Author: Nicky

Review – Abaddon’s Gate

Posted December 9, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. CoreyAbaddon’s Gate, James S.A. Corey

If you’ve enjoyed the books up to this point, then this is more of the same — and I mean that in the good way. If you’ve been numbed by scientific inaccuracies and maddened by stupid things the characters do, then you’re not going to want to continue, because this very much continues in the same vein as the previous books. I find it enjoyable; it’s brain candy, but there’s a place for that on my shelves.

There is an element of sameness about these books in the way that it focuses on Holden and co, and therefore Holden never quite learns and he always somehow gets into trouble, dragging his crew with him. It is nice that the narrative is aware of this, though, and his crew call him out — and he’s forced to remember that he’s not in fact all that important by the events of the book. Still. Sometimes Holden gets a little too much for me, much as I love his crew.

It remains an entertaining mindfuck if you’ve enjoyed what Corey’s done so far. It widens up the world and brings in more sci-fi elements — not just humanity expanding out of the solar system, but more signs of what might be encroaching from outside. I’m still intrigued.

Rating: 4/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted December 9, 2017 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

Good morning, folks! It hasn’t been the greatest week for me, since a scammer of some sort took over my Ebay account and spent most of my money. But I’ve tried to keep my mood up by finally spending a couple of Amazon vouchers I’d been saving, and reading whatever I felt like instead of sticking to a firm rule.

Books bought:

Cover of Maps to Nowhere by Marie Brennan Cover of The Terracotta Army by John Man Cover of Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Cassen

A bit of a random assemblage, I know!

Books read this week:

Cover of Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen Cover of Suspicious Minds by Rob Brotherton Cover of Three Stones Make a Wall by Eric H. Cline Cover of The Statues That Walked by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo Cover of Dark Sky by Mike Brooks

Four stars: Herding Cats, Suspicious Minds, Three Stones Make A Wall, The Statues that Walked.
Three stars: Dark Sky.

Reviews posted this week:

–Camelot’s Sword, by Sarah Zettel. Not my favourite of the series, but still a great trip into the Arthurian world. 4/5 stars
–The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry. There were aspects of this that were really strong, but sometimes the style of the narration just got on my nerves and was way too dry. 3/5 stars
–The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben. A good casual read, but I felt it was very much pitched at the layperson and that sometimes Wohlleben was a little overenthusiastic about how he interpreted facts. 3/5 stars
–The Gracekeepers, by Kirsty Logan. I really just wanted more from this — the world just felt bland and one-dimensional. 3/5 stars
–The Dragonbone Chair, by Tad Williams. A reread for me, and one which I found surprising in a few ways — sometimes in how frustrated I was with the characters, sometimes in how the plot went because I really didn’t remember it! Overall, still solid epic fantasy, though. 4/5 stars
–Cleopatra’s Heir, by Gillian Bradshaw. A fascinating version of Egypt just after Cleopatra’s death, and an interesting character study of a historical figure we don’t know much about. 4/5 stars
–Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain, by Marc Morris. Highly enjoyable, and informative without being exhaustive. 5/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. The latest and greatest on my TBR list this week.

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Review – Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain

Posted December 8, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Cover of Castles by Marc MorrisCastles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain, Marc Morris

If you’re fascinated by castles, then I definitely recommend this book. It’s not just a dry recounting of what castle was built when, but an examination of why castles were built and what they were used for, and what they say about the people who built them. There are some gorgeous photos and ideas for places to visit, but it’s not intended as an exhaustive guide — it focuses on a couple of example castles, rather than talking about every single significant or interesting castle in Britain.

Even better, Morris keeps the tone light, knowing just when to comment wryly or appreciatively about the people and ideas he’s writing about. It’s not just an interesting read in terms of the information given, but an entertaining one too.

Rating: 5/5

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Review – Cleopatra’s Heir

Posted December 7, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Cleopatra's Heir by Gillian BradshawCleopatra’s Heir, Gillian Bradshaw

Bradshaw always writes strong historical fiction that reminds me a little bit of Rosemary Sutcliff’s work, and Cleopatra’s Heir is no exception. She takes the little that is known about Cleopatra’s son, Caesarion, and plays with it — what if he survives? What if he really is Caesar’s son? And if he is, what if he’s also epileptic, as Julius Caesar was known to be? She writes about genuine medical treatments of epilepsy, and the way people generally saw it. Some of her characters are perhaps a little too good to be true in their understanding of it, and especially in how well they deal with Caesarion’s arrogance… but people like that do exist, and without that family, the story wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying.

It’s an interesting what-if, and it’s also an absorbing story. It explores what it might be like to be Cleopatra’s son, and what it might be like to survive the fall of your dynasty. And it explores what it might be like to go from being Caesar’s son to being nobody, to having to rely on your own wits and knowledge for once. Of course, for the story to be interesting, it’s no surprise that Caesarion has those skills and learns to use them, but it’s still a satisfying arc.

I’m not sure I’m convinced by the Octavian we see here. He was perfectly capable of being ruthless, and I don’t think he’d have let sentiment get in his way. Even if he pitied someone, my impression is that he wouldn’t have taken a risk on them being faithful to a promise made when killing them would be so much safer.

Still. That wouldn’t be as satisfying for an ending, and Bradshaw definitely knows how to balance faithfulness to history and historical personages, and an entertaining story.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Dragonbone Chair

Posted December 6, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Dragonbone Chair by Tad WilliamsThe Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams

This is a reread for me, preparatory to reading the new series and The Heart of What Was Lost. I was pretty excited to plunge back in, because I remember being spellbound by it, and I gave it a solid four stars. I thought I remembered it pretty well, and remembered that I’d found it fairly typical in terms of the plot, but now some things did somehow surprise me, and I’d glossed over great chunks of the plot in mind. Which is fine, because rediscovery is great.

It is very much an epic in the mode of Tolkien, including elderly white men fighting against the darkness with the power of knowledge, a lot of random songs, an ageless and somewhat embittered race who are not human, etc, etc. It feels different, though — less mythic, I suppose, less of an old, old story. Simon is the main character, and he’s very immediate…

…He’s also a self-pitying pain in the ass. Oddly enough, I remembered him as being fairly reasonable and Miriamele, the princess, as being a spoilt brat. I feel rather the other way round now. Simon has no idea how lucky he’s been or how good he’s had it, and sometimes I wanted to reach into the book and clonk him over the head with something heavy.

However, I still love other characters — Binabik, Josua, Isgrimnur… Though Simon’s irritating, I’m definitely planning to continue rereading these books. They feel like more of a grind than I remember, but I had more time when I was a teen to just read all day, so that might have something to do with it. It was still an enjoyable grind, but I must admit it could have lost a few hundred pages and felt a lot more gripping.

Rating: 4/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted December 6, 2017 by Nicky in General / 0 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 Dark Sky by Mike BrooksI’ve still got just two books on my currently reading list, and they’re the same as last week. I’m back to reading Dark Sky, at least, and I’m actually getting on with it better now. It still feels very much like Firefly, and like the other books that remind me of Firefly, but I’ve got back into the characters.

What have you recently finished reading?

Cover of Suspicious Minds by Rob BrothertonLast thing I read was Suspicious Minds by Rob Brotherton. It was interesting stuff, even though the psychology of why people believe in conspiracy theories didn’t really surprise me at all. It’s one of the Bloomsbury Sigma series, and they’re usually pretty accessible while also being interesting, so that wasn’t really a surprise!

What will you read next?

Cover of Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline CareyI don’t know. I should finish Kushiel’s Dart, really. But who knows what’ll strike my fancy? I keep eyeing one of my books about Egyptology, instead…

What are you reading right now?

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Review – The Gracekeepers

Posted December 5, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of The Gracekeepers by Kirsty LoganThe Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan

The Gracekeepers seemed like it had a lot of potential. The idea of the Gracekeepers, the drowned world it takes place in, the promise of the political and religious background that hedged the characters round, the webbed hands of Callanish… There’s a fairytale-like feeling to the narration at times, in the feeling of inevitability about every step the characters take — I don’t know if that’s something other readers took away from the book, but it felt like it was to me. Callanish and North were on a collision course all along, however improbable, and they were going to find each other anyway.

I found the world interesting, but it also felt kind of superficial. I didn’t feel like there was a wider world beyond Callanish and the circus; the world was just there to be a setting for the characters. Just not the kind of story setting I prefer, in the end, though there are some powerful bits — particularly between North and her bear.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Hidden Life of Trees

Posted December 4, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Hidden Life of TreesThe Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben

This is pretty light reading, with a lot of interesting facts and observations about trees — but sometimes I really had to go and look up the sources, because it didn’t sound quite right, or it just sounded like an oversimplification. If you’re a fan of well-sourced facts, this might not be quite what you’re looking for, because there’s something more conversational and anecdotal about it in many ways. It’s still some fascinating stuff, though, and it’s not the kind of dense non-fiction that takes a lot of time investment.

Not surprisingly, the author’s premise is that there’s a lot about trees we don’t know and a lot that we overlook, and that’s definitely not wrong.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Essex Serpent

Posted December 3, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Essex Serpent by Sarah PerryThe Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry

From all the hype, I expected to love The Essex Serpent. I didn’t really know much about it, going in, but it seems like almost everyone has been talking about how mindblowing they found it. It’s historical fiction, though it might not portray the era as quite as strait-laced and disapproving of everything as you’d imagine. There’s a fair amount of sex and sexuality, and nobody tries to pretend that sex doesn’t exist or that piano legs are salacious or any such stereotype about the Victorians. In that sense, I quite liked what Perry did with the material. I think she also does well in drawing her characters and creating an intense rapport between them, and twining together their lives in such binding, unequal and sometimes ambiguous ways.

What I don’t enjoy is the pacing, and the way large parts of the story are told just as a report. ‘In London, Cora was doing x. In Essex, Will did y. The kids did z.’ Large sections are just one thing after another, a chronicle of events rather than a story. There are some fascinating scenes and conversations, and there are also some such scenes that are deadened by just being reported on in that dull way.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I found this so frustrating. It has a germ of something fascinating, no doubt about that, but the style hobbles it. I had to finish it, but at the same time… yeah, I was a little bored.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Camelot’s Sword

Posted December 2, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Camelot's Sword, by Sarah ZettelCamelot’s Sword, Sarah Zettel

Camelot’s Sword isn’t my favourite book of the series, because the characters are definitely not my favourite and I think the way they eventually get together is a little too rushed. However, the way Zettel plays with the Arthurian mythos continues to be delightful, from her portrayal of Guinevere to the machinations of Morgaine to Kay’s surprising skill with a sword. Geez, I even love the fact that he’s actually ridiculously tall, because that’s a call-out to the Welsh versions where he was ‘as tall as the tallest tree in the forest’. (My MA dissertation was named after that descriptor, and referenced these books heavily. I think the final title was ‘As Tall as the Tallest Tree in the Forest: The Long Shadow of the Celtic Cai in the Ongoing Arthurian Tradition’ or something like that. Okay, I got the feedback that the title didn’t sound relevant, but I still like it.)

Even though this isn’t my favourite of the series, it has a lot of great moments and character set-pieces, from Kay’s interactions with Gareth to Agravain’s confrontation with Lancelot. Zettel does wonderfully at making me love and care for them all. I might not be convinced Gareth deserves Lynet, but by heck I am convinced he means to do his best by her — and that his brothers will grumble, shout at him, and back him up all the way.

Rating: 4/5

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