Bill Napier

Advantages: a first rate science thriller
Disadvantages: none

...light years away. As soon as conditions were suitable on Earth, life developed. Given the selective advantages of a central nervous system all the way to the development of a brain, intelligent life must exist everywhere in the Universe. Therefore the Universe is teeming with intelligent life. In the Lure, Bill Napier explores both sides of this paradox. In Eastern Europe a joint British/Russian scientific research team has fitted an underground lake with the latest technology capable of detecting subatomic particles from way beyond Earth. Their objective; to solve the 'dark matter' problem. I'm not going to go too much into the dark matter problem but basically the 'weights' of galaxies can be measured. When one does that, one finds that the galaxies all weigh more than they should based on their relative luminosities. Therefore either... Read review

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Advantages: Great collection of short stories
Disadvantages: Some are cheesey and dated

...!). Dark Companions is an anthology of short stories published in 1982, the oldest story being "Napier Court" that Campbell wrote in 1967. I think that horror lends itself very well to short fiction. You don't need page after page of descriptive text, or reams of character development. Campbell defines strong characters using few, well-chosen words. What are needed in good horror are atmosphere, tension and scariness. This can be achieved in a narrative that covers a day, or simply a few hours, as Campbell demonstrates. In this anthology you get twenty-one stories; they vary in length and quality. I felt that "Napier Court," "The Show Goes On" and "Baby" were the worst stories. The best ones, however, are incredible. "Out Of Copyright" is superb; here Campbell tells the tale of a ruthless publisher. It has a great twist at the end that you won... Read review

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Advantages: Sir Harry Flashman back to what he does best
Disadvantages: Could have been longer

...This is the latest installment in the Flashman papers - stories charting the life of the greatest Bounder, Coward, doubledealer and womaiser for the victorian era - Sir Harry Flashman VC. This is the 12th (and hopefully not the last) book in the series, though as the author is now in his eighties I do not know how many more books we will see. This book see of celebrated hero?? travel to Abyssinia (modern day Ethopia) to play his ever reluctant part in another colonial war - the Abyssinian War of 1868. The books starts with Flashman escaping mexico and travelling to Austria where his old friend Speedicut talks him into taking silver to General Napier in Abyssinia to aid the war there against the evil and mad Emperor Theodore. Without going into too much detail on the story Flashman's undeserved reputation sees him conscripted into his... Read review

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