For those that don’t know, I came to reading Fiction rather late. In September of 2006, at the age of about 37 I decided to start reading. Up until that point I had pretty much avoided reading wherever possible for most of my life. I did what I had to for my degree, PhD and job, but I was a minimum effort reader. 🙂 The first series of books I read was The Vampire Chronicles and I just carried on.
It’s been almost a year since I last read a novel. I think I got so preoccupied with other stuff I just kind-of stopped and it was a mistake. It’s not like I used the extra time wisely. I just spent longer procrastinating and thinking of what I should be doing. 🙂 On a recent trip to Bulgaria I found myself with several hours to spare on planes and in airports with not much to do, so I opened the Kindle app on my phone and decided to read. I had no internet connection, but I had one book already downloaded and ready to go.
For the sake of full disclosure I must mention I know the author. I went to university with Andy Jones and we were housemates for 5 years during our degrees and PhDs. That probably makes me a bit biased, but I still think it was a great book. When I finished reading it I immediately messaged him saying, “You talented bastard!” 🙂
From there I kind-of came full circle and read Prince Lestat : The Vampire Chronicles. It was a welcome return to the series that got me reading 10 years ago. Lestat is a great character and the story brought together lots of characters and elements from the previous books. By the end of it I was sucked (no pun intended) right back into the world of the Dark Gift.
This morning I finished Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis: The Vampire Chronicles. It had all the trademarks of Anne Rice and The Vampire Chronicles, but I felt at times it was a little over-indulgent. There were several sections of the book where the pacing was just off. I wouldn’t go as far as to say boring, but it needed to be snappier. Having said that, it was really good to see more character development of Amel, the spirit that animates the whole vampire tribe. It felt almost like a new end to The Vampire Chronicles, but maybe it’s a new beginning?
So there you have it. What I’ve read since mid November. I’m not sure where I’m going next…
Cheers
Tim…