Author: Nicky

Review – The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter

Posted May 5, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 5 Comments

The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter, Rod Duncan

I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages, and seeing that there are now three books in the series (which I think I read is complete as a trilogy?), I thought it was about time I got round to it. I’m not necessarily a reader of steampunk for steampunk’s sake, but the set-up intrigued me, and especially the double life lived by the protagonist.

I have to say that I missed some things which other reviewers spotted, like the date this is set, but I enjoyed it all the same. It does feel a bit gimmicky and faux-Victorian, and I’d like to see more of the whys and wherefores of the level of technology maintained, but overall it works quite well.

I’m not majorly entranced by the story, but I’m curious enough to read on. Elizabeth is a fun character – capable, determined, intelligent – and the fact that the title defines her as someone’s daughter feels all the weirder because that person never appears and doesn’t really define her as a person at all. She’s independent and, in fact, so much of the novel is driven by her determination to be her own person and keep her own freedom.

The supporting characters are okay; it’s great that Elizabeth has a female friend who, though different from her, ends up drawn into her adventures and helping her. There’s also a good range of characters helping and hindering her, for many reasons, and sometimes the hindering is well-meaning. That makes it feel all the more real; things don’t go smoothly for Elizabeth, and sometimes that is due to well-intentioned people.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: Angry Robot, book reviews, books, SF/F

Review – Bone and Jewel Creatures

Posted May 4, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Bone and Jewel Creatures, Elizabeth Bear

Bone and Jewel Creatures has an interesting setting, which I’d love to explore more – it barely scratches the surface of the potential magic, and the political situation seems fairly sketched in – and an interesting character. How often do you get a 96 year old protagonist with arthritis? Although being a stubborn old lady isn’t unique, the fact that the effects on her work are touched on and the concern other characters have for her is quite cool.

Because it’s a novella, there’s a lot of stuff that would be fun to explore and go further into, and there’s a lot of suggestion and doing your own legwork, but it has a satisfying story arc of its own, and works well as a standalone piece. I didn’t actually know of, or feel the lack of, anything else set in the same universe. You have all the details you need.

The writing is good too, with some lovely moments of description – the wariness of the child, the glitter of the titular bone and jewel creatures. Overall, I found it pretty satisfying, which is rare in a novella; normally I just want more of it.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Elizabeth Bear, SF/F

Review – Murder on a Midsummer Night

Posted May 1, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Murder on a Midsummer Night, Kerry Greenwood

Murder on a Midsummer Night is not the most striking entry in the series, but if you’re here for Phryne and her found family, her lavish lifestyle and her relationships with the people around her, it’s just what you’d expect. Lin Chung gets to use some of his talents from past books, setting up a creepy seance using his magician’s tricks, and Dot has her own sleuthing work to do on one case, while Phryne deals with another.

At this point, I find the mysteries themselves relatively forgettable: it’s Phryne I read for, her unflappability and good sense, her ability to see right through people and situations. And her family, of course: Jane’s fascination with all things biological, and her interest in becoming a doctor in particular.

Well might people complain that Phryne is too perfect, too privileged. But really she’s the answer to Lord Peter, with an extra heaping of sexuality and feminism. She’s supposed to be impossibly awesome, and it shows us that female characters can be too. I won’t complain!

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, crime, Kerry Greenwood, mystery

ShelfLove May Update

Posted May 1, 2016 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments

ShelfLove Update!

It’s May already?! Like last month, I’m going to consolidate my TBR list with my ShelfLove update, since they go together well and it is in fact the first of the month today.

And this month I also bring more stats, plus colour coding. The goals where I’m ahead are in blue; bang on are in green; behind by up to five books are in orange; anything else is in red. I now have a running total to show where I should be for the month (so for example, in books read overall, I should’ve read 121 by now, and I’m on 109).

Targets:
- 250 or less books bought;
- 366 books read overall;
- 200 books read which I owned prior to 2016;
- no more than 10% of income on books per month.
Books bought this year so far: 69/80.
March books bought: 8/20.
March budget: £38/£50.
Owned books read this month: 17/16.
Books read this month: 33/30.
Owned books read overall: 54/67 (13 books behind).
Books read overall: 109/121 (12 books behind).

As you can see, I’ve not doing too badly in the past month, and I’m beginning to catch up with the deficit from previous months. And I’ve been very good about sticking to my budget, too!

Still, time for a TBR for May. I’ll undoubtedly read more than this — hopefully a lot more — but these are ones I need to get to for reviews, buddy reads, or just because they’ve been languishing that long.

The Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie. Darn it, Nikki, you’re halfway through it. Pick it back up.
Passenger, Alexandra Bracken. Started this last month, but got distracted.
Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore. Uh, ditto from The Last Argument of Kings. Except more so, because at least the former is a reread. This isn’t and I really should finish it and find out the ending.
Knight’s Shadow, Sebastien de Castell. I have read the first couple of pages and now I muuuust get round to it.
Tam Lin, Pamela Dean. Before people explode or something.
The Door into Shadow, Diane Duane. I’ve had these books kicking around since 2011, and I just reread the first one, so it’s time. I’ll probably try to read the third one too.
The Wolf in the Attic, Paul Kearney. Received to review and I think the review is about due. Oh dear, too much of that rhymed.
False Hearts, Laura Lam. Due out in June, I think, so it’s about time to get to it.
A Court of Thorns & Roses, Sarah J. Maas. I don’t remember the book well enough to read the sequel right away. That’s a good excuse, right?
A Court of Mist & Fury, Sarah J. Maas. Zomg!
Rosemary & Rue, Seanan McGuire. Reading Every Heart A Doorway convinced me I really need to get on and read this one.
Hero, Perry Moore. What better way to celebrate Captain America: Civil War’s release than with cute gay superheroes?
The Sudden Appearance of Hope, Claire North. Just received this to review, and North’s books are always solidly entertaining, so let’s go!
Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer. Had it to review, should have already done it. Whoops.
House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds. Or my sister will kick me. If she could be bothered to come to Belgium to do so, anyway.

And I’ll stop there, lest I end up sulking about having to stick too rigidly to a list (yes, despite my evident and oft-indulged love of making lists).

And now for the Shelf Love challenge’s prompt for the month: summer’s coming, so we’re all planning literary trips. It requires some serious thought, because the areas of fiction and history that fascinate me to read about wouldn’t necessary be fun to visit. I could take a leaf out of my mother’s book and follow in Lord Peter Wimsey’s footsteps through Scotland on the trail of Five Red Herrings. Or perhaps, since I don’t live in Wales anymore, I’d be better served by visiting Cader Idris in Wales, the site of Susan Cooper’s The Grey King and Silver on the Tree. Or a trip round Britain to the various sites of Arthurian legend — but not while the battles are going on, please. Hey, if I could pinpoint a site for Camelot…

But really, I’m a homebody, so my favourite literary trips are best taken from an armchair.

Tags: #ShelfLove, books, TBR

Review – Rat Queens: Demons

Posted April 30, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Rat Queens vol 3: Demons, Kurtis J. Wiebe, Tess Fowler

I’m not sure how different the art is in this volume — I can’t compare since my copies of volumes one and two are elsewhere — but I was left overall unsatisfied; I felt like it could’ve been better. Characters were clear enough, etc, but I didn’t feel it stood out, apart from Stjepan Sejic’s covers. I remember loving Stjepan Sejic’s art, so that’s not surprising; Fowler’s art is competent and expressive and all that, but it just doesn’t have the same feel.

Overall, this volume is a bit of a mess, too. It’s uneven as to which characters have anything important to do — Dee has almost nothing, in this volume — and it ends on an unsatisfying note. This volume is mostly about Hannah and her past, and I’m starting to really crave more background for the Rat Queens as a group. How did they come together, why do they stick together? They seem pretty disparate at times.

The interlude with Betty and the dragon is kind of fun, though, and it was obvious more time was going to be spent with Hannah and her family’s issues.

Possibly it’s because I wasn’t that invested in the first place, but I think this is the last volume of Rat Queens I actually buy. (I might borrow volume four from someone, if and when it exists.)

Rating: 2/5

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, SF/F

Stacking the Shelves

Posted April 30, 2016 by Nicky in General / 34 Comments

As you’re about to see, it’s been a busy week full of reading for me! I’ve been adding books to the “books read this week” section right up to the last minute. It’s always nice when I have plenty of time to read! And despite having an Amazon voucher to spend, so far I haven’t picked a new book — though I did get a couple of books to review.

Received to review:

I’ve followed Claire North’s work for a long time now, so I’m hopeful about this new one. I’ve heard a lot about Woman on the Edge of Time, so I’m curious about it.

Books read this week:

A whole bunch of these were rereads (The Farthest Shore, Silver on the Three, volume one of The Movement, The Door into Fire), but there were a lot of new-to-me books too. And I enjoyed most of them! An excellent week.

Reviews this week:
–Every Heart A Doorway, by Seanan McGuire. This is probably my favourite story from Tor.com’s novella line. The plot and world are awesome, and so are the characters. 4/5 stars
–Century Rain, by Alastair Reynolds. A reread of a book I loved as a teenager, which I haven’t revisited in a long time; it didn’t disappoint. 4/5 stars
–Death at the Bar, by Ngaio Marsh. Felt a bit too by-the-numbers as a mystery, without the strength of character of Sayers’ Wimsey or even Christie’s Miss Marple. 2/5 stars
–Forensics, by Val McDermid. A good survey of forensic science and how it’s used to catch and indict criminals; well-written, too. 4/5 stars
–Flashback Friday: Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig. I think this is one of the first Angry Robot books I ever read; I’ve kept on reading both the publisher and the author. Wendig’s work is generally a lot of fun, and Blackbirds does well with an interesting idea. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
–Readathon progress. The start of my excellent reading week, even though I didn’t stay up the full 24 hours!
–Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s theme was bookworm delights, like the smell of books.
–Bout of Books signup. Aka, another readathon!

How’s everyone else been?

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, weekly roundup

Review – Blackbirds

Posted April 29, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Blackbirds, Chuck Wendig

Originally reviewed 20th April, 2012; received to review via Netgalley

I got Blackbirds from Angry Robot on Netgalley, to review. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it from the description, and the pre-existing reviews, but I wanted to give it a go because the idea is something relatively simple that could be turned into a really good story. The core idea is that a girl (Miriam) gains a power which means the first time she has skin-on-skin contact with someone, she sees how they die.

I enjoyed the character of Miriam: she’s a tough talking girl who swears like a sailor and does whatever she has to do to get through life, trying to tell herself that all these deaths she witnesses (and can’t prevent) don’t matter to her, and that she can’t do anything about it. There’s a lot that isn’t explained about her gift, which is equal parts frustrating and intriguing: I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel, to fill in the gaps that Blackbirds has left.

I liked the other main characters, too: Ashley and Louis. Well, Ashley is kind of unlikeable, but I like what was done with him, and Louis… well, you can’t help liking Louis and rooting for him, even though the story is telling you the whole time that nothing good is going to come of this.

There are a couple of things that I didn’t find convincing enough: the motives of the people who were after her; Louis’ attraction to her; the whole Ashley thing. Some of that might be resolved in the next book, but either way, the momentum of the story carried me past anything that gave me pause. I read it in one sitting — if it sounds interesting to you, then I’d say go ahead and pick it up, as long as you can get past the fact that there’s graphic violence, swearing and sex!

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Chuck Wendig, crime, Flashback Friday, mystery, SF/F

Review – Forensics

Posted April 28, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Forensics, Val McDermid

I actually originally bought this for my sister, but then decided I was curious about it too and got myself a copy. I really haven’t enjoyed Val McDermid’s crime fiction; I found it just too violent and gritty. And I have to admit there were points reading this non-fiction book where I felt uncomfortable thinking about serial killers and arsonists and all the kinds of people McDermid discussed, and the crimes they committed. If you ever want to look at everyone around you with suspicion, a book like this is a good place to start…

Nonetheless, I found it quite an enjoyable read. With a sister who loves all things forensics (and wants to be a coroner) and a background of watching some crime shows (NCIS, mostly), I knew most of it, but I appreciated the way it was pulled together, illustrated with examples, and expanded. I imagine if you’re an absolutely diehard fan of CSI, you might find this less than revelatory, particularly as it goes into more of the minutiae and tiny details. Still, if you have a general interest without being glued to every rerun of CSI, this might just scratch that itch of curiosity. It’s very readable, and well organised too.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction

Bout of Books

Posted April 27, 2016 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

This is much lower-pressure than the 24-hour readathon, while still offering the social aspects and even some chances of prizes. I’m looking forward to participating again!

Time each day: 30 minutes minimum.
Number of books: 7 books.
What to read: At least four of the books should be books I’ve owned since before 2016, fulfilling the ShelfLove challenge too!

Tags: books, readathon

Review – Death at the Bar

Posted April 27, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Death at the Bar, Ngaio Marsh

I don’t quite understand people who like Marsh’s books as much as, say, Dorothy L. Sayers’. Alleyn just doesn’t have the same depth of characterisation as Wimsey, and while the character of Troy is quite fun, she doesn’t seem to have come into it as much as Harriet. It is true that Wimsey books go buy without Harriet, though usually there’s Parker and Bunter, the Dowager Duchess and plenty of other supporting characters who pop up repeatedly. In these books, it seems to often be just Alleyn and Fox, and the possibilities of that partnership are limited.

The mystery itself is… okay. It takes some time to build up a set of characters to theorise about first (though I hope they’re not intended to be likeable as such, because most of them are not), which at least adds a bit of interest; I do like the way crime/mystery stories can be used as a character study. I found the ending ridiculously drawn out; enough red herrings, let’s have the culprit, please.

I think Ngaio Marsh’s books, properly spaced out, will keep me entertained well enough, but I’m probably going to avoid reading them back to back. They’re just too dry, and Alleyn isn’t enough of a person to me.

Rating: 2/5

Tags: book reviews, books, crime, mystery, Ngaio Marsh