by Patrick Ogle

The List and the Marylebone Drop (aka The Drop) by Mick Herron are novellas from the world of Slough House.

Anyone who has had a conversation with me about books in recent memory almost certainly heard me wax eloquent about Herron.  Well, maybe they just heard me jabber on about Herron.

Same difference.

I have read every Slough House book and the one related but not actually Slough House book. I thought they were all pretty close to great. I think the one or two I was lukewarm on had less to do with the books and more to do with the fact I read them in such close succession. It is like binging a series. Once you watch 12 episodes in a row it sort of gets  to be a bit much. Then, in these books, there was also the fact that characters I didn't want to die, died.

Mostly I left time between the books because I didn't want them to end. I wanted Herron to have a slew of them in the can so I could read on and on and on.

I am now left with the novellas which are also good but I'd hesitate to call them great. They are mostly stories about side characters from the other books. The novellas fill in the gaps of some of the novels and expand upon stories and characters. We find out what set the wheels in motion to send some of the luckless denizens of Slough House to their doom (literally and figuratively). Sometimes I had the idea that Herron excised these from the book and expanded upon them but I do not KNOW this to be true. The details here are interesting but the expanded stories would have brought the novels to a screeching halt.

It is still fun but I feel like I read these the wrong way.

Don't read them AFTER you've finished the series. Read them in order and how they fit in with the novels. You can do a search and find numerous websites with the order of the novels and novellas. One is this site, Book Series in Order. The good thing is that when you start the series you have two books before you get to the first novella so you will know whether the book is your cup of tea (or Talisker Scotch as the case may be).

My impression of these books would have been considerably different if I'd read them in order and I wish I had. Also the photo here is of the collected novellas. No need to buy them in dribs and drabs. Just buy them all after you've read Dead Lions.

by Patrick Ogle

Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files is H.P. Lovecraft but with 100 percent less racism! It is like reading the better episodes of the show Supernatural but with women leads. It is good, scary fun.

Although maybe it isn't always...fun. It is also genuinely creepy.

Since I write these mainly as notes to myself I feel compelled to note that I have some sort of brain block with short stories. I read them way slower than I do other books  I think it may be that I get invested and interested in a story or characters and then...BOOM....the story is over and the characters gone! Oh no! It then takes me some time to get into the next story. I suppose if I thought about it I would find I start books slow then read faster.

Spectral Evidence slowed me down but it was worth it. Files is a unique, engaging voice that I am extremely glad I discovered (with help for the Miami Herald Book Page on Facebook...yes, there is something useful on social media).

 by Patrick Ogle

Dracula, Prince of Many Faces, His Life and Times by Radu R. Florescu and Raymond T. McNally.

Vlad Tepes, the real one, is actually a much more interesting character than Bram Stoker's creation. In many ways his motivations are more obscure. His life is shrouded in mystery and his deeds, foul as some of them were, often taken out of the context of the times.

Make no mistake he was regarded, even in his time, as extreme and even evil, especially amongst Catholic countries because he wasn't a pal to those supporting Papal authority for most of his life. He was also pragmatic and, in need, would turn to those same people for help and protection. You can make a case (and this is my assertion not the authors') that he was the leader of an over-matched people fighting to maintain their independence. His terrorist (and impaling diplomats and soldiers is terrorism by definition) methods were partly born of the circumstances of Wallachia at the time. What turned the Ottomans around? His military and terror tactics. Without the latter the former might not have worked. The book never asserts this but the area may very well have maintained its "freedom," a relative term, because of Dracula. But Let's not give Dracula too many hugs; he may well have been a psychopath as this book details.

It is interesting that in Eastern Orthodox country the view of Dracula is often more nuanced. Russian historians and near contemporaries have a basically positive view, while acknowledging his flaws. Current Romanian views seem to regard him as a national hero (even though "Romania" wasn't really a thing back then).

There are some points where the book falls down, but only a little and often this is for good reason. In some cases it relies solely on folk tales as evidence of Dracula's deeds and misdeeds. Folk tales and the stories of a people ARE a historical source but here they often are the ONLY source and that is far from definitive. In the authors' defense it seems, in these cases, there simply is no other evidence. There are also some editing issues and contradictions in the book. All of this has, as its source, the nature of such history. Bit players in history are often not recorded with the care of emperors and the like. It is why there are so many gaps in history. Hell, there are Roman emperors we know basically nothing about except that they existed.

Overall though this book provides an window into a lost time and a fascinating character. Sure it leaves you wanting to know more. The authors offer the possibility that more information exists in some archive or collection of records and since the book was first published in 1990 new evidence may have already emerged. I looked at another book but when I researched the author I found out he was a convicted pedophile so I didn't read that one. I hope there is something else by one or the other of these writers and researchers.

Among the interesting aspects of this book is how different people and different families become kings of near by small principalities via acclamation, election or appointment. This book is as interesting for outlining the customs and attitudes of the time as it is for any discussion of the actual Dracula. It dispenses with the myths and movie polluted side plots of the Dracula story while still discussing and acknowledging them. There is a great deal on Stoker and his research and character development in the book (especially in the last section).

If you are interested in Dracula or Eastern Europe in the 1400s this is a well written, well researched work. I will be searching for more by these two.

by Patrick Ogle

House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is a worthy start, beyond worthy in fact, to a new fantasy series. There is SO much to love about this book.

The main character is a sort of apparatchik, a bureaucrat....but he is also, kind and brave and decent. I won't give away too much plot but the book mostly takes place at an orphanage for ...special....children. You may hear comparisons to "Harry Potter" but that is just because there are children and a bit of magic. I think this has more in common with books by Christopher Moore than JK Rowling. I also wonder about why this is called "young adult" fiction. How much young adult fiction that you know of has main characters that are middle aged men? It has kids in it ...so BAM, it is "young adult." That is just marketing and probably smart marketing.

Klune is also known as a writer who focuses on LGBTQ characters and issues. There are many metaphors here that are obviously relate to the tribulations of the community, past and present. But these also apply to the neurologically divergent, political and religious dissenters....etc...There is a whiff of Orwell in the book but it is a kinder, gentler version and it works wonderfully.

There are gay characters in this book. Good and bad. The fact they are gay is really neither here nor there in the context of this world. Everyone accepts them and their sexuality isn't an issue. It is a subtle, clever bit of writing. For years whenever a LGBTQ character appeared in a book or movie they were either comic relief or the book/movie was about how they SUFFERED. It seemed to imply that all they had in their lives was hardship (this is also true of black folks in film and publishing to some extent).  There is something to be said for just telling a story where characters HAPPEN to be LGBTQ--even when the plot of the book is something of a metaphor.

But I prattle on, this is a lovely book with a wonderful heart and a ton of memorable characters. I wish I had discovered Klune earlier.  One of the reviews I saw of this book said that it was a "feel good book about the Anti-Christ" and there is a great deal of truth in that.

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford is another unique and compelling fantastical novel that I've wandered across this year (actually, it was a birthday gift from my son). Like the previous books I'd include in this list, by Ryka Aoki and Gemma Files, I had no idea what to expect. This one may be my favorite and that is saying something given my obsession with the other two authors.

Now I am obsessed with Rainsford too.

The magic, the fantasy, Rainsford invokes is far different from that of Aoki or Files. Not as sweet as the former nor quite as dark as the latter. Files book is truly creepy. This one is KIND of creepy and KIND of sweet and it leaves the reader's imagination, or knowledge of folklore, to fill in gaps.

Or not fill in the gaps.

I am fine with the gaps. I don't need to KNOW everything. Authors who need to tell you everything can be tedious and this book is never that.

The basic story is about forbidden romance. A young girl and her father (well, sort of...) live near a small village and busy themselves healing the sick. Forbidden romance intervenes. This description is less than you'll find on the book's dust jacket. Any more description is pointless really. Just read it and find out.

by Patrick Ogle

The Secret Hours by Mick Herron is another spy novel by our generation's John LeCarre. Yes, I have gone on a tear reading his books. I challenge anyone to start the "Slough House" books and not do the same.

The Secret Hours is not, technically, a Slough House book as it isn't specifically dealing with the denizens of that specific home for wayward spies but it is about that same world and is, essentially,  back story related to those eight novels. It is part prequel and part a contemporary tale from the time of those books.

It is also one of the best of the efforts from that world (and that is saying something). I actually tried to read these slow because I didn't want to be waiting around for book 9. Yet, that is where I am, waiting.  Of course I DO have the collected Slough House-related novellas sitting on the shelf, unread.

One thing that is worth noting; when I read series they are often horror or sci-fi. I rarely read spy novels. These are irresistible. Berlin also is the best setting for any spy novel, far better than London, Moscow or Washington DC.

by Patrick Ogle

Chronicle of a Death Fortold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is, of course, masterfully written and I am not going to presume to CRITQUE  a book by one of the world's greatest writers.

This is not Love in the Time of Cholera, The Autumn of the Patriarch or The General in his Labyrinth. It is a brief book, novella length. It doesn't have the scope and it doesn't develop the characters in the same way his novels do.

Yet every bit of it makes you want to know more. It is the story that is compelling. This is probably true of his longer works but those, obviously, have more time to develop characters and make you feel for them. It isn't as if he doesn't do that here, for a shorter work he does sketch each character finely but you do not necessarily feel you KNOW them. Part of this is the number of characters introduced. Thinking on it, it is remarkable he created memorable characters in just a few pages for some of the characters.  Other books I've found myself having to go back to remember WHO a character is.

"Wait...is Joe the mailman or the butler?" That is never the case in this book.

I finished this a few weeks ago (nearly a month) and I still feel like I've yet to digest it and this is another thing it has in common with the author's longer works.

by Patrick Ogle

Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole is a travel book and a view of contemporary Lagos.

I've had this book for years. It was one that just slipped through the cracks and didn't get read. This is a shame because it is an engaging and quick read.

It won't make you want to vacation in Lagos? But it definitely gives the reader a feel for the city and its people.

I was thinking of other writers who've delved into this sort of travel based work. These include the likes of Henry Miller and Graham Greene. I am more fond of the latter than the former and, in some ways Teju called him to mind. I confess I cannot quite put my finger on WHY. Perhaps it is just that I haven't read much travel literature that was personal.

At various points in the book I wondered about Cole constantly contradicting himself; on the one hand he lambasts his homeland and writes that he would never move back, then he turns it around and considers that prospect. He discusses the lack of artistic endeavor and then says that if only some famed American writers were exposed to a place like Lagos their writing would have improved. It took a few of these turns and reversals for it to dawn on me that Cole left these seemingly opposite views there for us because it was what he felt while he was there.  It was his genuine reaction.

The book also draws on firm conclusions at the end. No predictions are made, no optimistic (or pessimistic) view of the future is forthcoming. I suspect that is because Cole doesn't know what is going to happen in Nigeria. Nor does anyone else.

More than anything this made me want to read more by Cole whose books include Open City, Tremor and Blind Spot.

by Patrick Ogle

Bad Actors by Mick Herron is the latest Slough House book.

Shortly after starting the 8th novel in the Slough House series the reason for the books' appeal became clear to me. It isn't the characters or the plot or the action or the humor.  It is that we all relate to the denizens of Slough House. Who hasn't had a pointless, tedious job with an awful boss?

Sure usually fewer of our co-workers are killed in a given workday but let's not quibble over that. It is also true that the worst bosses most of us have had pale next to Jackson Lamb (based on the various smells that seem to emanate from any segment he features in.., and yes, Herron makes it so that you can ALMOST smell it).

This latest entry has tons of changes to the trajectory of the series, to the point that you might wonder how much longer it will continue. In true Herron fashion there were several side plot lines and character that I wasn't terribly interested in--until I suddenly was. There is a point to everything put before you in these books and they are incredibly hard to put down.

Next up for me are the collected novellas after which I will wait for book number 9!

by Patrick Ogle

Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov are the sixth and seventh books in the Foundation series. They are also the final books. 

Looking back at these two I confess I might fail a test about what happened in a specific book as they do bleed together in both fact and in my head but maybe a little more in my head. Essentially the first of the two books is about the origin of "psychohistory," which is the lynchpin of the entire series. 

These are the first of the books to really deal with Hari Seldon as a character. He is basically a ghost throughout the other books (or, rather a recorded hologram). Those who've only watched the TV show may be surprised by this but the tv show sort of samples the books like a picky eater rummaging through a buffet. This is merciful because a faithful adaptation of these books would be extremely difficult to follow given the original book was written in disconnected segments. The time span in the first couple of books may be hundreds of years so main characters disappear and new ones appear.  This isn't true of the last four books but they were written differently.

Prelude to Foundation is the more engaging of the two books as Seldon travels around the world of Trantor with the help of a mysterious "journalist." It isn't terribly hard to figure out he isn't a journalist so I'm just going to say that, even though it is a "spoiler." This character, who appears in the earlier volumes and is pivotal in the tv show (although there is a gender change), is Eto Demerzel.  Parts of the volume seem to contradict parts of the earlier (or in the timeline here LATER) books but it doesn't go too far off the edge.  As I read this book I didn't feel as if it necessarily cheapened or wildly contradicted the over arching plot explored in the first five books.

This isn't the same in the final book.

It has Seldon becoming the first minister of the empire and confidant of the emperor. This doesn't make a great deal of sense. The book also really harps on how democracy doesn't work but also manages to point out that imperial rule also doesn't work. There is a sourness through most of the book. It seems like a book by a tired old man. Large portions are about Seldon dealing with bureaucracy. Yes, that is generally about as scintillating to read as it sounds. The ending also seems abrupt, as if Asimov thought ; "oh I have enough pages, I will wrap it up." I actually wish I hadn't read it. It adds very little to the series and just isn't particularly interesting. Where I barrelled through the other books and couldn't put them down I trudged through this one. There were moments where it made me want to keep reading....then, not so much.

Frankly, after finishing Forward the Foundation I wished I hadn't read Prelude to Foundation either. If you READ Prelude you sort of have to read Forward. I felt like Foundation and Earth made a better ending point than either of these. Yes, I realize that criticizing Asimov is regarded by some as sacrilege but the man literally wrote hundreds of books. No one is perfect.