Made in Goatswood - Ramsey Campbell

Advantages: Entertaining and educational
Disadvantages: Some bits are more interesting than others

...It’s hard to define a book that incorporates etymology, history, culture, sociology and a huge amount of humour; the best I can do is to rather vaguely term it “a complete success and a pleasure to read”. Literary Review puts it a little more succinctly as “a triumph”, but I don’t think that even that high praise describes exactly how much information and entertainment Bill Bryson has managed to pack into this book. On the surface, it is an investigation of American English and how it’s been shaped through America’s relatively short history, but (as I hope you will see by reading this review) Made In America is so much more than that... This is a book for all those snobs who sneer at ‘Americanisms’ and claim that the influx of American words, phrases and usages are damaging English – they will be shocked to learn just how much... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

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

...My girlfriend recently dragged me to a car boot sale. As she stood ooh-ing and ah-ing at a vase that looked just like the one we'd given to the charity shop the week before, I saw a similar chap being dragged around by his girlfriend. He didn't look as glum as me though. He had half a dozen books under his arm. I left the missus looking at lampshades and headed in the direction that this couple had come from. Sure enough, I found a lady selling books by the box-load. There were only two titles that interested me: Cujo by Stephen King and Dark Companions by Ramsey Campbell. I got them both for £1. Ramsey Campbell is probably the nearest thing that we Brits have to a Stephen King. He has won more awards than any other British horror writer. I met him once in Derby, and he's a bloody good bloke. In my opinion, he's fantastic (literally... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: compelling, moody, imaginative, well written
Disadvantages: too long

...only very vaguely hinted: I suspect there is room for that in the later volumes of the Deepgate Codex. Campbell takes his idea to its logical conclusion by showing how core beliefs of a culture would shape the way it conducted all kinds of tasks, from technology to war. Some of it is pretty stomach churning, but not particularly gratuitous. The reader winces, but accepts that that's how things must be in that city of chains. I don't like horror, and thus I didn't like the moments when the "dark fantasy" mode risked turning into the horror, but overall it stayed this side of the genre divide. There is action aplenty in The Scar Night, though the story starts to unfold rather slowly - the first 100 or so pages, in fact the whole first section (entitled, quite meaningfully, Lies) sets the scene. It's long, but enough mysteries... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful