Review: A Walking Tour of the Shambles

A Walking Tour of the Shambles by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is a very short book, and was actually co-written by Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe (whom Gaiman has often declared himself a fan of). It purports to be a walking tour of an area known as "The Shambles", which is a fictional neighborhood in Chicago (where Wolfe lives) and obviously is the site of some extremely strange history. Some of the locations include a really weird church, a house of clocks, and a house belonging to H.H. Holmes (America's first serial killer). All of which remain rather dangerous for the casual visitor.

This book is fun, and while not a long read is an easy recreational read, sure to please both Gaiman and Wolfe's fans.



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Snow Crash

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



What a truly amazing book! It's a futuristic thriller, written by a novelist with a stunning power of imagination. Unlike some of his later books, this one is fast-paced, almost to the point where too much is happening at once.

One of the things I really loved about this book is that the baddest bad guy is an Aleut. It's rare to have an American Indian who's not some kind of stereotype, and this guy really isn't. He's just incredibly awesome.

The protagonist of the story is named Hiro Protagonist (yeah!) and he's a half-black, half-Japanese hacker/swordsman. I know, it almost sounds like too much, but it turns out that he's really cool and it's not overdone.

The imagination Stephenson displays in this book is simply stunning. Connecting Sumerian myths to computer viruses and drugs is pretty original, but more than that is the work he's done building his socio-political world.

This book was a great read, and I highly recommend it to people who like thrillers or speculative fiction.



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