Book Two of the ‘Duncton Chronicles’ trilogy follows the son of the main characters Bracken and Rebecca from the first book, Tryfan. It describes a violent struggle between two warring factions, the moles who follow the Stone, revering the standing stones near their dwellings, and the moles of the Word, a heretical cult that wants…
It might seem that a story about moles might not be particularly exciting. After all, they spend a lot of time underground and can barely see. But William Horwood has created an epic tale of love, faith, and overcoming all odds, which any lover of fantasy will enjoy. “Duncton Wood” is the story of Bracken…
“Always Coming Home” is something a little different. Rather than being a single narrative, it is comprised of many different parts, stories, poems, articles, even recipes. All of these serve to illustrate a culture, created by the author, of a future America. The main people described in the story are based in California, but it…
I thought you might enjoy this article about the talented writer Edgar Allen Poe,
The father of the detective story left everyone with the greatest mystery of all. What was behind his untimely demise? Edgar Allan Poe is known as being a literary master. His ability to intrigue, awe, and entertain readers leaves inspiration for new writers.
View original post 2,933 more words
“The Fall” was first published in 1956, and was Camus’ last full novel. Like much of his work it is considered existentialist, though interestingly Camus did not see his writing that way at all. The narrator, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, tells the story of his life and his so-called fall to an unnamed chance acquaintance he meets…
The story follows two separate protagonists who never meet. The first is Candide, who is a pilot what has crashed into the Forest (capital F intended), and is trying to find his way out. The second is Peretz, who is stuck at the Administration which has been set up to research the Forest. He too,…
I am a huge fan of Ursula Le Guin as I have mentioned previously, and I recently read this compilation of some of her stories, selected by her. She described in her introduction that most of the stories in this volume are what she would call science fiction, in that they deal with other planets…
When the Strugatsky brothers finished “The Doomed City” in 1972, they realized that they could not even give it to a publisher in Soviet Russia for fear of the consequences. So they hid the book for over nearly twenty years, not publishing it until 1989, when ‘perestroika’ was taking hold in Russia and the atmosphere…
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were writing in Soviet era Russia, and the environment in which they worked gives their books an added nuance, knowing the societal constraints under which they were working, and what they managed to achieve. This is the second book I have read by these authors, and I have enjoyed it just…
‘The Adventures of Asterix’ is a series of French comics published from 1959 onwards. Created by Goscinny (the writer) and Uderzo (the artist), they relate the adventures of a warrior called Asterix and his friends, at a time when France was still Gaul and the Roman empire ruled. The setting, as well as historical character…
Eclectic Assemblage 