Only Forward

The debut novel from Michael Marshall Smith, Only forward is a masterpiece, plain and simple. It won the Philip K.Dick and August Derleth awards It is one of the most original sci-fi novels I have and will ever read.

Our main character Stark, an interesting and amusing man has been asked to find a missing person. The story takes place in a wonderfully imagined world where the entire country is covered in neighborhoods, from coast to coast. These neighborhoods come in all shapes and sizes that are geared towards the desires of its residents. A neighborhood dedicated to colour, one for people who constantly need to be doing something, a neighborhood solely for cats and one for deranged criminals.

I found this book incredibly funny in parts, it’s more light hearted than Spares, Michael’s second sci-fi novel that is of a similar style and qualities, but is much darker in my opinion.

I am in love with this world that Michael creates. Each neighborhood is so vastly different and the vivid detail leaves a clear image in your head that will forever stay with you.

I’ve read Only Forward twice, like most of Michael’s books, who also writes under the name Michael Marshall. I’ve blogged about his Straw Men trilogy which I absolutely love and highly recommend.

As with Spares, Michael has a knack for developing the story in a direction so unusual and original that I can only describe it as genius. When I first read it I was blown away by the storyline, it is amazing and provided me with a truly unique experience.

Final words

I try to be reasonable in understanding that not everyone likes the same thing. However, in the case case of this book, if you’re a sci-fi fan, you really need to read this book and if you don’t like it then I just can’t understand how that could be possible.

I’d love to hear what others think, regardless of whether you liked it or not and if you have similar recommendations, please let me know.

If you'd like to find out more about Only Forward or to purchase your own copy, you can head over to Amazon.

Phil.

The Straw Men Trilogy

Michael Marshall is one of my all time favourite authors. I discovered him purely by accident about six years ago, whilst looking for a book to read while my Xbox was getting repaired. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise and made me the bookworm I am today.

If you like dark, gritty thrillers as well as conspiracy theories and you haven’t read these, then you’re in luck.

The Books

The Straw Men Trilogy is comprised of three books… funnily enough, by UK author Michael Marshall. Book number one is The Straw Men (also known as The Upright Man), book number two is The Lonely Dead and book number three is Blood of Angels.

All three books are incredibly gripping novels, I’ve read them twice each, and I’m considering revisiting them again for a third time. They are seriously that good.

The Straw Men

The first book introduces us to multiple story lines that eventually interconnect. I love how Michael seamlessly hops from one to another throughout the chapters and brilliantly brings them together.

One of these story lines introduces us to 14 year old Sarah Becker, who has been abducted from downtown L.A. The circumstances of her disappearance match that of former detective John Zandt’s daughter, who was one of the victims in a strikingly similar crime two years ago.

Another Story line introduces us to Ward Hopkins, who’s parents have just been killed in a car accident, but he soon discovers a strange letter that tells him otherwise.

Ward soon learns that much of the past he thought to be true is a lie, and his search to discover the truth soon leads him to the Straw Men, a sinister organisation with horrifying plans.

you can find out more about The Straw Men on Amazon.

The Lonely Dead

The second book in the series has one of my favourite prologues ever, Yakima. This is my favourite book out of the three, it has lot of sentimental value too, since it was largely influential in sparking my passion for reading.

The book continues to develop the characters we came to know through the first book and follows the same great writing style.

We are introduced to Tom, a man heading into the mountain forests of Washington State, he doesn’t plan on coming back. However, he finds something in the forest that sparks a chain of events that quickly spiral out of control.

Back in Los Angeles, a woman’s body is discovered in a motel. The killer has left his mark and it soon becomes clear that he will kill again if not stopped.

Meanwhile, Ward Hopkins is continuing to track down the men who destroyed everything he once held dear, the Straw Men.

You can find out more about The Lonely Dead on Amazon.

Blood of Angels

The final book in the series sees notorious serial killer The Upright Man escape from a super-max prison, no one understands how it happened, but Ward suspects the Straw Men are responsible and that they’re planning something big.

What follows is a chaotic and frantic series of events that result in a spectacular act of carnage.

Admittedly, Blood of Angels is my least favourite by far, but it is still well worth a read and much better than many other novels I’ve read, it’s just that it has a lot to live up to from the previous two books.

You can find out more about Blood of Angels on Amazon.

Final words

I unwittingly read the second book first, since I saw no indication that it was part of a series, which was unfortunate but didn’t necessarily spoil my experience

What I love so much about these books is the incredibly engaging writing style that Michael employs. His novels have a dark “realism” to them, for lack of a better description and I absolutely love the rich, unique descriptions and dialogues throughout the books. I said at the start that they are incredibly gripping novels, so much so that I’ve actually struggled to find a book as good as these.

If you’ve read the books then let me know what you think and if you know of any similar recommendations then please, please! let me know.

Phil.