Tag: books

Review – The Contact Paradox

Posted August 25, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Contact Paradox by Keith CooperThe Contact Paradox, Keith Cooper

The Contact Paradox is all about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the various issues surrounding it: how are we searching? What are we looking for? Do we expect to find anything? Should we send out signals to help ET find us? How? Why haven’t we found anybody else yet? Are we looking in the right place? Etc, etc, etc. It’s mostly a good exploration of the options, though as always I find myself totally frustrated by the assumptions made on either side of the debate. As I’ve written before elsewhere, I don’t think we have enough data to speculate from. We have one dataset, Earth, and that’s all.

Not that this is the book’s fault; part of SETI is figuring out whether there is other life in the universe or not, and this stuff has to be thought out to know what we’re looking for. The book just discusses the arguments and tries to be reasonably balanced about it… it’s just that I find most of the arguments lacking, or rather, I find that they come to premature conclusions and that people’s attitudes tend to harden on their preferred end of the spectrum.

What I did really enjoy about the book is being reminded about how amazing the universe is — and how much we do understand about it. The stuff we know or can theorise about is mind-boggling in the best way.

This is popular science, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s shot through with references to popular science fiction, and even discusses the point of view of various science fiction writers. I couldn’t help but notice they were all dudes, though, and that in all the references to all kinds of science fiction, not one female author was named. Sigh and eyeroll. I’m sure there are dozens of excuses for that on the part of the author, and I’m not really interested in hearing them.

Though in terms of fiction that he could’ve referred to, I thought the author really missed a trick in not referring to the Mass Effect games, which have their own answer to Fermi’s paradox and the Great Filter.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Priory of the Orange Tree

Posted August 23, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha ShannonThe Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon

Oh boy, how to review this chunkster? I actually started to read it back when it first came out, and was fascinated… and then got distracted, as happens so often for me. Then I ended up reading it at a pace of five pages a day, alongside other workerbees from Beeminder! Which was pretty cool, actually; I thought I would find it really frustrating, because I’m usually a fast reader. Granted, I didn’t exactly stick to five pages a day — it was more like a chapter every other day. Either way, it worked, and I found myself eager for my daily snippet instead of daunted by the size of the book, which has been a problem for me lately.

It’s a retelling of George and the Dragon, but it doesn’t really show unless you already know that; you can also just sink into it as a story about dragons, alchemists with dubious backbones and morals, pirates, witches, queens, friendship and love. I didn’t know anything much about the characters and their relationships before starting, so I very much enjoyed watching them unfold. I never expected Sabran to grow on me so much, or for her relationship with Eadaz to work for me; her moodiness and even capriciousness made her really unattractive to me as a character from the start, but as she opened up to Ead, I came to pity her and understand her a little better… and slowly I could at least see part of what Ead saw, even if I’m not wholly convinced by the depth of the relationship given the timing.

I do agree with some other reviewers that there are pacing issues; Tané’s parts feel almost sketched in compared to Ead’s, which really dominated all the others for me. I’ve read about the book having to be substantially cut and revised, and it makes sense for it to linger on Ead the way it does… but it makes it feel like the others are both secondary and have not enough to say given their significance. I really felt like Tané needed a bit more time to grow, given her completely self-centred and self-righteous behaviour at the start.

I’m not wholly sure I followed the sterren and siden magic system, but this was partly the piecemeal way I read the book, I think. It’s certainly a world I’m sad to leave and interested to potentially revisit.

I’ll agree with other reviewers that comparisons to Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings are completely inappropriate, and if you’re looking for those worlds, you should probably just reread the originals. The Priory of the Orange Tree is not that close a comparison, and you’ll definitely be disappointed if you’re just looking for more Tolkien or GRRM. I’m not saying that as a value judgement, though; The Priory of the Orange Tree is its own thing.

Rating: 4/5

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Weekly Roundup

Posted August 22, 2020 by Nicky in General / 3 Comments

Good evening, folks! Last week I took off owing to the confluence of a sick rabbit and damaging myself by falling onto the corner of a coffee table, but my ribs are fair to middling now and the rabbit seems back to normal, and it’s been my birthday, so I should catch up!

This post was supposed to go up this morning, but the infamous WordPress “missed schedule” issue bit me. Booo.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of Unfit For Purpose by Adam Hart Cover of The Contact Paradox by Keith Cooper Cover of Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron Cover of The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

Cover of The Shipwreck Hunter by David L. Mearns Cover of Kindred by Rebecca Wragg Sykes Cover of Nodding Off by Alice Gregory

With most but not all of those being birthday presents from my wife! Aaand here are the eARCs:

Cover of Evie and the Pack-Horse Librarians by Laurel Beckley Cover of Out on the Ice by Kelly Farmer Cover of Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold

Cover of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix Cover of An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner Cover of Architect of Memory by Karen Osborne

A nice bunch! Thanks to the publishers!

Books read since my last roundup:

Cover of Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski Cover of When the Tiger Came Down The Mountain by Nghi Vo Cover of The Arsenal Stadium Mystery by Leonard Gribble Cover of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Cover of Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau Cover of The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky Cover of The Woman in the Wardrobe by Peter Shaffer Cover of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold Cover of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Reviews posted:

Other posts:

And that’s it for this week! How’s everyone doing?

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Review – The Man Who Didn’t Fly

Posted August 22, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Man Who Didn't Fly by Margot BennettThe Man Who Didn’t Fly, Margot Bennett 

The Man Who Didn’t Fly has a fairly unique set up for a mystery: a plane has crashed, with three men and the pilot aboard. There were supposed to be four men, but one didn’t fly. The bodies are lost… so who exactly died, and who survived? And why has the survivor stayed quiet all this time?

It’s an intriguing set-up, but it doesn’t end up really working for me. Most of the book is recounting the everyday life of a family who are involved with the case, as it slowly reveals clues to what happened, who exactly died… and what crime was committed. It took a while to see the solution, for sure, but that’s partly because it felt rambly, and because so much time was given over to Hester mooning over one of the male characters. Said male character being an obvious scrounger and pain in the butt, who goes from one house to the other in search of freebies and handouts, it was not a very enjoyable experience.

I just couldn’t believe in the supposed depth of feeling there… and there is another romance in the book, and it comes more or less out of nothing. The whole emotional life of the book is lacking, and it leaves the ending pages hollow. Like, who cares?

Aside from the premise, I can’t say I really liked this at all. I ended up reading to the end because I wanted to know how things turned out, but I felt like I’d been blundering around in a directionless morass. I don’t find Hester particularly likeable, though there are glimpses of likeability (she wants to study medicine; she honestly cares for her father, even as they fight) — and there’s something just so… irritating about the prose. Solidly not for me, despite the effusive preface and the award this book almost won at the time.

Rating: 1/5

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Review – The Last Smile in Sunder City

Posted August 20, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Cover of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke ArnoldThe Last Smile in Sunder City, Luke Arnold

From the cover onwards, The Last Smile in Sunder City is a patchwork of influences. Ben Aaronovitch, obviously and brazenly; my bets are on Jim Butcher as well. And, if not directly from Raymond Chandler, then his brand of noir and his style of imagery — there’s something about his comparisons that make it feel like a cut-rate Phillip Marlowe. It’s a very readable book, even though Arnold doesn’t have the control of language that Chandler did (none of his coinages are as good as “shop-worn Galahad”, even though Fetch Phillips suits the description as well as Marlowe does).

Sunder City is just one city in a world that used to be full of magic, but the source of magic has been destroyed by humans. Elves have aged suddenly and cruelly, anyone who uses magic is bereft, vampires are shrivelling to nothing… and Fetch Phillips is a man for hire amidst all this, tracking down missing folks and contemplating oblivion, at the bottom of a bottle or a long, long drop.

You know from the start that Fetch has done something godawful, and you can see it coming in the flashbacks, and you kind of want to stop it or ameliorate it somehow — and that’s when I knew it was really working for me. Fetch is not a good person, but you can see in him the ability to be so much better than he is… and even though he keeps making the stupidest mistakes, and you know nothing can be alright for him again, you can’t help but hope along with him that he can salvage something.

I’m kind of eager to read the next book right now; I don’t know how much this first one will stick with me, but it was a quick and enjoyable read, and I’m really curious to see where Arnold goes next with Fetch.

Rating: 4/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted August 20, 2020 by Nicky in General / 4 Comments

Ever so slightly belated WWW Wednesday!

Cover of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke ArnoldWhat are you currently reading? 

The Last Smile in Sunder City, by Luke Arnold. The cover is so blatantly copying from Ben Aaronovitch’s fairly iconic covers that it raises my eyebrow every time, the narration is trying so hard to be Raymond Chandler without his absolute knowledge of where every word should go, and if Jim Butcher isn’t an influence as well I’ll eat my bookshelf. That said, it’s fun as well, and when it gives trying to coin a phrase a rest for five minutes, I’m settling into it well.

Cover of The Woman in the Wardrobe by Peter ShafferWhat have you recently finished reading?

The Woman in the Wardrobe, by Peter Shaffer, and before that, The Seventh Perfection. The latter is very cleverly narrated, and I really need to sit down and put my review into words before it slips away. I sense that the narration is going to drive a lot of people absolutely up the wall, but I thought everything was worked out pretty cleverly.

What will you be reading next?

There’s a good chance it’ll be one of the books I got for my birthday! The one I’m probably most excited about is Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, by Rebecca Wragg Sykes… but The Contact Paradox (Keith Cooper) is also calling to me.

What are you currently reading?

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Review – The Woman in the Wardrobe

Posted August 18, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Woman in the Wardrobe by Peter ShafferThe Woman in the Wardrobe, Peter Shaffer

The Woman in the Wardrobe features a few elements I usually find myself disliking, to wit an amateur detective full of bombast, wit and ego, and a locked-room mystery. There are some definite similarities with Gideon Fell… but the writing style is so breezy — and the included caricatures of various characters so full of life — that it swept me right through my usual objections. It’s one of those with a clever trick ending (as most locked-room mysteries are) and it worked reasonably well.

I can’t say I like the amateur detective, but at least the narration knows he’s a bit of an ass. It doesn’t push too hard on his genius, though there is a very Sherlockian scene with a reverie over a pipe just as the case is reaching its conclusion… It’s all contrived, of course, but it’s fun. It mostly helps that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland

Posted August 18, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Cover of Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa SchneidauBotanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland, Lisa Schneidau

I was curious about this book because I used to collect pamphlets and stuff about local tourist attractions wherever I went, and ended up with a fair few that discussed folk traditions like fairy rings and vengeful trees. This kind of felt nostalgic for thumbing through those and trying to imagine the magic back into Britain… and it’s kind of cool to learn more about plants long-established in Britain and what people thought of them.

Not all the retellings really worked for me, nor the faux-dialect introduced to make them sound folksy. They might be better performed aloud, perhaps, but you’d have to have the right accent or you’d sound a little mocking, and that’s the way it comes off in print… though that’s probably a personal preference. The retellings are fairly straightforward, and there are few surprises in the tales, which are mostly traditional or based off traditional stories, and act in the expected way.

A fun curiosity, and perhaps one to dip in and out of if it’s something you’re interested in, but not a whole-hearted recommendation, I think. If you’re interested, you probably already know it’s your thing; if you’re just curious, the stories and their morals become a little repetitive.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

Posted August 17, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 10 Comments

Cover of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky ChambersThe Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

I know there are people for whom this book leaves them entirely cold — whether the whole story falls apart for them, or the setting, or they see massive problems with certain plot points… I tried to read it more critically this time, ready to see those things and understand where they’re coming from. It didn’t work; I fell in love all over again and devoured it whole in about five seconds flat. Well, not quite, but you get the idea.

It’s the found family thing that gets me every single time, I think: the way they’ll cover for each other and work to understand each other and accept each other no matter what. This is mostly a book about good people, perhaps implausibly so: with almost everything any of them do, you can believe that they’re doing it because they think it’s right, and that it’s the right thing to do. (There is a major exception for me which I’ll discuss in a moment.) I can understand people who aren’t hooked by that, who don’t find it believable or can’t even get invested because the conflict feels implausible to them… but it’s catnip to me, apparently.

I do hate the whole plotline with Ohan, I’m afraid. Even as my heartstrings are tugged by the results of it, I loathe that Corbin takes away Ohan’s self-determination, and chooses things for them that they don’t want. I hate that the reader is manipulated into being glad about that, and to think that Corbin essentially does the right thing. Nope nope nope nope nope. It’s the dark spot in this book for me: I understand why it’s there, and I can’t help but love the bit with Dr Chef at the end… but the decision made for Ohan is not something I’m actually comfortable with.

It doesn’t darken the rest of the book for me, and as ever I actually cried cathartically for almost the last 50 pages of the book… but it’s worth knowing about, particularly if you have a disability or mental illness where other people think they know better than you about your own body. It’s very discomforting, and it’s worth knowing before you go in if that’s something you might be sensitive about.

I just love almost all the characters so much; Sissix is so darn awesome, Ashby’s a darling, Kizzy’s like Firefly’s Kaylee on speed (almost literally)… It all comes together so well for me. Pitched perfectly to my id, I guess!

Rating: 4/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted August 13, 2020 by Nicky in General / 3 Comments

Not joining the linkup this week… just too darn tired again. But I’d love to hear from anyone who drops by!

Cover of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky ChambersWhat are you currently reading?

I’m rereading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet for a Habitica group read. I enjoy it a lot, the sense of family and love and compromise, and it’s proving a good read when (because we can’t catch a break) one of our bunnies is a bit off. Also, it’s hot, and I generally don’t want to do anything when I’m too warm, so having something familiar I can sink into is very appealing.

Cover of Burnout by Emily & Amelia NagoskiWhat have you recently finished reading?

Burnout, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. It’s a self-help book and typical of the breed in many ways, including an overly chummy and simplified writing style that doesn’t tend to work for my brain. It did give me some ideas for stuff to do better for myself, even if it is deeply focused on assigned-female-at-birth people who identify as female and are treated as such. If you’re not fond of — or at least able to put up with — being addressed in “you go girl” terms constantly, it’s not going to be for you.

What will you be reading next?

Totally, totally unknown. I’ll probably try to return to and finish The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu, though.

What are you reading?

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