Trollheart

Wow. Who sets these stupid ques - oh. Wait.


1. Who is/are your favourite author(s)?*

Dickens, King (yeah), Pratchett, Alan Dean Foster, Dean Koontz, Michael Moorcock, David Eddings, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Douglas Adams. I can't say Tolkien really, as I've only read the four books.

2. And your least favourite?

Roddy ****ing Doyle. **** him.

3. What is your preferred genre to read?

Fantasy (more humorous/satirical fantasy now), Science Fiction (not so much these days), some horror

4. What is/are the best book(s) you ever read?*

Interview with the Vampire, Memnoch the Devil (both Rice), Stormbringer (Moorcock), The Lord of the Rings, Mort (Pratchett), Bleak House, Les Miserables, Dark Rivers of the Heart (Koontz), Hyperion (Dan Simmons), The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

5. And the worst?*

Moby Dick. Emphasis on the last word. My god it's boring.

6. Who do you believe gets more credit than they should as an author?

In Ireland, Roddy ****ing Doyle. Otherwise I would have said Stephen King, but since I began reading him, yes he can be really awful but when he's on there's nobody can touch him. Other than that, E.L James. Writes smut and makes millions and everyone thinks she's an author. She's not a ****ing author: she's someone who was incredibly lucky and appealed to the LCD, which made her fortune. Remember, we're all pigs. Except that guy.

Same again please, when you're ready there mate!


7. What determines, generally, if you stop reading/lose interest in a book?

Whether I have a heart attack or not. Once I get bored and start idly reading on a few lines ahead, I realise it's time to stop. If I can't be bothered with what's in front of my eyes it's unlikely I'm going to be bothered about what comes after it. Also if I don't like or care about the character(s).

8. Do you have a Kindle/reader and if not, do you ever intend to get one?

I got a Kindle for Karen, but I use the app on my phone. It's free, you know.

9. How large (approximately) is your book collection (to the nearest hundred, say)

A very rough count gives me about 400 - 500, though I reckon I've sold, loaned or lost about half that over the years.

10. What is the best line you ever read in a book?

"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way to the shops but that's just peanuts to space. Listen..."

(The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

"Inside every old person is a young person asking, what happened?"

(Shop! or, A Store is Born, Jasper Carrott)

The opening and closing lines in A Tale of Two Cities. The most perfect beginning and ending to any novel.

"Now that you've seen me," said the unicorn to Alice, "if you believe in me, I'll believe in you."

(Alice in Wonderland)

Probably a lot more too, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

11. What is/are your favourite non-fiction book(s)? *

Either In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Saville by Dan Davies or

Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son by Gordon Burn (a biography of Peter Sutcliffe)

12. What book(s) have you never read, but would like to?*

Far too many to list

* Keep it to a maximum of ten

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018