Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (3166)

Content

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul in Books

Nov 20, 2019

Douglas Adams might be (rightly) famous for the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy series but for Dirk Gently was the jewel in the crown. Carefully plotted, a well constructed and intriguing lead character and still the sublime humour and turn of phrase.

This second outing sees Dirk at a bit of a loss after his latest - very rich - client comes down with a bad case of being dead. That doesn't stop him though as his unique ability to link apparently unrelated facts leads him to one simple conclusion - the old gods are back.

Dirk is a joy as a character because he is so unlikely, allowing himself to be buffeted towards the truth by the tides of fate. Obviously the actual plot is far fetched but that's the whole point, if it wasn't impossible a normal detective would do. And the jokes, one liners, very clever observations and turns of phrase abound. A mystery wrapped in a conundrum wrapped in Adams' unique wit. What more could anyone want?

Kudos

Sara Cox (1845 KP) rated The Psychology of Time Travel in Books

Feb 8, 2020

The Psychology of Time Travel

Kate Mascarenhas | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

When I first started reading this book, what I did not expect was it to be a murder-mystery!
Four women have invented a time machine and this book explores how time travel effects the women and their different personalities. There is a running theme of death within the story - and let's be honest, that's what everyone would be asking themselves about their own future. I really like the thoughtfulness of the language, the slang that time travellers would use, for example "green self" is used to describe yourself from a time period before where you are and "silver self" the opposite. I really enjoyed reading this and found the jumping through time quite easy, I even forgot to read the date on some chapters and still managed to figure out where in the timeline the chapter stood pretty quickly without getting confused. The writing is clear and easy to read. I found the murder-mystery especially interesting! And how motives jump through time as well as the detective who has to solve it without altering the timeline. Highly recommend.