Author: Nicky

Review – The Toll-Gate

Posted January 25, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Toll-Gate by Georgette HeyerThe Toll-Gate, Georgette Heyer

I don’t normally get along with cases of instantaneous love, but some authors can make me go along with it. Heyer is one of them, and this mystery/romance works well. Both the male and female lead are capable and likeable, and they treat each other with respect (unlike in, say, Faro’s Daughter). All in all, it’s an appealing combination, and Heyer shows off her research in her use of thieves’ cant and dialect. If your favourite Heyer novels tend to be the ones with mysterious highwaymen, capricious noblemen who don’t mind pretending to be commoners, etc, then it’s definitely one for you — more like The Talisman Ring than The Grand Sophy.

The only problem for me was that I’m not very knowledgeable about period-appropriate dialects and thieves’ cant. Some of it I didn’t follow very well, and at times it does hinder you in understanding exactly how a certain character gave themselves away, etc. But for the most part, it becomes obvious if you keep reading.

Heyer writes with humour and flair, as ever, and the afternoon I spent devouring this was well worth it.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – A Little Princess

Posted January 24, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson BurnettA Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

As a kid, The Secret Garden was the most magical thing I could think of. For some reason, I never read A Little Princess back then. Perhaps I would have liked it more then; as it is, I found it preachy and tedious. It’s very… Victorian: a child is in good circumstances, has a fall from grace, but her own merits of character finally result in a restoration. Unlike Mary from The Secret Garden, Sara Crewe is tediously saccharine and goody-goody.

I don’t really see why other people love this so much — especially if there’s no element of nostalgia. At least The Secret Garden’s Mary has character — Sara Crewe feels like, well, a Mary Sue. I am a little scared to ever reread The Secret Garden, now…

Rating: 2/5

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted January 24, 2017 by Nicky in General / 17 Comments

Today we have a guest post from my favourite person…

Photo of my rabbit, lying very flat on a box

Hulk, the bunny

Over to her! Her spelling mistakes and typos have been corrected in the interests of readability.

Hi! I am a bunny. I like to nibble books, and here are the books I want to nibble.

  1. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. In French. Because Mummy forgot to read me the end and I want to know how it ends.
  2. The dictionary. Lots of quality nibbles in there.
  3. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. It was used to keep me from rattling my cage before I lived in a pen. Vengeance will be mine.
  4. Among Others, by Jo Walton. Mummy and Mommy both like it.
  5. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. Because Mummy and Mommy read it a lot and I am jealous of it.
  6. The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have nibbled this a tiny bit in the past and I got a taste for it.
  7. There’s A Hippopotamus on my Roof Eating Cake, by Hazel Edwards. Because I want cake!
  8. Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. The things Mommy makes from it SMELL nice, but I’m never allowed any.
  9. The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. Because Mommy says Locke is her “tiny thieving boyfriend” and she is not allowed anyone except Mummy so BYEBYE TINY THIEF.
  10. Anything else I can reach! Wait, Mummy says that’s cheating. It’s not. It’s not! I am not a cheating bunny.

Now comment and tell Mummy to give me ALL THE KERRIT [ed. she means carrot].

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Review – Slade House

Posted January 24, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Slade House by David MitchellSlade House, David Mitchell

I want to enjoy Mitchell’s books, but it annoys me that they’re all connected. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s how I feel all the same; it seems so consciously literary and over clever, in many of the cases. Granted, I’ve only read this and Cloud Atlas, but I’ve seen a chart. A chart, for goodness’ sake. So I was a bit annoyed when reading this, because I came to the phrase ‘the bone clocks’, a reference to the title of another of Mitchell’s books. I don’t want to have to read all your supposedly stand-alone books to understand all your characters!

Pet peeves aside, the different voices were interesting, though not always as distinct as I’d like. I figured out the “mystery” of it pretty fast, and thus wasn’t surprised by things which rather surprised the characters themselves — the trouble of having seen it happen to another character before them, I guess. There’s a creepy atmosphere about the book, though that works best in the earlier sections: later, I’ve got too good an idea of where things are going.

It was fairly absorbing, but if it had been much longer I might have got bored. There’s only so many cycles you can go through before it all becomes rather obvious, and repetitive to boot.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Horse and His Boy

Posted January 23, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Horse and His Boy by C.S. LewisThe Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis

This was one of my favourites of the Narnia books as a child, and reading it now, I’m not sure why. The story is okay, though it’s mostly set outside of Narnia. I suppose it’s the setting that really lets it down: the Calormenes are blatant stereotypes, and Calormen itself is an obvious exoticisation of a Muslim country. I do give it some credit for having a female lead in Aravis — a female lead who can ride and hunt better than the male lead, who is brave and clever, though not perfect. (She’s self-centered and selfish, as well, without giving thought to the consequences of her actions.) It’s even better that she is a Calormene, even though she’s presented as rather an exception.

(For example, Lasaraleen is Aravis’ friend, but Lewis doesn’t have nearly as much time for her. It’s just the same as the way he later dismisses Susan: Lasaraleen is feminine, interested in clothes and makeup and men, and so he dismisses her. I’m not sure it was narratively necessary to make her seem so silly. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting if Aravis was tempted to stay with her because she’s sensible and smart and reminds Aravis of the enjoyable aspects of her life in Calormen?)

Anyway, it’s still fairly fun, and one of the least openly allegorical books. So, a rather lukewarm three stars.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Litany of Earth

Posted January 22, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna EmrysThe Litany of Earth, Ruthanna Emrys

You can read this novella online here, and it’s good background to have if you’re interested in reading Emrys’ novel, Winter Tide. It helps orientate you and figure out the characters, how they’re related, what they care about, where they’ve been. I paused in reading Winter Tide to read this, and it definitely clarified things. In fact, I liked it more than Winter Tide: it felt better paced, perhaps because it does have to have a beginning, middle and end in a fairly short stretch of words.

It’s beautifully written, as well; both this and Winter Tide are excellent reworkings of Lovecraft’s ideas concerning the Deep Ones, taking away a lot of the horror he held and expressed about anything Other. It stands alone well, even though it serves as a good introduction for Winter Tide. It’s definitely a good way to dip into Emrys’ work to see if you like her style and ideas.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Book

Posted January 21, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Book by Keith HoustonThe Book, Keith Houston

This is a really beautiful object. If you read the colophon, it has all sorts of details about the book’s binding and printing processes. The pages feel lovely, and though I’m not a fan of the cover — it’s just so… cardboardy, and gets easily scuffed — it looks good. The page design is really fun: when a new element like a title, bullet or indent shows up, there’s a label on it. Also for gutters, margins, etc. The photos and images included are in colour, too. All in all, it’s a great gift item, something to give to someone who loves books. It’s less readable for being such an object in its own right; I sort of want to keep it pristine rather than read it. Particularly given that it’s not cheap (though there is an ebook).

But, read it I did, and it’s a fascinating book. It’s split into a couple of different parts, following the development of the book: paper, writing, ink, the invention of the codex as the physical format. It’s clear and, as far as I can tell, accurate. I enjoyed reading it: the prose is clear and to the point, without being dry.

If you’re fascinated by books, not just for stories but for their scent and feel as well, this is probably well worth picking up. It’d definitely make a good-looking gift for someone so inclined. I found it both enjoyable and informative.

Rating: 5/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 21, 2017 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

G’morning, people! It’s been a quiet week for me, as I got down to work on my second and third assignments. After this third one, though, I get a break again! Not too much of one… but still enough. Also, I’ve started playing Final Fantasy XV, and that’s just eating my free time.

Received to review:

Cover of Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton

My wish was granted on Netgalley, to my surprise! Looking forward to reading this; I wasn’t totally blown away by Rebel of the Sands, but it was definitely enjoyable.

Read this week:

Cover of Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey Cover of Natural Histories by Brett Westwood Cover of The Family Plot by Cherie Priest Cover of Dreadnought

4 stars to… Miranda and Caliban and Dreadnought.
3 stars to… Natural Histories and The Family Plot.

A light reading week, for me. Alas.

Reviews posted this week:

–The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman. So much fun, and perhaps a little easier to follow having read it once before. I do love the sheer fun of these books. 4/5 stars
–Fair Chance, by Josh Lanyon. The characters continue to be fun and totally non-stereotypical, though the mystery relied a bit too much on coincidence. 4/5 stars
–Camelot’s Shadow, by Sarah Zettel. A reread just for fun, and one I enjoyed very much. Probably my favourite of the four books, this one features Sir Gawain, so, you know. 4/5 stars
–Grey Mask, by Patricia Wentworth. Not a bad read, but a bit too obvious. And oh wow, one of the main characters is just… silly. 3/5 stars
–Invisible Planets, ed. Ken Liu. I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, because it’s a great range of stories. But for me the translation doesn’t quite work. 3/5 stars
–The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. I still don’t get the appeal of Turkish Delight, but everything else about this book is a delight to me, despite the allegory. 4/5 stars
–A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson. With this one, I think I have to rule Wilson’s work just not to my taste. There is some great worldbuilding and sensual, lyrical language… but it just isn’t for me. 2/5 stars

Other posts:

–Top Ten Tuesday: Hidden Gems. Books I wish more other people would read, so we can talk about ’em.

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Review – A Taste of Honey

Posted January 20, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante WilsonA Taste of Honey, Kai Ashante Wilson

Received to review via Netgalley; published 26th October 2016

I want to like A Taste of Honey, just as I wanted to love The Sorceror of the Wildeeps. There’s some fascinating world building in the back of this, and some beautiful, lyrical, sensual language. And there’s LGBT characters! And the cover looks awesome! It actually gives me more of the background I wanted from the other novella, and the relationship was also much more up-front; obvious from the start.

Knowing other people really enjoy both Wilson’s novellas for Tor.com, I guess I just have to include it’s a case of “it’s not the book, it’s me”. It’s harder to even put my finger on what I didn’t like about this one — it just felt so disjointed, so opaque.

It’s a shame, but unless I hear something very different, I probably won’t read Wilson’s work again. It just doesn’t work for me.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Posted January 19, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 12 Comments

Cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. LewisThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis

This book is exactly what I reread Narnia for. Though it’s a blatant allegory (e.g. Aslan is Jesus, Edmund is Judas, the Emperor Over the Sea is the Christian God), it’s also a good story. Perhaps it helps that the story it’s based on is also a good one… In any case, there’s so much warmth in the narration, the way the narrator speaks to the reader and gently explains the characters’ faults and virtues. The scene with Mr Tumnus in his cave feels genuinely cosy, as does the scene with the Beavers. The treks through the snow feel genuinely freezing, and the slow dawning of spring feels like a breath of fresh air…

In other words, this book has some of the best of Lewis’ writing for children, in my opinion. The allegory doesn’t matter: I still care fiercely about Aslan, I still want Edmund to be redeemed. It mostly avoids being preachy. As with Uncle Andrew in The Magician’s Nephew, Edmund’s thought process makes sense, and he’s a more sympathetic character too.

I still don’t get the appeal of Turkish Delight, though.

Rating: 4/5

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