Matt Hill is a copywriter living in Manchester. You can read his blog here.
I’ll admit I was tentative to read a ‘Russian science fiction novel’ at first – my perception of the genre at the time apparently coloured by escapist hero stuff or by space operas and laser beams. But I’m hugely glad I went in for the recommendation, and it seems apt to pass it on.
Roadside Picnic picks up thirty years after an extraterrestrial visit, when the world’s been left pocked with landing sites of curious debris, and where mercenaries called ’stalkers’ are being sent into no-go quarantine ‘zones’ constructed around each contact. These men, risking their lives, are paid to retrieve these physics-defying artefacts for scientists and military men, who in turn hope to understand and exploit all ‘The Visitors’ have left behind. Narrated over ten years by one such stalker, a cynical chap called Redrick Schuart, the reader follows his experiences of a zone that threatens to destroy not only his health but his homelife.
Essentially Roadside Picnic’s a thoughtful piece on the way humans might react to an alien presence that arrives without the flashing lights, explosions and general apocalypses that a lot of science fiction would have us fretting about. I mean, so far, so unexpected – it’s a common idea. But what makes this book different – perhaps what made it so tangibly different to the Western European/American stuff I was used to – is that it’s not so much about the aliens’ visit, or indeed about how we’re meant to kill ‘em all, but what happens afterwards; in their wake; how we try to apply our apparently primitive theories to a new science we can barely understand. It’s also become something of a parable for Chernobyl, which happened a few years after its release.
It’s a short, humane and brilliantly written novel that exposes and laments our need to tinker with things we should leave well alone, and it’s easily one of my favourites.
Nik Perring writes stories. Mainly short ones. He’s also the author of a children’s book. His work’s been published widely, in places including 3:AM magazine, Smokelong Quarterly, Dogmatika, Espresso Fiction and Metazen. Occasionally he teaches people how to write.
If I could recommend just one book it would have to be Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender. It gives me shivers – the good kind – every time I think of it. It’s a collection, Aimee’s second, of fifteen short stories and there isn’t a bad one amongst them – they’re all brilliant. Each story seems better than the previous one, and when each is a gem, that’s saying something. That’s why, when I first read it, I limited myself to one story per night; I really didn’t want it to end.
The stories are odd and fantastic. Some have the feel of fairy-tales and some are bizarre or wonderfully imaginative. But as bizarre or fantastic as they may be (one’s about a family of pumpkinheads who have an iron-headed child, another’s about a boy whose hands are shaped like keys) they all, in their own way, remind us what it is to be human – sometimes it’s hilarious and sometimes it’s heartbreaking. And I think that’s where Aimee Bender really shines – it’s her ability to give you characters, no matter how alien, that are familiar and who you can’t help being interested in and caring about. Or who, even with their iron heads, remind us of ourselves.
And it contains ‘The Meeting’ which, I think, is about as close to the perfect short story as I’ve read.
Radcliff Alistair Gregory says about himself, “I write poetry and non-fiction prose, published sporadically for 25 years in a variety of journals (including “Chroma”) and books, along with three collections of poetry under another name. Currently, I am doing a research PhD in cultural history at Loughborough University, and am in the process of organising the inaugural Polyverse Poetry Festival. My main focus of my academic research is in tracing the origins and evolution of gender-variance, with particular reference to transgenderism/transsexuality, during the 1887-1930 period, though it inevitably crosses paths with related material.
One book I would recommend for something different is Perfidious Man; the introduction is by novelist Will Self, but the bulk of the book is his biography-from-interview of Stephen Whittle. He was one of the first people to begin the (very) long process of transforming from a biological female body to being fully male. He is also an eminent law academic, and high-achieving campaigner for the recent changes in the law that finally brought some legal rights to transsexual people that everyone else takes for granted.
Told through Whittle’s own words, and lavishly illustrated with photographs, the book presents a moving, but unapologetic, first-hand account of what it is like to go through one of the most drastic life changes in human experience. Reading this book is like watching a three-dimensional person gradually unfurl from a mouldy seed, almost the personal equivalent of the Big Bang.
This book differs from any other I have read on the subject in that it includes a sharp critique of self and motive, not only of the subjective variety, but also with an incisive academic clarity. Whittle challenges and analyses what the process actually means, personally, socially, and comparatively.
I [Gary Smailes] contacted Professor Whittle to tell him of this post and he emailed back with this reply.
Working with Will Self on this project was an opportunity to say something, but out of the context of an autobiography which I have always said I will never write, as I simply would feel unable to tell the full truth. about everything.
Will was entirely an object of glamour on his visits to my family. Every single one of us; my wife, the children, the au pair and myself, fell madly in love with him. His manner was so open, and so inviting for the confession, yet we trusted him completely. I felt no
qualms about confessing all to him and knew he would do what was right. I truly enjoy the writing of my words, and know that for many trans men like me it has been an important part of their self evaluation.
The book caused me some considerable personal problems. My mother and siblings hated it, for the inclusion of their names – they did not want people to know they were associated with me. My mother hated what she called the lies about my father, but she was truly astonished to ultimately discover that he was a fantasist and liar. So were we all. We realised his wartime stories had all been told to us individually and alone, and as an apparent privilege that was ours and ours alone. But he had embellished them in ways which were totally fantasy, I knew about his apparent role in the D Day landings, my sister knew about his apparent role as one of the troops who entered Belsen, and so on, for each of us it was different. Yet we were to discover that he had never been in the army other than when oing National Service after the war.
For some time, my relationship with my birth family was very difficult. I was angry with my mother for ruining my vision of my father, and she was angry with the lies. She wrote to me a letter in which she said “It was the 1970s, it was difficult, I fed and clothed you, what more did you want?”. I thought about the fact that she had never mentioned love, but it also forced me to think back to what the 1950s to 1970s were like, and I acknowledged that bringing up 5 children must have been very difficult, and probably too difficult to
allow much love to enter the equation. I wrote back saying I loved her, and gradually we got on an even footing, again but my youngest brother has never forgiven me for my part in Perfidious man.
As for Will, we still all love and adore him, and I was honoured to work with him on this project.
Patrick Chapman’s poetry collections are Jazztown, (Raven Arts, 1991), The New Pornography (Salmon, 1996), Breaking Hearts and Traffic Lights (Salmon, 2007) and A Shopping Mall on Mars (BlazeVOX, 2008). He has also written a collection of stories, called The Wow Signal (Bluechrome, 2007); an audio drama, Doctor Who: Fear of the Daleks; and an award-winning film, Burning the Bed (2003), which starred Gina McKee and Aidan Gillen. He won first prize, story category, in the 2003 Cinescape Genre Literary Awards. With Philip Casey, he co-founded the Irish Literary Revival website. He lives in Dublin. His own website is at patrickchapman.net
For many decades, people have attempted to make a film of I am Legend (1954), Richard Matheson’s gripping and brilliant dystopian science fiction novel about vampires. Vincent Price starred in a version called The Last Man on Earth; Charlton Heston appeared in a loose adaptation called The Omega Man; Will Smith recently helped us suffer through a film with the book’s name, which perverts the meaning of that title in its witless, cop-out ending. But that’s Hollywood, sometimes. The book itself is a study in despair and loneliness, the story of Robert Neville, the last man on Earth after a plague has wiped out most of humanity and turned the survivors into vampires. By night, they come for him — howling his name and trying to tempt him with sex — while he holes up, terrified, in his fortified house. By day, they sleep — and he goes on the prowl, killing those vampires he finds until the coming of dusk forces him to retreat back into his house. It’s a neat inversion of the usual vampire story. To say more will spoil the book. Let’s just say that if you’ve seen any of the movies, you haven’t yet seen the true I am Legend. Do yourself a favour and go directly to Matheson’s source.
Here’s wiki’s page on the whole I am Legend phenomenon.
This is wiki’s page on the author Richard Matheson.
Tara Cain describes herself as “a working mother with two young children and I am a total bookworm. My children are bookworms too which makes me want to whoop! Whoop!”
She is the features editor on a daily newspaper and writes a mummy blog here.
I can’t believe no one has nominated this modern day classic. Written by the brilliant Julia Donaldson, it’s the tale of a little mouse who invents a terrible creature to ensure safe passage through the forest and all the animals trying to eat him for their tea. But the mouse’s invention isn’t confined to his imagination and so he has to use his ingenuity to escape the clutches of this nightmarish monster. Written in a lovely sing songy rhyme, it has gripped both of my children – and I actually don’t mind reading it 14 nights in a row which is the norm for a book they love!
Joan Carrara describes herself as ‘a lifelong lover of books since I entered a library contest of trying to read the most books the summer of my 10th year. (I didn’t win the contest, but personally benefited.) I like all kinds of books from biographies to novels. I especially like stories set in different eras and countries from my own.’
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay will appeal to people who are interested in comic books or graphic novels as they are called now. Our heroes are immigrant Jews who get into the business at it’s onset. The greater story, of course is the progress of two young men as they make their way in a new country and try to assimilate in a new culture.
Lucy Coats describes herself as ‘a multigenre children’s author, poet, blogger and mythoholic. I write in a small country garret overlooking fields of sheep. I have 3 dog foot-warmers under my desk who take me for walks when writing inspiration fails. If I do not write every day, my children call me a C.O.W (Cross Old Writer). This may or may not be true. I couldn’t possibly comment.’
I was brought up on myths and legends of all kinds, but Arthur was always my favourite. T.H. White’s classic ‘The Sword In The Stone’ tells of Wart, foster son of Sir Ector, who finds himself taught all kinds of strange lessons by Merlin, the eccentric tutor with a corkindrill hanging from his ceiling, and a shy talking owl who nibbles ears. The book is full of the kind of characters who remain memorable for me 40 years after first reading it. There’s Sir Pellinore, who carries the smelly fewmets (don’t ask) of the Questing Beast around with him at all times. There’s a wizard duel between Merlin and the appalling but irresistible Madam Mim which ends very unexpectedly with a dose of chicken-pox. Wart himself is a wide-eyed naif who has no idea of the great destiny which awaits him as the Once and Future King, and looks up to his foster-brother Kay’s knightly career as the epitome of what he can never hope to aspire to. How wrong he is about that!
For me, this is a book which I will come back to again and again for the rest of my life. The setting is medieval, but it feels somehow timeless-a snapshot of an age long gone but recreated anew every time it is re-read. It has been a huge influence on my own writing-the beast Gladysant in my novel ‘Hootcat Hill’ is a direct descendant of Pellinore’s Questing Beast, and my retelling of the ‘Sword in the Stone’ also pays tribute to White’s version. Disney made the film of the book–but it is not a patch on the original novel. I hope it will reach a whole new generation of readers through the wonderful One Book. Trust me, it deserves to!
Khuram Malik describes himself as ‘Part Geek, Part Entrepreneur, Part Mentor. Im currently connected with a number of web projects and mentoring pre-startups.’
Well, I think this is the ONE classic that everyone needs to read. It is the ultimate book on positive thinking and achieving goals. Its not just about being “rich” but achieving what you really want in live, and takes a holistic, detailed view at what needs to be done.
This book was written at the time of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Charles Schwab era and was partly the reason for their success.
There’s much more to this book than meets the eye, though I have to say it can be a rather taxing reads. Ultimately, its a life-changing book, there is no doubt about that.
Literature, natural history and hilarity all wrapped up in a rich, pleasant layer of memory.
Written about his family’s 5-year sojourn to the Island of Corfu in pre-WW2 Greece. Rampant eccentricity and colorful word-pictures of life, locals and scenery. Prepare to laugh hard; do not drink liquids while reading.
Jamieson Wolf has been writing since a young age when he realized he could be writing instead of paying attention in school. Since then, he has created many worlds in which to live his fantasies and live out his dreams.
It is a fascinating story: In the City of Ember, it is always night. Light comes from the bulbs that fill the underground city with an amber glow.
But the city was only supposed to last for 200 years. Now, 241 years later, the city is in danger.
Lina and Doon are the only ones who seem worried, the only ones who know the city is in danger. When Lina finds an old paper that leads to clues on how to leave The City of Ember, they follow the directions to adventure and their destiny.
This is an incredible book that is not just for kids but for the kid in all of us. It makes you stop and think about what your world is like and what our world will be like in the future if things don’t change.
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Matt Hill is a copywriter living in Manchester. You can read his blog here. 
