Serpent (In Quicksilver), The/Abandoned Cities - Harold Budd

Advantages: beautiful music
Disadvantages: none

...The Pavilion Of Dreams was Californian pianist / composer Harold Budd's 1978 recording debut. Using unusual combinations of musicians in small chamber groups he crafted some beautiful pieces of music for this Brian Eno produced album. The first track "Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim" is a lengthy meditative work which showcases jazzman Marion Brown's gorgeous sax playing. The combination of the gentle piano, the vibes and the sultry ultra laid back sax works amazingly well and the result is twenty minutes of bliss. This is chill out music long before the term was invented. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to the delicacy of the opening track but it's not far off. No-one else was scoring Madrigals in 1978 and the two pieces here are delightful - light and airy and full of life. Budd was intentionally writing 'pretty music... Read review

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Advantages: Fast action, lots of history
Disadvantages: Maybe weaker character development and writing than previous Cussler books

...Serpent is a novel by thriller writer Clive Cussler. For those familiar with the works of Cussler, they normally involve a character called Dirk Pitt, but this book marks the arrival of a new character, Kurt Austin. The book is the first in the NUMA series of books, of which more have since been released since this title was published. The basic plot is that a group called "The Brotherhood" try to wipe from the record the evidence that they had been contact in the past between the New and Old Worlds. Kurt Austin, Cussler's new character, is the boss of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). The book begins with the destruction of the SS Andrea Doria and MS Stockholm, before jumping forward in time to new conflicts around the world. Austin saves the life of the archaeologist, Nina Kirov, who then helps in his tasks... Read review

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Advantages: Good read
Disadvantages: A bit thin on details

...Cities in flight. Chris is a nosey teenager and one day that nose gets him into trouble. He is snooping around the outskirts of a town called Scranton hoping to see the town 'lift off' as it launches itself into space but he misjudges and is inside they Spindizzy field when they engage themselves and he is carried up and into space. He will never see his old life again. He goes on an adventure with the town but is then traded over to the City of New York with whom he finds a new and interesting life and career. He will have his mind expanded by the robot 'city founders', he will take part in battles and politics before uncovering a great secret. The Sci-Fi in this book whilst sounding interesting and a little bit different is not really explained. It is left hanging in the air, no pun intended. The inhabitants... Read review

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