Will Storr, Bad Blood, The Mysterious Life and Brutal Death of Alexander Litvinenko
Good, long Matter article by Will Storr on the 2006 poisoning of ex-KGB man Litvinenko in London. Its editor Deborah Blum notes that the poisoned cup of tea has literary precedent. Peter Clarke (then CTC boss at the Met) investigated. Has some excellent Arsenal trivia: one of his alleged poisoners went to see CSKA Moscow play at the Emirates (0-0 - perhaps the polonium distracted Henry and Rosicky). His seat was so radioactive that it had to be securely burned.
Andy Weir, The Martian
Rollicking read. Astronaut is stranded on Mars and must endure Shackletonian challenges and journey - luckily he is both a botanist and mechanical engineer, which allows for MacGyverist victory. Hard science NASA-porn (technology is the love interest), and the astronauts are the rightest of right stuff. The shift between viewpoints isn't always comfortable. Weak end - I increasingly hoped for a Ballardian failure. (For an alternate, darker take on the stranded astronaut, see Bester's classic The Stars My Destination.) Currently only available as an audiobook it seems. Weir's website.
Geoffrey Household, Rogue Male
More to say on this later, but it's still excellent.
John Scalzi, The Human Division
Serialised starting here (you could measure the success of the book by tracking each episode's sales ranking). Here he is talking about it and here is Warren Ellis doing the same. Serialized fiction is interesting, but I think the whole suffers slightly, and it crushes your Kindle recommendations.
Comments