Torchwood: The House that Jack Built...
Jul. 23rd, 2009 06:09 pmAmazon finally sent me, mailed from France, a copy of Torchwood: The House That Jack Built by Guy Adams.
I don't think I've heard of Guy Adams before, but I really did enjoy his style.
The plot? There's a house in Cardiff, called Jackson Leaves, where Jack once lived. It was built in 1906. It's the site of mysterious and grotesque deaths, pseudo-ghosts, madness, murders, suicides. Jack is the house's only surviving occupant. But why?
Yesterday, perhaps prematurely, I was griping about how long it took me to get the Torchwood novels from the UK - they weren't out in Canada and won't be for some time. So I ordered them months ago from the UK and got a message that I'd be getting them mid to late August.
I was feeling hard done by. Impatient. Especially since my current state of enthusiasm for Torchwood is high.
Yesterday I got a message that they were holding something at the post office for me to pick up to day. So today I went to the post office and there they were: three new Torchwood novels and three new audiobooks.
I am feeling much less sorry for myself.
They came from France. That amuses me.
Torchwood: the novels...
Jul. 16th, 2009 10:11 pmFor my own interest: the Torhcwood novels coming out.
Of course I want to read them. I'd be more excited if it looked as if there were any hope of getting them in Canada any time soon. Haven't even managed to get the last batch here yet.
Torchwood: Pack Animals...
Jan. 1st, 2009 09:20 pmToday I read Torchwood: Pack Animals by Peter Anghelides. I loved his previous Torchwood novel, Another Life.
And I loved this one, too. The man doesn't just have a delightful writing style, he has a nice touch in characterization. The important thing to me is Captain Jack, of course. But he makes Toshiko charming and heroic, Gwen is feisty and fun, and the banter between Ianto and Jack would make the book worth reading for that alone.
Torchwood: Almost Perfect...
Dec. 15th, 2008 06:30 pmWhen Torchwood: Almost Perfect by James Goss came out, I noticed people talking about it on LJ, but I didn't read the posts because I didn't want spoilers. Now I wish I had an easy way of finding them. The tags on
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In any case.... Bottom line: I liked it a lot. The characterization was charming but shallow, the action fast-paced, interesting, amusing, and sometimes skipped over information. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I read it with joy and delight, finding myself reluctant to put it down. A page-tuner. It reminded me of a comic book in its pacing, its vivid imagery, and themes. This is a good thing. I could just picture it as drawn by some of my favourite comic book artists, including Paul Grist, who draws the Torchwood comic in Torchwood Magazine.
And there was one thing about the book I loved with a passion, which had me chortling in my heart of hearts, that made me want to give James Goss a big hug of thanks.
It's not a book I can talk about without spoilers, so
Torchwood: Something in the Water...
May. 6th, 2008 04:11 pmToday I read the novel Torchwood: Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale. Unlike most of the other Torchwood novels, there is only one plot, a fairly stratightforward one: Cardiff is menaced by a Water Hag, spearhead of a watery alien invasion. It's quite creepy, nicely written in a smart and simple style.
The characterization of the Torchwood team is good - with the possible exception of Jack, who is fairly grim most of the time here. But there's nothing personal. Though it seems to be set in the timeframe of the first part of series 2, there's no hint that Jack and Ianto are lovers. Gwen mentions Rhys once, maybe twice. Basically, it's a Water Hag story.
Unlike with Another Life, I didn't keep feeling the urge to quote things. Two exceptions, the first from p. 34, a description of Jack from a man who used to know him:
He was a glory-hunting maniac and the kindest man I ever knew. Saved my life twice in '73, and then left me for a chorus girl from Boston.'
The other passage is from page 178, at a point where Jack is trying to kill an alien who won't stay dead:
'Here we go again,' said Jack. '...Y'know, I kind of prefer it when the dead stay dead.'
'Pot. Kettle. Black,' Owen said.
'Yeah,' agreed Jack with a shrug. 'The difference is, I do it with style.'
Torchwood: thrillseeking drivers...
Apr. 28th, 2007 04:57 pmOne thing I particularly love in fiction, is heroes who drive recklessly. They don't drive badly - these fictional heroes (they're usually heroes) never get into an accident or cause them. They are usually high-action guys like James Bond.
It doesn't count if they are race or stunt drivers or if they only drive wildly in chase scenes - I don't usually like car-chase scenes. It does count if they are habitually in a hurry, or just like to show off.
I'm thinking of heroes who drive wildly just for the joy of it - Bodie springs to mind, the prime example, squealing around corners and stopping on a dime, once doing so an inch from Doyle's front bumper. Perfect.
Then there's Aral Vorkosigan, flying drunk in his light-flyer through the chasms of Barrayar.1 If I recall correctly, he was drunk enough to fall limply and therefore survive when he crashed. Admittedly, he was somewhat suicidal at the time. This doesn't lessen the appeal.
There's Johnson Johson, driving blind at night in the mountains of Yugoslavia.2
And how happy I am to add Captain Jack Harkness to the list. I was tickled to learn in Torchwood Another Life that Captain Jack doesn't have a driver's license. Of course he doesn't! He's not on record anywhere. Why hadn't I even thought of that? Now I'm reading Torchwood Slow Decay by Andy Lane, and it has some delicious passages about Jack's driving, like this from the beginning of chapter two:
Jack was driving. That was always a bad thing as far as Toshiko was concerned. Especially when she was navigating. He seemed to assume that when she said 'right' or 'left' then that abrogated any responsibility he had to check for other traffic, pedestrians, building, or, in one instance a few minutes ago, the existence of a roundabout which he then went the wrong way around.
A man accustomed to driving a spaceship has probably cultivated the wrong attitude for driving on simple two-dimensional roads. And
1 Lois McMaster Bujold. I think this is in Shards of Honour, when Aral thinks he has lost Cordelia and is drinking heavily to dull the pain. Does anyone remember for sure?
2 A reference to Dorothy Dunnett's novel Dolly and the Nanny Bird, or Split Code.
Torchwood Another Life...
Feb. 13th, 2007 08:19 pmI finished reading Another Life today. Enjoyed it very much indeed. I'll put my comments under a cut for those who don't want spoilers, but I don't think I'll be saying anything that will spoil the plot - though I'd like to quote a few choice bits. I want to talk about characterization and style.