Harry's Blog

I've never tried using a Kindle electronic book reader. As they aren't backlit I doubt I'd use one - I tend to read ebooks in bed with the lights off, so wifey can sleep.

But thankfully Amazon offers free Kindle apps for Android, PC and Apple devices. Thus you can read in the dark on your iPod Touch or HTC Desire.

Now the truth be told as an ebook reading app Kindle does leave something to be desired in terms of features. For example the iPod version doesn't let you change the screen brightness - but the Android version does.

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I've decided after many years of book buying to finally get rid of some of them. I am someone who does actually re-read books - I really the whole Aubrey/Maturin saga every year for example - so I've long avoided divesting myself of the shelves full of novels.

But the truth is there are plenty of books I'm not going to read again, either due to them not being any good or that my tastes have changed - and in the case of Tom Clancy novels that covers both.

So this evening I'm going through the shelves and seeing just how many of my books I really do want to keep and read again.

It looks like there will be a Master & Commander sequel after all. Russell Crowe is in talks to reprise his role as Jack Aubrey for another movie. One hopes that (a) it gets made, and (b) they can get Paul Betanny back as Stephen Maturin.

The script for the new movie is said (like the first film) to take episodes from all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's books, but the ovveral plot will come from one of them. This time it will be The Reverse of the Medal - where Jack Aubrey is tried for fraud after being framed by enemy intelligence agents.

This particular book features one of the most moving episodes of the whole series which I hope makes it onto the big screen. I'm also hoping we get to see some of Jack's dopiness on land (not sure Crowe will be up for that though) and Stephen's self-destructive obsession with Diana Villiers and his intelligence work.

Meanwhile you can read my little homage to Patrick O'Brian here.

I'm working on a new science fiction story and have decided that I'm going to post it here in episodic form. While ultimately my goal for the various books I've started and not finished is regular publishing - I think some episode tales here online is in the best tradition of novel writing.

I also think it's a good way of being encouraged to release the next part. Today though I'm not going to start with a full chapter. Instead I thought I'd bring you the opening page of an as-yet untitled new work. I hope it whets your appetite for more.

The following serves as the story's opening and I'm sure, the ideal blurb for the back cover...

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It's well known among those who can read a book without moving their lips that Dan Brown is a terrible writer. However some of you not be aware of just how bad his research is despite Brown's claim that his books are full of facts. Just take a look at this amazingly long list of factual errors in Angels & Demons.

There are signs that the "That's Not My..." baby touchy-feely book series has run its course. It looks like the authors are running out of ideas.

The evidence being the following extract from the next planned edition.

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I've almost reached the end of Peter F. Hamilton's The Dreaming Void, his latest epic science-fiction novel. And while it's not as good as The Reality Dysfunction or Pandora's Star - it's a pretty good read.

But one thing bugs me about Hamilton's work. His strange sexual fixations. His view of the future has people engaged in all manner of pretty weird shenanigans. Take for example the character of Mr Bovey. He has one personality but around 30 different bodies controlled by it - so you can imagine what kind of filth he can get up to when he takes the character Araminta to bed.

This kind of thing is a constant theme in Hamilton's work and does detract from it slightly. I'm no prude, I'm happy to read as much sex as an author can throw at me. But Hamilton's constant need to have young nymphette heroines is bordering on the rather sad.

I suppose we should be grateful the characters in his latest book are a little older than his usual female heroes. The exploits of Ioni Saldana and Louis Kavanagh in the Night's Dawn Trilogy were rather cringe worthy.

Can I direct you to Danny Baker's daily podcast? This is 45 minutes of comedy gold every weekday as Danny talks nonsense with the public and his regular guests Amy Lamé, Baylen Leonard and David Kuo.

It's financial analyst David Kuo that tends to have me in complete stitches. Muttly - as he's become known since yesterday's podcast, is rather unaware of his hilarity.

His stories on Chinese folklaw and some of his crazy adventures have me aching with laughter, and as poor old Danny said yesterday - it's like he's becoming a straight man to David.

Don't take my word for it, you'll find details of The All Day Breakfast podcast right here (open in a new window).

The second chapter of Left Behind deals with the growing realisation by airline captain Rayford Steel that many of his passengers have disappeared. Poor old Hattie, the lusty stewardess of his desires, seems to have gone slightly mad yet Ray takes in in his stride. He can multitask, he can "bite his lip hard and wince at the pain" at the same time. He's that kind of hero.

We're told that many people are missing without a trace. Yet our intellectually challenged authors manage to contradict themselves right away. There are plenty of traces left behind. Mostly clothes, but there are other things left such as hearing aids. Obviously this should be really spooky, all these people suddenly vanishing from a plane at 30+ thousand feet. In the hands of a great writer one would expect so, but the narrative is so flat it reads like you're not supposed to be excited by any of this.

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As promised here is the first part of my look at the book Left Behind. I've read three chapters now, but today I want to focus on the first chapter, how it sets the scene and some of the issues raised by it. My overall impression so far is that it is very much like the works of Dan Brown in that it has huge logic holes all over the place that make it difficult to suspend disbelief at all.

One of the major points of the first chapter is so stupid that I had to read the section again to make sure I wasn't just misreading. But we'll come to that in good time. Let's get into the first chapter and take things in order.

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Come with me dear readers as we spend the next few weeks taking a look at Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins's apocalyptic novel Left Behind. It's a book and series of books I've frequently mentioned here on the blog due to their political influence. I've gone as far as to describe them as a cancer within Christianity.

Among all the controversy about the series' poor theological basis and right-wing political influence it's often forgotten that we're talking about some novels here. So are these books fun? Is it a ripping yarn? Can the authors string a decent sentence together? Well you can join me as we find out.

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So there is a coach at the World Cup who knows how to make decent tactical substitutions. Shame England doesn't have one of those.

This fantasy story is McIntosh’s first novel and it shows, but buried beneath the clumsy plotting and dialogue are some interesting ideas that mean I will read the two other books in the trilogy.

The story concerns Wyl, born into a family of generals it is the lad’s role to serve the kind as commander of his Army and act as a companion to the heir to the throne. As is often the case in plots like this, the king’s son is evil and twisted and will not be good for the realm.

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The catholic Opus Dei has called for Ron Howard's forthcoming movie based on Dan Brown's excrable The Da Vinci Code to be given an adults only rating in cinemas. Why? Well Opus Dei says that the movie tells insidious lies about the Catholic faith and that children may well believe.

I can see Opus Dei's point, but I think it is misguided and is just going to lead folks to laughing at it. However might I suggest instead that no-one is allowed to see the movie on the grounds that it's based on the most idiotic book ever written, a book which is wholly ripped off an early book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail and even has managed to copy some of its mistakes (oh what a giveaway).

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