Down Through the Night


The rules are such that in order to read the book you must own the book. Also you cannot buy the book online, part of the game is the search for the book and then the reading, it's almost hunting but not really. In fact it's nothing like hunting.

Two books read since this all began Bob Shaw’s Orbitsville, because it was the thinnest and therefore easiest to read and finish quickly, and George R Martin’s Fevre Dream.

The Shaw is a hard science fiction epic in 180 pages. This is barely enough to get the story going, tantalizing but ultimately unsatisfying. The  protagonist is not exactly a character you could sympathize with, he allows a child to die through inattention, takes his wife for granted and expects obedience from his crew by virtue of his station in life. The exploration of the Dyson sphere is at best cursory as is the examination of the role of corporations as the new Empires.

Martin’s tale is a fantasy although it slid in as maybe science fiction by the vampires being a species that had evolved alongside man and had no supernatural abilities. They are parasites feeding on man and adopting his art and style. The novel is, as with all of Martin’s books  well realized with engaging characters, especially that of Abner the riverboat captain. The setting of a river boat at the height of  Mississippi river trade in the 19th century was unusual.I'm not sure this book should count but it was good.


The soundtrack for the week was Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew Live and P.J. Harvey’s Let England Shake which were at times more challenging than entertaining


This week’s soundtrack is the Pixies discography after Thomas and I watched the movie Loud Quiet Loud. Although at the moment Robyn Hitchcock is imposing on my consciousness.