h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is Fforde planning a third NCD book? As far as I know he's working on Shades of Grey, unrelated to his others, and a sixth Next.

Anyway, I've read The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Very good, though his grasp of number theory leaves a little to be desired.

Now on The Death of Grass by John Christopher. It's a 1950s apocalyptic tale. One thing I like is the relatively gentle nature of the apocalypse - a virus that wipes out grass (including wheat, oats etc) - so the violence and nastiness comes simply from human nature, not attack by zombies or flesh-eating bacteria.

Eek! Everyone's reading books I recommended.

(and I'm not a Zep fan either)

Bagpuss, it's my understanding that Fforde does plan a third NCD book, but there's no date set or anything, so he may or may not even be working on it yet. I haven't read any of the Thursday Next books yet, but I plan to, as well as "Shades of Grey", once it's published.

"Now on the Death of Grass" sounds like the sort of thing I'd like- I'll have to check the library for that.

I prefered the Thursday Nexts myself.

I'm currently reading "the Girl Who Played With Fire" - the second Stieg Larsson book. So far, so...interesting. A few plot strands which I'm guessing will all be tied up at the end.

I do wish Larsson would realise that pages of discussions of editorial and board meetings are profoundly dull, though. Summarise, man, summarise!*

RF

* I know he can't.

"Now on the Death of Grass sounds like the sort of thing I'd like- I'll have to check the library for that".

If it's the book that it rings bells with me, it's a good story.

I'm currently reading "Best served Cold" by Joe Abercrombie. There's not much cold about it.

I've seen lots of good reviews for 'The Death of Grass' lately.

Doesn't look like I'll be reading it after all, though. It's known by another title here, looks to be out of print, the library doesn't have it, and the cheapest used copy I found online was $30 (a bit steep for something one has never read). Damn.

Just started 'Our Final Century' by Martin Rees (UK Astronomer Royal, no less). It's about all the risks that might kill off global civilisation. Laugh-a-minute stuff it ain't, but quite entertaining and pretty short, which looks to be the right length.

I've finished "The Girl Who Played With Fire" - Stieg Larsson.

After a slowish start, it suddenly picks up pace around halfway through, and becomes rather good. A lot of information, and sometimes it's a bit hard to keep track of all the characters, but it all comes together at the end in a surprising way.

There's still some loose ends which I guess will be tied up in the third book...which isn't published in the UK until 1 October. Damn.

Anyway, it's one of the best books I've read this year. I recommend it to all (but read "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" first).

RF

Yesterday, I finished "Suzy Led Zeppelin and Me", which Edward hooked me up with. It was a good read- the characters are all very unlikeable, but the story and narrative style are very engaging. And you don't have to like Led Zep (I don't) to enjoy it.

Currently reading "The Wrestler's Cruel Study", which is off to a really good start. It's written in a gorgeous, florid style not unlike Pynchon. It's obvious the writer writes poetry as well as fiction. I'm not terribly far into it yet, but I'm already hooked.

Oh, I don't know - the narrator was only unlikeable in a confused teenager way.

btw...in case you didn't know, there's a new Pynchon out in August:
http://www.thomaspynchon.com/inherent-vice.html

I saw it reviewed on BBC2's 'Newsnight Review'. For some reason our cable TV's got stuck on subtitles. Because it was a live programme, the results were...'bizarre' would be one word. 'Incompetent' would be another. They kept refering to something called a 'pinchett'. If I'd been deaf, I wouldn't have had a clue what they were talking about.

Having finished the Red Dwarf Omnibus, I've moved onto Last Chance to See by douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. Only got into the fist half-dozen pages and it seems great already.

Actually, any dislike for the narrator was for him as an adult. As a teen, he was just kind of a jerk. The others (except for Cherry, in spite of a really stupid name) just sounded like total tools. But the narrator as an adult described himself in such a way as to sound like a real creep.

As a kid, I felt kind of sorry for him, and his fantasy stuff made me laugh out loud.

I'll keep my eye out for that new Pynchon. for the heads-up!

Yeah...but at least he knows he's a creep. It's all over his website.

I didn't realize it wasn't a fictionalized account.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. It's kind of weird and I don't think we've met the title characters in the first four chapters. I believe much of it is a satire on life in the USSR at the time, but I possibly don't get all the references.

Have you got the the bit where the guy decides it would probably be best to stay in the psychiatric hospital?