I have always been a bit of a social distancer...

So, how are you all doing with this social distancing? The world has become a bit of a strange place at the moment and there is no real sign of normality, at least not in the near future.

In a way, I have been lucky. I am one of those that still have to go to work and, while the threat of this damned virus scares the living crap out of me, I am thankful that I can still get out of the house.

But there is one thing that will keep me sane(ish). And that is my collection of books. I have been an avid reader for many, many years.  I discovered science fiction and fantasy at quite an early age when I found Destination Mars by Hugh Walters in the school library, previous to this I had read all of Willard Prices books. From then on I regularly got criticized by my English teacher, Mr Mouncher, who felt that I should be reading Dickens or Austen; ‘Stop reading that Star Trek rubbish’

Needless to say, I didn’t stop reading it. And I was encouraged by my maths teacher who lent me books by Cordwainer Smith and Arthur C Clarke, thanks Mr Cobley! I worked  my way through the Hugh Walters books, powered my way through Clarke and Asimov and then discovered fantasy, in the writings of Robert E Howard and his creation, Conan the barbarian.

Over the years I collected many books. It wasn’t enough to borrow them from the library, I had to have my own copy. I didn’t read a book and then get rid of it, I kept it to read again. I ended up, a few years ago, with thousands. As you can imagine, Mrs Giant68 was never that impressed.

Then she bought me a Kindle. I think there was hope that I would get rid of all the novels piled up around the house. And I did get rid of them. As I replaced them with the electronic version I would send the physical book to the charity shop. I am now the proud owner of thousands of ebooks. I still have some ‘real’ books, those with some sentimental value and signed copies.

Back to the current situation. While I have been sat, social distancing, I have had a chance to scour Amazon for new books to read. Amazon is a great place for people like me, especially in this day of self-publishing. There is a myriad of books at knockdown prices. I rarely pay over 99p for a book. There is, however, a drawback to self-publishing, and that is that some of them are absolute shite. But in amongst the dross there are some absolute gems and these range from proper ‘pulp’ scifi to some that would hold their own against literary classics. And there are a plethora of sub-genres to choose from, steampunk, urban fantasy etc. In the old days of paying over a fiver for a paperback, I would finish every book I bought. I was going to get my moneys worth. Nowadays, if I have spent 99p on a book and it proves to be crap, I don’t bother. Life is too short to read rubbish books. I tend to avoid ‘zombie’ novels as they all follow the same idea, and I feel that it is lazy writing and authors without the imagination to write something original. Apologies if you are one of those writers but please feel free to convince me otherwise.

Currently, I am waiting for Neal Ashers latest episode from his Jain series, The Human, to hit the shelves. The previous books being absolutely amazing and unputdownable. But then that is what I have come to expect from Asher, as well as Peter F Hamilton.

I have discovered fantasy from the keyboard of Justin Lee Anderson, The Lost War. A story that could rival the writing of David Gemmell.

I am currently reading The Atomic Sea by Jack Conner and loving it. It looks like it is a long series so I am not sure how long I will stick with it before it starts to bore me but at the moment it has captured my imagination with the imagery it contains. Next in the reading queue are books by Steve McHugh, excellent urban fantasy writing, something by Michael Anderle, real pulp fiction but, like the others mentioned here, good for losing yourself in for several hours.

In a way we are in a golden age of writing, more so, I think, than in any other time. The opportunities that the ebook have presented to budding authors seem to be without limits. Anybody can live one life but a reader can live thousands of lives.

I expect that Mr Mouncher, the old English teacher, has long since passed to the great library in the sky but I wonder what he would say to me now.

In the meantime, and while you are self isolating, get along to Amazon and check out the offerings of Neal Asher and Peter F Hamilton for vast, sweeping space operas with complex plots and even more complex characters. Or Justin Lee Andersons Lost War if you are into well imagined fantasy. For the urban fantasy fan, try Steve McHugh and his Hellequin series. I make no apology for plugging these authors, they write some great stories, but remember that Amazon has a vast catalogue of books in all formats, why not try something new?
 Stay indoors. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Read a good book and stay sane.

Regards

Giant68 :-)