Posted February 11, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 8 Comments
A Monstrous Commotion, Gareth Williams
After reading his book on polio and his book on smallpox, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Gareth Williams turning his hand to something like the Loch Ness Monster — but nonetheless, I knew he was a good writer and understands science and the importance of evidence. And Nessie is fascinating, of course; even if there is no Nessie (and I tend to think there isn’t) then it’s fascinating how people have believed there was a Nessie, and spent their whole lives searching for her. I needn’t have worried, anyway: Gareth Williams presents the evidence without much sign of being partial. He notes when people’s evidence was convincing or their testimony likely to be trustworthy, as well as noting when people carried out fakes.
It turns out to be exactly as fascinating as you’d expect, looking at all sorts of people who made or broke their reputations hunting for the monster. In the end, we have very little direct evidence pointing to the existence of a Nessie, so unsurprisingly the book looks at the human side of the drama, along with the sciences that, over time, people have brought to bear on the problem.
I’m sure some writers wouldn’t be able to make this interesting, but to me, Williams did. And if nothing else, he had me wanting to believe in Nessie, for all that he attempted to stay neutral himself (and I wouldn’t like to pin him down on either side of the debate for absolute certain, though I think a lot of people wish it could be true but don’t think it is).
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, history, non-fiction, science
Posted February 9, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Girl Waits With Gun, Amy Stewart
Girl Waits With Gun is based on the real story of Constance Kopp and her sisters, and draws inspiration from the real facts of her life — newspaper articles, family documents, etc — but it’s definitely a fictionalised version, giving Norma Kopp the hobby of looking after pigeons and so on. As a story, it’s entertaining, but perhaps more so knowing that Constance was a real person and this is one attempt to interpret her thoughts and feelings, her hopes and fears, during the time she was menaced by a mill owner who refused to pay for crashing into her family’s cart and wrecking it.
I thought it might turn out dry, but actually I got pretty into it, and on putting it down I was frustrated that a particular character didn’t know a particular fact — I won’t say what, because of spoilers. It’s enough to make me want to hurry up and pick up the next book as soon as I can. It’s obviously speculative, and it’s anybody’s guess what the Kopps would have thought about it, but it makes for a good story.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, crime
Posted February 8, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Strong Poison, Dorothy L. Sayers
First of all, I love that the new edition has an introduction by Edward Petherbridge. Ian Carmichael was a brilliant voice for Peter, but if I could picture Peter, I think it’d be Petherbridge I’d see. And his introduction is fitting: erudite and respectful of Sayers’ work, but also playful.
The novel itself, well: it’s Strong Poison. I love it for so many reasons. Okay, I do get a little frustrated with Peter for making the fact that Harriet is likely to be hanged about how awful it is for him, when he barely knows her and has just fallen in love at first sight. But there’s so much witty banter, and Miss Climpson is a delight as well. And there’s the fact that this is the start of a relationship which is never fulfilled until it is equal: they start off so unequal, and Harriet’s prepared to just give in and leave things that way, but Peter steps back and waits and waits and… There could be an easy happy ending, but instead there’s a relationship that has to be worked at, until mutual respect is reached rather than pity or gratitude. No consent but free consent — how can I not applaud that story?
The mystery itself is of course tortuous, but you’d expect that from a Golden Age story like this. Peter, Miss Climpson and Bunter keep it from being weighed down — along with Parker’s delightful realisation about Mary.
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, crime, Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery
Posted February 6, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments
I Am Morgan Le Fay, Nancy Springer
I Am Morgan Le Fay is a young adult novel which tries to give Morgan Le Fay more of a reason for her actions and more psychological depth. It’s reasonably successful in that, though it’s not one of my favourite Arthurian stories I’ve ever read — it seems a bit slight, and Morgan’s behaviour and the outcome was entirely obvious. The mythology is a bit of a hotchpotch, but I didn’t mind that too much because it was so lightly touched on. Cernunnos is a character, but it doesn’t really go into the significance of magic and how that’s linked to divinity in their world.
I kind of think I might be able to judge this better once I’ve read I Am Mordred as well, to see how Springer handles Mordred. Mary Stewart manages to excuse Mordred everything while throwing the blame on Morgan, and there’s always blame to go around in Arthurian stories, so I’d kind of like to see where it shifts in this case. Presumably not to Mordred, but to whom?
Rating: 3/5
Tags: Arthuriana, book reviews, books, SF/F
Posted February 5, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bollander
Received to review via Netgalley; publication date January 23rd 2018
I didn’t actually know much about this before picking it up: only that there was an elephant, and it somehow involved the Radium Girls. I loved the bits from the perspective of the elephants, the stories they tell: it might be a little much at length, but in little doses it was cleverly done, figuring out the way they’d think and communicate. I wasn’t in love with the modern-day plot of making the elephants glow (it seemed a little goofy to me as an idea, so I didn’t get into the character who suggested it), but the interaction between Topsy and the Radium Girl who trained her was poignant and fascinating.
Overall, it’s an interesting idea and there’s some definite gems in the writing, but I’m not sure how long it’ll stay with me. It didn’t quite come together for me, the three threads of narrative.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F
Posted February 4, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments
Changing Planes, Ursula Le Guin
This collection of short stories are all linked by a single idea: when we’re waiting in an airport, we can just slip away to another dimension, or ‘plane’. If you haven’t heard of this phenomenon, I do recommend Ursula Le Guin’s travel memoir — a little out of date now, perhaps, but certainly a good introduction to some of the planes that are out there. Her choice of stories might seem pointed at times — there’s an inherent criticism of all things commercialised in her discussions of the Holiday Plane, for example — but the locals she speaks to and the stories she reveals are fascinating nonetheless. I don’t think I’d want to visit all of these planes, but the Library of Mahigul sounds fascinating, and I’d love to take a DNA sequencer to Islac and try to puzzle out quite how they got their genomes into such a mess.
Of course, there are many other planes out there that Le Guin did not cover, and doubtless there are fascinating stories she could have told and never had time to tell, or never wanted to tell. I’m sure there’s a fair share of utter tragedy and horror out there — but also beauty, and Le Guin finds that even in some of the sadder places.
A recommended read — especially if you’re going to be flying soon.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F, Ursula Le Guin
Posted February 2, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Words Are My Matter, Ursula Le Guin
I don’t love Ursula Le Guin’s non-fiction as much as her fiction, but at least it’s always a pleasure to read. This book has a rather charming diary of a writer’s week when she attended a writing retreat, including some very nice observations of rabbits which chime well with what I know of my domestic buns. There’s also various essays on genre, and her other usual preoccupations. And then there’s her book reviews — I could wish there weren’t as many of Atwood’s work, who I don’t have much interest in, but it was interesting to see her thoughts on books and authors I know, and especially to see her glowing piece on Jo Walton’s Among Others.
I still prefer her fiction — as she did herself — but I cherished reading this, too.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction, Ursula Le Guin
Posted February 1, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments
Beneath the Sugar Sky, Seanan McGuire
I had to get this the minute it came out, of course. I was a little dubious since this is set primarily in a nonsense world, with a main character from a nonsense world, because that’s really not the sort of thing that attracts me. (Alice in Wonderland drives me wild, I really dislike it.) But fortunately the cast includes familiar and beloved characters like Kade and Christopher, and even drops in on Nancy in her world. Though I wasn’t enamoured of the world, spending more time with Kade was great, and the emotional pay off of the overall quest is pretty great.
I really want Kade to be the main character of his own story, though. It’s nice how he gets involved in everyone else’s, but… I want him to get a happy ever after, even if it doesn’t look like the others’ (i.e. doesn’t involve finding his door, since he doesn’t want to). I’d like to see Christopher get his own story, too.
Rep-wise, it’s also cool that this book features Cora, who is overweight — a fact which was an asset for her when she was a mermaid, and something she’s relatively comfortable with.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Seanan McGuire, SF/F
Posted January 30, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Alan Garner
When I first read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, I found it horribly disappointing after all the hype. Even back then, I noted that the beginning was promising and that there are some wonderfully evocative scenes of claustrophobia and fear… but the mythology, and particularly the mash-up of different mythologies without apparent meaning — someone called Grimnir appears, but he’s the twin of a wizard and did not really strike me as being intended to evoke Odin, for example — bothered me.
I have to say that I’m pretty much of the same opinion now. There are some really great elements, but they don’t come together for me because they’re such a mash-up — and there’s no reason given for the mash-up, as in a story like Gaiman’s American Gods. I didn’t really get a sense of great history to some of the mythology, even though the names given are ancient. Worse, I found the last third of the book almost incoherent in its scrambling from plot point to plot point. Why is this happening? What? I don’t follow…
Maybe as a child I’d have accepted it more easily, with fewer preconceptions and less pre-existing knowledge about some of the mythology used. Alan Garner’s books always gave me the willies as a kid, though, so I didn’t read it back then.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F
Posted January 29, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
RUR, Karel Capek
When you read about robots, you have Capek to thank. He’s the one who first came up with that word for a separate group of manufactured people (automatons?) who carry out work around the house, in factories and in the fields, subservient to the needs of humans. He’s the first one who posited how they might rise up, and declare themselves as people too. It’s a shortish play, and one which I don’t always quite get — what’s with the men all falling in love with the one female character? Why do the characters act the way they do?
But it is fascinating to come back to one of the places where it all started, and it was worth the read to see where some of the themes and preoccupations of later science fiction originated.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F
