Weekly Roundup

Posted February 8, 2020 by Nicky in General / 12 Comments

Happy Saturday! I’m less happy this Saturday because of Wales’ loss to Ireland (there go our Triple Crown/Grand Slam hopes!), but I’ll live. At least it’s been a good reading week!

Books acquired:

Cover of The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie Cover of Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis Cover of Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha

Books read:

Cover of Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Surfeit of Suspects by George Bellairs Cover of The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie Cover of West Nile Story by Dickson Despommier

Cover of The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie Cover of Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis Cover of Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood Cover of A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

Reviews posted:

–Flying too High, by Kerry Greenwood. The second book of the series, with the usual acts of derring-do by our all but flawless heroine. 4/5 stars
–Murder on the Ballarat Train, by Kerry Greenwood. The third book! More of the usual fare, with a delightful found-family building itself up. 4/5 stars
–Surfeit of Suspects, by George Bellairs. Typical of the Golden Age crime stories, but I found it satisfying all the same. 4/5 stars
–The Abyss Surrounds Us, by Emily Skrutskie. Interesting relationships and yay, kaiju! But a bit thin in terms of the development; I didn’t always believe how quickly characters got to certain mindsets. 3/5 stars
–West Nile Story, by Dickson Despommier. A nice companion to having listened to This Week in Virology’s episode on West Nile virus. 3/5 stars
–The Edge of the Abyss, by Emily Skrutskie. Wraps up the story well, and keeps the pleasing ambiguities in the relationships/characters. 3/5 stars
–Moontangled, by Stephanie Burgis. The kind of misunderstanding in relationships that happens in this book drives me nuts, but it’s a sweet story all the same. 3/5 stars
–Death at Victoria Dock, by Kerry Greenwood. Again, solid and entertaining, and a quick read. 4/5 stars
–A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters. I forgot quite how this resolved, so it was good to reread it. Still very enjoyable! 4/5 stars

Other posts:

–WWW Wednesday. Discussing the latest I’m reading, as usual; this week featuring Kerry Greenwood, Stephanie Burgis and Andrzej Sapkowski.

Out and about:

–NEAT science: ‘Spillover: Avenues for Zoonotic Disease.‘ Why is a Chinese food market the perfect spillover point for all kinds of animal diseases? I’ve tried to explain!
–NEAT science: ‘Featured in New Scientist! (Sort of.)‘ I answered another reader’s question in New Scientist and it got printed!

How’re you doing? What’s been stacking your shelves?

Tags: , ,

Divider

Review – A Morbid Taste for Bones

Posted February 7, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis PetersA Morbid Taste for Bones, Ellis Peters

It’s been ages since I first read this book, but the series has always stuck in my mind — not least because it is the only series that both my parents have ever recommended to me. So after someone mentioned reading them on Pillowfort, I ended up grabbing the ebooks via the library (though none of the libraries I’m a member of has the full series, ugh) and settling down to a reread of the first one. I think I’ve read the second one too, but that might be where I stopped.

In any case, the Brother Cadfael books are mysterious whose main character is a Benedictine monk with a rather colourful past. Content now in the cloister, Cadfael nonetheless manages to get himself taken along to Wales on a small matter of stealing a local saint for the greater glory of the monastery. He’s Welsh, so he’s useful as an interpreter — and he understands the people and the passions stirred up by the Benedictine delegation. He has faith, but a cynical eye, and he doesn’t for a moment accept that gentle Saint Winifred is behind the dastardly murder of a local landowner.

It’s a fun little mystery; the characters are mostly more types than fully drawn people, but with a touch of Cadfael’s cynical view of them to enliven things. The genuinely pious but deeply ambitious Prior is well-done; we don’t see into his heart directly, but his actions and words lay him bare. Likewise, there’s something rather touching about Peredur and his thwarted passion for Sioned.

I do enjoy the setting in Wales, and the us-vs-them mentality that’s so quickly sketched out. It’s carefully dealt with, despite the temptation to put them at each others’ throats; there’s respect and a will to work together, alongside the misunderstandings and stiff-necked pride.

It all wraps up nicely — very nicely and conveniently, but in a way that’s enjoyable because it’s poetic justice — and Cadfael settles back into the status quo, napping through meetings and tending to his garden. Until the next mystery, that is.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , , , ,

Divider

Review – Death at Victoria Dock

Posted February 6, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry GreenwoodDeath at Victoria Dock, Kerry Greenwood

Death at Victoria Dock opens with the death of a young man, shot at as Phryne drives past on a cold night. After he breathes his last in her arms, she obviously can’t let it rest — she decides that she must know why he was killed, and avenge him if she can. At the same time, she takes up the totally unrelated case of a missing young girl, meaning this book features the contrasting locations of an Anglican convent and a revolutionary hideout! It’s all pretty high-stakes, with kidnappings and shootings, and Bert and Cec wandering around armed.

It also features the first appearance of Hugh Collins. I did find the Catholic/Protestant drama in the show (what I’ve watched of it) contrived and a little annoying (I know it’s for the drama, but argh, they’re so sweetly uncomplicated in the books, and it’s nice), so it’s nice that he and Dot are both Catholic and all in all quite steady and without drama (although maybe they get it all out here with Dot’s kidnapping and the daring rescue).

As always, it’s an easy read; fairly light (though there is drama and death), and full of Phryne’s ingenuity and practical approach to all matters of life, death and in between.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – Moontangled

Posted February 5, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Moontangled by Stephanie BurgisMoontangled, Stephanie Burgis

Received to review via Netgalley

Moontangled is a novella in the Harwood Spellbook world featuring two of the minor characters: Miss Banks and Miss Fennell. If you don’t remember them, they’re the two who had a clandestine relationship while Juliana attempted to learn magic and Caroline attempted to become a high-flying politician. In this world, women do politics and men learn magic, and ideal partnerships for political women are with men who can do magic. Juliana is one of the first women to learn, and Caroline… well, she’s now in disgrace because of her mentor’s failings, and she thinks it’s time to end the relationship with Juliana before it brings her down.

I’m not a big fan of the kind of misunderstanding that drives this novella: just sit down and communicate, people. It’s not that difficult, I promise you. (As I frequently joke, I am the Relationship Advice Dalek: COMM-UN-I-CATE! COMM-UN-I-CATE!) There’s ample room for it in the letters they send each other, for goodness’ sake. It doesn’t help that it’s exactly the same kind of misunderstanding as in the previous books I’ve read in this world: “I’m going to do things to protect you, including end our relationship, regardless of what you might actually want and oh, wait, what do you mean you didn’t want what I thought you wanted?”

Still, even if their misunderstanding is completely daft, their care for each other is sweet. I found the plotline a little obvious, but it’s fun to watch it play out anyway. Highly original this isn’t, but a sweet escapist romance with a touch of magic? It delivers. I read it all in one gulp when I should probably have been doing something else; it doesn’t need to be more substantial than this.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

WWW Wednesday

Posted February 5, 2020 by Nicky in General / 2 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. This week’s check-in is here!

Cover of Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry GreenwoodWhat are you currently reading?

I’m trying to only have one or two books on the go at the moment, so I’m only actively reading Death at Victoria Dock, the fourth Miss Fisher mystery by Kerry Greenwood. It’s pure comfort-reading for me — they read so fast, and Phryne’s so fun. I’ll probably take a break after this, but we’ll see: I’m trying not to be too prescriptive in my reading, so if I read them all in one fell swoop, well, that’s what I wanted to read and that’s good.

Cover of Moontangled by Stephanie BurgisWhat have you recently finished reading?

I got the new Harwood Spellbook novella by Stephanie Burgis from Netgalley this morning, and proceeded to read it in one fell swoop. It’s cute; I need to write my review properly, and that’ll probably be up soon, so… keep an eye open if you’re interested!

Cover of Sword of Destiny by Andrzej SapkowskiWhat will you be reading next?

I just picked up Sword of Destiny, by Andrzej Sapkowski, so the chances are high that I’ll jump into that soon. Looks a little longer than the previous book, so maybe I won’t read it all in one fell swoop… but maybe I will, who knows. I didn’t pick up the next book, which I think is the first proper novel in the chronology, as I’m trying to be conservative and only buy books I’d like to read right away. But I can easily pick it up once I feel like reading it!

What are you currently reading?

Tags: ,

Divider

Review – The Edge of the Abyss

Posted February 4, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Edge of the Abyss by Emily SkrutskieThe Edge of the Abyss, Emily Skrutskie

This is the follow-up to The Abyss Surrounds Us, and it picks up almost where it left off. Just three weeks later, the Minnow is hiding out to give Bao time to forget the ship and leave them. But suddenly, the Minnow spots a hell of a thing: a wild and untrained Reckoner, quickly dubbed a Hellbeast, which attacks them. Suddenly it’s obvious that the Minnow was far from the only ship to buy a Reckoner pup, and the other ships weren’t lucky enough to run across a Reckoner trainer to use to safely train it up. Now it seems like it’s in everyone’s best interests for Cas to work with the pirates and find the Hellbeasts.

In the midst of all this, Cas also has to deal with her relationship with Swift, damaged at the end of the last book by one of Santa Elena’s well-timed bombshells. Throughout the book, Santa Elena plays the two of them against each other, letting them build things up only to shatter them again. The relationship between Cas and Swift is well done, and I especially appreciate that the ambivalence isn’t magically ironed out in a super-happy ending. It’s far from instantaneous love, and though their bond formed quickly, it’s not at all clear that it will last.

I still have some doubts about Cas’ personality/motive flipflops. To some extent, teens are just like that; her moody behaviour does ring true for someone struggling out of adolescence and into adulthood. As an adult reading about her, I cringe at the obviousness of some of her realisations… but I do remember that’s what being a teen was like.

There are some great battle scenes, and the ending comes out about as well as you’d expect, without sugar-coating things; it’s pleasing to see Cas’ family dragged back into it, after she seemed to almost forget about them on board the Minnow. It’s also a pleasing ending for Cas, Swift and the other trainees: not perfect, but just bittersweet enough to seem right. I read this one in almost one big gulp as well, and found it very enjoyable. It’s definitely YA in tone and structure, and it works well for what it is. As an adult reader, I wanted a little more complexity at times, though I appreciated the relationships that don’t just come straight out of a cookie-cutter shape.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – West Nile Story

Posted February 4, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of West Nile Story by Dickson DespommierWest Nile Story, Dickson Despommier

I came across this because I was trying out various science podcasts and tried listening to some of the early episodes of This Week in Virology (link goes to the episode about West Nile virus). I was curious to dig in a little more, and lo and behold, this book was on Kindle Unlimited. It discusses the earliest outbreak of West Nile virus in the US, which happened in New York during a hot, dry summer, and was somehow transmitted there from Israel. The podcast actually fleshes out the theory a bit more, while this book focuses on a wider look at the virus, its ecology and implications.

It’s probably a fairly dry read if you’re not interested in emerging infectious diseases, but since I am, I quite enjoyed it; I found it fairly simple, so if you’re just interested in diseases for the sake of it without a professional interest, I think it’s completely understandable for a layperson. It was a little basic for me at times, in fact.

Overall, it was a little scatterbrained somehow; it wandered off into discussing other diseases like malaria, without really tying it into the discussion of West Nile very well. I’d probably recommend the podcast over the book for that reason, but it was still interesting to dig in a bit deeper on some of the points mentioned in the podcast.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – The Abyss Surrounds Us

Posted February 3, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily SkrutskieThe Abyss Surrounds Us, Emily Skrutskie

I’ve had this on my TBR for a while, but it ended up as the pick for a book club read. So I plunged on in, and… accidentally read it in a day. It follows Cassandra Leung, who has been raised training kaiju Reckoners, big sea monsters that protect ships from pirates. She’s on her first solo mission at the start of the book when a pirate ship attacks, having already weakened their Reckoner; she’s recognised as a trainer by one of the pirates, who drags her on board their ship, the Minnow, to raise their very own illicitly-obtained Reckoner pup.

The pirate captain, Santa Elena, is skilled at pitting people against each other and using their feelings against them, and she quickly puts Cas’ wellbeing under the aegis of one of her protegés, Swift. If Cassandra fails, she dies… and so does Swift. The psychological set-up there is pretty good, and the way they have to work together and the enforced intimacy creates a bond between them which feels pretty real: it’s strong, but it’s confused and ambivalent as well.

The turnaround from Cassandra’s intentions at the beginning of the book to her actions at the end feels… a bit too fast. Sure, there’s a bit of Stockholm syndrome there, but it feels like Cassandra’s family have very little hold on her compared to Swift. Part of that is the fact that she’s crossed the point of no return, of course, but that capitulation felt too soon as well. Part of it is the pace of the book — it speeds along, and if you’re not paying close attention you can miss that weeks (perhaps months?) are passing as Bao (the Reckoner pup) grows.

I’m not totally sure how I feel about the ending and set-up for the next book; Swift and Cas’ relationship will be interesting, but I’m not sure about Cas’ motivations. At the same time, I hope it starts where it left off, with Cas sure of herself, because more vacillating now she’s supposed to have decided will be annoying. I’ve picked up the second book, so I guess I’ll see where it goes!

Rating: 3/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – Surfeit of Suspects

Posted February 3, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Surfeit of Suspects by George BellairsSurfeit of Suspects, George Bellairs

I picked this up because it’s one of the British Library Crime Classics, of course, but also because I remembered one of the others in this series by Bellairs being pretty entertaining. Surfeit of Suspects begins with a bang, literally: dynamite is set off in the buildings of a small struggling joinery company, during a meeting of the directors. Scotland Yard get called in once the presence of dynamite becomes apparent, and Superintendent Littlejohn starts to pick his way through the tangled web of shell companies and marital mishaps to figure out what the motive might be.

It takes quite a long time to actually see the culprit; I never really suspected most of the potentials, though, because their motive didn’t seem clear enough, so surfeit of suspects is a bit of an exaggeration. There were lots of characters who could’ve done it, but you either suspected they didn’t have the guts or it was just too obvious and therefore obviously wrong. It’s not a bad set of thumbnail sketches of characters, though: you can almost smell the fug of old tobacco coming off some of them.

Bellairs was pretty workmanlike, and his writing is satisfying in that way I find specific to these Golden Age mysteries: you know that there’ll be no hanky-panky, you’ll find out whodunnit, and there’ll be a nice little puzzle along the way. The policemen are professionals, and there’ll be no intimidating of witnesses — though there might be (and there is) a clever scene in which the suspects are gathered to flush out the real criminal.

It’s a good thing I rate by enjoyment, rather than originality or any kind of objective measure like that, because I’d feel bad giving this a low score. If the formulaic nature of these Golden Age mysteries bothers you, most of the Crime Classics series won’t be for you; personally, there’s something very comforting about the world being put in its place. It’s all a mirage, of course — there never was a simpler time quite like this — but it’s a satisfying picture postcard of the past all the same.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – Murder on the Ballarat Train

Posted February 2, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry GreenwoodMurder on the Ballarat Train, Kerry Greenwood

Aaand straight on to the third book. This introduces two more steadfast characters, Ruth and Jane, along with a new adventure for Phryne featuring chloroform on a train, hypnotism used to pull young girls away from their families to be raped and abused, and a young girl with a strange gap in her memory… It opens on the train, with Phryne waking to the smell of chloroform and desperately shooting a hole in the window to get fresh air in. She ends up taking under her wing a woman who was badly burned on her face by the chloroform, and agreeing to investigate the murder of her mother.

That gets her into all kinds of hot water, and into personal peril as well, with a horrible struggle between Phryne and the murderer at the climax of the book. It also brings her two adopted daughters, a cat, and a new lover. The fond amusement of her household is a joy, and as always she’s competent and (mostly) fearless and in control. When she doesn’t know what to do, she fakes it ’til she makes it.

It’s hard to keep describing these books in different ways, because in many ways they’re the same: it’s the cast of characters that makes them a joy. Bert with his secretish heart of gold; Cec with his love of waifs and strays; Mr Butler, with the right cocktail always on hand; Dot, who couldn’t be more different to Phryne, but adores her all the same…

It’s a little found-family, so of course it pulls on my heartstrings.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , , ,

Divider