Every now and then a wonderful book comes along that completely fails to capture the attention of the readership it deserves. Every reader can name a book like that, and any reviewer or commentator can name a handful.<\/p>\n
For me, the book that comes to mind when I think of books that the world should have fallen in love with is Gwyneth Jones Bold as Love<\/a>. Smart, savvy, wonderfully written, it takes aim at the point where popular culture meets politics, and envisages a near future where the British union has dissolved, the climate is on the verge of collapse, mysticism is becoming ever more popular, and some kind of consensus world view is needed to avoid everything from civil ward to jihad in the British Isles. That consensus manifests itself in the person of three rockstars who become politicians and then royalty, in a story that is at first science fiction then fantasy and then maybe something else.<\/p>\n When the first of the Bold as Love<\/a>quintet was published some readers scoffed at the idea that rockstars could, through any means, end up running a government. That scepticism seems harder to swallow in a world where a rock star petitions governments to forgive Third World debt and stalks the corridors of power as readily as he does a concert stage.<\/p>\n The first and best book in the quintet, Bold as Love, was published in 2001, won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel, and was recently published in the US for the first time by Night Shade. It’s been followed by Midnight Lamp<\/a>, Castles\u00c2\u00a0Made of Sand<\/a>, Band of Gypsys<\/a>, and now Rainbow Bridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n I’ve not yet read Rainbow Bridge<\/a>, though I expect to shortly. In the meantime, you can read a sample of Gwyneth Jones’s website. And, if you’re in the States, you can order that handsome Night Shade edition<\/a> as a starter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every now and then a wonderful book comes along that completely fails to capture the attention of the readership it deserves. Every reader can name a book like that, and any reviewer or commentator can name a handful. For me, the book that comes to mind when I think of books that the world should … Continue reading Bold as Rainbows<\/span>