William's Book Blog
Mostly book reviews. Very rarely I'll allow William Campbell Powell (author) to write a blog entry on publishing activity, but he's under orders to keep that stuff over on his Facebook page and on http://williamcampbellpowell.com
Currently reading
Reading silently
I've not stopped reading (i.e. I am not dead), but my last few books have passed unremarked. Mostly audiobooks, as it happens - when I've had time to write at all, it's been ED2 rather than reviews.
Some mini-reviews:
Iain M Banks' Excession. Great narration, as always, from Peter Kenny. ISTR I enjoyed it as a paperback. The audiobook came across far less well - it felt like a contractual obligation album. Either IMB's heart or his mind wasn't in it. The story is pretty much a straight line, compared to the typical Culture novel. The end lacks tension. The Culture warfleet trashes everything vaguely hostile without breaking sweat.
Rudyard Kipling: Kim. With lots of narrators available on Audible, I chose Madhav Sharma and was rewarded by a solid, versatile delivery. Again, less enthralling than I remember, but better than the Errol Flynn film. Far too much repetition in the dialogues with the Tibetan lama, and not a lot of tension as the Great Game is played out in Kim's first adventure. On the other hand, there's wonderful depiction of late 19th century India.
Philip Pullman: The Collectors. A freebie from Audible. A faint tie-in with the Dark Materials multiverse. Otherwise a fairly pedestrian fantasy/horror short.
Neil Gaiman: American Gods. Well-narrated by George Guidall and others (a full cast reading). I did enjoy the ride on this. I didn't see the twist coming. If you like Neil Gaiman, you'll like this, but I really don't see the point of me writing yet another review of AG.
Now back to writing...
3
4