Again with the free (downloadable, but not keepable) e-book.

Harper Collins are once again offering a Neil Gaiman book, this time Neverwhere, for free for the next 30 days. You can either read it online, or you can download it, though the downloaded file does expire after 30 days.

Go here to enjoy the brilliance that is Neverwhere.

(I loved this book. I think, in fact, I shall dig it out and read it again. Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar make the most delicious villains. You know, I would be so happy if Mr Gaiman were to write a book with these two characters as the protagonists, rather than the antagonists. I still have to see the BBC miniseries, just to see how it fronts up to the book.)

Of suidice pacts and Doctor Who

(Click for larger image)

Mumbles finally received the pages about my great grandmother's 'Room 667 tragedy' from the Daily Mirror archives today. Here are some of the stories. It is so strange to find things like this in the family tree, but interesting all the same.

Hmmm. The rumours still abound about Neil Gaiman writing an episode of Doctor Who. And wouldn't you just know that it would be to do with the 'Voyage of the Damned' episode? You know, Astrid (the Kylie character), who was turned into stardust? Get it? *sigh* Check this out, nicked from Life, Doctor Who and Combom:

60X The End of Time - 2009 Christmas Special
203. 251209 By Russell T Davies
At the end of the 2009 Christmas special the 10th Doctor catches a cold and it causes a temporary regeneration. He turns into a woman!

601. About Time
030410 By Steven Moffat
A darker, edgier season with a Doctor suffering from his loneliness. Two new assistants join him and together they investigate time bleeding and other strange goings on in parks around London.

602. The Dust of Stars
100410 by Neil Gaiman
Kylie Minogue is back as Astrid! Somehow she's found a way to merge with an obsolete TARDIS and, being symbiotically linked with it, she's able to trace the Doctor. She needs to warn him about an impending disaster from the center of the galaxy.

603. Scherzo
170410 by Rob Shearman
Time continues to splinter throughout the universe and the Doctor and companions fall through a crack into another universe with different rules.

604. Family Reunion
240410 by Stephen Greenhorn
Doctor-lite episode. The Doctors daughter discovers a world shifted out of phase with the rest of the universe. She finds that her symbiotic nucleii allows her access and discovers Time Lords frozen in time. She finds a way of tracing active Tardii but it leads her to discover other problems.

605. Time of the Zygons
606. Loch Ness Monsters
010510 by Helen Raynor
080510
The Zygons have taken control of a black hole in the center of the galaxy. They have been experimenting with time travel and discover how to grow almost anything in a fraction of the time. In minutes they have a Zygon army, ready to take over the galaxy with the help of a zetronic beam.

606. Fractured Time
607. Merlin
150510 by Steven Moffat
220510
Jack is back. But he's not the Jack we know. People from the Doctor's past return to haunt him. The unstable black hole is causing ruptures in space time, allowing universes to bleed through from alternative realities. There is a real risk of the Doctor being sucked into one permanently.

608. Ice Time
290510 by Ben Aaronovitch
The Doctor is trapped in a field of frozen time in an alternate reality. It's up to the Brigadier and UNIT to rescue him, with the help of a few friends.

All sounds very intriguing, but the Neil Gaiman thing seems to be stretching my suspension of disbelief. I would like to be proved wrong, but it just sounds a little too cheesy!

Free (though not downloadable) e-book

If you haven't experienced the prose of Neil Gaiman, then allow me to introduce you. As part of his journal's 7th birthday celebration, they have put one of his books - American Gods - on the Harper Collins website for perusal for the next month. Here is the link

• http://tiny.cc/WRiXE

Go. Read. I'll be reading bits when I have the chance as I haven't read this one yet.

On becoming ever so slightly obsessive and just a little compulsive.

I've always had my favourite authors. Being a big fan of reading, I think everyone who has an attachment to books will have at least one favourite author. The reading bug bit me when I was 13. I had found a paperback of James Herbert's 'Rats' and from then on all I wanted to do was devour anything he had written.

After my teenage crush on James Herbert, I found David Gemmell and Brian Lumley when I was about 18. Stephen Donaldson made a brief appearance with his 'Thomas Covenant' novels but David Gemmell's 'Druss' and 'Drenai' novels, and Brian Lumley's 'Necroscope' and all the following novels, really lodged themselves into my psyche. I don't know what caused my love of these characters and novels, but I couldn't resist them. I fell completely and fully into their stories.

In my twenties (late, I should add), I discovered Harry Potter - but only after all the kafuffle surrounding the release of the fourth book. I spent a week reading the books, then impatiently waited for the fifth book, which I was terribly disappointed by. Out of all the 'Harry Potter' stories this one was the worst. I stayed with the books until the end, and although there were some unanswered questions left at the conclusion, I very much enjoyed the last book. Enjoy it as I had, 'Prisoner of Azkaban' will remain my favourite, as I was not expecting the twist at the end.

And so we come to my new obsession. It started with 'Stardust'. Yes, you've guessed. My new author love affair is with the writings of Neil Gaiman. I know I've mentioned things in my blog lately regarding Mr. Gaiman, but I find it strange how the fascination with one person's writing can creep up on you.

Like I said, it started with 'Stardust'. I bought it out of interest after hearing about the release of the film. While I enjoyed it as I followed the story, I was unaware of how Mr. Gaiman's style was gently edging its way into my brain. Feeling suitable happy with 'Stardust', I picked up the more substantial 'Neverwhere'. I began reading and soon found myself unable to put the book down. I was champing at the bit (even though I do not slightly resemble a horse) to find out what happened to these characters, completely immersed in the word craft of Mr. Gaiman. Oh, how I felt the grime and slime of the mud and the stench of the ground as Richard fumbled about looking for the boar statuette. I was completely taken in with the inventive use of the names of London Underground stations, and how the characters themselves evolved. I think it is safe to say; I was simply and utterly in awe of the story.

The obsession has only grown of late after I purchased a copy of 'The Wolves In The Walls', even though it was intended for Principessa. The only new thing here was the introduction to the art of Dave McKean. At first I was not overly impressed. But then, as the book progressed, I found myself studying each picture. I can't put my finger on what changed in my perception of the artwork, but I began to see the texture and the depth of the work and now I need to buy anything I can find by these two artists (the word artist and the picture artist) to continue this magical feeling. I only hope I can learn from these masters of their crafts and produce anything half as worthy!

I hate being obsessed!

Out of print.

That's something I hate. When books go out of print. Over the last few months, I have been trying to get hold of a good copy of Brian Lumley's 'Compleat Crow'. I tried to get a copy from Ebay, but was outbid, tried to get a copy from Abebooks, but no luck. Now finally, I have managed to get a copy. WOOOOHOOOOOO! Now I'm really looking forward to reading it.

I've mostly been reading Neil Gaiman stuff lately. I did something I promised myself I wouldn't do; read 'Stardust'. I wanted to see the film first. Ah well. If they do not manage to get everything from the book into the film, I will be really disappointed. I think 'Stardust' is one of the shortest books I have ever read (around 180 pages). I also read 'Neverwhere', a much more substantial book. That I really enjoyed. If you get a chance to read it, do. It's a very interesting concept for a story.

There has been a lot of crap happening here, but I am not going to go into it. It is not my story, it is my cousins, but it is affecting the whole family. I am very worried for both of them.

Time to get back to Principessa and her new interest; playing the keyboard. (My head hurts.)