The Gondwana Shrine

This Blake & Mortimer volume follows on from the excellent Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent two-parter, although it can't quite be considered "part 3" it does follow up on quite a lot of the plot... though everything is recapped so you can read this on its own and understand whats going on!

At the heart of this story is that staple of books of Blake & Mortimer's ilk : lost civilisations. Though in the case of the Gondwana Shrine, the civilisation is truly very ancient (as in millions of years old) and that does stretch credibility a bit. 

Professor Mortimer takes the lead in this story though of course Blake is never far away and a certain persistent villain also makes a reappearance. To be honest it would be nice for Blake & Mortimer to have some other enemies to face...

As with all Blake & Mortimer books, it has a dense storyline and full of intrigue and adventure, and of course very well drawn. However, as the central concept of the story is a little too far-fetched it did detract from the story a little but it is still well worth your time.

Portrait of a Murderer

"Portrait of a murderer" by Anne Meredith is an excellent Golden Age mystery. A gentleman is murdered on Christmas Eve. One of his six children has killed him. However, this isn't a whodunnit. We witness the murder, then examine each of the children in turn, looking into their backgrounds and lives, creating characters with depth.

Therefore, the story stands out from a lot of it's peers. This is more of a psychological study of murder and motive than the standard detective yarn of the period, and explores how the culprit tries to avoid being discovered. It may lack in suspense but makes it up with good characterisation.

The interesting premise may though be the best part about the story, the initial part especially is a bit of a slog though it does pick up later on.

A trip to Wigan and Hindley

I go to the north west quite a lot, but always to Merseyside. Why don't i go to Greater Manchester more often, after all its where my northern relatives actually live and i'm sure as i am only half-Scouser i won't dissolve. So, at the weekend i headed up to Wigan. I also took a short train ride to the nearby town of Hindley. At Easter i plan to so some more exploring up Manchester way.

A nice trip up north, also nice to see the Manchester Bee network buses, hopefully we will have something similar in Birmingham soon. You can see my photos here.

The Rainbird Pattern

At first this book by Victor Canning is a bit strange, and hard to get into. It has two separate plots which seem to be completely unrelated to each other, but once you realise just how they are related you can't wait to see how this thriller turns out!

One plot involves the kidnapping and ransoming of VIPs by a highly professional couple. The Secret Service are completely flummoxed as to who the kidnappers are but suspect they are planning their big job. Indeed, they kidnap the Archbishop of Canterbury and want a fortune in diamonds for his release.

The other plot involves a medium and her lover / assistant who are employed by a rich older woman to find her long-lost nephew. Trying to find this nephew is very difficult but they finally do succeed... but you can guess who it turns out to be!

A good book, a slow start is ultimately very rewarding. The characters are well written and the demise of one of them hits hard. The book ends on a pretty dark note as well. Interestingly, the story was adapted into a film called Family Plot, which was Alfred Hitchcock's last film.

Obelix and co.

There is an irony that arguably the best Asterix story of all (in my opinion of course) is named after his well-covered if thin-skinned friend Obelix! 

This book is a hilarious satire on capitalism and marketing. Caesar sends his young protege Preposterus to Gaul to corrupt the Indomitable Gauls using the profit motive. He creates a fake demand for menhirs and begins to corrupt Obelix and later other villagers in the pursuit of profit...

This is utterly wonderful stuff, packed full of nonsense and often biting satire. We have the memorable scene where Preposterus (who is said to have been based on a young Jacques Chirac!) tries to explain the concept of marketing to Caesar, the gaudy fashions of the nouvelle rich villagers and the Romans trying to get a piece of the menhir action.

Naturally it all ends happily ever after and our friends return to their simple rustic lifestyle of hunting and eating boar and fighting, uncorrupted by bags of money! Goscinny and Uderzo were at the height of their powers here, it is a shame that this was the last book written by Goscinny to be published before he passed away.

Liverpool to Runcorn

Another Middleton Press volume, this one covering the London & North Western Railway line south from Liverpool across the Mersey to Runcorn, nowadays part of the West Coast Main Line. 

This is still a busy line now, both for passenger and freight traffic though a lot of the industry has gone now and some of the intermediate stations between Liverpool and Runcorn are also no more.

The line ran past a parkland near where my Uncle and Auntie lived in south Liverpool. When i was a little kid and we went up there, i always liked to go up to where the railway line was and hear, if not really see, the frequent trains going past. I've been past on train now many times. I always think of those times.

Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool South Parkway (a more recent addition) and Runcorn are interesting stations which are well worth a visit.