My April reading included Triggers and Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer.


They were two quite different books, but both very well constructed, entertaining and thoughtful. Triggers is the more philosophical, but relies on strong characters and thriller-style plotting. I was not really happy with the ending, which I have seen so many times in S-F, but it did grow organically from the story, so I suppose that has something positive to say for it.
Red Planet Blues (subtitle: murder on the mean streets of Mars) was a rollicking good read, perhaps a little self-conscious about the hardboiled detective genre, but quite worthwhile.
I went to the Ottawa launch for Red Planet Blues, heard Rob read and got him to sign both books.










My other book launch this month was for The Christie Curse by Mary Jane Maffini and her daughter Vicky, writing as Victoria Abbott.


I like MJ's detectives and the goofy scrapes they get themselves into. Kind of grown-up Nancy Drews. The characters in this new series have lots of potential and the story was quite a page-turner.

An anecdote: the story has Siamese cats in it. The cover artist put a pug dog in the picture, so MJ & V had to create a pug character to fit the cover. And it worked wonderfully well.






I also finally got around to reading a modern Canadian classic (nominated for Giller and GG awards in 2003) and I was very glad I did. The story of a Newfoundland man who goes to New York, the North Pole and back home, with many adventures and observations along the way was gripping and full of detail and insights.