(no subject)

I'm drinking much coffee accompanied by a great deal of grump. I have an excessively long list of things to do today, and they include a great deal of walking, but I'm not quite well. It was easier this time yesterday, when I was too sick to do much at all.

It's not a bad day, workwise. Lots of small fiddly things that must be done to clear the decks. The normal gumpf that accumulates while I focus on the big stuff and the urgent stuff. It's just that I'm carrying the illness and that gives me a sense of never quite catching up and never quite feeling comfortable. And what I need (emotionally) now is breakthrough. If any of you are planning to publish me or offer me a job of work or etc (be imaginative - lots of possible etceteras) now would be fine timing.

It's the virus, I know, that's making me feel Red Queenish. Also that my luck is, as ever, dubious. I might read that last remaining Angry Robot book and empty a folder, then read an Aurealis book (I'm missing two, but have almost finished all the others - we had a lot come in at the last minute this time). And when I finish the bulk of the messages, I shall reward myself with DVD viewing. High living: I'm guilty of it.

Chris F Holm. Dead Harvest (The Collector, Book 1)

I've been borrowing many DVDs from the library, as you know, to help me through an editing patch. This means I've begun my day, this whole fortnight, with tiny (often inaccurate) plot summaries. Brimstone was one I nearly borrowed despite the plot summary, because I had seen a single episode when it first came out. The premise of someone collecting souls for Hell, however, reminded me of Reaper (which is currently on and which appears to be carefully programmed at every hour I can't possibly make it) so I gave it a miss. Just as well, really, because otherwise I'd feel myself stalked by a theme: Holm's book is also about collecting souls for Hell, where the collector has a mind of his own ('his' in all cases - does this mean I'm safe from that particular job? That only men are damned?). It's obviously a current topic. I could explore why, or I could simply read and report on this book. I choose the latter.

Chris F Holm's Dead Harvest won't be released for a little, as I understand it (February and March this year). It's very much in what I am coming to think of the Angry Robot style for fast-paced dark fiction. In other words, if you've read other Angry Robot books with action premises, you should enjoy this novel. Angry Robot also appears to be developing a fondness for openings where there are mysteriously dead people. It's told from the viewpoint of a creator of mysteriously dead bodies.

What's it about, besides someone who's stuck collecting souls? It's an adventure (staying one step ahead of worsening catastrophe) with a bit of detection (why did things go so very wrong?) and somewhat of a story of people discovering other people. Possession by the dead. That sort of thing. The premise is not new and the plot has its predictability. It all comes down to the writing and the characters. If they live, then it's worth reading, despite the currency of the subject and the familiarity of the plot. The good news is that it's rather nicely done. The writing is clear. It works rather well - the style and the subject. Some lyricism, some personal comment and pulling it all in tightly when action suddenly happens. Most importantly, despite the familiarity of the premise, the plot has twists and turns. It's not the same story, told yet again: it has its own spin.

The universe reminds me of the Supernatural universe. Not much new there, except that the definition of Heaven and Hell owes somewhat to Sartre. The familiarity is not a problem. It means that anyone with an interest in this kind of narrative will settle into the familiarity and enjoy the story, and anyone who hasn't might find out what the addicts find so very attractive about supernatural adventure. It's Holm's handling of those specific lives that sets this novel apart. His viewpoint character, in particular, has a lovely reality.

(no subject)

I was articulate until a few minutes ago. I blame the drop in temperature. That must be it. Can't possibly be fatigue...