C
CAIN, James M.
B- Mildred Pearce 1941 Novel
Mildred: heroine, or just as
shallow as the men she supplants?
CALVINO, Italo
A If On A Winters Night A Traveller 1939 Crime
Postmodern, self-aware, deconstructive – but also fun and engaging
B The Plague 1947 Novel
Plague as a metaphor for German occupation of France
CARCATERRA, Lorenzo
C Sleepers 1995 Crime
Fails as either fact or fiction
CARD, Orson Scott
A+ Ender’s Game (Book 1 of the Ender saga) 1985 SF
Classic, clever taut plot, powerful convincing brutal narrative
B+ The Speaker for the Dead (Book 2 of the Ender saga) 1986 SF
Flawed overpopulated sequel, but some great lines given to the Speaker
B+ Seventh Son (The Tales of Alvin Maker 1) 1987 SF
Messianic child magic in US pioneering alternative history
B Red Prophet (The Tales of Alvin Maker 2) 1988 SF
Fairly surreal US magical alternative history sequel
B+ Prentice Alvin (The Tales of Alvin Maker 3) 1989 SF
Magical/messianic Alvin moves into manhood. Series back on track
B The Folk of the Fringe 1990 SF
Post nuclear WWIII US Mormons survive like early settlers
B Maps in a Mirror Vol. 2 1991 Short Stories
Collection of short stories – more a curiosity for fans
B+ The Memory of Earth (Volume 1 of Homecoming) 1992 SF
Intriguing deep future saturated in Old Testament flavour, characters and dilemmas
B+ Magic Street 2005 Urban Fantasy
Bravely/foolishly mixing faery with contemporary US black community
B Pathfinder (Book 1) 2005 SF
Promising opening premise and characters, but descends into silliness and transcriptions of discussions of draft ideas
CARROLL, Steven
B- The Time We Have Taken 2007 Novel
All musing doth not a novel make
B Manhood For Amateurs 2009 Non-Fiction (Collected Columns)
Able, seductive, pretentious. Way more about individual and family experience than ‘manhood’.
CHANDLER, Raymond
A- The Big Sleep 1939 Crime
Great ‘hardboiled’ mood, powerful and witty figures of speech
A- Farewell My Lovely 1940 Crime
Original, dry humour with heart in the mean streets
A- The Lady In The Lake 1943 Crime
Great ‘hardboiled’ mood, powerful and witty figures of speech
B Playback 1948 Crime (Screenplay)
Competent, but not the best way to enjoy Chandler
A The Long Good-Bye 1953 Crime
Who cares about the plot? Just sit back and enjoy the ride knowing you’re in the hands of a master
CHANDLER, Raymond/PARKER,
Robert B.
B Poodle Springs 1989 Crime
Parker completes an unfinished (married) Marlowe novel
B- Love and Longing in Bombay 1997 Short Stories
Original but not engaging
CHERRYH, C.J.
B+ Gate of Ivrel (Book 1 of The Chronicles of Morgaine) 1976 SF
1st of the dark, compelling, morally tortured ‘Morgaine’ series
B Hunter of Worlds 1976 SF
Moral dilemmas involving aliens and action
B The Faded Sun: Shon’jir 1978 SF
Human interaction with the last of a proud, ruthless species
B+ Well of Ishiuan (Book 2 of The Chronicles of Morgaine) 1978 SF
2nd of the dark, compelling, morally tortured ‘Morgaine’ series
B+ Fires of Azeroth (Book 3 of The Chronicles of Morgaine) 1979 SF
3rd of the dark, compelling, morally tortured ‘Morgaine’ series
B The Pride of Chanur 1981 SF
A spaceship captain discovers a new species during an uneasy peace
B Serpent’s Reach 1981 SF
A surviving noble seeks revenge through alliance with an intelligent ant-like race
B+ Cukoo’s Egg 1985 SF
Unusually tight (for Cherryh) story of a human raised in a demanding alien discipline
D Rusalka 1989 SF
Frustratingly boring (and finally just boring) novel of indecision
B- Faery in Shadow 1993 Fantasy
Yet another outcast suffers tortured indecision, disappointing
B Fortress in the Eye of Time 1994 Fantasy
Initially slow and meandering, but stronger latter half
D Tripoint 1994 SF
Melodramatic bilge, characters we’re supposed to respect are pathetic
B- N or M? 1941 Crime / Spy
OK setup, but gets bogged down, hinges on some horribly implausible plot points, and adds insulting characterisation
CLANCY, Tom
D- The Teeth of the Tiger 2003 Action
Proudly stupid bigotry
CLARKE, Arthur C.
A Childhood's End 1953 SF
Wow
B 2001 A Space Odyssey 1968 SF
An interesting foil to the movie (it’s based on the screenplay)
B Imperial Earth 1977 SF
I don’t recall much but I must have liked it enough to keep it
CLARKE, Susanna
A Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell 2004 Fantasy
A triumph – plotting, pacing, characters, tone, faery, historical fiction, interplay, humour, tragedy – really enjoyable book.
CLEARY, John
C The Safe House 1975 Thriller
Particularly average
COOK, Peter (Cook, William
– Ed.)
B Tragically I was an Only Twin: The Complete Peter Cook 2002 Humour/Biography
Some great moments, but better as a DVD
CORNWALL, Bernard
B- Sharpe’s Company 1982 Historical Fiction/War
Authentic Napoleonic war props and setting; absurd pantomime characters
COOK, Hugh
B The Wizards and the Warlords (Chronicles of an Age of Darkness: Volume 1) 1986 Fantasy
Some original ideas, lots of unoriginal ones, fairly sloppy, some plot surprises
B The Wordsmiths & The Warguild (Chronicles of an Age of Darkness: Volume 2) 1987 Fantasy
Smug, crass, 2D characters and settings, but original subversion of perspective
COOK, Thomas
C The Crime of Julian Wells 2012 Crime
Pretentious, bland
CORMIER, Robert
D- Fade 1988 Novel
Ugly cynical projections mistaken for reality
COURTNEY, Bryce
B+ The Power of One 1989 Thriller
Enjoyable, gripping. Boy to successful man story in apartheid South Africa
CROGGON, Alison
B The Gift (The First Book of Pellinor – The Treesong Trilogy) 2002 Fantasy/Juvenile
Competent enough cliché, teen girl daydream, two-dimensional
CULOTTA, Nino
B+ They’re A Weird Mob 1957 Humour
Ingenuous Italian Australian plays with stereotype aussie slang/behaviour
B Cop this Lot 1960 Humour
Weird Mob sequel, this time Australians go to Italy