Everville(Clive Barker, 1994)

Hindsight can be a wonderful thing sometimes. Earlier this year I awarded The Great and Secret Show (TGaSS), Clive Barker's first book on The Art, a score of 4/5. This now seems somewhat unfair as, for all it meanderings and its falling quite comfortably into Barker's niche (most of his works concern an alternate world or worlds to our own), the book itself was really quite wonderful. It also left the story wide open for continuation, which is where Everville, its sequel, comes into play.

Everville does what all sequels should do: it takes the established cannon established in the original and expands. In typical Barker fashion, character that were minor in the beginning are now in the forefront and story arches that were innocuous become necessary to the narrative. The main difference between this and TGaSS however is that, having already established the world, the story flows much more smoothly. Where Quiddity featured only in the latter third of TGaSS, much of Everville is set there. The Iad have a much bigger role also and, in the book's most fascinating turn, the motivations surrounding Kissoon, TGaSS most mysterious character, are gradually explained in their entirety.

If there is anything that Everville can be faulted for, it is merely in it's placement as part two of a planned trilogy that has yet to be finished. It is obvious that Barker has intended a third part but even now, some 16 years down the line, the final part has yet to materialise, which is a shame as Everville does what all good middle child's do and creates an ever growing sense of dread. There is an end game to be played here and story arcs to finish yet, with Barker being somewhat evasive as to whether he will finish the story of The Art, fans like myself will have to wait an hope. It's a shame really as collectively, TGaSS and Everville are near masterpieces of dark fantasy.

I await the conclusion of Tesla, D'Amour and Kissoon with baited yet excited breath.

4.5/5

The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins, 2006)

Allow me to start by saying I am in no way religious. As infantile as it sounds, I just find it difficult to believe that there is one all-powerful God watching over everything. The fact that there are multiple religions also adds credence to the fact that it’s somewhat flawed. But that’s not to say that I don’t like religion as a concept. In the way that it brings people together and gives comfort to some, it really isn’t anything bad at all (expect for those who kill in the name of religion. Those people can fuck off). Call me agnostic if you will.

My problem with The God Delusion is that it attacks literally everyone that isn’t an atheist. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the same kind of speak that was responsible to the Crusades, 9/11 and the forming of the Woodsboro Baptist Church? Whilst Dawkins spews what is effectively a patronising lecture that everyone but he is wrong, there’s the fundamental problem in that neither he, nor any Church, can honestly know without a doubt that what they say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It also completely ignores the reason for faith as it stands: that it’s FAITH. Is there anything wrong with those using religion as a comfort or as a way to better themselves? Apparently so, according to this pompous self-preaching academic.

The only thing that separates The God Delusion from the tripe that, say, Jehovah’s Witnesses pass through your door, is that it preaches a different type of alleged “fact”. But, in the bigger picture, it is no better than Protestants and Catholics screaming “my religion’s better than yours” at each other.

This book is further proof as to why I cop out and sit on the fence. A great example of someone saying: “I value your opinion, but you’re wrong.”

1/5

Let The Right One In (John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004)

I have decided that I need to read source books before I see the movies from which they are based. With the exception of Jurassic Park, which I enjoyed both the book and film respectively, I have been disappointed with the source material, especially in this case as the book of Let The Right One In is nowhere near as enthralling or beautiful as its film counterpart.

The Swedish movie is subtle and poignant and rightfully leaves much of its narrative open to suggestion. The book, however, goes places that are not only more full on, but also much darker. Considering how much I love the movie (it was my favourite film of 2009 by a country mile) this disappointed me greatly. The deaths are more splatter-tastic and certain character motivations are just nasty. I also had issues with it's style. It appears to be all over the place borrowing all over from other established horror writers. There were moments of Stephen King, Clive Barker and even, bizarrely, echoes of William Peter Blatty. As a consequence, it seems less assured than other popular authors in the genre. It is entirely possible that this could be an effect of the book being translated from Swedish but, even so, I found it difficult to get into.

Let The Right One In, the book, was a huge let down. Another case of putting it down before I'd reached the end. Like Shutter Island, I felt watching the movie had hindered my enjoyment in that the differences in the narrative as a whole are generally minimal. I knew what would happen. From now on, I intend to read the source before watching the film as much as possible.

2.5/5