Review – Batgirl: Silent Running

Posted August 23, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Batgirl: Silent Running by Kelley PuckettBatgirl: Silent Running, Kelley Puckett, Scott Peterson, Damion Scott, Robert Campanella

I’ve been intrigued by the idea of Cassandra Cain as Batgirl ever since I heard about this series; I love the idea of a girl trained so intensively to be an assassin that she knows no language, but can interpret vast amounts from movement, even from tiny cues in body language. It’s fascinating because it’s to some degree possible; “feral children” without language who weren’t exposed to language during their critical period for learning it have existed, and who knows? Maybe they do learn to pay attention to other cues, appropriate to the environment they live in, which would be missed by those who rely on words to communicate.

In practice, though, Silent Running is kind of an awkward place to jump in. It’s not so bad for me because I know Barbara Gordon’s story, why she became Oracle, who she is — and everyone knows at least a little about Batman. But it feels like jumping into the middle of a run, not the beginning of one. The art style doesn’t greatly appeal to me either, and the storytelling is appropriately visual, which is never going to work that well for me (I just don’t and can’t think visually).

It’s also a little awkward because that uniqueness about this Batgirl is wiped out almost immediately: a psychic man rearranges her thoughts and gives her language, taking away her preternatural combat abilities by changing the way she experiences the world. It makes sense, but it does lose the thing that intrigued me about the character.

Also, Batman being paternalistic and judgemental, all the time. Gah. He should have some idea of how Cassandra was raised, you’d think, but somehow he spends the book denying it, and having a really weird tension with Cassandra when they’re working together.

I’m going to read the second volume, since I have it, but at the moment I’m not greatly enthused about following this version of Batgirl, which is a shame. (But might save me some money, since wow the TPBs can get expensive!)

Rating: 2/5

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted August 23, 2016 by Nicky in General / 5 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is for books that have been on your TBR since before you started blogging… and you still haven’t read them. Well, I haven’t got anything (surprisingly) from before I started using Goodreads, but I sure as heck have a whole bunch from before I started this blog.

  1. Emma, by Jane Austen. It doesn’t help that my mother haaaates Jane Austen. I kind of gained some appreciation while doing my degree, but I’m still not filled with enthusiasm.
  2. Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve. Everything about the idea of predatory cities chasing each other across the land appeals. I just fail at getting round to my backlist.
  3. The Island of Apples, by Glyn Jones. This was even a set book during my BA module on Welsh Fiction in English and I still haven’t read it.
  4. Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier. I really enjoy Marillier’s work, in general, and yet. And yet.
  5. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, by James Tiptree Jr. I am a bad feminist SF fan, I know.
  6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. Everyone and their mother has read this. Except me. (Well, and my mother.)
  7. Babel-17, by Samuel R. Delany. I know, I can’t believe it either, this is a classic.
  8. Scott of the Antarctic, by David Crane. I know this is a bit of an odd one out here, but I actually find myself reluctant to go ahead and read it, because it’s the last book my grandad ever bought me before he died. While it’s still waiting on the shelf, it feels like prolonging something. The other book bought at the same time is one on railways, which is even more connected with my grandad.
  9. A Shadow in Summer, by Daniel Abraham. I think this was recommended by Jo Walton? Was that where I got this one from? Anyway, it’s been on my list since at least 2013.
  10. Point of Hopes, by Melissa Scott. Queer fantasy! Yesplz.

What about you? Anything been kicking around your lists for years? And do you feel guilty, or just go with the flow?

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Review – The Devil You Know

Posted August 22, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Devil You Know by K.J. ParkerThe Devil You Know, K.J. Parker

On the strength of The Last Witness, I was ready to pick this up as soon as it came out; I really enjoyed pretty much every aspect of Parker’s other Tor.com novella, and definitely wanted to read more from him. The Devil You Know is significantly weaker, though; apparently, one of the main characters is from another book by Parker, Blue and Gold. I think knowing that, I’d have picked up Blue and Gold first, because while the background is easy enough to grasp in this book, it might’ve helped in understanding the character and what he wants.

The plot itself is basically Faustian, with one of the main characters (a philosopher) trying to trick the other (a devil, but in a bureaucratic delegation sort of way: he doesn’t have pointy horns and an evil nature) out of the whole selling-your-soul bargain. I thought the final solution to that was a bit obvious, both as a device in general and in the way it was executed here, and the devil surprisingly careless about that one aspect after reading and rereading all the rest. It felt a bit like convenient stupidity for plot reasons.

The writing is a bit difficult to follow; unfortunately, the two POVs switch frequently but not regularly, and you have to guess from context which character is speaking. There are a few points where it’s impossible for a paragraph or two to figure out who is even supposed to be speaking, making everything rather confusing — especially since I don’t think the devil character has a name, and is usually just referred to as ‘he’, ‘him’, etc.

That’s all pretty negative, though: I did enjoy the story, the careful set-up, the bureaucratic version of selling your soul and how all of that was handled. It just didn’t catch hold of me in the way that The Last Witness did.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – One Ostara Sunrise

Posted August 21, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of One Ostara Sunrise by Elora BishopOne Ostara Sunrise, Elora Bishop

This book features another holiday with Isabella and Emily, and another instance of the two of them being caught up in big events — in this case, mythical events involving nothing less important than the changing of seasons. The relationship between the two of them is sweet, as usual, but it doesn’t really expand on the world or even the backstories of the two girls.

The main attraction is the warmth of the two characters and their relationship, and their deepening harmony with the world around them. It feels less substantial than the second book, and it doesn’t further any of the plotlines, though, so it does fall a little flat for me. In the collected version, there is also a short story about Alice’s first meeting with Isabella and how they pair up, which at least answers some of my curiosity about Alice!

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Jewel and Her Lapidary

Posted August 20, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran WildeThe Jewel and Her Lapidary, Fran Wilde

I was pretty excited to read this Tor.com novella, particularly because of all the good things I’ve heard about Wilde’s debut novel. I found it a little too compressed, though, and confusing because of it; there’s a lot going on, with a whole new fantasy world, a magic system without a proper tutorial so that you’re never quite sure of the rules and limits, and a lot of characters who are sometimes referred to in different ways depending on the POV characters’ relationships to them — and that’s not to even mention the clearly-much-later-than-the-story tour guide extracts, which add another layer.

It all makes for a pretty fascinating world; that’s not the problem. The problem is that it doesn’t feel novella-sized. I feel like we needed to know Lin before the disaster, know something of the magic, before we could really appreciate what happened and how Lin dealt with it. Her actions clearly have enormous meaning to her, but to us they’re confusing — is it symbolic, or is there something magic going on? Or both?

I would’ve enjoyed seeing this as a full-length novel, I think; it just felt too rushed as a novella. There’s some lovely imagery and fascinating ideas, but it’s so breathless. I’m still interested in reading Wilde’s debut novel, though: maybe with more space, her ideas will be expanded on. And the ideas definitely aren’t the problem.

Rating: 3/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted August 20, 2016 by Nicky in General / 22 Comments

Happy birthday to meeee! If you wish to join in the festivities, it seems that we’re planning to celebrate by eating cake for every meal. (Sometimes stretching the definition to pastry.) My wife is even going to make Welsh cakes for me, for the first time in a while.

Also, we have a new bunny. Her name is Cinnamon, and she fits in my hand. I hope so much she’s going to settle in and stay with us for a good long time. <3

Photo of a tiny bunny hiding in a big basket

Received to review:

Cover of Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire Cover of The Family Plot by Cherie Priest Cover of Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier

Eeeh! All of these are awesome, and I’m very excited.

Bought:

Cover of Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal Cover of Persona by Genevieve Valentine Cover of City of Wolves by WIllow Palacek Cover of The Emperor's Railroad by Guy Haley

Fiiiinally, Ghost Talkers is out. <3 I need to get reading it nooow. Mind you, I say that, but there’s so much else I want to read now, too…

Finished this week:

Cover of Cold-Forged Flame by Marie Brennan Cover of The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson Cover of Chalice by Robin McKinley Cover of Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Cover of The Door into Sunset by Diane Duane

Reviews posted this week:

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson. A satisfying story set in Lovecraft’s world, with a capable female character. It actually really charmed me. 4/5 stars
One Imbolc Gloaming, by Elora Bishop. Cute, but the plot doesn’t go where I hoped it would, which is kind of sad. 3/5 stars
Cold-Forged Flame, by Marie Brennan. I think this might be my favourite of the Tor.com novellas so far. It’s definitely up there. I find the setting fascinating, and Marie Brennan writes as well as ever. 4/5 stars
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Power, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson. Fun, though not 100% my thing. You’ve got to love that Doreen solves several big issues with supervillains by talking to them. 4/5 stars
Runtime, by S.B. Divya. A lot of interesting stuff here, though the core of the setting reminds me heavily of other dystopian stories. 3/5 stars
Dancing With Bears, by Michael Swanwick. Not my thing at all, despite the heist part. That and the setting are about all that were my thing. So much sex stuff. 1/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Beowulf on the Beach, by Jack Murnighan. I don’t always agree with the author on what you should try and what you should skip in the Greatest Hits of Dead White Authors, but it was kind of entertaining anyway. 2/5 stars

Other posts:
Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books in Post-Disaster Settings. What it says on the tin!

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Review – Beowulf on the Beach

Posted August 19, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Beowulf on the Beach by Jack MurnighanBeowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits, Jack Murnighan

Originally reviewed November 11th, 2011

It’s perhaps inevitable that I wouldn’t get on with this book, for three reasons. One, I’m an academic type. Two, Beowulf genuinely is my idea of a beach read. Three, in his words, I sit down to pee.

No, no. I don’t mean that in a derogatory, ‘women always argue’ way. I mean that Jack Murnighan keeps going on about ‘Man Lit’, and how amaaaazing it is that he managed to find anything worth reading in Pride and Prejudice, and how all women are going to be all starry-eyed over Darcy, and whatever.

The very idea that there has to be something ‘sexy’ about the books to keep a reader’s interest strikes me as quite guy-centric — or not so much that as it’s a very consistent idea of what’s sexy, or even more generally, what might draw a reader. No mention is given to the compelling nature of David and Jonathan’s love for each other, for example.

There’s possibly a fourth point, in that this is the literary canon of primarily dead white men. It’s European to the extreme. It perhaps wouldn’t be such a dealbreaker for me if it advertised itself as such, but considering the title is ‘Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits’…

Naturally, I disagree on other levels with his ideas of what to skip, and I don’t really get on with his flippant tone. About all I credit this book with is encouraging me to pick up some of the classics I previously gave a miss — but I already had that vague intention in mind anyway.

(Oh, and if you don’t want to view the Bible as a literary document, avoid.)

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Dancing With Bears

Posted August 18, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Dancing With Bears by Michael SwanwickDancing With Bears, Michael Swanwick

I normally love a heist novel, and that wasn’t my problem with this book. My problem with this book was the amount of weird sex. The genetically engineered dog-man who is 100% dog DNA but… seems pretty humanoid in shape and intelligence and what-not — and the genetically manipulated harem girls — and the sex-drug giving priest who is preaching goodness knows what, and —

Honestly, I couldn’t pay attention to the heist and the buddy dynamics between the main characters, because what the hell is going on with the sex. And why are almost all the female characters sex-obsessed and/or empty-headed and just… I feel like I’m missing something profound here, but maybe I’m just really not the audience and it’s meant to be harhar women harhar sex?

The setting, the post-post-apocalyptic Russia, is an interesting one, and I kind of wanted to know what was going on with the machines. But the rest of it just either bored or horrified me. I’m not interested in books where part of the plot revolves around some genetically engineered women being purposefully crafted so they can only be touched by one man, and their utter focus on getting to said men so they can have sex. Whaat.

Rating: 1/5

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Review – Runtime

Posted August 17, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Runtime by S.B. DivyaRuntime, S.B. Divya

The tor.com novellas have generally been an interesting bunch, and Runtime definitely adds to the mix. There’s a lot of background stuff which I find really intriguing: the society, the genderless/third gender (it’s not entirely clear what this should be considered as), the tech… The idea of what amounts to a caste system in America is pretty topical, given the attitude to immigrants at the moment, and it doesn’t feel that far off or strange.

The story itself is relatively simple: Marmeg, the protagonist, joins in a gruelling race using implants and an exoskeleton, hoping to finance her future and get her brother legal status in the US with the winnings. In the end, she has to choose what’s most important, and does what I think most readers would consider the right thing… and loses what she hoped for as a result, because the system doesn’t want to allow people like Marmeg to win. It’s a complex situation which has a quick look around at the ethics of the situation Marmeg ends up in; I won’t spoiler you on exactly what that is.

Despite the simplicity of that plot — a stripped down The Long Walk — it works well, and the voices help to make it as well. I’ll be looking out for Divya’s writing.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Power

Posted August 16, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Unbeatable Squirrel GirlThe Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Power, Ryan North, Erica Henderson

I haven’t come across Squirrel Girl before, but this comic is self-aware and fun; in some ways, the style reminded me of the recent run of Young Avengers. (Which is getting less and less recent all the time, but you know what I mean. The most recent, by McKelvie and Gillen.) Little snippets of facebook interaction between heroes, meta commentary below each page, and all kinds of dorkiness. Squirrel Girl is a lot of fun, and what’s also nice is that she doesn’t primarily set out to beat up villains — she also figures out how to talk things out and fix things in another way.

I’m not a huge fan of the art — it’s a bit too cartoony for my usual tastes — but does suit the style. And I love things like the Squirrel Suit and the Iron Squirrel and Doreen being tongue-tied around guys.

Not a favourite, but fun as a change.

Rating: 4/5

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