Author: Nicky

Weekly Roundup

Posted October 6, 2018 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

Good morning, everyone! It has been a quietish week for me, mostly spent coughing and sniffling, but I’m almost better now. And it’s a good thing I’m not putting library books in these posts anymore, because I’ve been on a serious spree lately. (Right now, I have, um… 50ish books out of the four libraries I’m a member of.)

Anyway! To books!

Received to review:

Cover of Skyward by Brandon Sanderson Cover of Shadow of a Lady by Jane Aiken Hodge Cover of In The Vanishers' Palace by Aliette de Bodard

I’m especially excited about In the Vanishers’ Palace. I had it preordered anyway, and then I spotted it on Netgalley…

Bought:

Cover of Salt by Mark Kurlansky Cover of Fayke Newes by Derek Taylor Cover of Hekla's Children by James Brogden

Cover of The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude Cover of The Colour of Murder by Julian Symons Cover of Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Exit Strategy! The final Murderbot! Eeeeek gaaah eeeeeee etc.

Read this week:

Cover of Ancient Lives, New Discoveries Cover of Poison: A Social History by Joel Levy Cover of The Maya by Michael D. Coe

Cover of Stardust by Neil Gaiman Cover of The Incas by Craig Morris Cover of Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean Carroll

Reviews posted this week:

–Gods, Graves and Scholars, by C.W. Ceram. This is out of date in many ways, but the fascination is very much still there. It covers a lot of the great sites of archaeology that formed the whole discipline. 3/5 stars
–The Descent of Monsters, by JY Yang. I liked this less than the others: it seemed less able to stand along, more fragmentary. Still a fascinating addition to the world being built here, though. 3/5 stars
–Spying on Whales, by Nick Pyenson. Whales aren’t one of my primary fascinations, but they are fascinating creatures and Pyenson’s enthusiasm is catching. 3/5 stars
–Murder at the Brightwell, by Ashley Weaver. A fun Christie-esque mystery: nothing special, but nonetheless fun. 3/5 stars
–Ancient Lives, New Discoveries, by John H. Taylor and Daniel Antoine. A fascinating glimpse beneath the wrappings of mummies from the British Museum’s collection. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–Discussion: How do you review? Musing on the ingredients that go into a good review.
–WWW Wednesday. The weekly update!

Out and about:

–Once Upon A Blue Moon: ‘Me, Too‘. A poem and commentary on the #MeToo movement.
–NEAT science: ‘Writing in DNA‘. Answering the question of how information can possibly be encoded by acids.
–NEAT science: ‘Why chimpanzees are still around‘. Explains how chimpanzees can be around if humans evolved from them. (Spoiler: we didn’t, we evolved from the same common ancestor, also, species do not have to die in order for new species to evolve anyway.)

So actually it’s been a bit of a busy week in some ways. How’re you doing?!

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Review – Ancient Lives, New Discoveries

Posted October 5, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Ancient Lives, New Discoveries Ancient Lives, New Discoveries, John H. Taylor, Daniel Antoine

Ancient Lives, New Discoveries is a fascinating volume which peers beneath the wrappings of eight mummies in the British Museum’s collection, using state of the art CT scanning and reconstruction to do so completely non-destructively. The mummies are from different areas of Egypt, and different eras as well, from mummies preserved naturally through to mummies prepared using every trick of the embalmers’ trade. There are amazing images in this book, with various different views of each mummy, and additional notes explaining significant features (like poles used to stabilise detached heads, an odd metal(?) ring somewhere in the oldest mummy’s abdomen, etc. There’s also some background information of a fairly basic sort, if you already know a fair bit about Egypt — if you don’t, this volume gets you up to speed enough to understand the mummies, in relatively few pages.

One quibble I had was the constant insistence that male bodies in sarcophagi with female names were definitely put there by accident (either in antiquity or now). I’ll admit I don’t know anything about gender in Ancient Egypt, but gender has always been fluid and expressed in different ways in different societies. Probably some of the bodies are in the wrong sarcophagi, owing to the way their tombs were pillaged and the way collections were swapped about with little attention paid to provenance. But… just maybe some of the ambiguities might be best resolved by thinking about whether we’re looking at gender the same way. Clearly the wrapping and presentation of mummies reflected social roles as much as anything else, as demonstrated by the young girl identified as a temple singer, mummified and presented as a desirable young woman — the intent does not seem to have been to reflect a person accurately, at any rate. Who says they weren’t wrapped and presented in a way meant to represent who they were in life, rather than the bare details biology gives us?

I know I’m not an expert in that field, but I can’t help but think that some acknowledgement of that as a possibility would have fit in well. Instead, it felt as if everything was explained away as a mistake on someone else’s part, rather than a potential misunderstanding on the part of those investigating the mummies now.

Still a fascinating book, though; perfect for someone fascinated by mummies.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Murder at the Brightwell

Posted October 4, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley WeaverMurder at the Brightwell, Ashley Weaver

When I picked this up, I was looking for something cosy, a bit Kerry Greenwood-ish, a bit Mary Stewart-ish. Mostly crime, maybe some romance, probably a main female character being terribly capable. Most of my wishes were granted: the heroine might not be quite as striking as Greenwood’s Phryne, and Weaver’s writing certainly isn’t as evocative as Mary Stewart’s (particularly not of location), but it’s a nice nibble.

The story opens with Amory being surprised by two visits: one, from her somewhat-estranged husband Milo, last known to be gallivanting about the Continent and linked with plenty of other women, and the second from the man she jilted to marry Milo — a man to whom she’d been engaged. Thus the romantic stage is set: who will she choose? Who really cares about her: her husband Milo, or her ex-fiancé Gil? That tussle is the constant backdrop to the mystery, featuring the unexpected murder of Gil’s sister’s fiancé… whom Gil never did get along with.

It’s a pretty obvious setup, but that’s kind of why I found it a relaxing read. Amory isn’t super-prepared for everything or as in control as a character like Phryne, but she does wear some nice clothes, and isn’t obviously a terrible person (if a bit daft for ever trusting Milo, maybe). Milo isn’t as charming as you’re meant to find him (I’m not distracted from the fact that he hasn’t explained at all why he was away from Amory so long or why he’s suddenly interested again), but I wasn’t expecting astounding characters and complex arcs. Putting aside my critical eye and just relaxing with the story, I had a pretty good time, and I’ve picked up the other books (completely perfect to coddle me through the cold I’m suffering, ugh) from the library. If you’re into cosies, this is worth a look; if you’re not, this won’t convince you.

Rating: 3/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted October 3, 2018 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

Cover of The Lost Plot by Genevieve CogmanI’ve picked The Lost Plot back up, so hopefully I’ll be finishing that up soon. I’ve just got to the bit in Boston/New York, so it’s a whole new setting for Irene and Kai. Mobsters! Awesome. I’m also still partway through Endless Forms Most Beautiful (really something I could have done with reading before any Evo Devo came up in my degree), and I’m also partway through rereading Alwyn Hamilton’s Rebel of the Sands (time to finish the series!).

Cover of Stardust by Neil GaimanWhat have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I finished was David Starkey’s book on the Magna Carta. It was okay, but not really anything I didn’t already vaguely know. Before that, I reread Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, which was a delight as always, though the ending is not nearly so happy as the movie’s in many ways (though I like both in their own ways).

Cover of Roses and Rot by Kat HowardWhat will you be reading next?

Roses and Rot, by Kat Howard, in theory! I’ve selected that as my book club choice on Habitica, so that’s the idea anyway. In practice, I do have a ton of very tempting library books, and I’ve been dying to reread Ann Leckie’s Provenance…

So what’re you reading?

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Review – Spying On Whales

Posted October 2, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Spying on Whales by Nick PyensonSpying On Whales, Nick Pyenson

Pyenson is clearly obsessed with whales — with the idea of them, with studying them, with understanding them and sharing that understanding. In this volume, he does his best to share all those things: his enthusiasm for whales as much as his academic interest, his wonder at them as much as his understanding of them as part of their environment. He tours through whales of the past through their fossils (so if you’re a palaeontology nut, this one’s for you too!), whales of the present through observation and dissection (so if you’re into biology…) and whales of the future through trying to understand how they impact their environment, and what the seas might be like without them.

It’s a fascinating journey: whales aren’t one of the topics I read about obsessively, but I wasn’t going to pass up a book about them from the library, either. Pyenson’s style is breezy, and he manages to communicate wonder even about things that might sound kind of gross (like whale dissection). To my surprise, I think I was most fascinated by his chapter about the weird new sense organ he discovered in whales’ chins, via actually being there on a whaling station to see freshly killed whales being butchered. (He has mixed feelings about this, but correctly notes that sometimes, you have to use the opportunities you get.)

I’m not raring to go dashing off to become an expert in matters marine, which is the sign of a non-fiction book that really gets to me, but nonetheless there’s plenty of interest here for the armchair enthusiast. If the idea of these massive mammals takes your breath away a little bit, this book might just augment that.

Rating: 3/5

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Discussion: How Do You Review?

Posted October 1, 2018 by Nicky in General / 13 Comments

I might have posted about this before, but honestly, I don’t think I’ve yet hit upon a way to review books that works for every book, and that really satisfies me looking back. After a while I read back some of my reviews and I’ve been so vague about what the book was about that it doesn’t remind me (although I can always tell whether I liked the book or not — but that usually sticks with me anyway) and a lot of my reviews come out the same. The past week I’ve started trying to be more descriptive: set the scene a bit more, for one thing, particularly because I don’t include the publisher’s summary when I post a review. I still don’t have a set procedure for myself, though — honestly, writing to a checklist makes my reviews feel all the same in another way, and makes the whole process even more mechanical and wooden.

How I go about writing reviews, generally… hmm: first, a sentence or two about how I came to pick up the book, or how I felt about doing so. ‘This book has been really hyped for months, so I finally succumbed when I saw it at the library’ — that kind of thing. Then I’m now trying to get in a bit of description — the major ideas of the book and what I think about that and the setting… I don’t want to put in spoilers, but I do try to give some idea of how it develops. And then last, what jumped out at me, for good or ill? Characters, plot points, did it remind me of something, did it go off the rails… And finally, I try and comment on who I think might like it, if the rest of my review hasn’t made it obvious. And at the ending, at the request of some of my earliest blog readers, a star rating out of five.

With non-fiction, of course, it’s a bit different; I try to explain why I’m interested and what my existing level of knowledge is, the stuff the book covers, whether the writing style is clear, and then maybe in the end who I’d recommend it for.

Of course, every so often I’ll lose my head and do something different, maybe even write a little story. But for the most part, the above is what I try to do, or am trying to do now.

So what do you put into your reviews?

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Review – The Descent of Monsters

Posted October 1, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Descent of Monsters by JY YangThe Descent of Monsters, JY Yang

The first two books (The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven) introduce you to a world and a setting without making it essential to have read the other book first (though personally, I would read Black Tides first anyway). I found that by contrast, The Descent of Monsters was very much settled within that now existing framework, and relied on prior knowledge of the other two novellas to orientate you and help you understand who means what to whom and why, and why this character does x and y, etc.

This is a bit different in format to the first two books as well, focusing on the investigations of a new character into events that Akeha and Mokoya are involved in, without giving us much access to the actual thoughts of Mokoya and Akeha (and the other characters we already know). Part of it is written as an investigation report: there are also letters and a couple of interrogation transcripts.

Honestly, I found this not quite enough to re-orientate myself within the world. Before I read another book in this world, I think I might well make the time to reread these first three together, to make sure I understand all the nuances and how the events connect. I didn’t even read the first two books that long ago, but Yang doesn’t spoonfeed you (which is not a complaint! I think it’s reasonable to expect you to carry a certain amount of information between books, it’s just that apparently my brain is a sieve right now).

This one ends up feeling a bit slight compared to the other two: while we learn a bit more about the world and the machinations of those in power, I found it difficult to connect up. Again, rereading might help, but that was (sadly) my impression. I do find it enjoyable: Chuwan is a bit of an archetype (the oh-so-determined investigator, destined to find the truth!) and it works. This does stand alone in the sense that it’s a character we don’t know investigating events which, on their own, are fascinating and clearly shocking — but I think the connections to be made with the previous novellas are important in really getting the full effect.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Gods, Graves and Scholars

Posted September 30, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Gods, Graves and Scholars by C.W. CeramGods, Graves and Scholars, C.W. Ceram

This book is seriously outdated, but that’s almost irrelevant since what I really wanted was a book with a general, accessible history of archaeology to just sink into. Ceram provides: he covers various great civilisations (Greeks, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, South Americans) and discusses some of the early work done in digging up and restoring their monuments. He’s often admiring of the adventurers who found them, while noting that at times they did more harm than good (something we feel even more strongly now) — there’s a great sense of adventure about some of the people and events he describes, though he does so in a scholarly tone that others might find dry. I enjoyed the range of choices here — e.g. it doesn’t just go for Petrie, Carter, Champollion, Schliemann… but digs into some names I knew less well.

There’s tons more to learn about all the sites and civilisations Ceram discusses, and much of the information here has been updated. For example, we don’t think in terms of slaves building the pyramids anymore. Still, there’s a great deal here to whet the appetite: a glimpse of the wonderful things as seen by those who were very close to their early discovery, but synthesised into a greater narrative about the progress of archaeology.

Not for everyone, but perfect for the mood I was in at the time. I think my favourite bit was the section on Egypt: like it or not, that was my first archaeological love. That said, I want to do a ton more reading about the archaeology of the Americas, which this book inspired me to pick up.

Rating: 3/5 

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Weekly Roundup

Posted September 29, 2018 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Good morning, folks! I have a bit of a cold and (writing this on Friday night) rather want to get to bed, so I’ll keep this quick! It’s been a quiet week except for my various trips from the library (I have [mumble] books out of four different libraries right now…), but I still have some books to show off from last week in London, plus a review copy.

Received to review:

Cover of The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Yay! I’m torn about whether to reread The Traitor Baru Cormorant first: I think I could maybe use a reminder on the political background, but the character-development stuff has really stuck with me.

Bought:

Cover of Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall Cover of Vengeful by V.E. Schwab Cover of The Thorn of Dentonhill by Marshall Ryan Maresca Cover of Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Cover of Made to Kill by Adam Christopher Cover of Killing Is My Business by Adam Christopher Cover of I Only Killed Him Once by Adam Christopher

And my copies of Made to Kill and Killing is my Business are actually signed! Thank you, Forbidden Planet London. Likewise, my copy of Vengeful is one of the limited edition signed ones. I really need to at least get that one out of the plastic and admire it!

Books read this week:

Cover of Alpha Beta by John Man Cover of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Cover of Legion by Brandon Sanderson

 Cover of The Lake District Murder by John Bude Cover of The Mystery of the Skeleton Key by Bernard Capes Cover of Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

Reviews posted this week:

–Men Explain Things to Me, by Rebecca Solnit. Clearly written essays, most of them kind of indifferent, but the title one is worth the time for that sense of validation: ah, it’s not just me this happens to. 3/5 stars
–The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, by Steve Brusatte. A bit basic for me — go with David Hone’s Tyrannosaurus Chronicles instead, and you won’t be disappointed. 3/5 stars
–Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, by Brandon Sanderson. Finally got to read the whole story in this collected edition! Well worth the time, though I’m unsure about how I feel about the ending. Maybe I just didn’t want it to end. 4/5 stars
–And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie. Christie could put a heck of a story together, and I read this one straight through. Kind of creepy, too. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

–Discussion: Keeping Books. Do you hoard the books you’ve read? Or do you pass them on once you’re done?
–WWW Wednesday. The usual weekly update on what I’ve just read, what I’m reading now, and what I might be about to read next.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: Calculating the mass of a planet. Ever wondered how we do that, given you can’t stick Jupiter on a set of weighing scales? I go through that here!

How’s everyone else doing, anyway? Exciting week?

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Review – And Then There Were None

Posted September 28, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of And Then There Were None by Agatha ChristieAnd Then There Were None, Agatha Christie

I started reading this to pass a few minutes at the train station, and ended up reading it all in one go. I always forget that Christie’s work is so enjoyable — especially when she stays away from her series detectives (I can’t stand Poirot). She really could write a solid mystery, and I do intend to pick up some more of her one-off mysteries, and possibly also give Tommy and Tuppence a try. She has a way of setting out the scenario, the characters, and really drawing you in.

And Then There Were None features a very careful set-up: ten characters are drawn together on an island where they can essentially be marooned and prevented from calling for help. Slowly, it’s revealed that each one of them has a death on their conscience — a driving accident, treatment withheld from a dying woman, an operation performed while drunk, fellow-soldiers abandoned to die… Each one has their excuses, their reasons, and not all of these are revealed in one go. When they arrive at the island, they don’t know each other or why they’ve been called there, each brought there on false pretences: after their first dinner, however, they get a shock when a voice reads out their names and the names of the person (or people) they killed.

After that, they begin to die, one by one, according to the means specified in a sinister little nursery rhyme… Those remaining come to the conclusion (of course) that the killer is among them.

There are aspects of this which haven’t aged well: the original “Ten Little Niggers” rhyme has been expunged by now and replaced with “Soldiers”, but there’s also some unpleasantness about Jewish characters and about native peoples “not counting”. Some of that is character, of course, but some of it seems built rather unpleasantly into the narrative voice.

However, the solution of the mystery works pretty well for me (it all hangs together and makes sense, and we had the clues), and the feeling of horror/suspense is well built up. It’s an enjoyable read, if you can ignore the unpleasantness about anyone who isn’t white, British and preferably middle-class. (Not that anyone really comes off well in this book, but that group isn’t slandered for the sake of being that particular group.) It’s not exactly groundbreaking, although part of that is hindsight, but it does the job and it definitely held my attention for a solid hour or two of (mostly) enjoyment.

Rating: 3/5

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