David

A stunning debut novel by Nagamatsu. From deep under the melting permafrost in Siberia an ancient virus is unleashed upon the world by unsuspecting archaeologists. So you might think this is another Covid influenced “pandemic” novel, but the germ of the idea came to the author in 2008. Indeed this is more a tale dealing with loss, grief and the thread of humanity that carries this species forward.

Essentially a series of interconnected stories, where characters from one tale pop up in another, or their descendants do. The characters are well drawn, the stories are moving, melancholy at times yet also uplifting, as humanity fights to find a cure. Along the way scientific breakthroughs lead to the singularity, which in turn enables intergalactic flight and ships sail to the stars looking for a second Earth.

The narrative moves forward in time and shows how we deal with the huge loss of life, how we care for victims of a virus that causes mutations. The strange funerary customs that grow up, the way even that business changes as a cure is found and the aftermath, how the survivors deal with returning to a world forever changed.

I have not enjoyed a novel this much for quite a while, hence the five stars. The revelatory chapter at the end, that pulls all the disparate threads together is surprising and yet makes perfect sense of all that has come before. Wonderful stuff.

So, I've just completed a reread of this and it remains my favourite Culture novel. Banks could write Space Opera like no-one else. Full of action, humour and great writing, Excession features more ideas that most SF novels throw up in a trilogy.

In a remote corner of the galaxy, near a dying star a perfect black sphere appears as if from nowhere. It is like nothing this universe has ever seen and its sets the cat amongst the pigeons as far as the Culture's sentient Minds are concerned, because it could hold the key to the Multi-verse.

And so a series of events leads to a conspiracy, a war and a convergence on the artifact by any number of involved species. But not only this....because Banks also manages to slip in a subplot, linked to the main story, about a couple who fell into and out of love, and once again he proves to be a deeply affecting writer when it comes to relationships. See also “The Bridge”.

There are secret agents, secret committees of Minds, a talking crow, an alien species called The Affront who are gas giant dwellers and declare war on the Culture, but above all there are numerous characters, both AI and human (and alien) who you actually like. So yeah, one of his best.

Worth reading for the names of the spacecraft, never mind the fact that it is one of the best SF books ever.

In the 1970's the legendary Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics and created The Eternals. While not top grade Kirby, it was full of interesting ideas that didn't quite gel and Marvel never really managed to incorporate The Eternals into the wider Marvel Universe. We're they superheroes? Gods? Immortals? Something else?

Fast forward to the mid-noughties and the equally legendary Neil Gaiman was offered the chance to reboot The Eternals. He jumped at he chance and did his own spin on Kirby's creations. The result is again something of a curate's egg. Gaiman is a gifted writer so the book is never less than entertaining, it just feels a bit rushed, or under-developed in places (this maybe be due to Marvel's tightly imposed deadlines). So we get introduced to the core Eternals, who have forgotten their identities and have lived as humans for thirty years. The plot is about their reawakening and the race to prevent the “dreaming celestial” (a giant space god!) from waking up.

Against the background of the Marvel Civil War aftermath and a race of so-called “deviants” who want to reclaim the planet as theirs, there's a lot to like. We even get a few guest Avengers popping up and a reality show called America's Next Superhero.

So it's an enjoyable read, and Gaiman does succeed in integrating The Eternals into the Marvel Universe much better than past writers have. It's not up there with Sandman, or even Miracleman, but it's well worth a read. This run is, apparently, the basis for the upcoming movie, so it will be interesting to see how well it adapts.

Mid-period Deighton, still using an anonymous spy as his protagonist (although here going by his wartime cover of Charlie), Yesterday's Spy is a solid espionage novel, by turns melancholy, bitter and action-packed.

Charlie is tasked with investigating his old comrade, the splendidly named Steve Champion, wartime hero of the resistance who now appears to be working for the Arabs. Dawlish, from Deighton's classic sixties novels appears briefly, but it is the brash American Schlegel (last seen in Spy Story) who is Charlie's boss and main contact as he goes undercover to try and get the dirt on his old friend. The chapter where Charlie appears to go off the rails as he establishes deep cover is reminiscent of LeCarre's Alec Leamas's descent into purgatory. It's very effective although perhaps Champion is too quick to welcome his old friend into his inner circle.

The plot twists and turns nicely with Charlie reconnecting with the remnants of his wartime network as he works for Champion in France. There's a subplot about Champion's ex-wife and his son (who he kidnaps at one point), which doesn't really get fully developed. But Charlie is an interesting protagonist. A middle-aged, bespectacled career spy who really doesn't want to be doing the task at hand. The double bluff around stolen French nukes and Champion's motives is well done, but this feels a bit like Deighton by numbers. Indeed Champion ends up like a pastiche of a Bond villain, complete with secret lair and an improbable plan to wreak destruction.

So Yesterday's Spy is a good, solid read, enjoyable at the time, but probably not one to return to. It's certainly not up to the standard of Ipcress or Funeral.