Category: Reviews

Review – The Atrocity Archive

Posted November 26, 2014 by in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Atrocity Archives by Charles StrossThe Atrocity Archive, Charles Stross

I keep trying Stross’ work, because I’ve read other novels of his and I know that there are some elements which interest me, some things which I do keep turning the pages for. I was actually more interested in The Atrocity Archive and “The Concrete Jungle” than I have been in most of his other books, which is a start, but I’m afraid a lot of it went over my head (not geeky enough) and some of it went under (fart jokes).

All in all, the alternate history conjured up here is interesting, though I can’t really talk about the mathematics, geometry, etc, because I can’t write down my own phone number without transposing a digit or two. That somewhat hobbles the story, because I think there’s humour and worldbuilding there that I just. don’t. get. Which is unfortunately how Stross has made me feel before.

I don’t think I’ll be reading any more of this series, though I quest on in my attempt to find a Stross book I genuinely enjoy. It seems like he has cool ideas, and it’s not like it’s his writing style that throws me off — I just don’t feel like enough of a nerd!

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Osama

Posted November 25, 2014 by in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Osama by Lavie TidharOsama, Lavie Tidhar

I’ve been avoiding reading Osama for a while, as I didn’t really feel tempted by the summary, but I ended up picking it up in the library — because that can never hurt! — and really enjoying it, as it happens. Rather more than the books that Lavie Tidhar wrote for Angry Robot, actually, even though superficially they might seem more up my street.

I think a fair amount of the trouble people have reading this is that they’re expecting the wrong thing. A classically noirish detective story, a thriller, something solidly science fictional that deals with multiverses… but it’s none of those things, or not only those things. It borrows some of the trappings of each: the protagonist is a detective in a classic noir style; there are excerpts that’re meant to be from a thriller; there are at least two parallel universes, it seems…

Going into this as I did, without too many expectations, let me enjoy it a lot. Each chapter is short, so it ended up flying by, and while others complained about the metaphors and imagery, I actually enjoyed it a lot. Borrowing from a genre that gave us “shop-worn Galahad”s and the like, I don’t think the writing style was out of place at all.

It’s much more quiet, meditative, than most noir-ish things, though. Although the character is in many ways insubstantial, that’s kind of the point. If you’re looking for a thriller, this ain’t it: though there’s plenty of violence and mystery and so on, really it’s more about an internal journey.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Tooth and Claw

Posted November 24, 2014 by in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Tooth & Claw by Jo WaltonTooth and Claw, Jo Walton

I had a vague recollection of not really liking this book as much as Jo Walton’s other work. Then I reread it in approximately five seconds flat (well, a little more than that, maybe). As people have noted, my original review called this Austen-esque, whereas Jo makes it clear in the book itself that no, the influence is much more from Trollope. Not that I’ve read anything by Trollope, and there are aspects here reminiscent of Austen.

Before I write any more about this, let me just pause to be very amused that often the same people complaining the dragons are too human-like (wearing hats) complain that the dragons aren’t (modern Western) human-like enough for their taste (socially acceptable cannibalism after someone dies).

The thing I really enjoyed about Tooth and Claw, this time round as much as last time, was the complex history and social background there is to this story, which you don’t have to know about, but which is there. The world isn’t just a paper thin homage to Trollope; there’s a lot more going on, a whole geography and history and philosophy which shapes the story and gives the dragons life. The homage to Trollope is there, sure, but Jo also looked at it and changed what needed to be changed to make the dragon society feel real — lacy hats or no.

This time, I finished the book feeling glad that it’s a self-contained story which concludes within one book, because fantasy trilogies are getting out of hand these days, but also wondering very much about the background of the world, about events before and after the only somewhat personally significant events of this story. That’s something I love to leave a book wondering, because it means that the world wasn’t just created for the story, but the story takes place within the world.

Rating: 5/5

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Review – The Invincible Iron Man: Demon

Posted November 23, 2014 by in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Invincible Iron Man: Demon by Matt FractionThe Invincible Iron Man: Demon, Matt Fraction, Salvador Laracca

This, for me, was one of those volumes which proves you don’t always have to keep up with every bit of every storyline to still enjoy parts of the larger arc. It was also the first time I really got enthused about Matt Fraction’s storytelling: I need to reread the Hawkeye books now that I’m more invested in the character, since it was sort of inevitable that I didn’t get on too well with his work on Thor — I’m not that big a fan of Thor (sorry honey). But when he’s working on Iron Man, well, Tony Stark’s got himself attached to my heartstrings somehow, and goodness does Fraction know how to work that.

Most of the book revolves around fallout from the Fear Itself event, which I only know a little about. I don’t know exactly what happened when Tony fell off the wagon, or why Pepper’s in disgrace over Rescue and something to do with her crying. I only know a little bit about Cabe and the various villains up against Tony. What I know about the main players is mostly based on the cinematic universe.

And yet. I still care passionately about Tony and his struggle with alcoholism, about his battle of wits with the Mandarin, about what’s happening with him and Rhodey and the struggle with the government to control Iron Man. (I was surprised there weren’t more laughs milked out of it when Tony ended up naked in battle.)

One or two things drove me a little nuts, like why would Tony voluntarily install the limiter? Without dismantling it first and checking if it is everything they say? If he did, how did they take him by surprise and make it hard for him to remove? Why didn’t he see that coming? Or was everything that happened in that battle planned?

I think it’ll take the next TPB or so to find out the answers to all my questions, but in a way, this was satisfying on its own in the sense that I jumped in, got captured by the story, had my heartstrings yanked, and enjoyed the experience without needing to know all the context.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Hand in Hand

Posted November 21, 2014 by in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Hand in Hand, ed. Carol Ann DuffyHand in Hand, ed. Carol Ann Duffy

This is a very interesting idea for an anthology, pairing up contemporary writers with an opposite-sex poet of their choice. The poems don’t seem to be necessarily related, though some are; it’s just a collection of poems that spoke to different people, and what different people have to say about love. As with most anthology situations, there are some gems here and some I couldn’t care less about.

As you might expect, I liked the contributions or inclusions of poets I’m already a fan of: Simon Armitage, Pablo Neruda, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Duffy herself. I was more bewildered by the proliferation of Robert Burns, whose work I’ve never really been attracted by, and the absence of Shakespeare. Overall, those surprises make the anthology a more interesting one: it’s not whatever stereotype you might conjure for an anthology of love poetry, but something different: a conversation about love, in many different forms, moods and tenses.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Votan

Posted November 20, 2014 by in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Votan & Other Stories by John JamesVotan, John James

I found Votan a really interesting read; I’m not entirely sure I liked it, but it was mesmerising anyway. There’s something compulsive about it: I just needed to know what the heck Photinus did next, what trouble he got into and how he got out of it, and how that all works into the conceit that he’s at the back of a whole lot of Norse mythology. Sometimes I felt I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on — that I’d missed a reference or something: there’s a lot of playing around with the material, pulling from different stories and sources.

It’s been published as both a fantasy and a historical novel, and I’m not honestly sure where I’d classify it. It’s almost febrile, somehow — all the things Photinus does, all the places he goes; reading it felt like a fever-dream. I lost track of people, places; somehow it didn’t really matter.

I did enjoy it, I think, but I’m not so enamoured of it that I’m going to read Not For All The Gold In Ireland or Men Went to Cattreath. Not entirely sure I want to see John James ride roughshod over Y Gododdin, so I’ll skip it.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Darwin: A Life In Poems

Posted November 19, 2014 by in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth PadelDarwin: A Life in Poems, Ruth Padel

Darwin: A Life in Poems is an interesting endeavour, though it doesn’t quite work for me. Bits of Darwin’s words, descriptions of his life, little details — it makes for an interesting collection for its own sake, but the poetry mostly doesn’t read right. Some of the detail plucked from Darwin’s letters and work is interesting, some bits of it work startlingly well, but as a whole, it’s not a project that works for me.

A sort-of similar project making music around Darwin’s life worked much better for me — Karine Polwart’s song can bring tears to my eyes in the right mood. The Darwin Song Project is worth checking out, though their site now seems to be defunct. You can at least find Karine’s song on youtube.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – The Thirteenth Tale

Posted November 18, 2014 by in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane SetterfieldThe Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale is certainly an absorbing story in one way — and I prefer it to Bellman & Black, as people told me I probably would — but now I’m finished I’m left feeling a little bit cheated. The mysteries shook out more or less as I expected; the creepy gothic air never quite worked for me, because it’s very much a homage to books which are rather a lot better; the hints of supernatural stuff and ghosts never convinced me… And so on. I could see what it was trying to do, and if I tried hard enough, I could bury myself in it, but it never quite swept me away.

That said, I read it in more or less two massive chunks, and it certainly keeps the pages turning despite the slow pace to it. The stuff that’s obviously meant to appeal to bookworms, that sensation of reading something so bright and fresh and alive as Vida Winter’s work is supposed to be, she captures something of that enchantment, I think. I actually smiled a bit at the narrator’s stuff surrounding reading — yep, I’ve sat up with a book so long it accidentally got round to morning again, without even realising, and was stupid and clumsy the next day with sleepiness; yep, when I’ve been reading intensely all day, somehow I’m just not hungry, like the words have filled me up.

There’s very little more insipid than the narrator’s character, though. I’ve forgotten her name. I remember her twin’s name, but not hers. Set against her, maybe Vida Winter’s story can’t help but be fascinating.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Mighty Thor: The Galactus Seed

Posted November 17, 2014 by in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Mighty Thor by Matt FractionThe Mighty Thor: The Galactus Seed, Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel

I’ve never been quite as fond of Fraction’s work as others seem to be, but given his reputation I’m willing to keep trying. The Mighty Thor is okay; there are some fun moments, and it does feature kid!Loki, who is probably the most interesting character in the comic. That whole refresh of Loki’s character remains interesting to me because it plays with all sorts of stuff, bringing back the ambiguity of his character from the original legends rather than any straightforward comicbook villain stuff. (Some people don’t like that because it seems to be part of the woobification of Loki prompted by Hiddleston fans, but I see it there in the source material.)

Otherwise, the Galactus/Silver Surfer stuff seemed fairly routine — I knew how it’d go from playing Lego Marvel Superheroes, y’know? It’s not like there’s any real danger of Galactus being allowed to eat Earth.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – What Matters in Jane Austen?

Posted November 16, 2014 by in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of What Matters In Jane Austen? by John MullenWhat Matters in Jane Austen?, John Mullan

I’m not a big fan of Jane — through I’ve come round somewhat on the subject since I couldn’t resist the urge to fling Pride and Prejudice out of a window — so you might think I was the wrong audience for this book anyway. But I am a big fan of close reading, and I find value in digging into what’s important in an author’s works in a way that I think the author of this would agree with, and I enjoy history, literary history, and all kinds of random facts. So I was hoping that though I’m no obsessive Austen fan, I’d still find this book of interest.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be quite sure where it’s aimed at. As a non-fan, I don’t know the books well enough for all the little details he references without fully contextualising to be exactly revelatory to me; as an MA in literature, I thought it was still a pretty simplistic level of analysis — is anyone really surprised that yes, Austen was saying that Lydia Bennet had sex outside of marriage? — and as a general reader, I didn’t find the stuff that interesting on its own merits either. It startles me more that apparently there was a fuss kicked up about ~Was Jane Austen Gay?~ because of her intimacy with her sister than that sisterly conversation or the lack thereof is centrally important in her work.

Overall, whatever the target audience was meant to be, I’m not it.

Rating: 1/5

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