I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN: DECEMBER 2010 EDITION

Book reports – just in time for the holidays!

JUST FINISHED

You Suck by Christopher Moore

Published in 2007, this is the belated sequel to Moore’s 1995 book, Bloodsucking Fiends, about new vampire Jody and her minion/boyfriend Tommy, a well-meaning but not-too-bright 19-year-old with literary pretensions. Despite the 12-year gap in writing, the action takes up almost immediately after the first book left off, with Tommy awaking to find out that now Jody has turned him into a vampire out of love. I can’t say it’s necessary as sequels go, but like a lot of Moore’s work, it’s good fun and proof that the best genre novels are by people with no respect or interest in the genre’s traditions. Which also means it’s a perfect antidote to the Twilight franchise – particularly the character of teenage Goth vampire wannabe Abby Normal, who narrates some of the story in OMG-teenspeak. If Moore didn’t intentionally create her to poke fun at Twilight, it’s a hell of a coincidence. For that alone, I’d recommend it, if only as a gift to the Twilight fans in yr family. That’ll teach ‘em.

JUST STARTED

The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod

I’ve never MacLeod before (not being that big on space operas), but he also writes near-future speculative fiction, to include this book (which I got for cheap, I confess) in which the Faith Wars are over and religion is barely tolerated in the countries that fought it. Meanwhile, robots are self-aware and expressing interest in religion. It sounds dodgy on paper, but the opening prologue neatly does away with the stereotypes, so I’m interested to see where this goes.

( RECENT TITLES: Vonnegut! Heinlein! Hiassen! Fredric Brown! Sherlock! And Mike Carey! )

The beast inside,

This is dF

TWELVE DAYS OF DEF XMAS, PART 4: LET IT ALL GO

If you want dancing ladies, yr spoiled for choice on the YouTubes.

So – figuring, “Why settle for nine ladies dancing when I can have about 50?” – I opted for this Basement Jaxx tribute to Bollywood.

PRODUCTION NOTE: I might have used an actual Bollywood clip, but I was pressed for time, and anyway, that’s layla_aaron ’s area of expertise.

Neurotic like a yoyo,

This is dF

SNOW WHITE HAS A POSSE

And she’s come to give you yr f***ing apple back.



[Via Trixie Treats]

Bite it,

This is dF