Authors with a difference: Colin Cotterill and Jasper Fforde

We are all book "devourers" - not just "readers", as that is too mild a term. And by "we", I refer to myself, my brother, my sister, and my brothers 3 kids. The rest of the family are "readers" :-).

We pretty much read anything - novels, science fiction, fiction fantasy (as in "Lord of the Rings" type), horror, detective stories, murder and mayhem, etc. The problem lies in finding interesting books to read as we get older. So many books tend to be about serial killers and the darker side of humanity, and it gets really really tedious after a while - and very sad really, seeing how vicious our minds can be! And you know what they say about truth being stranger than fiction? Well, if the fiction is so dark and vicious, what is the truth like...? Doesn't really bear thinking about sometimes.

So, that brings me to the above mentioned authors - and this is NOT going to be a critical appraisal or anything (I leave that to my sister the professor!). This is just for those of you out there who MAY read this blog and would be interested in identifying two authors with a difference! In a way, they are both detective type stories, but so different from the norm, and so different from each other.

Jasper Fforde's characters are completely fictional - in the sense that they are not based on any live person. They are LITERARY (not to be confused with LITERALLY) detectives, who jump in and out of fiction books, to ensure that the characters in each story are not tampered with by other characters within the same or other books. It is great trying to keep track of, and understand, all the literary allusions within these books. The references across stories and the jumping across timelines can keep you amused each time you pick up any of his books.

Colin Cotterill's characters on the other hand, could very easily be real characters within the country in which he bases his stories - Laos. The main character, Dr Siri Paiboon, is an aging doctor, reluctantly dragged into being the sole coroner in his country, working in a morgue staffed by two oddballs. He has the spirit of a 1000-year old shaman living inside him, which ensures that very strange things happen to him at all times! The humour is so gentle, and really very loving, highlighting the difficult situation in a beautiful country that is struggling with itself.

Two authors who are definitely worth reading... that's just my point of view!