- A very funny book, as are all his books. Laugh-out-loud funny. I wish I had picked this up before the Hawaiian vacation! It would have put an entirely other spin on that trip. I think this is not my favorite of his (that'd be either Coyote Blue or Bloodsucking Fiends) but it's still highly recommended.
Inhuman Beings by Jerry Jay Carroll:
- This is somewhere between a Sam Spade story and Invasion of the Body Snatchers; the two styles mesh together surprisingly well. The story starts off with a down-on-his-luck private eye taking a case from a crazy person because he needs the money, but eventually he becomes a believer. (Also it's mostly set in San Francisco, and I always get a kick out of that.)
Murder of Angels by Caitlin R. Kiernan:
- I'm not quite done with this yet, but I'm definitely not enjoying it as much as Threshold and Low Red Moon. This is apparently the sequel to "Silk", which I read years ago and only barely remember, and I think that hasn't been helping. Also, it turns out that (to my great and not entirely pleasant surprise) this is mostly a fantasy book. It reminds a bit of me of Clive Barker's later magical-fantasy stuff, and that kind of thing just doesn't do it for me these days. But, it's got some interesting imagery, so it's been good for falling asleep to.
Are you on Moore's email list? He's apparently got a new one out. Personally, I'm a sucker for Lamb, but enjoyed Fluke and need to reread Practical Demonkeeping (and need to pick up the rest of them while I'm at it...)
I haven't picked up Lamb or the other new one yet, but I plan on it...
They have all been reissued. They are about 10 bucks apiece now. The campaign is “Moore for less!” What kills me is that his books are in the Literature section not the SciFi/Fantasy section. What is it about his and Kurt Vonnegut's work that merits the Literature section? How are they better written than, say, Lord of the Rings?
While the quality of the work matters, the quality of the audience determines shelving location.
Caitlin Kiernan struck me as being one of the more mediocre professional-goth authors to have emerged in the wake of Poppy Z. Brite and the Sandman books. She's really good at doing angst and the sp00ky morbid stuff the Hot Topic kids eat up, but beyond that, she seems to be a very ordinary writer.
Glad to see I'm not the only science fiction fan who dislikes fantasy. I hate how they're lumped together at the bookstore.
Time to chuck a few more few books on the "Need to read" list. I borrowed Bloodsucking Fiends from a friend a while ago and quite enjoyed it. I could use some laughs, my project is in a deathmarch.
Grab Lamb, too, I thought it was brilliant (and it's not "holy", especially for a Jesus book).
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
For a moment there I parsed Biff as B1FF. Which is just not right.
Nor could it really hold up for novel length. There's an obscure asr post in there somewhere, though.
Fluke was great, but like everyone else I would take Lamb to an uncharted isle before Fluke hands down. I know, i'm unoriginal.
My step-grandmother is actually a close friend of Chris's - I think Practical Demonkeeping is dedicated to her. He's an awesome guy and is not actually as twisted as his writing might lead you to believe. He came to a book signing here in Seattle to promote Lamb, and while talking about the book, he would randomly burst into laughter. Crazy man.