Just before I left for SANSFire 2008, I decided to down one more of Christopher Moore’s hilarious books, Blood Sucking Fiends. This one, written in 1997, takes place in San Francisco, and centers around Tom, a small-town boy who moves to the city to become a writer, and Jody, who becomes a vampire early in the book and has to cope with her new “life” as an undead.
This book made me laugh, a lot. Moore manages to quickly give you enough background information on the characters that you can get to know them, without losing your interest in the main plot, and every chapter is entertaining. I really liked Moore’s take on the master vampire and his sanctum, which was an interesting spin on Dracula’s ghost ship.
Two thumbs up for Blood Sucking Fiends.
Christopher Moore's Coyote Blue
I’ve been dieting for nearly a month now, but I’m not talking about the Medifast diet, rather the media fast as recommended by the The Four Hour Work Week. Given that I’m spending less time reading hundreds of RSS feeds and listening to dozens of podcasts, in the last month, I’ve read two books (Practical Demonkeeping and Coyote Blue) and listed to two books in audio form (The Four Hour Work Week and The Tipping Point). That’s an nearly four more books per month than my average!
Coyote Blue is a good read. Moore again takes established mythology and challenges what we “know” about said myths, this time interweaving Egyptian and Native American gods. The main supernatural focus of the book is the Indian god Coyote, the trickster. Moore sets him up as a guy you love to hate from the get-go. The other main and supporting characters are largely likeable and memorable, despite their character flaws. I particularly liked “M.F.” (guaranteed not to stand for what you think it stands for) and am looking forward to seeing him in Moore’s other books. I also appreciated the subtle references to Practical Demonkeeping, and how he casually reminds the reader of the previous book.
While this book won’t go down as one of my favorites, I definitely recommend it as a great way to get a few hours of solitary entertainment
Christopher Moore's "Practical Demonkeeping"
I just read Christopher Moore’s book, “Practical Demonkeeping.” It was a great little read. Think “Stephen King or Neil Gaiman with some of the seriousness replaced with humor” and that’s what you get. I believe this was Moore’s first published work, released in 1992. It mixes old legends and mysticism with a great plot that, despite having many characters, is easy to follow without leading you by the nose. Highly recommended.