The Mad Metropolis
by Phillip E. High (Ace, 1966)
reprinted as “Double Illusion” (Dobson, 1970)
While the central premise remains relevant—humanity entrusting itself to an AI but installing a kill switch that sends it crazy—High’s execution is amateurish, adding layer after extraneous, unpolished layer to turn an intriguing short story idea into a flabby novel.
Triplet
by Timothy Zahn (Baen, 1987)
Zahn finds a fresh way to mix fantasy and SF but becomes too caught up in worldbuilding and posing scenario-specific problems for his characters to solve. The actual story is little more than advanced role-playing, the high-stakes threat just another intellectual exercise.
Till Death Do Us Part
by John Dickson Carr (Hamish Hamilton, 1944)
audiobook read by Kris Dyer (Soundings, 2022)
A thoroughly ingenious locked room murder mystery, but one in which the author focusses too much on obfuscation. The narrator stumbles from confusion to confusion while the detective (Gideon Fell) skirts the main issue and sits pretty but silent on the solution.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
by Edwin A. Abbott (Seeley & Co., 1884)
audiobook read by James Langton (Tantor, 2009)
A mercifully short ‘mathematical’ SF novel in which a square, learning of the hitherto unknown third dimension, narrates the workings of his own two-dimensional world. Flatland is readable as a (late 19th Century) social satire, but the story has little intrinsic appeal.
The Murder at the Vicarage
by Agatha Christie
(Collins Crime Club, 1930); audiobook read by Joan Hickson (Lamplight Audiobooks, 2015)
The first Miss Marple novel is inventive enough, though for much of the book Marple herself is sidelined and the detection takes place via committee. Joan Hickson is a curious choice of audiobook narrator, given that Reverend Clement is the viewpoint character.
The Bug Wars
by Robert Asprin
(New English Library, 1980) [first published St Martin’s Press, 1979]
![Book cover: “The Bug Wars” by Robert Asprin (New English Library, 1980) [first published St Martin’s Press, 1979]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Asprin_Bug-Wars.jpg)
Beneath the horribly pulpy title lies a well-measured, almost cerebral piece of military SF. All the characters are insectoid, yet they engage the reader every bit as much as Earthly protagonists would, their committed hive mentality evoking western perceptions of Asian soldiers.
Thou Shell of Death
by Nicholas Blake (Collins, 1936); audiobook read by Kris Dyer (Bolinda, 2015)
A marked improvement on the first book. Nigel Strangeways appears from the outset and isn’t so abstruse in puzzling out the murder(s). Still, he remains slow on the uptake—less dazzling detective, more scatter-brained dilettante bumbling his way through a crossword puzzle.
The Hunting of the Snark
by Lewis Carroll (Macmillan, 1876); ill. Chris Riddell (Macmillan, 2016)
Carroll’s nonsense poem is unevenly paced and awkward in metre, more memorable for creatures spoken of in passing than for the narrative of the hunt itself. Riddell illustrates for children, but the language and allusions are suggestive of a more adult whimsy.
The Adventures of John and Tigger
by Delia Huddy; ill. John Spiers (Hamlyn, 1979)
A collection of three short stories for young school children. Rather sweetly, the adventures are thoroughly domestic and humdrum, revolving around family life, playing with friends, and visiting relatives—albeit that this last escapade involves a runaway car! A little bit Pooh-like.
Five Go to Mystery Moor
by Enid Blyton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953); audiobook read by Jan Francis (Bolinda, 2021)
The children’s classist (pitched as precocious) assumption of superiority remains off-putting, but the supporting characters are memorably drawn and the set-up pays off in a sudden breathless rush, transforming the meander into a boys’ own (and girls-as-boys’ own!) adventure with real stakes.