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What's New
Review Features
S - Science Fiction
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
Complete Listing
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Adams, Douglas (S)
Asher, Neal (S)
Aylett, Steve (S)
Banks, Iain M (S)
Barclay, James (F)
Barker, Clive (H)
Baxter, Stephen (S)
Brin, David (S)
Bury, Stephen (S)
Card, Orson Scott (S)
Cherryh, CJ (S/F)
Clute, John (S)
Cockayne, Steve (F)
Cook, Glen (F)
Danielewski, Mark (H)
Dick, Philip K (S)
Egan, Greg (S)
Feist, Raymond (F)
Gaiman, Neil (F)
Gibson, William (S)
Goodkind, Terry (F)
Grimwood, Jon C (S)
Hamilton, Peter (S)
Jeter, K.W. (S)
Jordan, Robert (F)
Lethem, Jonathan (S)
McAuley, Paul (S)
MacLeod, Ken (S)
Martin, George RR (F)
McMullen, Sean (S)
Miéville, China (S)
Moran, Daniel K (S)
Morgan, Richard K (S)
Nagata, Linda (S)
Niven, Larry (S)
Noon, Jeff (S)
Robinson, Kim S. (S)
Rucker, Rudy (S)
Simmons, Dan (S)
Smith, Michael Marshall (S)
Stephenson, Neal (S)
Sterling, Bruce (S)
Vinge, Vernor (S)
Westerfeld, Scott (S)
Williams, Sean (S)
Williams, Tad (S/F)
Collections (S/F)
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| The Classics |
Bradbury, Ray (S/H)
Burgess, Anthony (S)
Tolkien, JRR (F) |
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| Jeff Noon |
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 Our
Ranking Vurt is one of those surreal master pieces
that can redefine how you think you science fiction. Any description of the book
will do it no justice since the beauty is in the description and the way he pulls
you into the post modern Manchester. All I can give you is a quick glimpse at
the surrealness of it. Vurt is actually a drug. A sort of programmed drug that
is built into feathers. Each type of feather is programmed almost like a disc,
to perform different functions and have varying affects to the user. You take
the drug by pushing the feather down your throat. The main characters are on a
quest to find the so called "Black Feather" which is rumored to open terrific
secrets. What follows can simply be described as amazingly surreal. Noon's writing
style is incredible. He describes this world which such realism and matter of
factness that it seems completely normal to have a thing from outer space living
in the front of the characters van. Right from the opening page you are drawn
into this world and will not be able to put down the book. The world Noon managed
to create is extremely impressive. He is able to describe the world without delivering
the painful details of how it is done, but yet leave you with enough understanding
that it makes sense. For instance, with the Vurt itself. He doesn't bother trying
to explain how the feather works, but it is described so wonderfully that you
are left accepting it as fact. The characters and the plot are equally well written
here. All of the characters, even "the thing from outer space" are nicely developed
and you are pulled into their surreal existence and plight. The plot itself is
a page turner. Noon does a wonderful job building the suspense and just flat out
telling a great tale that is pushed to the next level by the world he created
and his incredible writing here. If there is any short coming of this book it
is the ending, which is a tiny bit of a let down compared to the greatness of
what builds up to it. By no means though is this a reason not to read this. This
is by far one of my favorite stories, and its creativity is nearly unrivaled.
Noon is a terrific talent that hasn't quite hit the US yet. Any fan of science
fiction, especially fantastical sci-fi, should give this book a read. |
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 Our
Ranking Nymphomation is yet another fantastical
tour de force set in Noon's futuristic Manchester. It starts off centering around
a new lottery that has been sanctioned in Manchester one that uses a Domino set
instead of the standard numbers. Players purchase domino tiles that perpetually
change their numbers. If at lottery time, the primary tile locks at the same number
scheme as your tile locks at you win. The game also has some interesting side
rules, one being if a double blank is the final set, everyone loses and it's not
just the money you spent on the tile that you lose. The book centers around a
group of mathematicians who want to try and hack the Domino game, discovering
what drives it and maybe even try to win it themselves. The game winds up being
driven by a darker force than expected and the mathematicians are plunged into
the struggle of their lives. Noon's writing has progressed with each novel I've
read of his and this is him at his best. He uses an almost stream of conscious
type of writing that blends wonderfully with the mood of the book. He especially
shines when describing the lottery nights, getting the reader to feel the same
excitement and buzz that the city does. The characters are also brilliant, each
described and fleshed out as only Noon can. The plot itself isn't as strong and
cohesive as his earlier novels, but it is certainly the most imaginative. He basically
takes Vurt and Pollen and pushes it to the next level. While this made for great
reading, at points it gets just a little too surreal making it a bit difficult
to understand what's happening. Unfortunately this happens at some of the key
points in the novel. The book turns out to be a prequel to Vurt and you find yourself
with some answers to how things evolved in Vurt. This was a pleasant surprise
and really added to the book. Overall, if you liked Vurt or that style of novel
this will not disappoint. |
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Our Ranking Pixel Juice was the first
Noon book I've read in quite a while, and the first time I'd ever read any of
his short stories. I have to admit, I was intrigued by what Noon could do with
a short story. His imagery, and also his tendency to try completely new things
with a pen, seemed to almost lend itself to some incredible short stories. Unfortunately,
Pixel Juice didn't live up to my expectations, but it still provided some terrific
stories. Overall, according to the back cover, there are 50 short stories in Pixel
Juice. A lot of them are set in the same reality setting as Vurt and Pollen, while
several other seemed to just be set in "normal" reality. (well as normal as Noon
can get) To be honest,my favorite story was the very first one. It was really
just a very simple introduction, but was very powerful in its simplicity. (unfortunately,
it is followed up at the end of the book, and the 2nd piece didn't do the 1st
piece justice). One of the things that bothered me a little bit, is that a lot
of the stories, just seemed like ideas that Noon had thrown down on a piece of
paper. They didn't seem complete. A few of the stories were mock advertisements,
or directions to a game, and while they were entertaining, I was left just thinking:
"ok, and...?" Also, I was disappointed that Noon didn't really expand the boundaries
that much. Having most of them set in Vurt world, left me wishing he'd explored
some other territory and really showed what he could do. That said, there were
some good stories in here and I don't regret reading this. As always, Noon's edgy,
poetic, style of writing was in full form. Fetish Booth #7 stood out, as did The
Charisma Engine (probably a close second to the prologue as my favorite). One
good thing about it being set in Vurt world was Noon brought you a little more
in depth into some of the life styles of the different races he had created in
Vurt and Pollen. So, basically, if you enjoyed the world Noon created with Vurt
and Pollen give this series of stories a shot. You'll appreciate the expansion
of the universe a bit. One piece of advise though: don't try to read this book
straight through. Take it in pieces and I think it enhances it a bit. There's
just too much jumping around with 50 stories to try and read this straight through.
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| Our Ranking Falling out of Cars is the
first book of Noon's that I've read that was not set in the world of Vurt/Pollen.
(however, it wouldn't be a stretch to think that this is the world before Nymphomation,
but I don't think it is) I was curious to see how Noon would do with something
outside of Vurt world, and to tell the truth, I was a bit surprise by the results.
Falling out of Cars is actually a pretty sad book. (Sad as in the emotion sad,
not sad quality) It is set in England, in what seemingly is the not to distant
future. The world has basically, for lack of a better word, begun slipping. There
is a disease that has no cure, that is slowly spreading across the country, and
basically causes its victims to lose their sense of reality and themselves. People's
memory slowly fades and what is left can't be trusted. And through out this epidemic,
people just try to continue on with their lives as much as possible. The book
centers are a group of characters that are on a mission of sorts, tasked to collect
powerful artifacts for an eccentric that pays them handsomely for each piece they
recover. They continue on these missions, despite the fact that several of them
are coming down with the disease making it harder and harder to tell if what they
are doing is even real. Noon does a tremendous job describing the effects of the
disease, basically writing first person from the main character. She attempts
to write down all the is occurring, but you are left not trusting her own renditions
which adds an extra flair to the book. All of the characters are well written,
but left vague enough that you are left wondering more about their pasts, that
may even be lost to them. The writing is very well done. Some of the scenes in
here are simply incredible. Two scenes in particular really stood out, one involving
a simple camera being my favorite. Noon really twists this story into a very surreal
state which at points is brilliant but at other points goes a little too far and
gets very confusing. A little of this I'm sure is on purpose, since it is in first
person, the main character is getting just as confused from the effects of the
disease. The book starts off very strongly, the first half being terrific, but
then Noon really seemed to let it wander a bit, almost just hopping from one surreal
scene to the next. This eventual lack of direction is the only thing that really
bothered me about this one. However, even with the lack of direction, the individual
scenes are written wonderfully. Overall, this is a very good book, and while not
up there with Vurt & Pollen is still a very good effort by Noon. |
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