Category: General

Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 7, 2015 by in General / 37 Comments

And another week gone! This year is flying by already… which in a way is fortunate, because I was excited for the two books I picked up this week, both out on 03/02 (coincidentally, my mother’s birthday). Now it’s justĀ A Darker Shade of Magic to go and then I’ll have the books I’m most eagerly coveting…

Bought

Cover of Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear Cover of Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

The cover ofĀ Karen MemoryĀ is just perfect. I’m already partway through — might even have finished it by the time this goes live — and enjoying it very much. I’ve already finishedĀ Trigger Warning

Library

The Periodic Table Cover of Stonehenge by Mike Parker Pearson

Guess who’s onto the chemistry section of their Open University textbook? And Stonehenge, well, who can resist archaeology about Stonehenge?

For review

Cover of The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis Cover of The Errant Prince by Sasha L. MillerĀ Cover of Gates of Thread and Stone

Cover of Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Cover of Nightshade by R.J. ScudiereĀ Cover of The Adventures of Monkey Girl and Tiger Kite by Kai Schalk

I still haven’t read a single book by Ian Tregillis. I have them. I just need to, you know, read them. Oops.

Comics

Ms Marvel Operation Sin #2

Peggyyyyy. I really need to watch Agent Carter, too. Mind you, I still really need to watch Agents of SHIELD and, uh, Norton’sĀ HulkĀ (though really Mark Ruffalo is the only Bruce Banner for me, sorry).

Anyway, this was quite a big haul for me, but I’m still keeping to my resolutions! For now, at least. I do need to hurry up and get reading my review copies, though. How’s everyone else been doing? Any massive hauls?

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Tough Travels – Lairs

Posted February 5, 2015 by in General / 14 Comments

This week’s Tough Travels theme is “lairs”:

The evil lair is where a great fantasy villain will spend the plurality of his or her time.

Now of course, there are some really iconic ones — Saruman’s Isengard, Sauron’s Mordor, even Shelob’s Cirith Ungol and Smaug’s Lonely Mountain — but I’ve been racking my brains to think of something a little off the beaten path. So I remembered a quote I read somewhere quite recently, about the people who ultimately do the most evil being the people who are unshakeably sure they’re right.

Which gave me…

  • Roke, from The Earthsea Quartet and The Other Wind. It’s a stagnant world, not willing to bend with the times and let in new people (particularly, women). It’s the Establishment, really. With the best of intentions, they make a total mess of things. I think that goes for a lot of magic regulating bodies in fantasy…
  • Malthus and Aracus’ strongholds/camps/etc from Jacqueline Carey’sĀ The Sundering.Ā I could’ve picked Satoris for this without twisting it even slightly, since most people view him as the bad guy — essentially this world’s Sauron. And yet, his side are more accepting of grey areas and outcasts, while Malthus and Aracus’ forces are completely self-righteously convinced that they’re on the side of right. That’s more dangerous, to me.
  • Sky, in N.K. Jemisin’sĀ The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.Ā There are some good people trapped in the system there, mostly kept turning by Itempas’ injustice…
  • 10 Downing Street, circa Tony Blair’s stint as prime minister. Oops. That’s not fantasy.

Looking forward to seeing what other people came up with, here; hoping it won’t make me want any new books, because I don’t have a debit card to buy them with at the moment!

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted February 3, 2015 by in General / 8 Comments

This week’s theme is ‘Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read From X Genre’. I’m going to go for a bit of a twist and give you the top ten books my mother can’t believe I haven’t read from the classics, particularly because I’ve got English lit degrees… It’s also my mother’s birthday today! (She does read this blog, so stick your head in and say hi.)

  1. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning,Ā Laurie Lee.Ā 
  2. Lord Jim,Ā Joseph Conrad.
  3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Ā Mark Twain.
  4. A Tale of Two Cities,Ā Charles Dickens.
  5. Tess of the D’Ubervilles,Ā Thomas Hardy.
  6. The Importance of Being Earnest,Ā Oscar Wilde.
  7. The History of the Decline Fall of the Roman Empire,Ā Edward Gibbon.
  8. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples,Ā Winston Churchill.
  9. Gulliver’s Travels,Ā Jonathan Swift.
  10. Ulysses,Ā James Joyce.

So if you’re feeling bad about not reading the classics, neither have I… (I’m also missing out onĀ The Count of Monte Cristo and other such classics!)

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I Mustache You Some Questions

Posted February 1, 2015 by in General / 8 Comments

mustache-questions

Since Kaja from Of Dragons and Hearts tagged me!

Four names that people call me:

  1. Nikki — obviously! This is what most people call me, these days.
  2. Nicole — my family tend to still call me this. My real name!
  3. Nicci — shut up, it’s totally different somehow. But only my childhood friend is allowed to call me this.
  4. Squeak — well, actually, Dad’s stopped calling me this because I’m an adult now. But I have a very high soprano voice, and my dad has tinnitis, so, voila. It was “Croak” when I had a cold, “Squeakley” when he was being affectionate, “Princess Squeakerella” when I was being a brat…

Four jobs that I have had:

  1. Medical secretary. This mostly involved a lot of filing, some pestering people for money, and a lot of typing.
  2. Transcriptionist. People send me audio recordings of their meetings, interviews, etc, and I type out everything they say. Or sometimes most of what they say, only more grammatically. I’ve transcribed all sorts of stuff: David Cameron’s speeches, Nick Clegg’s excuses, conferences, financial results, NHS board meetings, court cases… It can be kind of interesting.
  3. Copy writer. You need someone to advertise coffee they’ve never tasted? Someone who doesn’t even like coffee? Sure! I’ll do it! And various other things, like providing content for blogs, writing web pages, etc, etc.
  4. Volunteer. Yeah, kind of cheating, but I haven’t had any other paying job. But my volunteer roles could populate this list again and then some…

Four movies that I have watched more than once:Ā 

  1. Apollo 13.Ā Shut up it doesn’t make me cry.
  2. Howl’s Moving Castle.Ā <33
  3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier.Ā Steve Rogers is my bb.
  4. Sherlock Holmes.Ā With Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.

Four books I’d recommend:

  1. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. I don’t think this needs saying, does it?
  2. Bloodshot,Ā by Cherie Priest. I have a craving to reread this, so here it goes in the list. I love the vampire law here, love Raylene’s OCD tendencies and how she’s kickass anyway, and the found family that grows throughĀ Bloodshot andĀ Hellbent.
  3. The Fifth Head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. Want your brain twisted round and round? Yep. Gene Wolfe.
  4. Strong Poison,Ā by Dorothy L. Sayers. Because Lord Peter is the best detective. Shut up. Yes. The best.

Wait, there isn’t room forĀ Seaward?Ā The Dark is Rising?Ā Among Others?

Four places I have lived:Ā 

  1. Yorkshire. I grew up there.
  2. Gordon Hall, Cardiff. I was in a hall of residence in my first year of university, naturally; this was my first home away from my parents.
  3. Flat 3, Cardiff. Second year of university. There were mice. Let’s not go there.
  4. Hardy Place, Cardiff. Maybe my favourite of my homes so far, lived here with some of my university friends.

Four places I have been:

  1. Brittany, France. I’ve blanked out most of it because it was awful — it was a school trip, and my classmates wanted me to be unhappy. I was.
  2. Various parts of Belgium. My partner lives in Belgium!
  3. Rome, Italy. Went to Rome with my mother after finishing my degree. Favourite place: Pompeii. Definitely.
  4. Cornwall, UK. We went for the total solar eclipse. It turned out to be cloudy there; there was a better view back home. But Dad did teach us to swim.

Four places I’d rather be right now:

  1. Belgium. I want my bunnyyyyy.
  2. Yorkshire. I love Wales, but right now I’d rather not be here.
  3. Venice. I’ll settle for turning my PS3 on and running around Rome on Assassin’s Creed, though.
  4. Bed.

Four things I don’t eat:

  1. Spaghetti bolognese. My mother once forcefed me some because she didn’t believe I felt sick. There was projectile vomiting.
  2. Haggis.Ā Whyyy.
  3. Turkish delight. Ughughugh.
  4. Christmas pudding. Gaaah.

Four of my favourite foods:

  1. The sausage thing with onions that my partner gets from the chip shop down the road. Oh god I could eat it right now.
  2. Cauliflower cheese. I like cheese. Nommy cheese.
  3. Crispy duck in pancakes. Mmmmm.
  4. Dad’s chilli. Or other chilli, if necessary, but Dad does it best.

Four TV shows that I’ve watched:

  1. Firefly. I’ve watched this far too many times, really. I can quote most of it. “I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.”
  2. Pushing Daisies. I need to rewatch this! So cute.
  3. Due South. I’m not kidding you when I say Fraser was my first squish.
  4. NCIS. Okay, so I can’t watch it without crying still because I used to watch it with my grandad and I can still ‘hear’ his commentary on it. But I do love it.

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:

  1. Going to Canada!
  2. Visits to Belgium.
  3. The Wales vs England game on Friday.
  4. Visit from my ex-housemate.

Four things I’m always saying:

  1. “Daaaaaaadddyyyyyyy…”Ā Yes, 25 and I still call him ‘Daddy’. Especially when I want something.
  2. “How much is my library fine now?” Wince.
  3. “Books books books!” The hunting cry of the wild Nikki.
  4. “I hate math…” This science course involves far too much math and not enough DNA.

Runners up: “ugh David Cameron, you [expletive]!”; “Muuuuuuuuuuuuum”; “EZIO STOP FALLING OFF BUILDINGS YOU’RE MEANT TO BE AN ASSASSIN”.

Four people I tag:

  1. You.
  2. The other you.
  3. Yes, you.
  4. My imaginary friend.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 31, 2015 by in General / 18 Comments

Once again, a quiet week! Which is good, since that’s what I’m aiming for. I did get two new books — rewards for finishing books two and three of my Open University course!

Bought

Cover of Dreamer's Pool by Juliet MarillierĀ Cover of Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier

I’ve read (and reviewed)Ā Prickle Moon already; it’s lovely. And I’d been wantingĀ Dreamer’s PoolĀ for a while!

Library

Cover of The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart

Just one, a bit of self indulgence — I’ve read all of Mary Stewart’s romances, but this was the first one I read, and I’m looking forward to going back to it. Frothy comfort reading for the win! Though right now, I’m digging intoĀ Soulless (Gail Carriger) for that!

Oh, and the latest issue of Thor came out, too.

Comics

Thor #4

How’s everyone else doing? Broken your resolutions yet?

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Tough Travels – Law Enforcement

Posted January 29, 2015 by in General / 8 Comments

The prompt this week for Tough Travels is this:

Seems odd to think that in fantasy cities in which entire economies revolve around crime there is room for the men in blue (or crimson, or whatever). But the law does the best it can, even when faced with magic, mystical creatures, or rogue deities.

So I thought about this and for some reason my mind was totally blank. I mean, there’s various forces of law and order in fantasy, of course, but I couldn’tĀ think of specific ones. In a lot of what I read, they’re just in the background — the king’s guardsmen, the city watch, whatever. Anyway, I’ve done my best to think of some of the forces of law and order that weĀ don’t normally associate with the men in blue, as such. Like…

  • The Avengers (Marvel comics).Ā You’ve never met a more law-abiding, law-enforcing person than Steve Rogers! And, admittedly, he does wear a mostly blue uniform.
  • The wizards on Roke (A Wizard of Earthsea).Ā They’re pretty insular a lot of the time, granted, but if there’s a problem out there in the world, they’reĀ probably the only ones who can solve it. And Ged is very aware of that fact. There’s the short story inĀ Tales from Earthsea where he goes after a disgraced wizard, and then there’s the whole plot ofĀ The Furthest Shore
  • Valek (Poison Study).Ā The Commander might be the centre of power, but he wouldn’t be that way without Valek keeping people in line.

And for a guy who does represent the boys in blue, though this is not strictly fantasy (it’s alternate history)…

  • Peter Carmichael (Small ChangeĀ trilogy).Ā Because he tries to do his job even when it’s hard. Because despite all the risks to himself and those he loves, he subverts the regime he’s in, and supports real justice.

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Get To Know Me

Posted January 28, 2015 by in General / 13 Comments

Since Paper Fury posted 21 things you probably don’t know about her, I ended up doing a response. With 25 items because I’m 25.

  1. I’m Welsh. It actively pains me when people go ā€œoh cool, you’re English!ā€ when they find out I live in the UK. No.
  2. I have a sister. She’s a brat.
  3. I have five library cards. Two from the same library. I’m sneaky, me.
  4. I’m on a library committee. I’m in charge of book acquisitions!
  5. I haven’t read all the Harry Potter books. Sorry?
  6. My favourite animals are hedgehogs, hippos and giraffes. Don’t make me choose.
  7. I barely speak any of my partner’s native language. I can say thank you in a shop. That’s about it.
  8. I didn’t learn to read until I was nearly seven. Everyone assumes otherwise, but nope. I just wasn’t interested.
  9. I love King Arthur. See also #1. I wrote three of four of my MA essays on Arthurian texts, plus my dissertation.
  10. I have a BA and MA in English Literature… And I did very well in them, thank you.
  11. …But now I’m doing a course in Natural Sciences to prepare for medschool. Neurology, maybe? Genetics?
  12. I can sleep on a motorbike. Not as the rider, obviously; as the pillion passenger. I have a rally medal, and all I did was hold onto my dad and snooze for 36 hours.
  13. I’m a transcriptionist and copy writer. Neither of these things pay very well.
  14. I’m a volunteer at an eye clinic, a library, a forum, Lightspeed’s slush pile, and an occasional volunteer for Cancer Research UK and Tenovus. None of these things pay at all.
  15. I like chicken on my pizza. My partner thinks this makes me practically heathen.
  16. I like cold pizza the next morning. My sister is positive this makes me a heathen.
  17. I read in the bath. And I’ve only ever dropped one book in.
  18. I don’t get the ereaders vs. dead tree books debate. Both! Why not both?
  19. I know the stock at my local bookshops better than they do. And yet they won’t employ me. Sigh.
  20. When I really love a character, it sometimes means I can never consume more of their canon because I get too anxious. Castiel, bb. Why. And I worry this is going to happen with Steve Rogers/Captain America, because his next film is Civil War. Gaaah.
  21. I have no gallbladder. Had it out two years ago because it was full of stones.
  22. I once read The Lord of the Rings in 24 hours. That included sleep.
  23. I averaged buying more than a book a day in 2013. And I wasn’t far off in 2014. Oops.
  24. I had to pry open the back of my ereader to swap in a bigger SD card. I wrote a guide about it. Then they promptly stopped selling that type of ereader. Huff.
  25. I can’t back down from a dare. Like, my dad dared me to read War and Peace in a week. So I did it in five days. Or my sister said I wouldn’t dare suck spilt vodka out of the carpet. So I did. But I blame that on the previously imbibed vodka, too. Regardless, no one ever lets me forget it, so I’m trying to be proud of it. Or something.

You probably know most of these things about me, actually.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 24, 2015 by in General / 14 Comments

Haven’t bought any books this week! I know, it’s shocking. I do actually owe myself a book from finishing my second OU textbook, and I think I know what I’m going to get, but I seem to be holding out on myself. (I’m probably going to getĀ Owl and the Japanese Circus,Ā by Kristi Charish. They actually approved me for an ARC of that on NG and immediately, literally seconds after, archived it so I could never have downloaded it anyway, though, so I’m a liiiittle bit cranky about that. No fair teasing like that!) Anyway, I have got some library books and it’s starting to get to the point where my pull list means I get at least one comic every week, woo.

Library books

Cover of The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge Cover of Wildwood by Roger Deakin

Yep, that ol’ nature reading interest again.

Comics

Spiderwoman #3

Eee!

So how’s everyone else been doing? Still sticking to your resolutions? (I posted a bit about mine here just this week, if you’re interested!)

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Review – Knowledge of Angels

Posted January 23, 2015 by in General / 2 Comments

Cover of Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton WalshKnowledge of Angels,Ā Jill Paton Walsh
Reviewed 2nd July, 2012

Ursula Le Guin reportedly described this book as “beautiful and disturbing”, and I can go with that. I didn’t expect to like this; Jill Paton Walsh has left me cold on several previous occasions. But slowly, slowly, I was drawn in by the (alternate?) world presented. The proofs of God’s existence parts were tiresome to me, since I’ve done Religious Studies to A Level and the first year of a philosophy degree, but the story formed around the idea of proving the existence of God is beautiful.

There’s a sort of distance from the characters — I’m not sure I liked any of them, that is — but somehow I became deeply involved in the story anyway, and I think I’d even say I loved the characters despite not liking them. And oh, I was so sure everything would turn out alright, I wanted that ending so badly.

I may well read other historical novels by Jill Paton Walsh: this, I think, is something she’s better at than thinly veiled mimicry of Dorothy L. Sayers.

Rating: 4/5

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Tough Travels – Pets

Posted January 22, 2015 by in General / 14 Comments

Here’s a new, but very appropriate, meme for this blog! From here.

Each Thursday, our copy of The Tough Guide to FantasylandĀ in hand, we shall tour the mystical countryside looking for adventure and fun (and tropes) from all over fantasy.

The topic this week is PETS:

Everybody needs somebody to love. And the best companionship doesn’t always come from the same sentient group, does it? Be it furry or scaled, large or small, sometimes an animal companion is the best thing a person can have.

  • The otak, fromĀ A Wizard of Earthsea,Ā by Ursula Le Guin:Ā We don’t see much of the little creature, but without him and his fierce shy loyalty, Ged wouldn’t survive past half the book. And we know how special he is because most otaks are shy.
  • Nighteyes, from the Farseer trilogy,Ā by Robin Hobb:Ā Okay, not quite a pet, but an animal companion nonetheless. You’ve got to love this guy.
  • The Disreputable Dog,Ā fromĀ Lirael,Ā by Garth Nix:Ā Another sentient one, really. I’m doing bad at this, aren’t I? But you gotta love her.

You can probably think of some obvious ones I forgot…

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