Philip Palmer (1) (1960–)

"Keeping the Wolf Out" is an audio-drama set in '60s Hungary, centred on idealistic police detective, Bertalan Lázár, and his devoted, and underestimated, wife, Franciska. As Berti fights to maintain his moral centre in a corrupt police state, Franciska begins to rise up the hierarchy of "The Ministry", from lowly archivist to ruthless and feared spymaster.
There's a good balance between the crime and espionage plot and character development.
The voice acting is exceptional, both Leo Bill and Clare Corbett invest their roles with depth and emotion, though I thought Andy Linden stole every scene in which he appeared as the terrifyingly demented Chief of Police, Tibor Farkas. I'd love to see this made as a TV show.
Available as an audiobook from Penguin and Audible, and free to stream from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jysdn… (meer)

Having read two of Palmer's novels, and really liking the other(Version 43), I thought this one was very disappointing. The same Over! The! Top! sf-pulp hyberbole is there, but the prose is still stiff and awkward. This poses two problems, relative to Version 43: 1)the main character is not a robot, so there's no excuse for it and 2)it suggests that Palmer is just not very good at and/or interested in putting together a good sentence. 'It's true!'

Moreover, the clever bits and structural twists he excels at are lost when placed in a far less coherent structure. The Big! Bigger! Biggest! progression of Version 43 is replaced with Stuff! That! Happens! That this is done on purpose, as a deliberately, self-consciously picaresque story, does mean that it works. Not everything has to be organized and clear-cut, but it has to serve some purpose.

I don't know if I'm explaining this well at all, but frankly it's not worth the effort. Short verion: if you are curious about Palmer, read this one first-- http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/187065170.… (meer)

This enjoyed this book immensely. Don't have time for a full review (as usual), but here are some 'review notes'.
-This book is filled with a hyperbolic amount of sex, drugs, violence, and death. If this kind of stuff bothers you, I heartily recommend not reading this book. Or even leaving it in a room with small children. However, I should point out that all this material is presented in such an Over-The-Top (OTT) fashion that I don't think it's gratuitous. Some authors might present such material in elaborate detail and with profound seriousness. This is appealing if you are a 12-year old boy or an adult with developmental problems. Palmer presents it as All! Totally! Awesome!--that is, as a joke. Of course, you may not find it funny, but I think the difference of intent matters here. As always, context is key.
-The prose is a little stiff. I don't know if this is typical of Palmer's work, or specific to this novel (since I've only read the one). Regardless, there are two elements that make it work anyway: 1) the narrator is a cyborg who is frequently characterized as being cold and robotic (so it's consistent, at least) and 2) Palmer has great comedic timing (or pacing) which makes the stiffness of the prose work as a kind of deadpan delivery, making an already funny book even funnier.
-The (I think deliberately) cheesy hyperbole of the violence etc. conceals a lot of clever bits. For me personally, my favorite bits were the academic satire of the 'Principles of Quantum Teleportation' section and a throwaway joke from page 407 where Palmer refers to 'husserls of consciousness'-where a 'husserl' is a unit of measurement of consciousness. That's hysterically funny 1) if you ever studied phenomenology or 2) appreciate the sort of 'authorial personality' that would drop an obscure-for-almost-everybody philosophy joke into a book superficially about an intergalactic police robot, just because. There's lots of physics jokes too, and I'm sure there's more I missed.
-Palmer uses a lot of interesting stylistic devices that would be, by themselves, worth the price of admission. I already mentioned the fake academic article (which I think is a Borges reference). There's also sections of the book written as a flowchart, another as song lyrics. In one passage, he seems to invent a kind of Dadaist rap. The book is also full of dramatic irony. In short, Palmer presents his ostensibly silly material ('Galactic Cop Fights Crime!') in numerous complex and interesting ways. The contrast creates a neat sort of 'stylistic irony', where the content is opposed to the form. Imagine if someone wrote, say, a profound theological argument into a series of dirty limericks, and you'd have some idea of the kind of stylistic contrasts that Palmer is working with. If you've got a strong stomach, then working it all out with him is both interesting and fun--a combination that is, in my experience, exceedingly rare.
-Recommended if you like Philip K. Dick or Rudy Rucker.… (meer)

This is an extraordinarily different story about aliens who have been living among humans for thousands of years, with the knowledge of some humans, but at a terrible price. It’s also a story of enduring love. The writing is gripping and the story fast-paced. Hayley, the main character, is sort of difficult to like at first, but there’s a reason why she’s the way she is. All of the characters are interesting, and have their own, well-defined back stories. I’m truly impressed with this novella and am curious to check out more by this author. There seem to be some interesting new alien/parasite novels (this one and M.R. Carey’s The Girl With All the Gifts and The Boy on the Bridge are the ones I’ve read) that are forming a new sub-genre of human/other relationships novels that is really promising (this is something that could have been happening for a while and I just happened on the books). I’m definitely curious to check out some of NewCon’s other novellas.

This book was provided free of charge through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program, from NewCon Press Novellas. My opinions are entirely my own.… (meer)