The Atrocity Archive

I've just read The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross. I have to say, it was bloody awesome. It's got

• Lovecraftian horror
  
• Nazis
  
• System Administration
  
• Maths
  
• Unix
  
• tcpdump
  

And more!

It's the tale of Bob Howard, a low-level system administrator/hacker, who had stumbled onto some dark secrets and got drafted into The Laundry, a top-secret organization within the British Government that deals with occult threats. He gets moved into active duty, as an agent, and all kinds of excitement ensues - eldritch horror as well as bureaucratic wrangling.

Now, I'm aware that I'm pretty much slap-bang in the middle of the intersection of the book's demographics, but even so, I have to say it's a bloody good read. I've got the sequel, The Jennifer Morgue, sitting on my bedside table to be read soon.

West Bank Story

Just saw this on SBS. Very nice.

The stress of her regard

Just finished reading The Stress of her Regard, by Tim Powers. I've got to say I do really enjoy reading Tim Powers - I've got to get my hands on the rest of them some time (I've read Declare, The Anubis Gates, Drawing of the Dark, and On Stranger Tides). His stuff isn't like anything else out there (that I've read, anyway) - it's pseudo-historical fiction, based around real characters and events, and he then comes up with the secret occult secrets that explain it all. There's a depth to the mythologies and occult lore in his books that is just astonishing, and he comes at the ideas from a completely different angle than anyone else.

Stress is a vampire novel, with Byron, Shelley, and Keats. It tells the story of the last years of Shelley's life through the eyes of Michael Crawford, an English doctor who is haunted by a strange demon/vampire/lamia creature. It was a riveting read, and the mythology that Powers builds is rich and believable. It's certainly one of his better books, and it's another of his that will haunt my thoughts of mythology and religion. Reading Shelley's wikipedia entry is like getting a recap of the story of the book, minus the bits the book states didn't make it into the public record.

Summary: a damn good read. Go out and read all of Tim Powers' stuff, especially the later novels, where he's worked out how to end a story without an anticlimax.

Kids

Today was an amusing day to be a dad.

First was Dante on the train. We were on our way home, and he spotted a young couple near us (Uni students, by the look of them) looking at a book together. Strolled over a little, trying to figure out what it was. Peered over the girl's shoulder, trying to read. The guy seemed to be trying to impress his girl with his culturedness ("Hey, read this, it's great!"). Eventually Dante caught their attention, and they showed him the book (Catch 22). He asked to read it, and they handed it over. He started reading it; they were impressed by his reading prowess - you could see Dante was very much enjoying impressing the young lady. After he handed the book back (we were nearing our station), he told the guy that he looked like Peter Parker. The girl didn't know who that was, but the guy said "Oh yeah, Spiderman". She commented that she didn't really know Spiderman, and the guy said to Dante "Don't worry, she isn't very cool". Dante looked up at her and said "I think you're cool".

The kid is busting moves on Uni students, and leaving their Uni-aged boyfriends in the dust. I fear his charm when he becomes a teenager.

Next was Atty, who had his shots today. I'm told he was a Very Brave Boy, and Didn't Cry Much. When I was bathing his and his sister, he said to her "Look at my shot! Look! But, don't touch it, or you might get a shot too!". Who knew vaccinations were contagious?

And then there was Elora, chattering away to herself. "I'm a girl, I'm a girl, vroom, vroom, vroom".