books of 2009

[dakegra]

1. Halting State, by Charles Stross
2. A Study In Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle
3. Un Lun Dun, by China Mieville
4. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
5. Memoirs of a Master Forger
by William Heaney

Got ths for christmas, so a relatively recent acquisition. Rather enjoyed it - the tale bounces along nicely.

From amazon.co.uk:

William is a dissolute book-forger. A talented writer in his own right he would rather scribble poems anonymously for an asian friend (who is becoming increasingly successful as a result), and create forgeries of Jane Austen first editions to sell to gullible collectors. He's not all bad. The money from the forgeries goes straight to homeless hostel and William's crimes don't really hurt anyone. And there are reasons William hasn't amounted to more. He did something he was ashamed of when he was a student, he drinks far too much and he can't commit to any relationships. Oh and he sees demons. Shadowy figures at the shoulder of everyone around him (except the woman who runs the hostel, she remains untouched), waiting for a moment's weakness. Or is just that William can see the suffering of the world? And then an extraordinary woman, who may just be able to save him from the world's suffering, walks into his life. This is William's own story. But who can believe a master forger?

good fun.

Comments

[lossrockhart.livejournal.com]

I love that freakin' book. 'Course, I'm just a wee bit biased, since I did all sorts of work (layout, cleanup, jacket copy) for the U.S. release, How to Make Friends with Demons, which should be hitting shelves in mid-April.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

oh, interesting that it's published under his (I assume) real name in the US, whereas it's published as William Heaney over here.

[lossrockhart.livejournal.com]

Sure is, but that's because the U.S. and the U.K. are very different marketplaces. Orion (the U.K. publisher) went with a faux-classic, literary cover, whereas the Night Shade edition has much more of a "Genre: Horror" cover (I'll post an image once we have the final design), even though it's a very "literary" novel; after all, an excerpt (published as "An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen") was picked as a juror's choice in last year's O Henry Awards.

If you're interested, here's a revealing interview with Graham Joyce, in which he discusses some of these issues.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

oh cool, cheers!