Tag: Elizabeth Knox

Review – The Absolute Book

Posted January 30, 2022 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Absolute Book by Elizabeth KnoxThe Absolute Book, Elizabeth Knox

I don’t really know what to say about this book. I finished it, because there were many things that intrigued me, and which I wanted to see through to the end. The mixture of mythology — which includes an interesting use of the Arthurian legends — was interesting, but at the same time it meant I was never quite sure of which rules we were following. In fairytales, there are always rules that govern the story, but the rules which govern this story aren’t clear (even though they are present).

Partly that’s because one of the key characters is a guy called Shift. He loses his memory every few hundred years so he doesn’t know all about his past, he’s hiding things about himself, he’s not human, and he’s being hidden by a spell that makes it hard to really look at him. The whole story feels like that, to be honest, and it makes sense for it to be like that… but I didn’t enjoy it so much.

I do like Shift, actually, and Jacob and Taryn as well — perhaps that’s what I stuck around for, really, to know what happens to them.

The weird thing that other readers should be aware of is the fact that the first 50-70 pages or so read like it’s going to be a thriller. When it takes a left turn into fairyland. Also, though you’d think the love of books should permeate the book, there’s very little time spent actually reading. Taryn’s an author and talks about her book… but if you’re looking for vicarious enjoyment of musty libraries and big old tomes, I don’t think the books end up being that important to the plot.

Rating: 2/5

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WWW Wednesday

Posted January 20, 2022 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

And here we are again, it’s Wednesday!

Cover of The Grey King by Susan CooperWhat are you currently reading?

I’ve just finished the only non-fiction book I had on the go, so now it’s The Councillor (E.J. Beaton), my reread of The Grey King (Susan Cooper), and The Absolute Book (Elizabeth Knox). I’ve been meaning to read the latter for quite a while now. It starts off feeling like a thriller, or maybe like Labyrinth (Kate Mosse), which it namechecks… but then it takes a left turn into fairyland, which feels like a significant shift in tone. I’m not sure yet what I think.

What have you recently finished reading?

Material Lives: Women Makers and Consumer Culture in the 18th Century (Serena Dyer), which feels quite academic — it’s talking to an audience that’s very comfortable with phrases like “while the affective resonance of the wedding doll is explicit”, which just reminds me of my English literature days and how really simple points can be obfuscated behind fancy word choices. Just… say what you mean. You mean it’s obvious that the wedding doll refers to an emotional event.

What will you be reading next?

Don’t know! Maybe I’ll take a look at what I’d have to read to get a second bingo line in the Litsy #BookSpinBingo challenge, or maybe I’ll reread Emily Tesh’s novellas, since my wife’s going to read them soon and I could use some bite-size reading.

How about you?

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WWW Wednesday

Posted January 12, 2022 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Apparently it’s Wednesday again already? Rude. But here we go!

What are you currently reading?

Non-fiction: I’m still reading Chris Gosden’s The History of Magic, which I continue to have the same caveats and concerns about as before. “Ritual purposes” are doing a lot of work with just about every kind of archaeological find.

Fiction: I’m now reading E.J. Beaton’s The Councillor, and finding it very absorbing. People mentioned it being slow, so I was prepared for that, but it doesn’t feel unduly so to me. I found some of the phrasing awkward at first, the substitutions telling us we’re in a fantasy world felt a biiit too prevalent, but I’m finding that now I’m used to it, it all works. I can just sink in for pages and pages and not notice how time is passing.

Cover of Strange Beasts of China by Yan GeWhat have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I finished was Strange Beasts of China, by Yan Ge, which didn’t quite work for me — partly because it wasn’t what I expected, and partly because I had problems with what was explained and what wasn’t. Probably that’s partly my fault for being slow on the update, but I felt like I needed to make diagrams to understand bits of it…

I also just finished a reread of Susan Cooper’s Greenwitch, which I always like because it gives some space for Jane Drew to shine. Also the gorgeous descriptions in the chapter where Will and Merriman visit Tethys.

What will you be reading next?

I don’t really know for sure, but for #BookSpinBingo on Litsy I know I need to pick up The Absolute Book (Elizabeth Knox) and Money: The True Story of a Made-up Thing (Jacob Goldstein)! So they’ll be my next fiction and non-fiction reads respectively, most likely.

What about you, dear reader?

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