Matching the evidence blog tour

My turn on the Graham Smith blog tour for today and the penultimate post. This is my first Graham Smith experience and one that I enjoyed. The novella focuses on interweaving threads of troublesome football fans and some darker themes. I feel like it helped to have some previous knowledge of the authors work to gain maximum enjoyment, but the novella was well written and enjoyable for novices like me too. Well plotted and an interesting idea made for a cracking short read. You got a good sense of character development in a short space of time and the story had a satisfying conclusion. A definite 4* read for me, and continue reading the blog post for my interview with the author

Tell me something about yourself

I am so good at football I have won trophies playing darts.

On average, how many times a week do you hurt yourself trying to dance in the shower?

I tend to take baths rather than showers.

What is your inspiration to write?

If I don’t write the stories down I’m just another weirdo with voices in his head.

What’s the most money you’ve ever drunkenly spent at McDonald’s?

None but I’ve spent a fortune at various kebab and pizza shops.

Do you get complaints when singing in the shower.? 

I take baths and don’t sing when there’s enough water to drown me.

Who would you let punch you directly in the face? and why?

A ghost so it didn’t hurt.

How old were you when you realised Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny probably never actually knew one another in real life? Did you feel cheated?

I heard there was a love triangle with the tooth fairy.

What drives you to continue writing.?

The voices in my head tell interesting stories.

Apart from writing what’s your superpower?

I’m like Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen. A whole lot of swearing and I’m never seen doing the dishes.

How many bottles of wine have you finished without ever actually pouring any of the wine into a glass?

I drink beer. Lots of beer.

Funniest thing that has ever happened to you at a job: ?

I’m saving this story for a future book.

When will we be seeing another book from you?

I have a novella – Matching the Evidence out on the 9^th of September and a novel – I Know Your Secret – out on the 6^th of October.

I am never sure how many people actually read reviews /interviews. What is your view?

I love reading reviews and interviews.

Some thoughts on SciFi

I normally don’t like Scifi, especially because as a science graduate I hate being pigeonholed into being a Scifi geek and also because like fantasy it’s not a genre I find myself drawn to, despite attending at least 10 Sci fi conventions this year, I don’t even like Star wars.

However recently I found myself on a bit of a Scifi reading kick, and I found some books that are truly awesome, so without further ado  here’s some great reading recommendations from me, alongside one definite don’t.

The Demolished man – Alfred Bester – Winner of the first Hugo award for science fiction, one of the most prestigous sci fi prizes. This follows a buisnessman who is trying to assassinate a rival, his only problem is that his world is populated with Espers (psychics). This feels very like Philip K dick (especially minority report) one of the 2 Sci fi authors I actually really like. This is a great read that poses a lot of questions about morality and ideas of guilt. For a novel that was written a long time ago, it is also still a entirely modern read, it feels appropriate for today.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Demolished-Man-S-F-MASTERWORKS/dp/1857988221/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472749815&sr=8-1&keywords=the+demolished+man

Fantastic Voyage – A novelisation of a movie, which is normally odd but in this case it was written by Isaac Asimov, an author I have never read but one that we sell a lot of at cons. This really appealed to me as an idea because I am a biologist, the story of people being shrunk inside a submersible and going inside a body to heal someone from a life threatening blood clot. I really enjoyed this some of the science of the shrinking may be a bit dodgy, but again it has aged well mostly because most of the science is based on the human body, a subject that was as well understood at the time as it probably is now, although some biochemistry/surgical techniques have advanced. A really great read, some of the way the characters speak has aged but a fantastic read all the same.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantastic-Voyage-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553275720/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472750041&sr=8-3&keywords=fantastic+voyage

The Martian – Andy Weir – The most modern of my recommendations and also probably the most scientifically accurate. In fact it reads a little like a popular science book with a plot. I love this novel but I think the heavy scientific content may make it only of interest to people with a scientific bent. This is another novel with a strong biological leaning as the main character is a botanist. I read this in 2 days, and found it truly gripping the Science for me made it more nail biting and believable and it discusses some serious moral questions, such as how far would you go to save one man. A remarkably well told and thrilling story this is going to be a classic in the years to come

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/1785031139/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472750294&sr=8-3&keywords=the+martian

And now for my definite don’t – The soft machine by William S burroughs – this is a random collection of gay sex anecdotes stringed together with a barely coherent plot at best, at times this novel is quite offensive – I have no problem with people of all races and sexes mixing and being together but this novel crossed several boundaries of good taste for me.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soft-Machine-William-Burroughs/dp/0007341911/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1472750446&sr=8-16&keywords=soft+machine

If you have any great sci fi recommendations let me know in the comments below