The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

ISBN: 9780593061732

In "The Greatest Show on Earth", Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of 'Intelligent Design' and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case.

Jennings and Darbishire by Anthony Buckeridge

ISBN: 9780755101535

Description
Jennings turns journalist when he receives a printing kit for his birthday, and dubs himself Editor of the Form Three Times. Enlisting faithful Darbi as his assistant hack, Jennings sets off to the cove, where a French fishing vessel is moored, for their first story. But when their dreadful French ends in the unwelcome gift of a parcel of raw fish, the worse place they could hide it is in Mr Wilkins chimney!

Reviewed on 25th July 2010
The fourth book in the Jennings series seems to lose its way slightly compared to its predecessors. The plot focusses on the chaos that ensues after Jennings receives a printing kit for his birthday and starts his own newspaper. The fact that it has been titled 'Jennings and Derbyshire' rather than 'Jennings' Newspaper' already suggests how weakly the plot will hold together.

My copy was, once again, a 1980s updated version, with decimalised currency replacing the original, but strangely leaving a little casual racism.

The first section, while once again involving fish (which I'm not very keen on) was funny, with twists that I didn't spot coming even though I've read the book before. The middle section was less so, being almost awkward in places but still believable. The final section though seemed out of place in the storyline and a little bit forced.

Don't get me wrong, I still think that the Jennings books make fantastic reading, but this certainly wasn't the best in the series.

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One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre

ISBN: 9780349112091

Description
Gavin is creating a unique 'holiday experience', every facility any tourist who hates abroad will ever want, will all be available on a converted North Sea oil rig. To test the facilities he's hosting a reunion for his old school. He is so busy showing off that he doesn't notice that another group have invited themselves along -- a collection of terrorist mercenaries who are occasionally of more danger to themselves than to the public.

Reviewed on 23rd July 2010
The fourth comedy thriller from Christopher Brookmyre tells the story of an ill-fated school-reunion, where old friends reacquaint themselves until some unexpected guests show up - with guns.

The book is addictive reader, and possible Brookmyre's most captivating novel by far. There are a large number of characters, but they are a very believable bunch, all with their own quirks and motivations for attending. The first half of the novel deals with a selection of the attendees, establishing the people they were at school and are now - in fact, this to me was the more interesting half of the book.

The best feature of this book is the timing. Over and over again things suddenly became clear in my mind - I would fall in almost exactly half a page before the characters realised the same thing. This to me makes for perfect plotting - I find it really frustrating when something is so incredibly obvious but the characters are oblivious, and almost as bad when the characters can think something up that wasn't just as clear to the reader. This book however is perfect in this way.

My only criticism is that the second half was not quite as interesting as the first. This was where the action kicked off. I also found the presence of retired police office MacGregor a little strange, as a lot of his scenes seemed as padding just to justify his appearance.

Overall though I really enjoyed this one and am once again looking forward to reading the next Brookmyre. A fantastic read.

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In Your Dreams by Tom Holt

ISBN: 9781841492193

Description
Ever been offered a promotion that seems too good to be true? You know - the sort they'd be insane to be offering to someone like you. The kind where you snap their arm off to accept, then wonder why all your long-serving colleagues look secretly relieved, as if they're off some strange and unpleasant hook ...It's the kind of trick that deeply sinister companies like J.W. Wells & Co. pull all the time. Especially with employees who are too busy mooning over the office intern to think about what they're getting into. And it's why, right about now, Paul Carpenter is wishing he'd paid much less attention to the gorgeous Melze, and rather more to a little bit of job description small-print referring to 'pest' control...

Reviewed on 21st July 2010
This book is remarkably similar to its predecessor. Paul Carpenter is baffled by his job and falling madly in love with the new girl in the office. Magical things are going on around him and he's dragged into the action in a comic battle between good and evil.

I was surprised by how quickly this book resets things, with Paul's girlfriend, who he spent the entire previous book wooing, exiting the narrative almost immediately as if the author couldn't bear to write about his character in a relationship.

I still feel ambivalent about this series. The books start really slowly and I don't get into them until halfway through. I can't identify with the character who seems to have no motivation or interest in anything. The plots are confusing and random - with most novels you get to the end and get an 'of course' moment, where everything slots together, but with this one that never happened. Despite this there are also parts which are obvious right from the start. And yet I still think I should be enjoying reading it.

So only three stars. I think I enjoyed it, but I can't think of why - I can only come up with negative things to say.

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Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos

ISBN: 9780747597162

Description
In this richly entertaining and accessible book, Alex Bellos explodes the myth that maths is best left to the geeks. Covering subjects from adding to algebra, from set theory to statistics, and from logarithms to logical paradoxes, he explains how mathematical ideas underpin just about everything in our lives. Alex explains the surprising geometry of the 50p piece, and the strategy of how best to gamble it in a casino. He shines a light on the mathematical patterns in nature, and on the peculiar predictability of random behaviour. He eats a potato crisp whose revolutionary shape was unpalatable to the ancient Greeks, and he shows the deep connections between maths, religion and philosophy.

Reviewed on 13th July 2010
Despite its rather cheesy title, this is a good primer on the basics of modern mathematics. It covers aspects from the invention of number right up to hyperbolic surfaces, mixing the maths with its history to tell the story.

The text is very accessible and the reader needs only the most basic prior knowledge of maths to comprehend. The only complicated parts are held back into the appendices and could be skipped by those not inclined to want to know more. Unfortunately I have more than a passing acquaintance with mathematics, and so for me some of the material covers was quite basic. For me it was too simplistic and focussed too much on things I already knew, but for someone without a mathsy background I think it would serve as an excellent entry point.

The author has approached maths with the methodology of a journalist, and so a lot of the book describes his meeting and interviewing some of the top mathematicians of the current era, humanising what could have been a rather dry subject. He is also adept at painting pictures with his words of the places and people he sees.

There are a couple of niggles though. The centre of the book contains a full colour glossy photograph section illustrating his travels, but the text never refers to them so the whole section feels disjointed. Also, the book ends very abruptly, the final chapter flowing into a couple of summary paragraphs without q real conclusion. I believe the book could have explored further - it barely touched calculus and only gently nudged university level material. I feel that having laid the foundations as he had the author could easily have continued a little further to at least mention some of where maths is now and looks to be going.

So, in summary, a good basis in mathematics, but more for the non-mathematician than someone with a real interest.

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Killing Floor by Lee Child

ISBN: 9780553505405

Description
Margrave has just had its first homicide in thirty years. Jack Reacher is the only stranger in town, so the murder is pinned on him. As nasty secrets leak out and the body count mounts, only one thing is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.

Reviewed on 8th July 2010
This book introduces Jack Reacher, a former military policeman who is enjoying his freedom, wandering around America, when he is unexpectedly arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Reacher joins the investigation as things get personal.

Child sets the tone well at the start of the book, introducing Reacher and his background in a way that feels completely natural. The reader immediately gets a grasp of who Reacher is and how he works. The other characters are also well described and distinctive, and the location is set up to give the reader an excellent picture of how things lie.

There are some things that frustrated me though. At least three of the fairly major plot points I could see coming a mile off - and as the entire narrative is in the first person it seems implausible that the protagonist would not think the same. There were other things though that I didn't see coming, and on reflection realised that the clues had been there, although I think there are a few red herrings too.

Overall, the book is a little on the violent side, although it's described fairly quickly and doesn't go into too many gory details. One or two parts are a little too extreme though. It's a good read which starts well, droops a little, and then picks up again towards the end. I may just pick up the sequel.

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Black Coffee by Agatha Christie, Charles Osborne

ISBN: 9780006511373

Description
Sir Claud Amory's revolutionary new formula for a powerful explosive is stolen. Locking his house-guests in the library, Sir Claud switches off the lights to allow the thief to replace the formula, no questions asked. When the lights come on, he is dead, and Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have to unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames and suspicious foreigners to find the killer and prevent a global catastrophe.

Reviewed on 2nd July 2010
This is an interesting read - a novelization of a Christie play where Poirot is called to investigate a potential case of espionage but which turns quickly to a murder situation. Osborne makes a good job of emulating Christie's style, and the personalities of Poirot and Hastings are spot on.

It does however read like an adaptation, Osborne has taken no liberties at all it seems, so almost the entire book takes place in one room. The actions are described just like in a script, obviously necessary for the reader to see the clues, but it could have been better disguised.

It's very short as a novel, even for a Christie, and I read through it in a couple of hours at most. As such, it doesn't give the reader a lot of time to consider what has happened and try to solve the mystery themselves. I imagine on the stage it has an interval which serves this purpose. There are several rather distracting references to Poirot's other cases - presumably a stage tactic to sell books - which seem out of place, especially as one of them (afaik) had not been published when this play was written, and so I have not yet read it.

Overall, it was an okay read, but nothing special. I could easily visualise it on the stage, however, and think it was probably better suited to its original medium.

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Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

ISBN: 9781841492285

Description
Rand must negotiate a truce with the Seanchan armies, as their forces increasingly sap his strength. Perrin has made his own desperate truce with the Seanchan - he would deal with the Dark One himself to save his wife Faile from the Shaido. Meanwhile, Mat is caught up in a reckless escape from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons.

Reviewed on 1st July 2010
Book eleven is, in my opinion, one of the best in the series. It's nice to know that Jordan went out on a high, as this is the final instalment that he completed before his death. Mat tries to escape the Seanchan tracking him, Perrin fights to regain his wife from the Shaido, Elayne fights for her crown and Egwene adapts to life as a prisoner of the Tower.

Its a good book because the plot advances at a reasonable pace. It's far from fast, but that's not what you want from an epic on this scale. Plenty of time is taken over the characters and their environments, but stuff continues to happen.

It is clear now that Jordan is getting things ready for the end of the series. Several key storylines that have twisted through the past few volumes are wrapping up, but a few surprises appear. The different groups of characters are beginning to move back together again, and I'm hoping this means an end is in sight to the lack of communication that has interfered with so many of their plans so far.

My earlier criticisms of plot-lines existing purely to keep characters occupied now seems unfounded, as each has grown, presumably in a way that will bear fruit come the last battle. Despite this, the same appears to occur now to Aviendha, who is quickly shunted out of the way. Rand himself suffers again from a fairly limited amount of page time as well which would have been frustrating if the others had not been so interesting. The only other fault in this vein was hat Egwene's story did not continue into the latter half of the book.

As I said, a good farewell to an excellent author. I can only hope that Brandon Sanderson can finish the story off just as well.

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