The Week in Entertainment

DVD: A little more Scarecrow and Mrs King.

Read: A lot of new books hit the Kindle this week. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, first off. Brilliantly written and evocative, Gaiman's done it again. The Long War - when it came I realized I'd never quite gotten around to The Long Earth. I'm glad I had them both, because Earth doesn't have much plot, really, until the very end and War is better that way - it's really a two-part novel, not a book and a sequel. Do not expect the manic quality of Pratchett's solo work, though. The Ides of April, in which Lindsey Davis leaves Falco in semi-retirement in his villa with Helena and the children and joins Flavia Albia, their adopted daughter, as she tries to make her way in Domitian's Rome, following her adopted father's profession as an informer (read, private investigator). The story is much lower key, as befits Albia's place in Rome compared to Falco, but she's a strong narrative voice and I really enjoyed the book. (Note, for Falco fans, it's set ten years after Nemesis, and the child Postumus is old enough to be - no surprise - very odd. Also read The Riddle of the Labyrinth, about the decipherment of Linear B, told in three parts - Arthur Evans, who found it; Michael Ventris,who deciphered it; and the heretofore ignored Alice Kober, who is the heart of the book. Fascinating stuff.