated these gaps, had brought with it the rolling, blinding oil-smoke from ruptured fuel tanks outside the city. Where the smoke came from, no one knew. Perhaps from the Kallang airport, perhaps from the power station, perhaps clear across the island from the naval base in the north, perhaps from the oil islands, from Pulo Sambo and Pulo Sebarok, four or five miles away. No one knew. All one could know was what one saw, and the blackness of that midnight was almost complete. There was hardly any light now even from the burning buildings, for these were burnt out and utterly destroyed, the last embers, the last tiny flames flickering to extinction, like the life of Singapore itself.'
You're quite correct, you're not missing much. Paper thin characters, poorly described action in the MacNeill books (Rendezvous was the worst, hardly readable), a bit better in the Millers, and best of all in the Llewellyn sequels to Navarone which aren't bad, at least on a par with MacLean's Force 10. Which reminds me of one great in-joke in the UNACO series- the cover name (a la Universal Export) of the secret organisation is Llewellyn & Lee. Well, it made me laugh quietly to myself anyway...
As to my favourite, it would have to come from his middle period- the first person mystery novels such as Night Without End and Fear Is The Key. I thoroughly enjoyed his earlier war novels (Guns Of Navarone, etc) but feel that he really hit his stride around 1960. His later works (after Bear Island ) were a terrible letdown, markedly affected by his alcohol intake.
(BTW, Lazenby880, thanks for posting the Amis and Larkin reviews in the Lit forum. Any more where those came from? 8-) )
Of the middle period, my favourite would probably be Night Without End or The Golden Rendezvous, both wonderfully gripping thrillers. I'm trying to track down The Satan Bug, published under the pseudonym 'Ian Stuart'. Any thoughts on that one?
Those are the only reviews I've been able to find, Barbel. I have found other material that I am using for an article I'm writing on Colonel Sun, so I am loath to post it just yet!
I'll see what I can do. My copy is in an omnibus with four other MacLean titles, of which I have two in stand-alone editions. I'm gradually finding the earlier MacLeans in 2nd hand bookshops, etc (I'm after firsts- it's easy to find pbs.). I'll keep my eyes open. {[]
[img=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n23851.jpg]A very nice copy.
"Where Eagles Dare" is quite a lot of fun as well. The cable-car sequence... B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Re Where Eagles Dare- a great story, good film too. It came out shortly before OHMSS, and I remember reading that the cable-car sequence prevented Maibaum & Hunt incorporating a similar scene into that film. Now that book I've got a first of! I read all the MacLeans years ago- from the 60s to the 80s- and have been re-reading (one of the under-rated pleasures of middle age) them more recently. Ah, nostalgia- still what it used to be...