Review – A Darker Shade of Magic

Posted July 7, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. SchwabA Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab

I’ve been meaning to read this book since it first came out — I even had a preview a while before it came out, and was really excited. And then I got distracted and didn’t get round to it for ages and ages. Still, I took it on my flights from Belgium to Canada, and I’d finished it before long at all; it was a quicker read than I was even expecting.

It was less serious/epic than I was expecting, actually. There’s an element of just swash-buckling fun about it — Lila Bard wants to be a pirate captain, Kell’s a prince, etc. I was surprised by how simple it was, in a way; I’d been expecting something on a grander scale. Which… is there, but it’s resolved in a single book, so it doesn’t seem that serious. I’m wondering what the next book is actually going to bring.

In terms of world-building, it’s pretty cool; I guess more is going to come of Black London, and we haven’t seen the last of that issue just because Kell managed to get rid of the artefact from it. And Lila and Kell aren’t done, and I hope Rhy isn’t done either — I wanted to know more about him. (Though the name throws me; Rhys would be the Welsh name, which I kept expecting when I saw it.) I’m looking forward to the next book, but maybe this was a bit too hyped up.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , ,

Divider

Top Ten Tuesday

Posted July 7, 2015 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

This week’s theme from The Broke and the Bookish is “top ten hyped books I’ve never read”. Hmmm, let’s think…

  1. Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer. I read Twilight, because I thought I ought to give it a chance, but it’s really not for me and I have a whole lot of objections to it.
  2. Divergent, Veronica Roth. I think it’s technically on my TBR somewhere.
  3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling. Though I am planning to read this soon, ’cause I’m doing a readalong with some other folks.
  4. City of Bones, Cassandra Clare. Doesn’t really appeal, especially since I know about the author’s history of plagiarising.
  5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson. I have this to read, but I’m pretty uninspired about getting round to it.
  6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky. It’s never appealed at aaaall.
  7. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green. It really doesn’t sound like my thing, even if cancer didn’t freak me out unbearably.
  8. A Game of Thrones, G.R.R. Martin. I am actually going to read this. Eventually.
  9. On the Road, Jack Kerouac. I’m sorry, I hated it.
  10. The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks. Not my thing at aaaaall.

What about you guys? And are you listing books you intend to read someday, or books you never read?

Tags: ,

Divider

Review – Ancillary Sword

Posted July 6, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Ancillary Sword by Ann LeckieAncillary Sword, Ann Leckie

I didn’t like this as much as the first book, I think. It has a completely different focus to the first book, a much more domestic one, and I was expecting something different the whole time. The focus is much more on society in the Radch, rather than the issues of identity that were at work in the first book with Breq’s separation from the Justice of Toren, and the Anaander Mianaai issue. It’s an exploration of more of the world than we saw in the first book, and I really liked that once I got into it.

It’s great seeing Breq back in the world of the Radch, a world that she is perfectly suited for, a world she knows exactly how to operate in. And it’s great seeing her begin to work against Anaander Mianaai and the way the Radch works, in a way that’s still consistent with the values of that world.

I really want Ancillary Mercy now. I’m not sure how I see the whole thing wrapping up, given the fact that this book didn’t really advance the larger plot much. I suppose the books can’t wrap up the civil war Breq’s stirring up, not so simply. We’ve got a small scale going on, especially with this book, and the civil war is going to be on a massive scale.

I guess we’ll have to see!

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – Daughter of Necessity

Posted July 5, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 7 Comments

Cover of Daughter of Necessity by Marie BrennanDaughter of Necessity, Marie Brennan

I don’t normally review short stories and such, but this one caught my eye and I love the cover, so why not? It’s available to read online, for free, here; it’s not a long read, not even really a retelling, but a glimpse behind the scenes. A clever take on a piece of mythology we often take at face value. It answers one simple question.

Why does Penelope weave and unpick a funeral shroud for her husband to delay the suitors?

She’s a clever woman, and this puts her in an active role, taking a hand in her own fate and even her husband and son’s fate. The passive woman of the Homeric epic steps aside to reveal a woman who takes her own fate into her hands.

It helps that the writing is lovely. I can’t pick out a single line or passage: it’s mostly simple, with some of the imagery and phrasing from translations of Homeric verse, maybe a bit of Ovid. It hits just the right note. I do kind of want more, just because I really like the way Brennan interprets the story.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , ,

Divider

Review – Ancillary Justice

Posted July 4, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Cover of Ancillary Justice by Ann LeckieAncillary Justice, Ann Leckie

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this one. It swept the awards for the year it came out, and many of my friends adored it, but the first time I tried to read it I bounced off, and my partner wasn’t a huge fan. Fortunately, I did really like it; enough that I’m in a hurry to read Ancillary Sword, at least. I’m not sure if it’s a five star read — that might have to await a reread — but it is definitely a solid four star.

It did take me at least 50 pages to really get into it, maybe even more like 100. There’s a lot to take in, with the language stuff and the world-building. The world-building is awesome, and I’d be a hypocrite to dislike the language stuff here when it’s as consistent as Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, and less obtrusive/central — so that’s not a complaint, just an observation: it took some getting used to. It also took some time for me to get to grips with the characters, particularly the main character. Breq isn’t, in her own eyes, a person, merely a fragment of an AI, so she minimises her own account of her personality, and that makes it awkward.

Still, the details of the world and Breq’s place within it build up, and the plot comes together really well. Unexpectedly, I found myself interested in Seivarden, really really hoping that Lieutenant Awn made it okay, feeling weird about the Lord of the Radch, etc. The feelings part, the emotional engagement, snuck up on me. But it came, and left me hungry for more of the world, to know what happens to Breq, to Seivarden, to the Radch.

Good thing I have Ancillary Sword right here.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Stacking the Shelves

Posted July 4, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

Yet more shenanigans in Canadian bookshops! Why do I gotta go home?

Cover of Dreams of Shreds & Tatters by Amanda Downum Cover of Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff Cover of Fifth Quarter by Tanya Huff

Cover of No Quarter by Tanya Huff Cover of The Quartered Sea by Tanya Huff Cover of Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff

Cover of Artemis Awakening by Jane Lindskold Cover of The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison Cover of The Stone Prince by Fiona Patton

And yes, I already had The Goblin Emperor, but as an ebook, which isn’t ideal for flipping to the back and checking the extra stuff. Plus, excuse to reread!

Also, a ton of comics between me and my partner…

Cover of Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery Cover of Sex Criminals vol 2 by Matt Fraction Cover of The Movement vol 2 by Gail Simone

Cover of ODY-C vol 1 by Matt Fraction Cover of Ms Marvel: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson

I think that’s the end of my Canadian book spree, particularly since I’m no longer sure this lot will fit back into my suitcase to go home… What’s everyone else been grabbing?

Tags: ,

Divider

Review – Song for a Dark Queen

Posted July 3, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 7 Comments

Cover of Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary SutcliffSong for a Dark Queen, Rosemary Sutcliff
Review from 10th November, 2011

I found, in a corner of my university library I’d never seen before, a couple of Rosemary Sutcliff’s books I hadn’t read. This was one of them — the story of Boudicca, as told by her harper, interspersed with extracts from the letters of a Roman soldier to his mother. I think this is maybe the most female-centric of Sutcliff’s books that I can think of, and yet it’s told in the voice of a man, so there’s that. As with all Sutcliff’s books, it was readable and well-paced, and well-researched: there’s a poetry to it, too. The end made me choke up a little, even.

I don’t know why I didn’t like it more. I think there was just something eroticised about Boudicca’s war-making, something discomforting — which is appropriate, in a way, for a dark queen… But why does her power come most when she’s eroticised and her children violated?

In that sense, too, I found it more violent than most of Sutcliff’s work — more adult, I guess. There’s references to rape, seemingly on both sides, and there’s a lot of blood and guts.

I rarely give advice to parents in my reviews, but this time I feel it’s warranted. I wouldn’t go so far as to say prevent your children from reading it, but I do think you should read this one first and assess whether your child would be alright with reading it. It discomforts me, as an adult woman; as a child, I don’t know whether the references would have gone over my head or not, but I think I would have caught the horror of it anyway.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

July TBR

Posted July 2, 2015 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

So June’s TBR didn’t really go down as well as I’d hoped. I’m gonna blame the holiday, though: so much to do, so little time. I’m not going to have everything in the catch-up section, just the ones I think I actually will get round to. Here goes…

ARCs

  1. The Raven’s Head, Karen Maitland.
  2. The Dead in their Vaulted Arches, Alan Bradley. (I know, I know. Way late.)
  3. The Philosopher Kings, Jo Walton.
  4. Adaptation, Malinda Lo.
  5. A Suitable Replacement, Megan Derr.

Library

  1. A Dance in Blood Velvet, Freda Warrington.
  2. The Goddess Chronicle, Natsuo Kirino.
  3. Half the World, Joe Abercrombie.
  4. Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling.
  5. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling.

Owned

  1. Assassin’s Blade, Sarah J. Maas.
  2. Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas.
  3. Fair Game, Josh Lanyon.
  4. An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir.
  5. Clariel, Garth Nix.

Rereads (including books counting as owned-unread because of ebook duplicates)

  1. The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch.
  2. Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch.
  3. Powers, Ursula Le Guin.
  4. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling.
  5. Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling.

Catching up (from last month’s TBR)

  1. Heartless, Gail Carriger.
  2. Timeless, Gail Carriger.
  3. Abhorsen, Garth Nix.
  4. Named of the Dragon, Susanna Kearsley.
  5. The Winter Sea, Susanna Kearsley.

Wildcards

  1. The Killing Kind, Chris Holm. (ARC.)
  2. One Night in Sixes, Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson. (Bought, book club read.)
  3. Poison, Sarah Pinborough. (Library.)
  4. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. (Challenge read.)
  5. Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. (ARC.)

ETA: tweaked this a bit because I forgot about a book challenge I was doing. Some of the original list, alas, will have to wait!

Tags:

Divider

Review – After the Golden Age

Posted July 2, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of After the Golden Age by Carrie VaughnAfter the Golden Age, Carrie Vaughn

It’s been a while since I read this the first time, so I felt I should revisit it before I read the second book, even though I gather that follows the next generation. I was right that I needed to do that: a lot goes on that I’d forgotten the details of. I think this was the first superhero novel I read, possibly before I got into comics; it’s made me eager to read as many other superhero novels as I could, though so far I’ve just got to the point of collecting them all up, not actually reading them yet…

Anyway, this is a fun story; actually, it’s not exactly a superhero story in the traditional sense, because while the main character is the daughter of superheroes, she doesn’t have any powers of her own, unless you count being a kickass accountant. I guess on a second read you can see that it’s a little bit predictable, that the characters are not all developed… it’s a little bit tropey: I can see that same parental relationship problem as there is in Perry Moore’s Hero, for example. It’s a fairly predictable problem to have if your parents are really famous, let alone if they have superpowers. Worse if you don’t have superpowers.

I did like, though, that there was a certain ambivalence about Warren. He’s a hero, sure, and he’s learned to control things. And his daughter is important to him. But then he’s also thinking mad things like dropping his daughter off a roof to see if her power is flight, and nearly attacking her because she doesn’t go his way… And then again, on the flip side of that, he’s doing his best to rein himself in and reconcile. And they don’t quite reconcile, it’s not quite that easy, but they make some moves in that direction. Celia herself is a little ambivalent: she feels like she could flip and go with the supervillains, she has spent time with her father’s main adversary primarily to split from her parents and rile him up.

The relationship with Arthur Mentis could be problematic, but they kind of deal with the fact that he knew her as a child, and the story definitely deals with the way his mindreading affects the relationship.

All in all, it’s still really enjoyable, at least to my mind, and I’m looking forward to fiiiinally reading the sequel.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – The City

Posted July 1, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of The City by Stella GemmellThe City, Stella Gemmell

I hoped to love this, because I have enjoyed the late David Gemmell’s work (some of it more, some less), but this just went too slow for me. I don’t necessarily mind a slow build, but this was a trope salad: it felt like typical epic fantasy, and the prose didn’t elevate it above that. Sure, the prose and setting were decent, and some aspects of the setting were really well described — the darkness, claustrophobia and caution endemic among the sewer people, for example. But it was lacking… something. A spark, some originality, characters to love; any one of those things would have rescued it, for me.

So, at around 20% of the way, I confess I stopped reading. If you’re looking for epic fantasy, this might still be your thing; maybe if I was in the mood for something comfortingly traditional, it would’ve gone down okay. But I’ve got Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings and, indeed, David Gemmell, for traditional fantasy. I wanted something fresh, and The City wasn’t it. I didn’t expect Stella Gemmell to burst any major boundaries, but this story felt like it could be set in part of Feist or Eddings’ worlds, rather than a new fantasy world dreamed up entire.

Rating: 1/5

Tags: , ,

Divider