Review – Wildfire at Midnight

Posted October 5, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of Wildfire at Midnight by Mary StewartWildfire at Midnight, Mary Stewart

It was a grey and drizzly day, this morning — even if it brightened up later — so I felt like turning to one of my comfort reads. Wildfire at Midnight isn’t one of my favourite Stewart novels, and indeed the sense of dread and atmosphere in the book makes it perhaps a touch darker than the others, especially with the moral conflict in the last part where Gianetta thinks she knows who did the crime.

The crime itself is pretty chillingly awful; I can’t remember if any of Stewart’s other novels features a mentally ill antagonist, but that’s how it winds up in this one. And he is pretty unsettling, when you compare his later behaviour with all the rest of the book, and think about what lay under the surface… Not a comfortable thought, certainly. It’s also not the warmest in terms of romance, since that’s barely there — there’s one or two great scenes which establish something, but not enough to really make you root for the relationship to happen.

So overall, definitely still not my favourite. But it’s Mary Stewart: the writing is atmospheric, the heroine is self-sufficient, and the ending is, for the heroine at least, a happy one.

One thing I would like to know, from other readers — there’s a scene early on where Gianetta is talking to the actress, Marcia. They’re talking about the two schoolteachers who are there together: the rather sullen older one, Marion, and the younger one, Roberta. Marcia calls them “schwĂ€rmerinen”. That seems to mean something to Gianetta, and she treats it as something scandalous/libellous — what on earth’s the implication meant to be? I have the feeling I’m too young to know context.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – California Bones

Posted October 4, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of California Bones by Greg van EekhoutCalifornia Bones, Greg van Eekhout

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, and then got out of the mood for it when I had started it. This time, I read it almost straight through! It’s basically a fantasy heist novel set against a really intriguing background of magic, politics and alternate history. The magic is really interesting, and mostly it’s introduced organically: it’s pretty much explained in the opening chapters, but that makes sense because Daniel is being taught osteomancy by his father. The rest, we need to pick up as we go along — there’s no major explanation of regeneration, shapeshifting, non-osteomantic skills, the way hounds track osteomancers…

While I liked the background, I didn’t get that involved with the characters. There was potential there, and if they appear in the other books, maybe I’ll be more invested. Also, there were a couple of things which were too well telegraphed. Buuut, I think this was a first book, so I’m inclined to be forgiving — especially because I found it pretty well paced.

There’s a recurring image of horror from the early chapters of the book which is really done well, too. Daniel witnesses the death of his father, and sees the Hierarch (an antagonist here, though a bit difficult to properly get a grip on because he appears in person at the start and end only) actually eating his father. And he remembers that image, the sound of the Hierarch chewing. Very vivid, really works.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Captain Marvel: Alis Volat Propriis

Posted October 3, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Captain Marvel vol 3Captain Marvel: Alis Volat Propriis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Warren Ellis, David Lopez

There’s still some great banter in this book, and it’s a lot less silly than the previous volume felt. Unfortunately, the Black Vortex issue is pretty disconnected and random — I would’ve been interested to see more of Carol’s involvement in that storyline, and it is interesting to see her choosing not to go cosmic — but as it is, it feels clumsy, especially with all the exposition explaining what the Black Vortex even is.

The final issue is the most important, probably the most emotionally hard-hitting of this run. I love the people who support Carol in it — even if it took me a minute to realise that Steve was Steve — and the story is sweet (though I still don’t actually know much about Carol even knows Tracy). It’s a fitting return to Earth for Carol, in many ways.

I do wish Marvel wouldn’t run so many events, though. I’m not actually interested in the majority, definitely not as single issues, and it really disrupts ongoing stories with individual characters. The crossover events are going to stop being special if they keep happening all the time, and we’ve had so many lately, it seems.

Rating: 4/5

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted October 3, 2015 by Nicky in General / 20 Comments

Last Saturday I was at a convention, and there was a dealer’s room and a swap table, sooo… yeah, unsurprisingly, I have some new additions!

Bought

Cover of London Falling by Paul Cornell Cover of Shanghai Sparrow by Gaie Sebold Cover of The Pendragon Protocol by Philip Purser-Hallard

I’ve been meaning to read the first two for ages, and the latter involves Arthurian references, so I couldn’t resist.

Swap table/freebies

Cover of Smiler's Fair by Rebecca Levene Cover of King's Dragon by Kate Elliott Cover of Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis

Cover of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi Cover of The Straight-Razor Cure by Daniel Polansky Cover of The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley

Sadly, I didn’t really have anything to contribute to the swap table, since I didn’t know it was there in advance, so I am paying it forward by using Bookcrossing to send some books on a new journey.

ARCs

Cover of Armada by Ernest Cline Cover of An Apprentice to Elves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear

I’m surprised I was allowed access to Armada, since it’s definitely out and has plenty of buzz, but I’m not arguing! And I need to read the first two books in Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear’s series first, but I’m excited to do so!

Library

Cover of Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart Cover of The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart Cover of Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart

Cover of Thornyhold by Mary Stewart Cover of Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan Cover of Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald

Mostly a grab bag of my favourite comfort reads. My grandmother’s not very well, so I feel like I deserve it!

How’s everyone else doing?

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Review – The Grand Sophy

Posted October 2, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of The Grand Sophy by Georgette HeyerThe Grand Sophy, Georgette Heyer
Originally reviewed 8th August, 2013

Hah! This isn’t my favourite Georgette Heyer novel, but I think it might have made me laugh the most so far. God, what a cast of characters, and how ridiculous they all are — Sophy is fantastic, with her matchmaking and her provoking ways and her complete disregard for propriety. I loved the relationship between her and Charles — the last few chapters made me positively hoot with laughter.

I’m sure that people who would never like this genre won’t be convinced by this, but I think I’m being brought to get over my original feelings by Heyer’s work. It’s well written, well paced, and hilariously funny: Sophy’s matchmaking rather pokes fun at the genre, I think: she seems to consider people’s lives as though they’re in a novel and figures out what they would/could do if they were fictional. I half-wanted her to carry everything off, and half-wanted everything to end in a magnificent tangle that would teach her a lesson.

As with Mary Stewart’s work, I wrinkled my nose a little at the potential for cousin-marrying and all that sort of thing, but given the setting, it makes perfect sense.

Rating: 5/5

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October TBR

Posted October 1, 2015 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

I’ve been excited to get started on this — I think I’ve got a great line-up for this month. I’m enjoying switching the categories up a bit, and will probably do that every month, even if ‘ARCs’ and ‘library’ are probably gonna be a constant.

ARCs

  1. Made to Kill, Adam Christopher.
  2. The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu.
  3. Tower of Thorns, Juliet Marillier.
  4. The Palace Job, Patrick Weekes.
  5. Armada, Ernest Clines.

Library

  1. Ghost Hawk, Susan Cooper.
  2. Badgerland, Patrick Barkham.
  3. Ask a Policeman, The Detection Club.
  4. The Great Zoo of China, Matthew Riley.
  5. Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen.

Series

  1. The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, Catherynne M. Valente.
  2. Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie.
  3. Dreamer’s Pool, Juliet Marillier.
  4. Dragon Coast, Greg van Eekhout.
  5. The Dark Blood of Poppies, Freda Warrington.

Tor.com novellas

  1. The Witches of Lychford, Paul Cornell.
  2. Binti, Nnedi Okorafor.
  3. The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson.
  4. Sunset Mantle, Alter S. Reiss.
  5. The Last Witness, K.J. Parker.

Comics

  1. Bitch Planet, vol 1, Kelly Sue DeConnick.
  2. Saga vol 3, Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples.
  3. Hawkeye: Rio Bravo, Matt Fraction.
  4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Angela, Brian Michael Bendis.
  5. Batgirl: Wanted, Gail Simone.

Challenge

  1. Hard to Be A God, Boris & Arkady Strugatsky.
  2. Burning Water, Mercedes Lackey.
  3. The Colour Purple, Alice Walker.
  4. The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff.
  5. Rosemary & Rue, Seanan Mcguire.

Wildcards

  1. The Fox’s Tower & Other Stories, Yoon Ha Lee.
  2. Thornyhold, Mary Stewart.
  3. Timeless, Gail Carriger.
  4. Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo.
  5. ?

It shouldn’t be too busy this month, so I’m hoping to really chew through the list. I think I’m gonna end up with a couple books left over from September, but I’ll stick them in wildcards if I get round to them.

ETA: I’ve gone wildly off-script because it’s a difficult month. Still hoping to finish a few more of these, though!

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The story behind The Killing Kind

Posted October 1, 2015 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

You might know I’m a bit of a fan of Chris Holm’s work — you can find my reviews of his Collector trilogy here, and of his new book The Killing Kind here — and we’ve had some great interactions (including some signed bookmarks for the Collector series, featured in my review of that trilogy!), so I was excited to be contacted and asked if I wanted to feature a post from him about the journey behind writing The Killing Kind.

It’s a bit of a jump from publishing SF/F Chandler/Hammett pastiche with Angry Robot to writing a book set in reality (albeit the dark underside of reality I wouldn’t want to visit, unless guided by an author like Chris in a safely fictional vehicle)… but as you can see from Chris Holm’s post here, maybe it has something in common with the Collector trilogy after all.

It just wouldn’t die, you see.


The Story Behind THE KILLING KIND
Chris Holm

It began, as many criminal enterprises do, with a layoff—with a man, suddenly out of work, nearing the end of his rope.

Writers don’t often talk about their day jobs, but I’m a scientist by training. For a time, I thought I wanted to be one of those bug hunters the CDC dispatches whenever there’s an outbreak of something deadly and exotic. (My wife, as you might imagine, was thrilled.) I was serious enough that I enrolled in a microbiology PhD program at the University of Virginia—but ultimately, it didn’t stick. A field that challenging demands one’s full attention, and I couldn’t bring myself to shelve my dream of becoming a published author. So I dropped out of grad school, took a job as a researcher for a small biotech startup, and got writing.

Nine years, one unpublished novel, and a handful of short stories later, that startup folded—and for the first time since I was sixteen, I was jobless. So when my buddy Steve Weddle told me he was launching a new print magazine and asked if I’d like to contribute a story, I said sure. He couldn’t afford to pay me, but I didn’t care. I needed something to do to keep me from climbing the walls while waiting to hear back on all the resumes I sent out.

I pitched Steve couple story ideas. One was lean and mean at maybe 3,000 words—the sort of story I was known for (inasmuch as I was known at all). The other was a monster, a behemoth—an idea so ambitious that I worried it’d get away from me, and wind up too long to print. When I told Steve so, here’s what he replied:

“The problem with online writing (which I love and have nothing against and love and did I make it clear that I love online?) is that folks have a tough time scrolling through a 10k word blog post of a story. So if you have a piece that’s longer than 5k, being in print would be the way to go, I think. AHMM and EQMM and those folks have limits to size. I mean, they can’t just run 20k of something because it’s cool. Needle can. It’s what we were built for. Yeah, some quick punch is great. But something longer, developed, intricate, high-concept would be great to see in print.”

So, caution thrown, I sat down and wrote “The Hitter”—a hard-bitten tale of violence, loss, and redemption, featuring a hitman who only hits other hitmen. It came out fast. Crazy fast. And at 11,000 words, it wound up more novella than short story.

“The Hitter” appeared in Needle’s second issue. To my surprise and delight, people really responded to it. It was nominated for an Anthony Award, and selected to appear in THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2011. I’m pretty sure that means I owe Steve a beer.

But for some reason, the story still nagged at me. Unlike all the other shorts I’d written, it felt unfinished—which was odd, since it was already longer than the lot of ’em. I told myself to leave it be. That I shouldn’t mess with a good thing. Then, one day, I woke up with an idea that changed everything. I could pull back the camera. Shift the narrative from claustrophobic first-person to sprawling third. Show not just the (hopefully redemptive) journey of the hitman protagonist, but also that of the antagonists who want him dead, and those who hope to bring him to justice. A few months later, I’d finished the first draft of THE KILLING KIND.

Whether the transition from short story to novel was successful isn’t for me to say—but so far, buzz has been good. THE KILLING KIND received the first starred review of my career, from Kirkus. I’ve gotten glowing blurbs from writers I admire. In one of the more surreal turns of my life, the legendary David Baldacci called it “a story of rare, compelling brilliance.”

I’m grateful, if a bit befuddled. All I was trying to do was make this story finally shut up. I’m nearly finished with book two, and it hasn’t yet. It’s almost enough to make me wish I’d been laid off ages ago.

Almost.

***

Chris Holm is an award-winning short-story writer whose work has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2011. His critically acclaimed Collector trilogy made over forty Year’s Best lists. His latest novel, THE KILLING KIND, is about a man who makes his living hitting hitmen, only to wind up a target himself. For links to Chris on Twitter and Facebook, visit www.chrisholmbooks.com.

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Review – The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Posted October 1, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver SacksThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks

The title makes this sound… odd. It made me worry that we were going to end up laughing at the plight of people with neurological disorders and defects, the first time I heard of it. But I was assured that Sacks was, overall, a decent guy, so I decided I probably should give it a try — especially since it’s one of those books that everyone seems to associate with neurology. Some of Sacks’ language is horribly out of date now (it’s jarring to read about ‘retardeds’, etc, even if the word was more acceptable then and had a medical meaning), and I can sympathise with people who felt that some of the language was too technical — it wasn’t to me, but I’ve had plenty of exposure.

I think it mostly avoided the ‘freak circus’ effect, with a kind of tenderness about most of the cases described. One or two points I disliked were when Sacks tries to decide whether or not amnesiac people are ‘de-souled’ — so dehumanising and just… not appealing — and one where he made a kind of connection with a patient, or thought he had, and then immediately pulled back to avoid… what? Communicating honestly with a patient, getting into their world a little bit? Maybe I would see that differently as a doctor, but reading it, I couldn’t help but think what an opportunity was missed.

Not all of the cases are fully described here, with the ins and outs and whys and wherefores; sometimes a diagnosis is assumed. But it is an interesting account of the many ways the human brain can go wrong, and the unexpected effects it can have.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Martian

Posted September 30, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of The Martian by Andy WeirThe Martian, Andy Weir

Oh dear, I’ve been meaning to read this book for so long! But fortuitously, now that I have, the next book club read is going to be The Martian, and the film adaptation is coming out soon. Now I just need to get my mother to read it… I found it a lot of fun, though sometimes a bit too juvenile in the style and humour — coming right after reading An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, I was very aware that astronauts are, for example, trained in public relations. Watney’s “look, boobs!” comment and so on… mmm. That didn’t ring true of the kind of professionalism you expect from an astronaut, even bearing in mind that they’re human too and Watney’s in an awful position.

Despite that, I did get hooked on the survival aspects, working out ways and means and timings, finessing budgets, launch times and politics. It’s a formula that works pretty well, and one of the reasons I find Apollo 13 (the real event, not the movie) more interesting than, say, Apollo 12. Apollo 11 put the first men on the moon, and Apollo 13 brought astronauts home despite immense odds, but Apollo 12 didn’t have the emotional engagement of being a first or of being a disaster. The situation for Mark Watney and his crew is very similar: people have been to Mars before, interest is even waning in the program, but then the mission’s scrubbed, NASA have to scramble to bring the astronauts home safely… and the world’s eyes are back on spaceflight.

Even with the sometimes juvenile humour, I couldn’t help but smile at some of Watney’s shenanigans, and I enjoyed trying to follow the chemistry and so on. Given that this was originally self-published as a serial and there was no contact with NASA, I didn’t really look too hard for any defects in the science — and I forgave it the NASA fanboyism, since it was full of the wonder of exploring space in an obvious way that reminded me of my mum’s enthusiasm for space.

The ending is pretty abrupt, since there’s actually plenty of time to go before the mission is really over, but that did leave the moment of attempted rescue as the climax of the story, and avoided taking away any of the significance of that moment with worries about re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere and the like.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

Posted September 29, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris HadfieldAn Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Chris Hadfield

I’ve been meaning to read this forever, after getting quite into the videos Chris Hadfield posted and the stuff he tweeted when he was on the International Space Station. This is both less glamorous than you’d imagine an astronaut’s book to be, and more practical in terms of actual advice about everyday life. There are details about NASA, about what it’s like to fly a plane or go into space, etc, but there’s also a lot about being a team player, communication with family, and all sorts of ordinary things that maybe you wouldn’t think an astronaut would talk about.

Overall, Hadfield comes off as a down to earth (ha) and likeable guy, with a sense of humour about life and humility about his achievements, even though they’re pretty epic achievements. I found his book mostly interesting, although sometimes talking about bureaucracy was just bewilderingly frustrating — and why should he have exploratory surgery to prove that he doesn’t need exploratory surgery again? Aaargh, world, you are weird.

It’s mostly not really about being an astronaut. It’s about loving your job, working hard, and trying to be a decent human being. The moments of wonder are there too, but this is mostly about the road taken to get there.

Rating: 4/5

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