samvara

Happy Are the Oppressed by Andrew M. Greeley. A Blackie Ryan novel; I can see there is some appeal but I find his writing extremely self conscious. Blackie must solve a locked room mystery from 100 years in the past and do so in time to save a woman's life.

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams. A compilation of writings, speeches and letters from the late Douglas Adams, utterly charming, delightful and completely worth the effort. Amongst the gems is a letter from him to Disney during the painful making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie offering to get together and chat to resolve problems; he concludes the letter by saying that he has provided contact details, that if he is not contacted he will know they are trying not to very, very hard and then appends some 30 telephone numbers including those of his editor, wife, sister, favourite restaurants and local supermarket.

Some Place to Be Flying by Charles de Lint. A Newford novel where the profoundly ordinary crosses paths with the mythical and the magical. All about the animal people, loved the Crow Girls. I get so much out of reading his stuff but it's a rich diet and I don't do it all that often.

Angel Light by Andrew M. Greeley, I wanted to like it, I really did. It was a light romantic mystery about a young man who is aided in his path to happiness (read shamelessly bullied) by an angel. It is supposed to be a retelling of the biblical story of Tobias and Sara. Tobin has an bit of a problem, in order to inherit $10 million he has to court and marry his Irish cousin and settle an ancient family feud. He has a few advantages; he is a gifted computer programmer and has a charming supportive younger sister and an angel on his side. This would have been fabulous light entertainment if I could have got past how painfully self conscious Greeley is when it comes to writing about sexuality. cricketksays his Blackie Ryan books are better - probably due to priests being expected to find the issue of sexuality confronting.

Angel Fire in the same series has an older male protagonist who is a lot more comfortable with thinking *gasp* norty thoughts. A charming scientist working on the evolution of fruitflies is adopted by an angel when his work turns out to have dark and sinister implications concerning the evolution of the human race. On the way, while being a delightful imp of a man, he is nudged into embracing a little more of his own potential. I love the portrayal of angels, the lighthearted banter, the sweetness. Awwwwww.

Hollow Man by Dan Simmons. Jeremy Bremen is a mathematician and telepath, his wife - whose combined mind-shield helped keep them both sane - has died and his ground-breaking work in modeling the working of human consciousness is has been abruptly abandoned. Unable to cope with the overpowering 'neurobabble' and his own despair he forsakes his previous life and flees through a series of bizarre and sometimes brutal life experiences. This is kinda cool, there's a healthy dose of chaos theory, quantum physics and neuroscience blended into what could, with a tiny shift in direction, be a horror novel. Simmons has a bit of a leaning toward exploring the darker side.