Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 27, 2016 by Nicky in General / 22 Comments

Yay, Saturday! I should probably be doing my assignment, so you can probably expect tons of comments today from me.

Books bought

Cover of A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright Cover of The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski Cover of Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

I picked up Helen Wright’s book after a chat/recommendations thread on Twitter, and of course I had to grab The Winner’s Crime before I could read The Winner’s Kiss. I did pick up a couple of other books for my permanent collection, too, but all ones I’ve already read and often even had as ebooks. And, hurrah! My Phryne Fisher collection is complete, as I have quietly amassed the other books I originally borrowed, too.

Received to review:

Cover of The Wolf in the Attic by Paul Kearney

Read this week:

Cover of Sunset Mantle by Alter S. Reiss Cover of The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien Cover of The Wicked + The Divine Vol 3 by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen

Cover of An Atlas of Tolkien by David Day Cover of The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope Cover of An Earthly Knight by Janet McNoughton

Reviews this week:
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater. I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped, but I did enjoy it, and Stiefvater definitely has a great touch with atmosphere. 3/5 stars
Dead Man’s Embers, by Mari Strachan. Set in Wales in the aftermath of the Great War, this isn’t exactly the most cheerful read, but very well written. 4/5 stars
Ms Marvel: Last Days, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona. The Amazing Spider-man stuff included is pure filler, but there’s good development of Kamala and her close friends/family in the main part. 4/5 stars
City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett. No surprise here that I was bowled over. Just as good as the first book. 5/5 stars
Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton. I wasn’t as wowed as everyone else seems to be, but it’s definitely enjoyable and I love the setting. 3/5 stars
Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi. A very fun reread, gotta love the main character’s snarky voice. Light, but satisfying. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. A classic by now, I called this book a ‘wry smile at humanity’s expense’. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
Giveaway: A Gathering of Shadows. Slide in under the wire and get a chance to win one of two copies of V.E. Schwab’s new book.
The Comfort Zone. A discussion about what might constitute my comfort zone (and a resolution to, perhaps, push out of it).
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed That I Didn’t Expect To. Kind of ties in with the comfort zone discussion, since I had trouble identifying what mine is, and that was the original prompt.

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Review – A Canticle for Leibowitz

Posted February 26, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller JrA Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller Jr.

Originally reviewed 29th January, 2013

I’ve been meaning to read this for, literally, years. I’m glad I finally got round to it. I was expecting something a bit more dry, I think, but actually A Canticle for Leibowitz is full of humour. There’s a lot of dark themes, yes, but there’s also a sort of understanding of human nature. A wry smile at our own expense.

How convincing you find it might depend on whether you believe the underlying idea: that we are more or less doomed to repeat history over and over. I don’t believe that, not really, but there is something painfully true in Canticle as well. It might also depend on your relationship to religion, which is very much central to the book — centred as it is around a monastery — although it treats that fairly lightly in some ways, and notes the ironies that creep in. The veneration, for example, of a man for all the wrong reasons.

One part that really made me uncomfortable is in the last section, which is a lot darker. Suddenly I was forced to question what the characters stood for, whether I stood with them. The whole debate about euthanasia for a child with radiation sickness — that made me feel ill, because I do believe in euthanasia, I don’t believe that pointless suffering should be prolonged and I don’t believe that any deity worth believing in would think so. But that, on reflection, is no bad thing — because despite the light touch, the wry smile, there’s a lot to think about here.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Old Man’s War

Posted February 25, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Old Man's War by John ScalziOld Man’s War, John Scalzi

Old Man’s War was a reread, since when I read The Human Division, I didn’t entirely remember all the politics and so on, and decided I’d reread before I read The End of All Things. Besides, Scalzi’s books are good fun, and Ryan @ SpecFic Junkie was reading the books recently and encouraged me to do my reread too. So it was more or less irresistible, and definitely inevitable.

Old Man’s War is a fun ride: lightly written, with moments of pathos and depth as well. You get the aftermath of the main character losing his wife, you get the characters dealing with being thrown into a vicious war, you get them dealing with losing friends and comrades… It touches on humanity, what might make you inhuman, and identity. But there’s also plenty to laugh at, and John Perry is always ready with a smartass comment. “How are you feeling?” he’s asked, after a crash which ripped his body practically to shreds, and time spent regrowing his limbs in a tank.

“Broken up,” he replies.

There’s also interesting aliens and a wider world glimpsed around the edges, which don’t get dealt with as such here, but which play into later books — human vs alien politics, the situation on Earth, specific alien races which Perry’s units get involved with to a greater or lesser extent… And the Ghost Brigades, which become the main topic of the next book, especially reflect upon identity and embodiment.

A thought which occurs in closing: John Perry has the same first name as Scalzi, goes into the military and right away does well and gets promoted, makes the right decision in split seconds during battle situations, even manages to join a special unit and acquit himself well with them even though he has nothing like the same training and way of thinking, he always has the right sarcastic quip…

And I just checked on two people who I knew read both this and David Weber’s Honor Harrington (naming no names on who). Honor is apparently a Mary Sue for being a career soldier who does well in a difficult situation. John Perry is apparently just awesome, and perfectly believable. An ‘everyman’, even.

If that’s not ingrained sexism, I’m a bunny rabbit.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Rebel of the Sands

Posted February 24, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn HamiltonRebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton

I think Rebel of the Sands is starting to get rather hyped, for its unusual combination of Eastern-type magic (Djinn) and setting (desert) and Western-type attitudes (gunslinging). It opens very strongly, immediately establishing Amani’s voice, and immediately introducing us to the kind of world she’s in, as well as one of the other main characters (and it is obvious their meeting is no coincidence and has a greater plot meaning). My immediate guesses on the plot weren’t bad, but I was a little out on several points, which speaks well of the way things were structured and set up — easy to follow, with the capacity to surprise, while every step and hint is clear in retrospect.

The world-building is pretty fascinating: the meeting of technology and magic, and the melding of attitudes toward both. The Eastern/Western mixture works surprisingly well and feels natural, rather than as if someone pasted the two together for a gimmick.

I wasn’t absolutely bowled over, though; the pacing to me seemed a little off, and the connection between Jin and Amani seemed to grow at least as much in off-page exchanges as on-page scenes. The pace certainly never stalls, but sometimes I could have done with a scene or two extra, so that the flow of the story and the flow of time aligned more. There were sections where I think days and weeks passed, but only a paragraph or two? I liked that the relationship between Jin and Amani grew slowly time wise, but it didn’t always feel as if we saw that growth happening.

Rebel of the Sands is definitely inventive and fast paced, and I’m looking forward to the next book. For a debut, it’s pretty amazing. I’m wavering about the rating, but I feel I’m just not enthusiastic enough to give it a four. But for sheer enthusiasm, Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm and Cait @ Paper Fury have you covered…

Rating: 3/5

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Review – City of Blades

Posted February 23, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of City of Blades by Robert Jackson BennettCity of Blades, Robert Jackson Bennett

I originally received this to review, and then a friend brought me a US edition of the paperback so I had matching ones. Yay! Don’t be fooled by the UK cover on this post; it’s just because that’s the version I had first. So if you read my recent review of City of Stairs, you’re probably not surprised at all to find that I loved City of Blades. The writing remains incredibly strong, and instead of resting on his laurels and giving us more of Shara, Bennett takes a supporting character from the first book and takes us to a different part of the world. We do get recurring characters — quite a bit of Sigrud, a few glimpses of Shara — and the Battle of Bulikov has a profound effect on the plot, but Turyin Mulaghesh really takes the stage.

Which is just fine with me, since she’s an amazing character. City of Blades gives us a lot more depth on that character: what made her the way she is, what drives her, what she fears, why she serves and when she’ll rebel. Her interplay with Sigrud and Shara is fun because it gives us a new perspective on them, too, and her relationship with new characters like Signe and Biswal allows us instantly to care (though not necessarily feel favourably toward them!).

And the plot, well. Again, Divinities are a key issue, which should surprise no one — and dead is not always quite dead when there are still miracles around. The mystery aspect revolves around a Divinity we haven’t met yet, but Mulaghesh’s experiences in Bulikov (and Sigrud’s knowledge of the Divine) is instrumental in figuring things out.

I don’t think I can actually say more without spoilers, so suffice it to say that City of Blades is just as awesome as City of Stairs, and a bit more heartrending into the bargain.

Rating: 5/5

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Top Ten Tuesday

Posted February 23, 2016 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

This week’s theme from The Broke and the Bookish is about books you’ve enjoyed recently that weren’t in your typical genre. Well, I’m not sure I have a typical genre, so I’m going to go with books I didn’t think I was going to enjoy quite as much as I did!

Cover of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo Cover of Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Cover of The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley Cover of The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

  1. Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo. From what I’d read about the Russian-ish setting and so on, and the liking other people had for the Bad Boy Darkling, I was really prepared to dislike this. And then I read it in an hour. Oops.
  2. Cocaine Blues, Kerry Greenwood. I tried to read it once before, and bounced off with many complaints about the writing. Then in the last year I had another go and… loved it and devoured all the books as fast as I could get my hands on them.
  3. Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Okay, everyone told me I’d love it, but after my partner wasn’t 100% sold on it, I was a bit doubtful.
  4. The Mirror Empire, Kameron Hurley. Same with this one. My partner didn’t even finish this one, I think.
  5. The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart. This was another reread job — the first time I read it, the misogyny really set my teeth on age. I appreciated it more the second time.
  6. The Mirror World of Melody Black, Gavin Extence. I was fully prepared for this to be a disappointment after how much I loved The Universe Versus Alex Woods, and especially after seeing some early reviews. They were all wrong. It was great.
  7. The Accident Season, Moira Fowley-Doyle. It just… didn’t seem like the kind of YA read that was gonna be my thing. And then I four-starred it.
  8. A Taste of Blood Wine, Freda Warrington. I expected silly indulgent vampires. I got a lusciously indulgent vampire story that didn’t dodge the issues, nor humanise the monsters.
  9. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs. This either looked too creepy or too young for me, but I ate it and the second book up.
  10. The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson. After the complaints about the queer tragedy and appropriation and such, I expected to be horrified. Instead, I loved it.

Cover of The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence Cover of The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle Cover of A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington Cover of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Cover of The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

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The Comfort Zone

Posted February 22, 2016 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

Reading the post from Kaitlin @ Reading is My Treasure, I found myself wondering about comfort zones and what on earth mine is. In terms of writing about books, I can be uncomfortable with talking about books that feature queer and gender related topics: I don’t control who reads this blog, and just about anyone could come along. I’m especially cagey about discussing asexuality in books, though I have reviewed a couple of books specifically on the topic (The Invisible Orientation; the essay What Do You Mean You’re Not Interested in Sex?). Mental illness and specifically anxiety is an awkward topic, too. It feels a little bit too naked — and my mother has reminded me several times to be careful about what I talk about on here, lest my goal of getting into medical school be harmed by it.

Cover of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow RowellAnd, given that my mother reads this blog, talking about books which contain sex or other mature themes can feel a bit weird. (But not quite as weird as the inevitable times when, watching NCIS with my grandfather, there’d be a naked scene or something sexual. Gaaaah!)

But what don’t I read? Mainstream YA, I guess; John Green’s books don’t interest me much, and I know that The Fault in Our Stars wouldn’t be a good fit for me, given the subject matter. But then again, I have read Rainbow Rowell’s books, like Eleanor & Park. I have baulked sometimes about YA series like Marie Rutkoski’s Winner’s Trilogy, and I’m still pretty sure no one is going to drag me into reading Kiera Cass’ The Selection. I’m not sure if that’s a comfort zone thing, though — it’s more of a lack of interest, and reading the first chapter of The Winner’s Curse convinced me to try it (and I enjoyed it greatly).

Hard sci-fi, maybe? But I have enjoyed it sometimes, and I’m willing enough to try classic works like Larry Niven’s, even though I know the books contain frankly Cover of The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyercringeworthy moments in the representation of women and other minorities. I’m fairly okay with classifying it as ‘of its time’, and not letting it hurt now. (Even if I do comment on it.) And I happily read actual science books, so the issue only really arises when the science is technobabble and I just can’t stay interested.

Romance? Well, that definitely used to be a thing I’d insist I wasn’t interested in. Sometimes my fantasy/sci-fi would steer into romance, and I’d make all kinds of disclaimers about that. But now I cheerfully read Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart, and abandoned the whole idea of ‘guilty pleasures‘.

I think, for me, my ‘comfort zone’ might be less about what I’m willing to try, and more about what I’m willing to let people see me try. If I wasn’t blogging, would I pick up anything different? I’d like to say no, but maybe I would.

Which seems to me an excellent reason to maybe pick up Kiera Cass’ The Selection, just to find out if maybe I would like it. (And get round to reading Anna and the French Kiss.)

Thumbnail of the cover of Kiera Cass' The Selection, with a question mark over it

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Review – Ms Marvel: Last Days

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

Cover of Ms Marvel: Last DaysMs Marvel: Last Days, G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona

Between the main plot and the extra material, this contains team-ups between Kamala Khan and both Captain Marvel and Spider-man. Awesome. Unfortunately, the extra material makes very little sense because it’s from Amazing Spider-man issues seven and eight… so pretty much without context. There are some funny bits, though, with Peter Parker teaching Kamala the ways of snark.

The main plot is better, though it is a tie-in with the recent timeline convergence event type thing which I know basically nothing else about. It’s interesting to see Kamala team up with Carol, although Carol is pretty bland here (why is her costume all grey?); Kamala’s excited questions and chatter are perfect. Expressions and art are perfect for the series, as usual: I love the faces Kamala makes.

Also, cute points like Kamala nursing heartbreak by eating tons of hotdogs and philosophising to the hotdog stand owner.

The family stuff is great here, too: we see Kamala’s brother come into his own a bit, defending his choices in life, defending his sister, and not wanting the same sort of life as Kamala. He’s happy as he is, and Kamran is entirely wrong that Aamir is at all discontented or jealous. That’s nice to see, and also the section with Kamala’s mother telling her she knows she’s Ms Marvel — much better than an ever-oblivious Aunt May situation, like Ultimate Spider-man. Aaaaand it finally resolves some of the tension with Bruno’s feelings for Kamala, with a very sweet scene in which they remain definitely best friends, with plenty of potential for more… if they survive.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Dead Man’s Embers

Posted February 21, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Dead Man's Embers by Mari StrachanDead Man’s Embers, Mari Strachan

Dead Man’s Embers is a mostly quiet story set in a small Welsh village just after the Great War, where everyone knows everyone, and you still might be more likely to go to someone who knows their herbs than to a doctor. It deals with the aftermath of war, in one thread, and of the development of understanding of not obviously physical illnesses and disabilities (featuring PTSD, dementia and what is presumably autism). It also deals with the tribulations of dealing with a family where you’re not always welcome, and of disillusionment with a loved figure from the past. There’s a touch of magic realism — can Rhiannon, Non, actually see people’s illnesses? Can the medium who speaks to her actually see something?

My answer would be yes, sort of, at least as far as Non goes. Her father calls her gift “diagnosis”, and I do believe that some people have that instinctive ability. I’ve only really had the experience once, looking at a man I admired and realising there was something wrong with his heart (and I couldn’t really say why: something about his face, the colour of his skin, the way he stood). He was dead within days, exactly as I had thought — but the doctor who saw him didn’t see what I saw, and sent him home. Some things do leave their marks, just like that, and that aspect of the story rang pretty true to me, no magic required.

The medium, well, I was less convinced, but strange things do happen and we don’t always know what to make of them, and that was more or less how it was handled here.

The love between Non and her family, the little points of conflict, all worked really well to support the mystery of what exactly happened to her husband Davey. It does get a little dramatic towards the end, with his realisations and confessions, but that works because of the solid support of Non’s fears and caring for him, and because his earlier traumatised state is well described. And there’s so many well-realised people — gossipy Maggie, steady Lizzie and Wil, capable and yet embittered Angela… People desperate for any kind of comfort, willing to believe anything, in the wake of a war which took so many away and changed Britain so much.

And it is so quietly, but so intrinsically, so very Welsh. Taken for granted is the fact that Welsh soldiers had to write home in English, which their families may not even have spoken. That notices of death came in English, and sometimes you’d have to go fetch an English speaker to read the news to you in Welsh. That Welsh speakers would’ve been forced to speak English, and punished if they did not. The “Welsh Not” is just a reality, not the horrible thing it seems to me.

Dead Man’s Embers is not my usual sort of book, but it cast a spell over me. I read it in an afternoon, unwilling to put it down.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Shiver

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

Cover of Shiver by Maggie StiefvaterShiver, Maggie Stiefvater

Hmm, what do I think of Shiver? I tried reading some other reviews to try and clarify my thoughts, especially since I know reviewers I often agree with (like Cait @ Paper Fury) love, love, love everything Maggie Stiefvater produces. And I see the comparisons to Twilight, and bear with me here — I think it’s actually kind of true. At least as far as the relationship between the protagonists goes. Because “I saw you naked when I was a wolf” is kind of not cool, and animal instincts only partly excuse it, since a wolf has no reason to stalk a human girl and memorise every move she makes.

But. The writing is much better. It’s called Shiver, and that atmosphere really does permeate the novel. You can feel the cold, the lateness of the year, the shortness of the days. The scent of the air. It’s definitely a sensual, sensory book — and that works especially well for the physicality between Sam and Grace.

I’m not always convinced by the characterisation of Sam, the way he thinks and the way he makes decisions, the kind of poetry he writes. I’m not exactly the authority on the way a teen boy thinks, and I did know some very sensitive people at that age, but it doesn’t quite ring true. It doesn’t even feel like the way an adult woman might think a teenage boy thinks, to me — it feels like Stiefvater just went for a “people are people approach”. That can work, but… society shapes all of us, and Sam isn’t really insulated from that enough for it to ring true.

As for Grace being boring, well, no, not really. I found her interesting because she was so down to earth and practical, because of her longing for the life of the wolves, because of the way she responded to her family situation. If all she thought about was ice cream and calories, people wouldn’t like her either. There are girls like her and they’re not boring — they’re just different, complex like anyone. People complain about frivolous teenage girl protagonists… and then apparently also about their opposites.

It’s not as if she’s inhuman. Her connection with Sam, with the wolves, her longing for that life… all of that feels real, and more absorbing to me than worrying about her looks or something (though there’s a place for that too).

I did enjoy Shiver, overall; Stiefvater certainly can write, even if I found this a little long for the plot (I got the “solution” before we were halfway through the book, and plot-wise it’s fairly thin). I don’t know if I’ll read the other books in this series. Maybe. They’re pleasant enough.

Rating: 3/5

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