A Quick Look a Few of Dan Abnett's "Side Projects"

Well well well... 2012 is well and truly underway and I have been neglecting the old blog for too long. Where to begin?

Dan Abnett: I recently got to rereading Mr. Abnett's "Embedded." It is not a GW book in any way shape or form but unsurprisingly maintains the grit of many of the Gaunt's Ghosts books. I suppose it is not surprising that Dan was able to easily bridge the gap to non-warhammer based stories as he was a comic writer for years and his Black Library books often contain language and concepts that until he writes them do not exist in the nerd vernacular (vox casters for example). In this text he continues to invent terms and concepts that are original and yet are immediately recognisable with little to no explanation.

"Embedded" takes place in the near future on another planet. Without giving too much away it is the story of an older veteran reporter who is able to hitch a ride so to speak in the brain of a soldier going out into the field on the brink of all out war. Needless to say things go wrong and there are plot turns aplenty. I should probably stop as I really enjoy the book and don't want to give anything away. I initially avoided the book as after reading the blurb and thinking that the story of a reporter might be kind of dry. I should have known better as I had read a pile of Dan's other books. The action hits hard and comes aplenty. I highly recommend it for anyone that enjoys Dan's style as a writer.

As a side note I also started rereading "Triumph" another of his side books set in a magic heavy Victorian era. It is gag ridden on purpose and really has a very original tilt to the world but I just struggle to immerse myself in this book as I am constantly aware of the humour. Additionally, the universe in this text is different enough that I really have to think about the book as I read it. I read trashy Black Library and other science fiction/ fantasy for the escape and for inspiration. As I was aware of Triumph as a book throughout reading it, that escape was not possible so I didn't enjoy it as much. It is like random spurts of static through a movie you really want to see. Sure you can see and enjoy the movie but you are aware of the viewing medium throughout the viewing process.

This is also the first time that I will be writing this blog on my iPad. I have to say that corrective text and key pad are taking some getting used to. Does anyone know of a good app that will allow me to publish pictures from my ipad onto this blog? Blogger does not seem to want to let me publish pictures with my text. Sorry about that.

As a side note (and I know that this marks me as the 80's fanboy that I am) I ran into one of the members of INXS last night at my local pub (The Retreat) and had a drink. Very cool.