Catching Up

I’ve been really slack about updating this thing lately, so here’s a quick summary of what I’ve read.
The Earthsea Quartet – Ursula LeGuin – The first three volumes were excellent, real ground-breaking stuff but the fourth emasculated the hero and was unlike the first three in tone as sacking is to silk. A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan and The Furthest Shore all come highly recommended. Tehanu is worth a look but expect to find something more adult-oriented.
Daisy Miller – Henry James – I have to say that I thought Daisy Miller herself was absolutely awful, a complete selfish trainwreck of a girl but Henry James gives her such an enticing twinkle that you can’t help but gaze at her stupidly. I had this in a BXing exchange from an American.
Vurt – Jeff Noon – It was trippy and mad and lurid and made me feel kinda dirty, but WOW! I read it in 3 days. What a rush! Set in an alternate universe Manchester where the kids do hallucinogenic feathers and go on a variety of wild trips, both inside and outside their heads. Scribble is looking for his sister, lost in the outer-verse of this dystopia. Will he and his rag-tag gang of mates find her? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The Liar – Stephen Fry – I think this was Mr Fry’s first novel, but this is no ingenue work. A tangled (but not messily so) mass of intrigue and lurid revelation on the part of deceitful self-centred protagonist Adrian, as we progress through his early years and see snippets of the future, until we arrive at the denouement. I had absolutely no idea where it was going, at all. Intrigue took my hand, early on and led me through with odd clues and fleeting whispered promises of what might be ahead. I have to say that I really loved the big, quintessentially English ending. A triumph!
Hopefully I’ll keep up with updates in the future!