Triffids Beard 2 - The Bearded Triffid

picture had appeared on the wall and I was lost in admiration. It was an enormous and incredibly detailed
rendering of a steam train coming out of a tunnel. It was painted in gorgeous living colour as trompe
l'oeil and the effect was just stunning. The bricks of the toilet wall were cleverly incorporated into the
structure of the tunnel and the curls of steam seemed to writhe around the mortar; you could almost
hear the sound of the whistle and the train seemed to be heading right for you at enormous velocity as
you sat there contemplating your immediate prospects. It was quite appropriately bowel-loosening.
The most amazing thing was that it had appeared overnight. It must have taken untold hours of
concentrated effort to produce and I marvel at the single-minded intensity of whoever had felt inspired
to paint it (I also worry about their mental stability and the nature of their obsession). I never found out
who did it -- the perpetrator remained forever completely anonymous, but the fame of the production
spread far and wide across the whole of the campus and our toilet block became a place of pilgrimage.
The fact that this eighth wonder of the world was in a male toilet was no barrier to the curious and often
one would experience strange internal rumblings and trot over the way with New Scientist
conveniently clutched in the armpit, only to find a strategic boyfriend and cries of feminine delight
emanating from the third cubicle on the left.
In Jumpers, R. Patrick Gates introduces us to Anna, a young child who is seriously injured in a sledding
accident. Near death, she has an out of body experience where she sees a radiant beam of light taking
the souls of the dead to (presumably) heaven. However she herself is pursued by the shadow monster,
a darkness that engulfs the souls of those refused by the light. She discovers others who share her
ability to exist in the twilight where the shadow monster lurks and together they join forces to fight it.
The novel cuts between desperate, horrific scenes in the real world and mirror images in the limbo as the
battle rages on both sides of the curtain.
The blood and gore and grue and the involvement of children is vintage Stephen King as indeed is the
battle against the shadow monster. But enjoyable though it is, it is only a pale imitation of the real thing.
R. Patrick Gates doesn't quite have the proper Kingly touch.
The fifth volume of Robert Silverberg's collected short stories covers the years 1963 to 1987 and shows
Silverberg at the peak of his remarkable powers. Many of the stories are familiar -- I think I've read every
single one before, some of them more than once, but collected together in one place they represent an
awesome display of talent.
Now where did I put my copy of New Scientist...
Edward Rutherford London Century
Michael Marshall Smith Spares Harper Collins
Spider Robinson Lifehouse Baen
Mike Resnick The Widowmaker Reborn Bantam
Jane Lindskold When the Gods are Silent Avonova
R. Patrick Gates Jumpers Dell
Robert Silverberg
Ringing the Changes The Collected Stories
Volume 5
Voyager