Happy (or creepy) All Hallows Evening to you all…
As I was too lazy to carve a pumpkin (or too busy you can decide which)… here’s a picture of one instead:
Jack O Lantern (from Wiki)
Hope you have a totally terrifying or fun filled evening. I intend to watch a scary movie and eat popcorn (there may also be a glass of wine somewhere along the line…) Now, to decide which film!
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
30 October 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Boneshaker, Cherie Priest, RIP event, Stainless Steel Droppings, Steampunk, WOGF reading challenge, Worlds Without End
Just finished reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest which is my (only just) October submission for Worlds Without End, Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge. I loved this book. It’s a seriously entertaining romping, steampunk adventure. The main protagonists are a mother and son and we watch as they go in circles around each other in an almost despairingly frustrating fashion which is both fast moving and really compelling to read.
So, Briar and Zeke, mother and son. They live in a less than comfortable condition and appear to be virtual outcasts. Blair’s husband, now passed away apparently, was an inventor. His last invention however was responsible for almost wiping out the city of Seattle. A gold mining drill, built to dig through hundreds of feet of snow was set to test under the streets of Seattle causing massive destruction and mayhem leaving not only the collapse of many streets but the release of a noxious gas which kills and ultimately turns people into zombies – rotters as they’re now called. In order to survive in the wake of this catastrophe the survivors built a massive wall around the perimeter of the blighted part of the city, not only to contain the zombies but also to prevent the spread of the gas which is too dense to breach the wall.
As you can imagine Briar and Zeke are not terribly popular. Not only was Briar’s husband responsible for mass devastation but on the back of this Briar’s father caused further uproar when he returned to the doomed part of town to release the prisoners from jail before they could also be turned into the undead. And, even though these events took place years ago bitter feelings still exist towards the two. In an attempt to try and clear his father’s name Zeke, now a fairly headstrong teenager, decides to return to the blighted part of the city to find evidence. And his mother returns to the same zone to try and find her son! And so we have this dual tale where they both seem to circle each other during their individual adventures.
The blighted city is home not only to rotters. Some people remained behind after the blight events took place and eke out a living in tunnels underground and boarded up places above. Ways of traversing the city have been discovered and a number of rival factions exist. It’s a dangerous place to live. Of course there’s the ever present danger that the rotters present, not to mention the toxic gas that is becoming more concentrated by the year but one man in particular seems to be gaining a name and a reputation for himself and Briar and Zeke are about to come to his attention.
The setting is easy to imagine. We have a sort of 1800s Seattle with a difference. The author readily admits that she’s altered landmarks and historical events to fit in with the novel and after all if you’re reading about western type cowboys (and girls) flying around in dirigibles toting strange and weirdly fuelled weapons and fleeing from zombies then your imagination can certainly accommodate a few changes to history!
On top of this we have a number of strange and eccentric characters who we meet along the way, not to mention Briar is a great protagonist to read about. There’s always an unknown element about the people who Briar and Zeke meet and whether or not they can really be trusted or whether they are acting out of ulterior motives. I loved Lucy (no pun intended) and Princess not to mention Cly and Swakhammer and will gladly return to find out what eventually happened to them.
I also thought that using the different elements of gaining entry to the blighted city was interesting – Zeke using the tunnels and Briar using airship. It helped to give you a fuller picture of the city and was almost like a reflection of how the survivors lived within it’s confines – nobody lives on terra firma any more – you’re either under or over – and everyone wears masks.
I suppose if I had any criticisms at all they would probably relate to Zeke who at first I found a tiny little bit annoying. He just seemed to trust people too easily and willing follow them, even when he had a bad feeling about it. Of course he is still fairly young and I don’t think he ever expected the blighted city to be quite as bad as it actually was. He was born after the catastrophe and so wouldn’t remember any of the former events that took place so I guess I forgave him eventually. And, I suppose It must have been such a shock when he finally arrived not to mention the reality of how daunting his task truly was finally hitting home.
On the whole I found this a really enjoyable read. I loved the pacing. There was always something new and entertaining and I love the steampunk/horror/zombie fusion aspect.
I will definitely read the next in the series to find out what decisions Briar and Zeke make next.
I’m also submitting this for my Stainless Steel Droppings RIP event. Check it out here.
“Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!”
29 October 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Halloween reads, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesdays
This week’s Top Ten from the Broke and the Bookish is your top ten books to read during Halloween?
Well, I’m not sure I have ten so I thought I’d break this down into five reads that I’ve actually read and five I would like to read:
Okay, from the title you may have guessed (No.1):
Read:
- Dracula by Bram Stoker – I love this book. Good old fashioned gothic horror
- The Shining by Stephen King – just read this and frankly it gave me the heebie jeebies
- The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
- Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury – such a great, creepy, spooky, compelling story
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson with the ever so strange and maybe a little bit sinister Merricat
Want to read:
- Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
- Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis – I think I might be too scared to read this one
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewsk – I really want to read this but think it could be one of those books that takes quite a while! It’s huge!
- At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
Do you like things that go bump in the night?
‘Time is precious and my knife is sharp…’
28 October 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Dab of Darkness, Gentlemen Bastards, readalong week 1, Republic of Thieves, Scott Lynch
That’s right, Jean Tannen is back *faints*. Okay enough of that!
This week we join in the read along for Republic of Thieves being hosted by the lovely Dab of Darkness. Schedule for rest of read along here (it’s never too late to join in! ‘Mmm, do, or do not, there is no try’.
I loved getting back into this world. In fact I read this with a stupid grin on my face for the majority of the time – not a pretty look for me!! Plus snorting and laughing. (Ladylike at all!) Lynch has come up with a whole new world of insults that are so funny that I actually think I hurt myself while reading! So to the Q&A. Also, people reading this who haven’t read the first two in the Gentlemen Bastard series, really? Why?? Come on folks get on it – it’s simply too good to miss. There, that’s my gentle encouragement, plus, we may not be able to be friends if you don’t share my ridiculously out of control and a little over the top love of Lynch – well we probably can but I would so like to talk to you all about these books. And, there will be spoilers to follow so close your eyes now:
1) We get to reminisce with several old friends in this section – Carlo, Galdo, Chains. How did you like this? Bitter sweet or happy dance? Aww, this was like happy dance followed by sad face, because it is bitter sweet. I’d get all drawn in and be reading about something and then be brought up sharp by the remembrance that they’re not with us any more. It really is a guilt trip. Happy one moment and then feeling almost guilty because you realise it’s only a temporary, short sugar hit of happiness.
2) Finally, the infamous Sabetha makes a physical appearance, albeit in Locke’s reminisces. What are your impressions? How do you think the romance, if there is to be one, will play out? I think it will play out all on Sabetha’s terms. Right from square one you can see Locke is in awe and from there onwards they’re never really on a level playing field. You can also see how competitive and ambitious Sabetha is. Her and Locke are in a battle of the wills except Locke doesn’t seem to realise it. It feels like even at this early stage Sabetha is trying to best Locke and yet he so casually seems to achieve things – it must be damned infuriating I suppose and yet she surely knows she has the upper hand in terms of pulling Locke’s strings?
3) After trying absolutely everything to save Locke, Jean still won’t give up. What did you think of that little pep talk he gave Locke concerning Patience’s offer of healing? It made me well up! Really it did. I mean I know I have a soft spot for Jean (okay a bit girly crush) but it was a bit of an eye opener – especially the bit about he’s going to be the last one left. I had shivers.
4) Locke has a few caveats to working for the Bondsmage. Wise or just Locke grasping for some control over his life? What would you ask Patience? It felt a little bit like grasping at straws really. As though he knows he doesn’t have any real sway but he’s trying to impose some sort of semblance of having authority. Mmmm, what would I ask Patience. That’s very tricksy of you and my mind has gone blank (let’s face it it wasn’t a big step out of character – I just know that everyone is going to come up with all sorts of awesome answers to this and my mind is refusing to comply. Empty. Zip!)
5) At the end of this section, we see that all is not as Patience laid it out. How much do you think Patience knows of the plot to off Locke and Jean? Do you see it interfering in the rigged election? Well, I found that exchange totally perplexing – but, as I’ve already read this once I’m not going to comment too much. What I do remember quite clearly though is being totally clueless by this brief conversation, I mean, it seems that Patience wasn’t involved in whatever the discussion was so it was clear to me then that she wasn’t involved but I genuinely didn’t know and so just raced on to try and find out.
On a separate note – we got to go back to the tunnels and is anybody else finding themselves picturing Fagin from Oliver when they read the
Ron Moody’s Fagin or the Thiefmaker??
Thiefmaker. I just can’t help it and more to the point I’m seeing and hearing the actor Ron Moody – which is no bad thing because he owned that role. (I have a strange sense of deja vu from prior readalong with this).
“Sad day, my loves, a proper tragedy but when the milk’s gone bad you might as well look forward to cheese, hmmm?’
Also, I couldn’t help myself from highlighting a few things here and there:
‘A real smirking rat fucker’ – had me in stitches
‘sweet dancing donkey shit’; and
‘slower than an underwater fart’! – Yes, I will use this.
Also, I can confirm that Jean is still my book crush. I hope you realise how loyal I am to stay so dedicated for this length of time – let’s face it though he’s just a hunk! And he get’s some of the best lines which means he’s pretty funny as well! (Hah, caveman, wise-cracking bad ass! – what more could you possibly want?)
Sci fi, strange creatures, serial killers and dragons, all in a week’s reading….
Okay, very quickly from the photo below:
Currently reading American Elsewhere by Robert J Bennett (two thirds through). Just bought Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures. Sarah Pinborough’s Mayhem is my latest library book and A Natural History of Dragons just arrived in the post – such a lovely book – check out the picture below right (is that dragon down right creepy or what!)
My book’s this week
Illustration from A Natural History of Dragons
