July’s reading

It seems I liked a lot of what I read this month, so without further ado: popCULT! by David Barnett (Pendragon Press) – It’s very rare that I’m completely sold on a book by a glance at the blurb, but the second my eyes slid over the words “lost Carry-On movie”, I was reaching for […]

June’s reading

Two novels this month: Infernal Devices by KW Jeter – okay so this was meant to be the start of my attempt to take on Steampunk fiction. As a result of my earlier post I had a few suggestions about what I should be reading and I thought I’d start with one of the classics. […]

April’s reading

This month’s report feels a bit on the paltry side, but that’s mainly down to struggling through one long book. Ah well. More diversity next time, promise. Novels Kraken by China Mieville – I don’t seem to engage well with Mieville’s prose. There was lots to enjoy in this novel – the love of the […]

Interesting stuff that I read in January

So this new year I had but one resolution – to read more stuff. Last year was a seriously shoddy effort in terms of picking up a book/magazine/e-reader and enjoying all the good fiction at my disposal. So, in an effort to …make a decent effort… I’m going to attempt to post a monthly update […]

Support Our Zines Day

October 1st = Support Our Zines Day, an initiative…um, initiated…by Damien G Walter, and one of which I wholeheartedly approve. I love fiction zines. I fell in love with Interzone in the mid-late 80s and used to read tons of the UK small press mags that flourished during the 90s, but I while still keep […]

Microcosmos

Really, really, REALLY enjoyed Nina Allan’s “Microcosmos” in Interzone#222. It’s thoughtful and immersive, and builds a complicated family backstory around the young narrator through hints at things unspoken and things that are spoken being not fully understood. Loved it. This issue of the magazine was one of those quirky, varied issues that just throws stuff […]

My favourite thing…

…in Interzone 220 was Rick Kleffel’s excellent interview with Jeffrey Ford. My favourite Ford novel is still The Portrait Of Mrs Charbuque (and my favourite story is still “Creation”), but I’m thinking of giving The Physiognomy et al another read. And of course picking up copies of The Drowned Life and The Shadow Year as […]

Interzone

Silver lining following on from the day’s more depressing news is that Interzone 220 is now out and available. Stories by Jason Stoddard, Eugie Foster, Rudy Rucker, Leah Bobet, Gareth L Powell and me. Book reviews wrangled by Jim Steel and featuring Michael Cobley and Paul F Cockburn as well as an interview with Jeffrey […]