Stephen King: Cell.

When it comes to writing books, Stephen King is a machine, no doubt about that. Since his debut in 1974 with “Carrie” he has released one or more books every single year, with the exception of 1976.

I haven’t read a lot of Stephen King’s work, but those I have read have all been exiting and entertaining. Cell is no exception.

Cell is about 450 pages of thrilling entertainment and is never boring, and he only uses about eight pages to introduce the main character before the action starts. Some writers tend to use 450 pages just for that. King also writes in a way Joe Sixpack should understand, making it a book for everyone. If you like thrilling writing, that is.

One thing is for sure, when you’ve finished Cell you’ll think twice before answering the next time you get a call on your cellphone…

Graphic artist Clay Riddell was in the heart of Boston on that brilliant autumn when hell was unleashed before his eyes. Without warning, carnage and chaos reigned. Ordinary people fell victim to the basest, most animalistic destruction. And apocalypse began with the ring of a cell phone…

“Naked Republicans” by Shelley Lewis.

Author Shelley Lewis has written a book with a collection of short profiles of more that 50 of America’s right-wing politicians. As you probably figured out by the book’s cover* and title, it’s not stories of grace and good deeds. Lewis drags every Republican she comes across through the dirt and no one is spared, even George W. has his own section - although he should probably have a whole book dedicated to him.

It’s a pity that “Naked Republicans” fails to entertain. Even if I do not know many of the politicians featured, the profiles should still be entertaining because most of them are completely off the scale. That these people are still allowed to roam free is a mystery. The profile about the politicians I know, like the Bush clan, is not very entertaining either. The problem might be that the profiles are so far off that you have to wonder if it’s really the real thing or an imaginary world created in the mind of a Democrat.

That the Democrats are now about to take control of America is probably a good idea, but I would be very surprised if it’s not possible for a Republican to write exactly the same kind of book about the Democrats in about a week. It’s not like all the Democrats are saints either - Bill Clinton comes to mind.

The most entertaining reading in this book is probably the opening quote by former President Theodore Roosevelt:

When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer “present” or “not guilty”.

I’m not sure if it was because of Shelley’s book and that she probably pissed of the majority of America’s Republicans, but on October 13 2006, Air America Radio filed for Chapter 11 Protection.

It’s a hard world.

*I know, “never judge a book by it’s cover”.

“The Call of the Weird” by Louis Theroux.

When I’m traveling I tend to spend some time in planes or at airports where there’s nothing to do, really. Lately I’ve been trying to pick up a book to read instead of just staring into thin air. I usually browse the non-fiction section. I’m not quite sure why, maybe I prefer the real world. I have to admit that I’m rather inconsistent being that I praised science fiction a few weeks back - movies, books, TV series and whatnot.

Anyway, the last time I was traveling I picked up a copy of Louis Theroux’s “The Call of the Weird”, a title that undoubtedly plays on the title of Jack London’s book “The Call of the Wild”.

You might know Theroux already. He is a British TV presenter that for ten years has been making programs about the offbeat characters on the fringes of US society. One day he decides to return to the US of A and attempt to track down some of the people who have fascinated him the most over the years.

His journey takes him to the porn sets of Los Angeles, he visits UFO contactees in Arizona and goes to Northern Idaho for a festive get-together of leading neo-Nazis.

Although the idea is good - and maybe his shows were, too, I never actually watched any of them - the book somehow fails to entertain. It’s fairly well-written, but it’s never able to grab the reader’s attention in the way it should. And with the line-up Theroux has, it should be possible to get the reader to refuse to stop reading until the last page is finished. During the last hundred pages, I was seriously considering putting the book back in the book shelf and never open it again. But since I had decided to write this quick review I felt I couldn’t do that without actually having read the entire book.

It’s quite possible that the entertainment value of the book would have been higher if I had seen some of Theroux’s shows, maybe even recognized some of the characters. Sadly, I haven’t. Maybe Theroux’s talent is in television?

Scientific.

Around the time I started to play Eve Online, a Norwegian TV station started airing the “re-imagined” version of Battlestar Galactica based on the original 1978 TV series. So far I’ve watched three episodes, it’s OK, but not gotta-get-this-on-DVD-good.

Science fiction is probably the one genre I like the most, both in literature, movies, TV series and computer games. I’ve been through tons of science fiction books, including the extremely well written original Dune series and the infamous Neuromancer, the book that in many ways defined cyberpunk when it was released in 1984.

My favorite movie of all times, Strange Days also has a science fiction-ish theme as it’s set around new years eve 1999, about five years into the future relative to 1995, the year it was released. Of course, that’s all ancient history now. The movie also has other elements that makes it a hell of a movie.

When it comes to TV series, Babylon 5 is without doubt the best science fiction series I’ve ever watched. I never got the hang of Star Trek, it takes itself too seriously, while Babylon 5 had just the right attitude.

Babylon 5 is, as opposed to Battlestar Galactica, gotta-get-this-on-DVD-good. Or maybe it will just ruin everything. After all, it’s over 10 years since I watched it.