On the Omnibuses: April

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Original Illustrated Strand Sherlock Holmes

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901–02) *****

The earlier novels had their problems, but this rural gothic masterpiece gives the series much-needed room to stretch its legs and intellect after a few too many trivial shorts. It's the first time I'd read the original, but subconscious memories of variably subversive adaptations meant I was usually a step ahead of Watson. Or maybe I'm just a genius.

Dr. Seuss, A Classic Treasury

The Cat in the Hat (1957) **

I don't know what he was a Dr. of, but I'm sure these conflicting stock personalities are ripe for psychoanalysis so you're spared from having to write your English essay on hard novels. I missed out on the chaotic fun in my childhood, but I was never big on rhyme anyway. I don't know why it always pleases me when these magical kids' stories are open to the boring dream interpretation.

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (1958) *

A wry allegory for corporate delegation getting out of hand, I expect! Even the kids weren't pleased to see the Twat come back. How encouraging is that?

H. G. Wells, Five Great Novels

The War of the Worlds (1897) ***

George Pal's film version scared me as a child and Jeff Wayne's rock opera excuses that entire medium, but going back to the source was a bit disappointing. Where The Time Machine was awe-inspiring, even in its dystopian pessimism, this is just depressing, but still historically interesting to get an authentic steampunk take on the now-cliched alien invasion in the alien culture of pre-war, pre-radio Britain.

Philip K. Dick, Five Great Novels

A Scanner Darkly (1977) **

I was hoping I'd get more out of this counterculture favourite after having read most of his other works and not passively absorbing it in audiobook, but it still didn't do much for me. I prefer my paranoia light and conspiratorial. There's some nice retronearfuturistic Black Mirror gadgetry, but I'd still rather its slot in this collection had been taken by pretty much any of his others. I can always rip it out and glue Eye in the Sky in.

Arthur C. Clarke, Four Great SF Novels

Rendezvous with Rama (1973) *****

Its marvels are burned into my teenage memory, but I was so blown away by the cosmic mystery back then that I lost interest when the more conventional drama and satire came into play. Now I can better appreciate the whole as one of the Great SF Novels (not that I've read many of those even now) and a rare case of a film adaptation I'd actually look forward to seeing (with entitled expectations).

Various, The World Treasury of Science Fiction

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Harrison Bergeron (1961) ***

Short, satirical stab at participation trophy culture and the equal opportunity dystopia from the good old days that never were.

John W. Campbell, Jr., Forgetfulness (1937) ***

Imaginative technology and colonial catharsis that deserve a more worthwhile story, but it was the early days.

John Berryman, Special Flight (1939) *

The promise of pre-WW2 Star Trek evaporates as we lower our gaze to the routine mechanics of space flight.

J. G. Ballard, Chronopolis (1960) ****

Thoughtfully skewed anticapitalist hypothesis from the golden age of allegory.

Kono Tensei, Triceratops (1974) ***

Wholesome prehistoric paranormal that's probably about something.

Theodore Sturgeon, The Man Who Lost the Sea (1959) ****

Fight Club on Mars. Oh, spoilers.

Karl Michael Armer, On the Inside Track (1986) **

An upbeat and cloyingly sentimental take on psychic rape is something different, I guess.

Avram Davidson, The Golem (1955) ****

Not substantial enough to make it into the annals of sci-fi comedy, but a refreshing, thigh-slapping interlude all the same.

Rene Rebetez-Cortes, The New Prehistory (1967) ***

More disturbing zoomorphic metaphors than 'sheeple.'

Arthur C. Clarke, A Meeting with Medusa (1971) *****

I couldn't really see what I'd seen in this the first time when rating it the best of his short-ish stories, until the momentous meeting replayed and I got to enjoy the closing reveal all over again.

Alrightreads: TV V

J. Michael Straczynski, Mark Moretti, Michael Netzer and Carlos Garzon, Babylon 5

1994-95 (collected 1995) / Ecomics / 96 pages / USA

**

When a TV series is plotted out years in advance, it's not a huge surprise that tie-in media would be able to scoop up some of the leftovers they didn't get around to doing properly, rather than commissioning some hacks to riff impotently on established themes. Coming straight from Straczynski (via some hacks), this four-parter feels authentically like a missing episode. Not a great one, but one we sort of needed, though may end up being summarised in a quick line of dialogue for the benefit of less extracurricular nerds anyway.

J. Michael Straczynski, Tim DeHaas and John Ridgway, Babylon 5: Shadows Past and Present

1995 (collected 1996) / Ecomics / 96 pages / USA/UK

***

The short-lived comic hits its stride with better writing and drawing of another arc-sowing story by the boss. The plot and character voices are authentic, it only loses credibility as a real episode of the budget series through its la-de-da location shooting. As someone who's reading these in the proper sequence, it kept up the hype nicely. Race through shows and miss the immersion to your detriment.

Jane Killick, Babylon 5: The Coming of Shadows

1998 / Ebook / 200 pages / UK

***

These seasonal guides are less in-depth than they appear when you add up all the blank space, overlong synopses of episodes we've seen and needlessly repeated main cast lists for 22 episodes, and serialising them just a few months apart makes it seem like they're squeezing fans for more than a comprehensive companion would allow. Maybe I was more cynical this time around because of the uninspiring foreword that focuses squarely on the series' economic efficiency.

Eric Althoff and Toshihiro Kawamoto, Cowboy Bebop Anime Guide, Vol.001

1998 (trans. 2002) / Ebook / 96 pages / USA/Japan

*

One of many similarities between this acclaimed anime and Joss Whedon's Firefly is that I've never really got what the fuss is about, so I thought reading along might help me to find that enlightenment. Sadly, after a brief introduction that spells out some of the implicit backstory and cross-genre references, this immediately collapses into childish character profiles and a screencap storybook covering the first five of twenty-six episodes. I won't bother with the rest.

Jane Killick, Babylon 5: Point of No Return

1998 / Ebook / 200 pages / UK

***

As these introductory chapters continue to check off random themes in turn (this time: special effects), these are looking more and more like a full series companion the author was working on that was released slightly prematurely and split down the seasons to bank on the partwork subscription model. They should've included parts of a Starfury or glow-in-the-dark Londo with each one to make them more collectable.

Babyliography VII: When Are Libraries Opening Again?

Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins, 101 Great Ways to Sew a Metre

2010 / Hardback / 304 pages / USA

**

I let the wife fill out the dad and daughter used book discount bonanza with a few generic craft and recipe books from the limited selection, because that's the kind of amazing husband I am. A full-time mum isn't going to have the chance to indulge in hobbies any time soon, but this has turned out to be one of the toddler's favourite books to flick through tirelessly looking for the elusive photos of girls, pets and teddies amid all the diagrams. Kids are weird.

Michael Chinery ed, Concise Field Guide to the Animals & Plants of Britain & Europe

1991 / Hardback / 576 pages / UK

****

I'm going to try to be more of an outdoors dad than I was an outdoor kid (not the greatest challenge), as much as work and not having a car allow, and I thought it would be nice to learn these things together. She prefers watching wildlife videos intended for cats, but this is usually a reasonable substitute. I enjoyed the League of Gentlemen reference too.

Jim Flegg and David Hosking, Birds of Britain and Europe

2007 / Paperback / 256 pages / UK

***

A more specialised take on the same theme, since she's always on the lookout for 'doo-doos,' this has the advantage of actual photos. We like the owls particularly.

Unknown, Peppa Pig: Peppa's Story Collection – 6 books in 1

2012 / Hardback / 144 pages / UK

**

There was no existing Peppa craze to satisfy, just my own satisfaction of scoring bumper omnibi for the same price as individual books. She didn't care about this book until she'd watched some clips, and it seems to be an acceptable substitute for now. I may end up tearing it apart.

Marianne Bogardt and Maxie Chambliss, The Pop Up Potty Book

1995 / Pop-up book / 12 pages

***

Shameless propaganda. It's not all fun and games.

Alrightreads: TV IV

Ray Richmond and Antonia Coffman, The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family

1997 / Paperback / 249 pages / USA

**

This was one of my most desired books around the time it appeared in shops, but was always slightly out of my budget or usurped by more bloody Star Trek. It's so cheap on eBay now that I picked it up for family viewing in the future, but while I appreciate its arbitrarily correct golden-age cut-off point, its bland, official gloss is less interesting than a tatty and opinionated programme guide would be. Or, you know, a blog.

 

Joe Nazzaro, The Making of Red Dwarf

1994 / Paperback / 95 pages / UK

****

I didn't really know about this nicely specific tie-in to the most nostalgic era of my favourite TV series until I was living outside of British eBay range, so it was a treat to finally get around to it. The daily fly-on-the-wall approach is nicely intimate, and while something more definitively exhaustive would have been preferable, padding out the page count with exclusive photos is a fair exchange.

Paul Alexander, Red Dwarf Space Corps Survival Manual

1996 / Ebook / 185 pages / UK

**

I was in the market for Red Dwarf books when this was still in shops, but even as a less discerning primary school pupil, a quick flick through was enough to decide that my limited funds would be better spent elsewhere (and I was mainly looking at the flip book). The psychotic guidance could be funny on its own ("just think of it as biting your nails taken to its logical conclusion"), but having the Red Dwarf characters provide one-dimensional commentary isn't any funnier than the previous Christmas' lazy stocking stuffer.

David Bassom, Creating Babylon 5

1996 / Ebook / 128 pages / UK

***

I was never going to be as immersed and obsessive about this series watched as an adult over a few months as if I'd tuned in for five years as a junior Trekkie, but I'm giving it my best shot. This bogstandard behind-the-scenes guide can stand in for the monthly magazine my mum was spared from buying.

Jane Killick, Babylon 5: Signs and Portents

1998 / Ebook / 196 pages / UK

***

Combining illuminating interviews with the opinionated commentary of an astute fan blog, these season-by-season, episode-by-episode guides could have been the perfect companions to watching the series for the first time, if only they'd been published in real time without the irresistible hindsight of four years' worth of spoilers. Maybe I'll save up the others to reminisce with some Jovian sunspots when it's all over.

On the Omnibuses: March

Various, A Gothic Treasury of the Supernatural

Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764) ****

Like Poe doing Shakespeare. I couldn't pin down precisely how far this pioneering pastiche's tongue is meant to be jutting out to the side, but even if it's all sincere cheese, it's still a riveting classic that doesn't outstay its welcome.

H. P. Lovecraft, The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927) ***

Lovecraft's single longest work is more unadventurous homage than ultimate statement. The restraint makes it more tolerable than the stream-of-consciousness dream rambles, but these ponderous fictional biographies are hardly worth your time when you could fit in a few of the pacier classics instead. Especially since it's so unmemorable, you're liable to forget all about it and make yourself read it again a few years later.

The Shadow Out of Time (1936) ****

Another one I didn't fully take in when I went through his stories chronologically, being one of his last and mainly reworking familiar themes. Taken more in isolation it's a well-balanced sci-fi horror that's as imaginative as Wells, if not as eloquent. The sceptical spoilsport in me appreciated the ambiguity too.

Various, Modernism: An Anthology

Mina Loy (1914–25) **

I'd admired the futurist lunacy of The Lunar Baedeker previously, but this tiny sampling of works doesn't have a chance to bear out the lofty ideals of the manifestos, which subsequently can't help coming off as naive fancies.

H. D. (1913–33) ****

High-definition snapshots of nature and rehabilitating the women of mythology.

Dorothy Richardson (1917–39) ***

More immediate observation and introspection in unfettered prose, then it's time for the frivolity to end and on to obsolete political musings.

John Milton, The Poetical Works of John Milton

Paradise Lost, Books VII–XII (1667/74) ***

The diabolical prequel and worlds-building over with, we're now into the elaborate illustrated edition of Gen. 1–3, the poet's brush skilfully illuminating the complex contradictions and straight-up sexism before closing weakly with a stripped-down summary of coming attractions. My appreciation for this work is mainly back in the first half, I was always more into spectacle than character.

Paradise Regained (1671) **

Better treated as minimalist coda than a disappointing sequel, the lack of artistic embellishment in this tribute and the absence of any stakes or drama makes it largely a waste of time, but fans of the Bible franchise might get something out of it.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Original Illustrated Strand Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, cont. (a.k.a. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, 1892–93) ****

The back half of the original series contains fewer classics and more anticlimactic filler, but also completes the canonical cast. It was admirable of the author to kill off his pop culture sensation before it got stale. Since this is as far as I'd read previously, it remains to be seen whether the resurrection was worth it.

Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf Omnibus

Red Dwarf (1989) *****

Many people have a favorite book they can re-read endlessly, and I guess this is mine. I have such long-standing love for the TV series that it's a harder decision than something like Hitchhiker's Guide, but I think the novels are the definitive take. Best read when you have some familiarity with the characters to care, but ideally haven't seen the early episodes so your imagination isn't restricted by a 1980s BBC budget. It did the trick for me. I'd love to write the book on this book, if only I could be bothered.

Better Than Life (1991) ****

Mirroring the progression of its television counterpart in real time, the second book is heavier on plot than character and downright heartless at times before the reward of a characteristically unconventional happy ending. It doesn't dazzle as literature like the first, but it's still funny and full of great comic sci-fi ideas, the central set piece particularly.

Extras (1984–92) ***

As if collecting the two classic novels weren't enough, we get 35 pages of variably insightful special features that were especially interesting before we were spoiled by the DVD archive – one of the proto-Dwarf Dave Hollins radio sketches, the first draft of the pilot episode (if you really need a third version of the story), and a joke beer mat destined to be taken seriously by the type of fans who contribute IMDb "trivia."