The New Oxford Annotated Bible

I have often expressed the wish to be able to read more novels of the kind written by [a:Charles Williams|36289|Charles Williams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1217390107p2/36289.jpg] and various people have been recommending books by [a:Tim Powers|8835|Tim Powers|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], telling me that they are a similar genre. After searching in vain in bookshops and libraries for years, I was given some money and got the ebook version of this one. and yes, I can say it is in the genre of Williams's novels, which means that in writing about this one, I'm inevitably comparing it with Williams. Another book one could say is in a similar genre is [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|14201|Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|Susanna Clarke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1357027589l/14201.SY75.jpg|3921305], which I tried to read and didn't finish.

In [b:The Drawing of the Dark|5094|The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1370918050l/5094.SY75.jpg|2113248] Brian Duffy, an Irish mercenary soldier of the 16th century, is down-and-out in a port town somewhere in southern Europe (I've forgotten the name of the town, and Kindle won't let me page back to look it up, perhaps it was Trieste or Venice) when he is recruited by a strange character as a bouncer for his pub in Vienna. Duffy travels to Vienna to take up his employment, with several strange adventures on the way.

On arriving in Vienna, he is not welcomed by the manager of the pub, but is pleased to meet an old girlfriend. Epiphany, who had married someone else, but her first husband had died, giving him something to hope for. When his employer eventually arrives in Vienna, Brian Duffy discovers that being a bouncer is only the start of his duties. The year is 1529 and Suleiman the Magnificent in Constantinople is preparing to send his army to capture Vienna. His object however, seems to be not so much the city itself as a certain barrel of beer, which it is said, will revive the Fisher King of Arthurian legend and give magical powers to those who drink it. The army of the Sultan approaches, the city is besieged, but behind the conventional battle to attack the city walls, there is a magical battle for control of the beer, with rival magicians on each side seeking to control armies of supernatural creatures.

There are physical battles with swords and cannons and mines and sorties, and there are the magical battles between the rival magicians and characters channelling Merlin and King Arthur. But though the elements are there, Charles Williams it isn't. The appearance of the supernatural creatures is described, but they don't seem to mean anything. They are simply tools in the hands of the rival magicians. And the ending was disappointing -- the title suggested it would end with the drawing of the dark beer, but that happens offstage, as it were, if it happened at all.

E se i ratti diventassero i predatori e tutti gli altri esseri prede?

Ne I Ratti di James Herbert capita proprio questo, che i ratti diventano predatori e gli uomini le prede.
Abbastanza corto ma godibile come libro, soprattutto se si amano gli horror e in particolar modo il gore. Ad un certo punto mi dispiaceva anche per i ratti presi a badilate. Con descrizioni molto specifiche ci si riesce ad immergere nella storia e a provare lo schifo nei corpi mutilati dai denti di questi topi fuori dal comune.
Di per sé mi è "piaciuto" (per un libro horror è un po' un eufemismo dire che piace una cosa che descrive morte e smembramenti vari, ma hey) ma ci son certi argomenti che non riesco a tenere. Nonostante sia un genere che mi piace, non riuscivo a non restarci male ad ogni topo ucciso (anche perché, per mi sfortuna, i roditori sono una specie di animale che mi piace molto. E voi, giustamente, vi chiederete, "ma se ti piacciono i topi perché leggi un libro horror dove i topi vengono ammazzati?" non lo so, non ne ho la minima idea) con violenza o a qualche cane divorato dai ratti.

I've had plenty of jobs before. Many of them. But none have ever been as important as this one.

Wow, das war mal ein echter Pageturner! Ich hab immer gedacht, den hätte meine Onleihe nicht, aber ich hab den Autoren immer falsch geschrieben, mit zwei s oder zwei a statt mir zwei r, da kann ja nix gefunden werden... Also, ich hab's ausgeliehen und an einem Sonntag durchgelesen - hab ich schon lange nicht mehr gehabt! So, wie das Buch geschrieben ist, ist es aber echt ein wirklicher Pageturner:

Es gibt 5 Protagonisten, die immer nacheinander erzählen, und jedes Kapitel endet mit einem Cliffhanger, so dass frau eigentlich immer gleich wissen will, wie es mit dieser Figur jetzt weitergeht. Außerdem ist der Schreibstil gut zu lesen, kurze, einfache Sätze, nix kompliziertes.

Nicht alle Geschichten haben mir gleich gut gefallen, die "Australien"-Story hätte ich jetzt nicht dringend gebraucht und die Killer-Story war mir eigentlich ein bissle zu blutig, trotzdem habe ich mitgefiebert und wollte immer weiterlesen.

Obwohl das Buch wirklich, wirklich spannend ist, ist es kein Thriller, sondern vielleicht ein Spannungsroman - selbst die Killer-Story ist nicht sonderlich blutig, Criss Cater Fans werden hier wahrscheinlich einschlafen.

Einzig das Ende war ein bissle drüber, besonders Mandys Geschichte - und was sollte bitte das Ende von Ellies Geschichte bedeuten? Dieses "Drüber"-Ende hat den 5. Stern gekostet, aber es sind doch gute 4.5 von 5 Sternen - und "The Passengers" ist schon ausgeliehen! Insgesamt also eine echte Leseempfehlung.