GATEWAY By Frederik Pohl

Published : 1976
Pages : 313
Overall Mark : 9/10

Bob Broadhead is lucky enough to win the lottery, and he uses his winnings to buy a one-way ticket to Gateway, a spaceport where people can take salvaged vessels from the mysterious alien race known as the Heechee and take risks in using them to travel through space in search of wealth. Following one disastrous journey, Bob finds himself talking over the events with an artificial psychiatrist, feeling responsible for the events that transpired on the trip.

This is one of the better science fiction novels I’ve read of late, with Robinette "Bob" Broadhead portrayed as possibly one of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen in fiction. He is neither heroic in his actions, nor actually evil in any way, but his endeavours and his attitude towards them make for a great read.

MAKING MONEY By Terry Pratchett

Published : 2007
Pages : 474
Overall Mark : 9/10

Moist von Lipwig, only having just got used to changing from a life of crime to being in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, now finds himself the inheritor of a controlling claim in the Ankh-Morpork mint. Now, using the popularity of his stamps, and their increased use as legal tender, Moist decides to convert Ankh-Morpork onto paper money, an idea which makes him a target of the Lavish family, who had only recently been expecting to run the mint!

Pratchett does it again with another tightly woven tale about Moist von Lipwig. Every moment in Pratchett’s books are there for a reason, and always lead to a satisfying ending which brings all the trails together and wraps them up into its wonderful completion. I look forward to seeing what Pratchett has in store next with the publication of his first non-Discworld novel in years, Nation.

THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS By Gene Wolfe

Published : 1972
Pages : 252
Overall Mark : 8/10

A young boy, the narrator, whose name is not known has been brought up in relative seclusion with his younger brother David. Together they have been treated to a barrage of psychological tests by their father for reasons they do not know, and the narrator is given the new name of Number 5. He later breaks into a slave trader’s warehouse where he finds a mutated slave who looks like his father, and from there he starts to question his very existence.

This is a fascinating story, which takes the idea that humans are an alien race that have invaded another species world and makes it into something truly remarkable. The other stories in the book, telling a tale of the original planets inhabitants and what happened to them, as well as a story of the consequences met by the anthropolgist from the first story, John Marsch, are not quite as good but are still well worth reading and lend a lot of substance to the original tale.

THE NANNY DIARIES By Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Published : 2002
Pages : 306
Overall Mark : 9/10

Nan is a nanny who takes a job working for Mr and Mrs X, taking care of their son Grayer, but Nan soon realises that the X’s consider themselves to have employed not only a nanny but their own personal slave, expecting her to work all the hours that God sends and setting her tasks which are outside of her job description. Lump on top of this the fact that Nan has accidentally discovered that Mr X is having an affair with his secretary, and you’ll find that Nan is in one of the least favourable positions imaginable.

This is a great novel, full of quick wit and fast pacing and the kind of characters you can only despise. The relationship between Nan and her employees makes for a great structure to work around, and the conflicts that interfere throughout the novel make for entertaining reading. I’m glad the movie was just as good as the novel, because it really does make it seem even better.

LORD OF LIGHT By Roger Zelazny

Published : 1967
Pages : 317
Overall Mark : 6/10

Sam is a being whose soul is taken from Nirvana and returned to the planet he once lived on under the name of Buddha. There are a number of other beings on this world, seeming immortals with the ability for reincarnation who name themselves after Eastern Gods, and Sam has taken it upon himself to defeat their hunger for power and put an end to their limitless rule through the undermining their ways by making reincarnation either available for all or for none.

This is a very strange novel and is sometimes difficult to read. It takes most of its ideas from Buddhism as well as the Hindu religion, and each chapter feels more like a parable or morality tale than part of a cohesive whole. The basic ideas of the story have been copied on occasion in such movies as Stargate, but the idea of a renegade God who wants to destroy his fellow beings has a feel to it that is both timeless and powerful as it gives us a lead character who must be either very brave or very stupid, but in any case has a firm grip on what he believes is right and wrong.

BROTHER ODD By Dean Koontz

Published : 2006
Pages : 438
Overall Mark : 9/10

Odd Thomas has taken up residence in a monastery which tends to disables children in the hope that the seclusion from the outside world will free him of his cursed visions of ghosts of the dead. Unfortunately the monastery has ghosts of its own, one of which takes the form of a giant skeletal creature! It’s now left down to Odd to rally the troops and defend the monastery against the creature, whatever it’s origins may be…

This was far better than Forever Odd. Where that novel sort of lingered on the same situation, which didn’t seem to go anywhere, this novel was far more action packed and left me with a feeling of far more satisfaction. It’s good to see Koontz back on form, though I fear he may start to meander a bit with his apparent obsession with dogs being a possible plotline for Odd Hours, what with Boo the ghost dog becoming something of a lingering presence.

CITIES IN FLIGHT By James Blish

Published : 1970
Pages : 607
Overall Mark : 6/10

Colonel Paige Russell is hired by a large company to find soil samples on distant planets and bring them back to the company for study. His investigations soon lead him to discover some unusual facts about the bridges being built on Jupiter and an odd connection to an anti-gravity device called a spindizzy. Many years later, the spindizzies are being used to transport entire cities across the Universe in an attempt to both colonise other planets and also to get away from the Earth.

This is an odd science fiction novel to say the least. It seems to come from a political stand point and gives a lot of information without actually telling the reader a whole lot. It feels a lot longer than its 600+ pages, but can be entertaining in parts. I’d skim read the first section if I were you, the remainder of the books are a vast improvement.