The Small Hand by Susan Hill
17 August 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Susan Hill, The Small Hand
Just finished reading The Small Hand by Susan Hill. The Small Hand is the story of Adam Snow. Adam deals in valuable antique books which he acquires for his wealthy clients. One day, after spending time with one of his clients he decides to take a short cut on his way back home and becomes hopelessly lost on the twisty country roads. He eventually comes to a track leading to a house and decides to try and find somebody who can give him directions. What he actually finds is a desolated and derelict house with an overgrown garden. Whilst standing looking into the garden he feels a small hand take hold of his. Oddly, he feels no fear but is strangely comforted. He returns to his car and manages to find his way home. However, all though this may seem like a benign incident he soon starts to experience other strange occurences.
I enjoy reading Susan Hill. Her writing just seems to flow and appears effortless. I thought this was a good read and beautifully packaged as well (definitely the sort of book that you actually want to own the book – and not the Kindle version). Maybe not particularly chilling and perhaps (and this probably seems like a contradiction given the actual size of the book – which is easily readable in one sitting) stretched out in parts. I don’t mean that to be overly critical because it is very easy to read and I would actually probably read it again – maybe in winter time which might add to the atmosphere.
I thought Adam was a good character on the whole, although I don’t suppose we found out too much about him – other than he has a brother of course – but, he is likable on the whole (even if a little similar to the storyteller in the Woman in Black). I think, on reflection, I may have enjoyed this book if I hadn’t read the Woman in Black first as the WiB is by far the superior novel of the two and probably gave me expectations of something a bit more chilling. Probably if I hadn’t started to read the story with this sort of expectation I would have found it a bit more scary.
As it is, I would recommend this but with the proviso that you understand this probably won’t give you nightmares (if that’s what you’re looking for), it may give you a couple of ‘hair standing up on the back of the neck moments’ but not too much more in that department. However, I enjoyed it and would recommend just for Susan Hill’s writing style.
Rating B
The Small Hand
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
15 August 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Patricia Briggs, Silver Borne
Just finished reading Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs which is No.5 of the series. Before we go any further – if you haven’t read the rest of the books STOP HERE! This will contain spoilers for the earlier books! (It might also contain spoilers for this book – you have been warned.)
Anyway, this book I felt took a change in direction, it was more pedestrian, if you want to put it that way or maybe, not quite as fast paced. But, in a good way. This series is really coming into it’s own. In every book you learn a little more and this book was brilliant for that. With Silver Borne we get a bit more insight into the whys and wherefores. Now, don’t be thinking that means this was a boring ride. None of this series could ever be accused of being boring and this installment is no different – it just didn’t feel quite as ‘life or death’ as some of the others which I think is a good thing – I needed to regroup.
Basically, with Silver Borne we get a little more insight into Mercy’s relationship with Adam and actually witness some of the vulnerability that both of them suffer. We still have Mercy dealing with the trauma of previous events and we get to see Sam finally be overtaken by his inner wolf -now this isn’t a surprise because it’s been building in previous books but it’s like we finally see a bit more into what really goes on – like two personalities sharing the same body! Plus, Mercy has to try and buy some time for him because if the rest of the weres find out, he’s toast!
On top of all this, back on to the scene, are the fey, in this installment looking for a precious object and wanting a bit of a chat with Mercy to try and locate it. We are talking about a fairly high ranking fey here, not to be scoffed at (but I’m not going to give it away totally). Long story short, there is werewolf drama provided by Sam and his recent turn of events and Mercy drama with people being kidnapped and in need of rescuing. We get to see Zee in person – and he’s pretty cool if I do say so myself! And, we find something of interest for Sam (which he totally deserves).
So, this series is so good and so well planned. I’m totally invested in the characters by now and lets face it – Mercedes is just brilliant (awesome if you will) and Patricia Briggs has built such a brilliant urban fantasy world. It’s dark and gritty, fast paced, full of characters (no Stefan in this addition – boo), got an amazing lead character, bit of romance, danger, etc, etc, need I go on?
Anyway, give it a try, for me the first one is not my favourite so I think you have to bear with it but from there onwards it just goes from strength to strength.
Rating A
Silver Borne
Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll
12 August 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Black Swan Rising, Lee Carroll
Just finished reading Black Swan Rising and what a lovely enjoyable read this is. The writing is beautiful and lyrical. There is really good world building, quite a bit of action good description and yet not overly so, no information dumps and although there are lots of different creatures, even dragons, the story is also grounded quite heavily in the normal and the setting of New York is excellent.
This story has a great mythology behind it, I loved the swan concept and it reminded me of my earlier years reading some fantastic and atmospheric fairy tales.
So, to give a little outline, in fairytale fashion… once upon a time there was a young woman called Garet. Garet’s mother died a few years ago and her father was becoming weak and vulnerable. The family business was in decline and Garet worried about what would become of her and her father. One day, after receiving particularly bad news Garet, and walking aimlessly in the rain, came upon a little jewellery store, hidden deep within the city. The store’s owner, a wizened old man, set Garet a challenge, to open a silver box, for which she would be richly rewarded. Garet couldn’t overlook the opportunity she was being offered and accepted the offer readily, besides, how could she refuse to help this kindly(?) old man. So, returning home, she set about the task of opening the box. At first, it looked as though the challenge would prove too difficult, but Garet was special, more so than she realised, and in a blinding flash the box lid sprang open and for one brief moment everything was brilliant… but now Garet starts to see the world in a new way, shadows are not always what they seem, people are not always what they seem, there is menace within the fog and like Pandora’s box Garet will come to regret releasing that which was once sealed!!! Time is ticking for Garet to learn what she must in order to restore things to normality. Will she live happily ever after?
Okay, this is not a fairy story and actually it’s a sort of cross over novel – not totally YA. Garet is 26 and as such is more experienced than some of the protagonists in YA stories. I did like her. She’s an artist and has been raised in a very artistic environment. Her father has not always made the best decisions and some of those are going to come back to haunt them both when things start spiralling downwards after the box is opened.
I also liked her friends and family who play quite a large part in her life. But, the overall winning element for this story is the writing – which I love! And the setting – which is just great!
Along the way we have a lot of interesting characters and although normally I don’t live the idea of novels bringing in fictional characters from other novels it totally works in this novel – Oberon, Puck – I probably would have hated this anywhere else but not here. And LOL is definitely my favourite – so little and feisty and also all wrapped up with historical characters like Shakespere. Also, action virtually all the way. And, fey, vampires – and dragons (yay)!! I did really like the way that the alternative world is living along ours – the idea of Ignatius (did I spell that right?) with people queuing up to receive their punishments for misdemeanours – so good.
Now, criticisms, I thought it was a bit of a shame that such a tight timescale was set for the ‘putting back to rights’ of things. I just thought this left the story with this desperate feel where everything had to happen at breakneck speed. Okay, I see the reasoning behind the breakneck speed to give the story pace but it makes things a tad annoying. Learning fantastic abilities in the blink of an eye for example. Okay, I’m not expecting 6 months intensive training in a gym (or fey reservation) but come on, one day for each element. And then we have the romance with Will – we’re looking at a very short timescale here so it really is literally love at first sight, 24 hours later in actual fact. I don’t know, call it me, but I would like these things to take a little longer – I know that’s old fashioned but there you go. I’m a stickler for these thing. Also, I’m not feeling the passion in this romance at the moment – it’s just like I’m being told it’s there so I’ll believe it but there isn’t a spark for me. The thing is, when you make a romance so quick you miss out on the ‘will they won’t they?’ element which actually makes it more exciting to read or watch. But, I don’t mind to an extent, I’m interested in the story not just the romance.
All that being said, I will definitely read the next book, soon. In fact I’ve already read the first few chapters (because they were at the back of this book!) and they were pretty bloody good (sorry about the cursing).
so,
Rating: -A (Only got a minus because of speedy bits)
Black Swan Rising
The Scarlet Kimono by Christina Courtenay
8 August 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Christina Courtenay, The Scarlet Kimono
Just finished reading the Scarlet Kiomono by Christina Courtenay. This is CC’s second book her debut novel being Trade Winds which you can read all about here!
The Scarlet Kimono is a story about a young girl called Hannah who, in order to escape an arranged marriage which she is dreading runs away from home and becomes a stowaway on a boat bound for trade with Japan. Hannah’s arrival has been foretold by a seer to his warlord, Taro, and as a result Taro is taking a keen interest in Hannah and has decided to abduct her so he can study her at leisure. I guess that all sounds a bit sinister but it doesn’t read as such. This is basically a blend of romance and history with a bit of travel and adventure thrown in and a very light and easy to read novel
Being abducted is not to be Hannah’s biggest trial however. She is hated by Taro’s scheming sister-in-law, Reiko, who it seems will go to any length to get rid of Hannah and the threat she poses to her own plans to marry the warlord. However, Reiko hasn’t taken into account the attraction that Taro and Hannah will instantly feel for each other and the lengths he will go to in order to protect her.
This is a nice read although on balance I think I probably preferred Trade Winds. I did enjoy the Japanese setting however and the detail about the clothes, places, food and customs. CC has added a lot of detail which really helps to evoke a picture of the place. On top of that we have the love story unfolding between Hannah and Taro and the sense of tension surrounding Reiko and her attempts to remove Hannah from the picture.
On the whole I thought this was a nice and easy going read, definitely a good read for a holiday, however, if you’re looking for something with a great deal of historical detail you may be disappointed. I think that is probably where my major criticism would be found – I think you would be hard placed to give the year in which this book was placed if you hadn’t been given this information. And, that’s not to say that I wanted to read a deeply historical novel but just that the behaviour and language didn’t feel right, it was too modern I thought. Also, Hannah seemed to have very few restrictions at all and seemed to have a relatively easy time of things – even when she was abducted her captors were polite to her. And, everything seemed to come so easy for her – she picked up the Japanese language in the bat of an eye, then started to learn the writing, she’s an artist and can produce charcoal caricatures with ease and on top of this and in spite of it being totally overlooked by her family and everyone else back home, she seems to have morphed into a beautiful creature, long limbs, long eyelashes, long thick tresses of naturally curly fiery red hair, etc, etc. not to mention brave, courageous and kind to children.
So, I did like this book, but I didn’t love it. I think the romance wasn’t passionate enough, the history wasn’t quite historical enough and even the baddie wasn’t evil enough. Too much moderation for my taste although I have no doubt it will appeal to a lot of people as it’s a good story and nicely written. If I was going to give an example of what I thought was the perfect historical romance I would have to say The Bronze Horseman, Philipa Gregory’s historical novels are also really entertaining and Memoirs of a Geisha is an excellent glimpse into the culture of Japan.
Rating: C+
The Scarlet Kimono
Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough
5 August 2011
Filed under Book Reviews, Challenges for 2011
Tags: Lindsey Barraclough, Long Lankin
Just finished reading Long Lankin. This is a really good book and an excellent debut. The story starts with Cora and Mimi (real name Elizabeth but called Mimi because she’s always saying ‘me, me’ – how cute is that?). The girls are both taken to stay with their Aunt Ida who lives in a very old, rambling and run down property in the heart of the country in the village of Bryers Guerdon. Their aunt is less than pleased to see them and tries unsuccessfully to return them to their father. Aunt Ida lives an isolated life at the Hall, her life was shattered the last time she looked after two young girls and in fact all the Guerdons have led a cursed life and the arrival of the two young girls is about to wake up an evil that has lain dormant for the past few years!
This was a good read with an intriguing story. It’s set in the 50s and I really enjoyed the feel of it and the voices of the children. At first I thought that maybe it would be too young a read but in actual fact it’s definitely YA and upwards. We are given the story in the voices of Cora, Roger (one of the friends that the girls make) and Aunt Ida and I thought it was really good having the three different voices – Cora – who is really inquisitive (not to mention a bit more daring than I would have been – creeping around in the house on her own at night), Roger – whose voice allows us to see a different element of things such as some of the other villager’s perspective and Aunt Ida – and hearing her voice allows you to understand her fear for the girls and see that she isn’t simply being mean but has real cause for concern.
The story gradually unfolds and there is quite a history going back through the years but the pages turn pretty quickly and there are quite a few hair raising moments from fairly early on (rustling skirts, hearing voices, etc).
The sense of foreboding is steadily increased and telling the story through the voices of children particularly increases this as their own imaginations, quite good by themselves anyway, have been fuelled by the storytelling of the villagers and increased by the fear and paranoia of their parents (not to mention the things that remain unspoken, the secrets, hushed voices and conversations abruptly stopped mid sentence when one of the children enters the scene).
I’m not going to go too deeply into the story as it will spoil the plot. Basically we have an incredibly creepy, dark, old house which is slowly being sucked into the marshes, an evil entity that has been awoken by the arrival of the children and a village in denial about the creepy things that have occured under their own noses. Added to that is the country setting, brooding weather and old church and graveyard which has been practically abandoned by all the locals. The only criticism I could make is that I think it could probably have been shortened slightly – although I read it very quickly and the pages seemed to turn themselves.
I must admit that I didn’t really think that this book would scare me particularly (pretty arrogant really) but then I’ve watched my fair share of horror movies. However, having sat up by myself late last night in order to finish I will confess that (1) I was overcome by a horrible feeling of somebody watching me through the window (and let me say I shut the curtains pretty sharpish) (2) being the last one up I had to switch the lights off and rather foolishly I turned the lamps off and then had to walk through the room in the dark (shivers) – I shut the door prerry sharpish as well and (3) I practically bolted up the stairs – there really is nothing like being the last one up late at night after you’ve read something scary! So, next time I read a review by a reviewer who says don’t read this book by yourself at night – perhaps I’ll listen. Although, no I probably won’t!! Too stubborn.
Give this a read – and don’t sit and read it by yourself late at night! You’ve been warned.
Long Lankin
Books and travelling with Lynn 