Couple of books

I’m finding that with my commute I finally have more time to read and/or play games. But I’m all outta books and I feel substantially up-to-date when it comes to my 3DS games. So, I grabbed a couple of books from the library during my lunch hour.

The first is “Spanish Fly” by Will Ferguson, one of my favourite authors. “Spanish Fly” seems like it will be a prequel of sorts to Ferguson’s first novel “Happiness” (or “Generica” in some markets). It features a young Jack McGreary, who was responsible for the self help book that nearly brought about the end of human civilization in “Happiness” years later. It seems strange to me that no where on the cover or inside flap is there reference to “Happiness.” The idea of fleshing out the backstory of a somewhat minor character of one story, even if he does play a pivotal role, in a standalone novel has a certain appeal to me. While “Happiness” offers a snapshot of the McGreary character and what motivates him to write his self-help book, I always got the feeling there was much more to this crazy dude in the desert.

The next is a basically a guilty pleasure. It’s a steampunk novel by George Mann called “The Immorality Engine” – A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation. I read the first book – Affinity Bridge – a couple years ago and enjoyed it for its pulp sensibility, characters, and altered-history premise, but I kind of forgot about the series. I haven’t read the second book so I hope it doesn’t become an obstacle to enjoying the story.

I saw a copy of the Walking Dead novel “Rise of the Governor” on the new arrivals shelf but three books is probably pushing it.