There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. Great opening sentences…
8 June 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 10 Great opening sentences, Classics Club, There was a hand in the dark
Great opening lines.
As part of a monthly meme by the Classics Club we were asked about what are our favourite or most memorable opening lines. I must admit that I immediately thought of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca: ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’ Of course this line is really memorable and the lovely Jessica from Bookwork Chronicles had bagged it! No surprise that this would make the list. This got me to thinking about great opening lines and how much of an impact they have. I certainly don’t think I would be put off reading a book if the opening line didn’t pack a punch but I wonder if it does make a difference to how you think about the book. My choice for the classics has to be:
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Spot on if you ask me!
In terms of other great openers Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book grabs your attention immediately. ‘There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife’. You couldn’t stop reading after that could you?
I’ve picked ten openers, or more to the point I’ve thought about ten books that I love and taken a look at how they start:
- ‘My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.’ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. This is a favourite. Is this opener fantastic. Probably not. Does it make me like the book less. Definitely not.
- ”My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.’ The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I really loved this book and I think this is a great opener – ‘my name was Salmon’ – ‘was’ being the word that immediately draws your attention!
- ‘There was no possibility of taking a walk that day’. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. This is another one of my favourite books and yet I wouldn’t say the opening line really grabs me having taken a fresh look. Did it stop me reading or picking up and reading again. No.
- ‘It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.’ I had to cheat again here. This is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I think this is a good opener – it makes me want to know what the three parts of silence are. You? Course I do love this book so my judgement might be a bit skewed!
- ‘At the height of the long wet summer of the Seventy-Seventh Year of Sendovani, the Thiefmaker of Camorr paid a sudden and unannounced visit to the Eyeless Priest at the Temple of Perelandro, desperately hoping to sell him the Lamora boy.’ The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Another great book – that opening line is a bit of a mouthful (or a mindful). You pretty much know that you’re into the world of fantasy straight from the get go.
- ‘Ravens! Always the ravens. They settled on the gables of the church even before the injured became the dead.’ Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I cheated again (this is becoming a habit). Fantastic book. I think I detect a theme of liking sentences that are short and punchy.
- ‘On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back.’ I am Legend by Richard Matheson. This is a great opener I think – who are ‘they’ – you have to read on and find out!
- ‘When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.’ Needs no introduction. No really! If you don’t know what this book is then (1) WTF (2) Are you serious; and (c) get out of that black hole and read LoTR now! Ok it’s probably not got the same hook as some but Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is such a great book it couldn’t miss the list. You straight away get the feeling of a story well told. Put on your slippers and settle down in a comfy chair to read (a glass of nice red wouldn’t go amiss either).
- ‘Once upon a time, a girl named September grew very tired indeed of her parents’ house, where she washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups and matching gravy boats every day.’ A beautiful and whimsical opening by Catherynne Valente’s The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making.
- ‘The Children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do.’ This has a definite hook. Did it make you want to read? if so – Wool by Hugh Howie
I’ve told you mine now tell me yours – just your favourite (you don’t have to go all out and find 10)
Fall of Night by Rachel Caine (No.14 of the Morganville Vampires)
6 June 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 14, Fall of Night, Morganville Vampires, Rachel Caine
Fall of Night is the 14th instalment in the Morganville Vampires series – I think No.15 is the final book but I’ve been known to be wrong so don’t quote me. Fall of Night continues with the battle to stay alive as Claire finally leaves Morganville when she’s accepted into MIT. Of course this is a dream come true but is bitter sweet as she’ll be leaving behind her friends, her boyfriend and Myrnin. Before I go any further with this review I will warn you that there could be spoilers for earlier books in the series contained below so if you haven’t already read up to this point – BEWARE! (You were warned). Also, I think these books should be read as a series – I dare say you could pick up one of these and quickly grasp the story and run with it – but I think it would be better to have a bit of background to the characters not to mention the trials and tribulations they’ve been through already – it gives a bit more meaning to the betrayals and guilt in this particular instalment.
Anyway. Off Claire sets with her spotted hanky. Once again she’s staying off campus and is sharing with an old school friend (who’s name I seem to have forgotten at breakneck speed! Think it was Liz???). However, when she arrives things pretty quickly go off kilter. At first you could be forgiven for thinking that finally Claire looks set to live her dream. She’s more confident in this instalment, easily making friends. She’s introduced to Professor Anderson who she will be working with in a very impressive lab. She has a place to stay and whilst she’s going to miss everyone (almost everyone) back at Morganville it feels as though she’s going to make friends here very easily. Of course, as you’ll know if you’ve read previous MV stories nothing is ever that simple. A would-be stalker seems to be taking up permanent residence outside of her new apartment – and he’s intensely creepy. On top of that Shane doesn’t seem to quite grasp the concept of this whole break thing/giving Claire some space and has basically followed her to town where he’s found himself a job and residence and is casually keeping an eye on her – no, he’s not the creepy stalker. And, lastly, Claire’s invention, that she’s brought to MIT to continue working on with the Prof seems to be getting a lot of unwanted attention. Men in dark suits also seem to be tailing Claire, checking out her apartment (without an invitation), watching her movements (this is like a book of stalkers!)
Basically, the invention that Claire was working on to try and temper vampire emotions has come to the attention of a secret organisation. They want to get their hands on VLAD (Claire’s invention) and they’re not overly fussy about taking prisoners. As history will teach us, great inventions can usually be turned around to suit a different purpose for that which they were originally intended and Claire’s invention is no exception.
That’s about all I’m going to say here in terms of plot so you’ll just have to go and read the book if you want to know more.
The story takes on a fairly sinister feel quite quickly with abductions and the like and the tension is ramped up for the grand finale.
As in the latter books the POV in this novel extends to take on board Shane’s voice and I really quite welcome this addition as it expands the story for readers.
In terms of criticisms – well, if you’re hoping for all the usual characters to be playing their regular roles then you may be disappointed. Eve and Shane only become involved in the story in the last third of the book – as does Myrnin and Oliver – although this isn’t really a surprise. It would be a bit odd if we had a full Morganville cast involved now that Claire has moved away! I can’t say I ever really ‘got along’ with the new cast and a few of the characters felt thrown in there for very little purpose.
On the whole I thought this was another enjoyable instalment by RC. She never fails to come up with a new theme which always amazes me and in spite of the fact that this is No.14 she keeps things fairly fresh – I think what helps with this is that the time period covered in each book is relatively short (I don’t think this instalment can have covered much more than a fortnight period in total from start to end – although, again, I could be wrong so don’t beat me over the head with a verbal stick please.
If you’re looking for somethings suave and sophisticated then this might not fit the bill but if you’d enjoy a series where plenty goes on, there’s a bit of fun and snark in spite of the constant life threatening situations and a cast of characters that you can’t fail to like at least some of (my favourite being Myrnin) then give this a go. In terms of some of the similar series that are around I think this one compares very well. Plus – Myrnin and his vampire bunny slippers! I’m intrigued to know how Ms Caine is going to wrap this up. Will it be possible to have a happy ending? It’s a tricky one and given the cliff hanger ending it’s going to feel like a long 6 months before I get to read the conclusion .
Patience is a virtue…
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Just finished reading Ready Player One. Here is a perfect example of how not to judge a book by it’s cover (or it’s title for that matter). If I’m going to be honest I would never have picked this book up from either – in fact with the UK version it’s hard to tell what the title actually is! I sort of picked this up almost begrudgingly and with little expectation that I would like it but I’m really pleased to say it was a very good read. Entertaining. Different. And, a total geek fest – which I just loved. Don’t be fooled by that remark though – this book isn’t exclusively for those that will understand the culture references.
The story is set in the future, although not that far in the future 2040s (ish) Basically, the planet is in a bad way. The earth’s natural resources have been seriously depleted. Famine and poverty are rife. And people have become addicted to a virtual game called Oasis – it’s an escape from the grimy world they live in at the least and it’s free. Created by a genius, Halliday, the Oasis is vast, planets and solar systems beyond measure. Anything seems possible. And indeed anything is possible as we find out at the start of the story. Halliday has died and his massive wealth has been bequeathed to whosoever discovers the whereabouts of an Easter Egg hidden within the Oasis. Three keys must be uncovered that lead to three gates. We’re talking about some serious cash right here and so of course the entire planet goes berserk trying to find that egg – after about five years of course a lot of people have cooled their ardour – except the really serious hunters – known as gunters and a massive corporation called IOI who are interested in taking over the Oasis and turning it into a money making machine, which means it will no longer be accessible to the masses – not to mention getting their hands on Hallidays stash wouldn’t go amiss.
Okay, I’m not going to try and pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. I don’t suppose this is going to win any accolades for great writing. But, I don’t think that matters here. The story is intriguing, it’s original, insofar as a quest can be, the main character is likeable and it’s a fight between the poor old gunters vs the suits.
What did I like about it? The characters – they’re not perfect. Wade is a bit antisocial, he’s overweight, he has acne. He lives with a family who couldn’t care much less for him and took him on board purely for the extra food vouchers. He has very little other than his remote buddy Aech and his massive array of knowledge about Halliday. That’s what I forgot to mention – Halliday was a major 80’s freak and so to win the Egg you’re going to have to know your stuff – everything, arcade games, music, films, everything! And Wade has been studying hard. In the Oasis Wade becomes something else. He has his own avatar – which is pretty much based on himself but maybe a slightly slimmer version with no acne. He has no money of course so everything is pretty basic for him. That’s what I like about the start of the story – Wade (or Parzival as his avatar is known) has very little except his wits and he makes it through. We have Art3mis – who Wade has a little bit of a crush on. Then there’s all the 80s references which I can’t deny are pretty amusing. Put frankly it’s a bit of a feel good book with a lot of shout outs to the 80s. Think Willy Wonka meets Indiana Jones all set on the planet Zorg – okay, not quite like that but just a bit.
it’s difficult to describe the setting because you spend very little time in one particular place but jump about all over the place using light speed and other means of dashing round the Oasis.
In terms of criticisms. I think the author spends quite a bit of time info dumping – you get a lot of detail about how everything works. Now given that I’m a bit of a stickler for detail I didn’t mind that too much but I did think it slowed certain parts of the book down, for example, haptic suits – stop telling me about the haptic suits already – I get it. I also have a bit of mixed feelings about the 80s references. There are all these sort of cool things chucked in here but then the author seems to go to the trouble of explaining them – which I guess is to cover all bets – not everyone will ‘get’ all the 80s references after all. I suppose I don’t mind to a certain extent although as a bit of a book geek, for example, it makes you feel a little bit robbed! Like you’ve just read something, got where the author was coming from, and then he’s gone and blurted out the method in the madness. I suppose I need to get over that though! Then there’s the fact that Wade/Parzival seemed to turn into like a master hacker/problem solver/hero overnight. Again, I don’t really mind that because it is a bit of a rags to riches story but it just seemed a little rushed.
Niggles aside, I had really good fun reading this. It made me laugh, in fact it made me make all sorts of little exclamations and ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ – which gave the people in work a bit of a giggle as well as they watched my reactions whilst I read. Yes, I raced to the end, my impatience just got the better of me. It’s not perfect, it’s not full of literary genius but it’s very entertaining.
The Silver Dark Sea by Susan Fletcher
I think Susan Fletcher is set to be an author who’s books I really look forward to! I absolutely loved Witch Light and couldn’t wait to read The Silver Dark Sea – and it didn’t disappoint.
The story takes place on the Island of Parla in Scotland. This is a small island, very insular, where everyone knows everyone else and the idea of privacy is virtually none existent. The island is steeped in superstition – mermaids and other mythical sea creatures – not to mention the sly tide which brings with it disaster. I loved all the folk tales that the older characters passed down from generation to generation – they’re the sort of stories you love to hear when you’re a child and then love to retell as an adult.
Four years ago, one of the residents, Tom Bundy drowned rescuing a young boy who had fallen overboard into the sea. Tom’s widow Maggie still mourns his loss as do the rest of the Islanders. They’re all trapped in their own personal grief. Tom was dearly loved. A sort of golden child if you will. His mother can’t get over his death and grieves most bitterly. His older brother blames himself for not being there. Basically there’s all sorts of self recrimination flying around and life on the island feels as though its been trapped in a bubble. This is until the day a man is washed up on one of the Island’s coves. This new man, unknown, yet strangely similar to Tom, who can’t remember his name, is to be the catalyst that finally shakes the residents out of their reverie and bursts the bubble they’ve been suspended in. For a few moments, in fact, some of the residents believe this is Tom. Returned to the Island by the sea after four years.
Other islanders think this man’s arrival is no coincidence. They believe he’s a mythical creature. Part man, part fish, who has come to dwell amongst them for a limited time and set their lives back to rights. And, certainly there seems to be a hint of truth in the rumours. This man seems to have the ability to change the island. Everyone is fascinated by him, particularly Maggie.
I won’t go into more of the story than that. What I will expand upon is Susan Fletcher’s writing. This author is truly gifted! I swear that you can picture this island vividly. Fletcher has the ability to make you feel the sea spray upon your skin and the wind in your hair. You feel like you’re there on the island. She also pulls you into the culture of the place and really makes you want to believe in mythical creatures. On top of that her characterisation is spot on. She builds up stories around all the characters. This may be a small island with few people but that doesn’t mean it’s quiet and peaceful. You become aware of their secrets (and you can’t chuck a stick round Parla without hitting a skeleton in a closet) their past lives on the island, or off the island if they’re not originally from Parla.
In terms of criticisms I didn’t have any. I really enjoyed this although I recognise it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. This is no fast paced, action packed thriller. It’s a gentle story, beautifully told. It does contain a lot of sadness but that’s not what the overall message is. For me this is a story about how your life can change overnight. How hope can survive against all odds and how our stories and beliefs make up such a large part of our lives. It really is a lovely story and as with Witch Light it will be one that I think about for days after I put the book down.
I definitely recommend Susan Fletcher, particularly this story and Witch Light and I have no doubt I will now go back and read her previous work.
The People’s Will by Jasper Kent
27 May 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Jasper Kent, The Danilov Quintet, The People's Will
The People’s Will is the fourth of five instalments of the Danilov Quintet in which a section of Russian history is given a different slant. The first novel, Twelve, started in 1812 with the Napoleonic invasion of Russia where we were first introduced to a band of mercenaries called the Oprichniki. Ruthless and devoid of conscience they have been enlisted to cause chaos amongst the French troops. However, it soon becomes apparent that these ruthless mercnaries have a different agenda. They are Voordalak, creatures of the night, or, as they are more commonly known, Vampire. Twelve was followed by Thirteen Years, The Third Section and now The People’s Will. If you haven’t read the first three novels in the series, firstly, I really recommend you do so – unless you’re a bit queasy – and secondly, probably best to stop reading now for the avoidance of spoilers from the previous novels. Also, don’t be put off by the fact that these novels contain elements of the supernatural. I think this is one series where the author has succeeded in writing history with a twist. This is not YA and in some respects not for the faint hearted but it is gripping, interesting, full of adventure, dark and twisted.
For the avoidance of doubt I will start this review by saying I loved this instalment. It’s an action packed tale of revenge and on top of this it takes us back in time to look at the past of one of, what I consider to be, the best villains I have read about, Iuda.
As with previous instalments the People’s will takes us forward a number of years and starts in 1881. The action starts in Turkmenistan with the rescue of a prisoner who has been held captive for the past two years beneath the Citadel of Geok Tepe. The Russian Officer responsible for this mission, Colonel Otrepyev is in league with another and the rescue is not really a bid for freedom for the prisoner but simply more another form of imprisonment.
Meanwhile we are introduced to a left wing terrorist organisation called The People’s Will, who are planning the assassination of the Tsar Alexandra II and who will play a large part in the story.
The jump forward in time means we have again moved on to different characters, at least in human terms. Tamara no longer plays a role but her son Mihail, reared on a diet of revenge, takes over the role once played by Alexsei (his grandfather). Of course, the vampires themselves have not aged at all and are still circling each other in their strange game of power and revenge. Iuda is his usual menacing sociopathic self, Zmyeevich still an expert in playing the long game and Dmitry, relatively young and inexperienced in terms of vampires.
I don’t really want to delve into the plot. There is the whole seeking for power and revenege side to this played by Zmyeevich, we have a number of the key players seeking to kill Iuda for the purposes of revenge and then we have The People’s Will hoping to instigate an uprising following the assassination of the Tsar. All of the threads are inextricably linked with more than one character playing a double role. To quote Blackadder the plot twists and turns like a twisty turny thing and Kent brings it all together seemlessly.
The writing is again flawless. The events of the story an expert weave of truth and fiction. The historical detail is just enough to give you a flavour without overwhelming the story with a flood of detail and trivia that would dilute the impact. The real hook with these stories is the characters themselves. The author manages to pull you in to their story and keeps you involved even with the family members who are no longer involved. I found myself thinking again of Alexsei, who I had misgivings about at the very start but ended up really enjoying reading about – his legacy still lives on here with his son and grandson standing on different sides of the fence. I really enjoyed finding out more about Iuda and gaining an insight into his past – what a delightfully despicable character he is to read, no cardboard cut out villain here. I hope that we will be given a similar insight into the all powerful Zmyeevich who, although plays more of a secondary role here, certainly displays just how incredibly powerful he really is.
Again, there is an element of horror, these vampires take us back to the old school style of writing. They are evil, they have no compassion or feelings, they smell of rotting flesh – they have no inner conflict whatsoever about taking human life and in fact enjoy the chase and the fear they inflict as much as the feed itself. And, not only are the villains ruthless but so too is the author! I certainly didn’t see some of these twists coming and must confess my jaw dropped more than once. Plus, can I also say that thank goodness Kent has chosen to channel his activities into writing – the means of vampire torture and death that he has come up with alone are enough to make you shudder. His imagination seems to know no bounds!
On top of this I really admire the overall scope of the series and the historical content that has been brought into play here. For me this shows real imagination and creativity at its finest. Kent has taken a particular period in history and twisted a number of the key events to give it a more sinister meaning. I think I can see where this is probably going to lead next and I admit I can’t wait to read the final instalment.
If you enjoy historical fiction where the story includes an element of something different, a touch of horror and a look at the lengths to which people will go to try and seek revenge then definitely check out this series.
I have no hesitation in recommending Jasper Kent’s Danilov Quintet.
I received a copy of this through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
