Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
Before even starting to review Borne just let me ask you to take a look at those two covers. They are strangely hypnotic aren’t they, you want to look at them, to make sense of them, just turn them around slightly or turn them upside down even. I suppose there’s something in us all that makes us want to find the sense of something, figure out the puzzle – give it a name we understand. Now, literally, what the actual fuck is going on with either of those covers. Frankly, I don’t know, and having read the story I’m still not sure I do – I suddenly think I’ve found an image that makes sense but really I haven’t. And yet, in spite of that, I love those covers, they draw me in and hold my attention and more than that they are a perfect representation of this book. I was compelled by this read. I was partly scared to pick it up because I always make the assumption that I’m not going to fully grasp what’s actually going on, but, you know, it doesn’t really matter – I will take what I will from this book and so will you, we might discuss it and open each others eyes to more possibilities, open up new avenues, but even without that I can say that I really loved this book. It’s a crazy story, filled with strange visions, I won’t deny they’re difficult to pin down at first, the notion of a gigantic bear that flies and rampages around the place, not to mention then having little mini me versions of the bear in the form of proxy bears – I can just imagine you all shaking your heads right now and saying ‘what?’ – but, it just works.
Basically, and I’m not going to elaborate much on the plot to be honest, this has a feel of a post apocalyptic world – and yet at the same time that might not be entirely the case as the world here also feels quite unique, certainly highly developed and yet at the same time ruined. Experiments in biotech seemed to have gone terribly wrong at some point and that coupled with the planet meeting ecological disaster have spawned a very difficult world in which to live. Rachel is the main character in the book, as the story commences she finds a piece of biotech when hunting for salvage and for some strange reason it calls out to her – hidden amongst the fur of the great bear (Mord). Rachel takes this piece of ‘what’ I don’t know – home, well, back to her boyfriend who she usually gives up her finds to so that he can salvage what he will – but this time is different, she doesn’t want to give this find up. She eventually takes it home and gives it a name – Borne. Probably a name that is significant and poignant in equal measure
I really don’t want to give much away about this book – for me, it’s a story of finding identity -which seems like a very pedestrian description amongst such strange comings and goings but having really thought about it that’s the route I’m going down.
The writing is excellent. VanderMeer does not take the easy route with anything and yet even in writing about such unusual topics he grips you. Then there are the characters, not many to be sure, but you find yourself being drawn to them – even the rather odd Borne. There is this great parent/child relationship going on here between Borne and Rachel – a questioning and questing for knowledge that is amusing to read about even at the same time that you’re wondering at the back of your mind which route this is going to go down and then an almost coming of age feel. Borne himself in fact questions his own identity and what is his purpose.
I’m actually not going to say much more – I think this is a very compelling read – I loved it. There’s so much going on here, Little Shop of Horrors as written by Lewis Carroll whilst living in an alternative universe where gigantic bears fly in the sky. It sounds bizarre. It is bizarre. It’s bizarrely good and I love that VanderMeer just writes a story with such a unique feel – one that actually pushes your boundaries. He doesn’t take the easy route and yet even in saying that – this isn’t difficult. It’s a good story, you want to get to the bottom of it and as strange an environment it might be set in it is gripping.
This is a difficult book to recommend in some ways, it’s a little bit surreal, it’s unusual and initially you have to get over your resistance to this not being quite the norm, so I don’t know if you’ll like it or not. But, if you want to be tested a little bit with a story that is undoubtedly unique, a mystery, a twist in the tale and some excellent writing then I think you should give it a shot. This is s little bit of a step out of character for me but I’ve found that I’ve thrown off my reading comfort blanket recently in order to embrace different reads and I’ve definitely not been disappointed.
I received a copy of Borne through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Weekly Wrap Up : 18/6/17
This week has been excellent, although maybe not in terms of my reading. Far too much socialising, the weather has been lovely, I’ve been meeting new people and on top of that today was Father’s Day so it was all about family and it was great. So, excuses, excuses, I’ve not finished my books from last week so I’ve left them on below:
- The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1)
- The Bones of the Earth (Bound Gods #2) by Rachel Dunne
My cover compare this week is Blackwing by Ed McDonald:
Which is your favourite?
How was your week? What you currently reading?
‘If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it’
16 June 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Charles de Lint, Friday Face off, Trader
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
Guitar “You couldn’t not like someone who liked the guitar”
I thought last week was tough but this week’s took the biscuit! I’ve gone for one of Charles DeLint’s Newford books – Trader. I haven’t read this one but it fits the theme and it does sound really good. Have any of you read this one? Do you recommend it?
What an unusual bunch of covers – all of them are so very different. Surprisingly, the cover with the character playing the guitar is my favourite and makes me very curious:
Next week – Cat
Future themes:
23/06/2017 – Cat “In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this”
30/06/2017 – Hat “It is always cruel to laugh at people, of course, although sometimes if they are wearing an ugly hat it is hard to control yourself “
07/07/2017 – Gold “All that is gold does not glitter”
14/07/2017 – Boats “The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat…”
21/07/2017 – Planet “Any planet is ‘Earth’ to those who live on it”
Friday Firsts : The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1) by Anna Smith Spark
16 June 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Anna Smith Spark, Empires of Dust #1, Friday Firsts, The Court of Broken Knives, The Tenacious Reader
Friday Firsts is a new meme that runs every Friday over on Tenacious Reader. The idea is to feature the first few sentences/paragraph of your current book and try and outline your first impressions as a result. This is a quick and easy way to share a snippet of information about your current read and to perhaps tempt others. Stop on by and link up with Tenacious Reader. This Friday I’m reading : The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1) by Anna Smith Spark.
Knives.
Knives everywhere. Coming down like rain.
Down to close work like that, men wrestling in the mud, jabbing at each other, too tired to care any more. Just die and get it over with. Half of them fighting with their guts hanging out of their stomachs, stinking of shit,oozing pink and white. Half-dead men lying in the filth. Screaming. A whole lot of things screaming.
Impossible to tell who’s who any more. Mud and blood and shadows and that’s it. Kill them! Kill them all! Keep killing until we’re all dead. The knife jabs and twists and the man he’s fighting falls sideways, all the breath going out of him with a sigh of relief. Another there behind. Gods, his arms ache. His head aches. Blood in his eyes. He twists the knife again and thrusts with a broken-off sword and that man too dies. Fire explodes somewhere over to the left. White as maggots. Silent as maggots. Then shrieks as men burn.
My First Impressions
That is a brutal and violent start isn’t it! Crazed or frenzied almost and although the person who we’re reading about has totally lost it which is understandable given the circumstances he finds himself in.
What you reading this Friday?? What are your first impressions??
*The above excerpt was taken from an advanced reader copy and it is possible that the final version may have further changes.
The Fallen Kingdom: Book Three of the Falconer Trilogy Elizabeth May
15 June 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #Falconer Trilogy, Elizabeth May, The Fallen Kingdom
The Fallen Kingdom is the final instalment of Elizabeth May’s Falconer Trilogy and it was without doubt my favourite of the series. This is definitely a series that has evolved, starting out with a fairly fun novel that introduces to us the central characters we then moved on to a much darker story where the stakes were raised and finally concluded with The Fallen Kingdom in which, for me, Elizabeth May really comes into her writing chops. This is a twisted story that ventures into the realms of the Morrigan. A wild, passionate and imaginative story that brings the series to a gripping finale.
Spoiler Alert: Please be aware that if you haven’t read the previous novels spoilers may be contained within the review below.
At the start of the story we meet Aileana wandering lost in a forest and without any memory of who she is or anything about her past. She’s brimming with potent magic so strong that it’s threatening to tear her apart. Fortunately she meets up with Derrick who seems to have spent the past two months searching for a glimpse of her and although she doesn’t recall who he is she realises that he feels ‘okay’ – so basically she doesn’t unleash her magic and kill him. Yes, Aileana has turned into something rather deadly. She already had an abundance of training and something of an inherited power as the Falconer but in this latest instalment she is endowed with incredible power – and of course, with great power comes great responsibility. So, save our world and that of the fae. No big deal, just locate an ancient book of magic and all will be good.
I don’t really want to go too much into the plot of this as it would spoil the read for you – but, I can say that this instalment is fast paced, inventive, packed with imagination and fairly sizzles whenever Aileana and Kiaran share page time.
So, what can I talk about in this review. Well, firstly, the characters. We meet up again with Aileana, a new powerfully magic version with her very own time bomb just waiting to go off. Every time she uses her magic the clock continues to tick but conversely she needs the magic to face some of the obstacles in her path. Kiaran. Kiaran almost seems less potent by comparison to Aileana but even so he has a brooding stormyness to his character that could shame even Heathcliff – not to mention that he’s somewhat pleased to find Aileana alive and kicking. Derrick of course is an absolute star and I wasn’t surprised to see that he enjoyed a lot of page time – frankly I can’t imagine any reader not loving this character. A cheeky wee pixie, packed with magic and who loves to sew, all you need to do is ply him with honey. And Aithinne – another quirky character that I really did enjoy in this instalment and in fact that brings me to the second point. The banter. I loved the dialogue in this book. It just flows and feels really natural. It’s actually a pleasure to read because it isn’t stilted at all. The characters feel like they’re chatting in much the same way we would with sarcasm and muttering under the breath – or is that just me??
The setting. The two worlds, human and fae, are decaying at a fairly rapid pace – it almost has a Neverending Story feel where great chunks of the land are just falling off – especially towards the end of the book where there seems very little left of the world at all. But, without doubt, the absolute star of the show was the realm of the Morrigan – creepy, desperately creepy in fact. A place where people tread slowly in fear of being heard and yet the Morrigan knows they are there regardless and will use their bones to decorate her garden, once she’s had her fun of course. All bets are off once Aileana and her companions enter this world. It’s like falling into the rabbit hole but instead of appearing in Wonderland you’ve arrived at the Land-of-all-things-nasty. The Morrigan knows your worst fears and she’s not afraid to use them so think happy thoughts. *raindrops on roses and whiskers on… lions and tigers and bears, oh my’
Well, I say the setting and the fae realm we get to explore were the scene stealers but the romantic elements and the passion between Aileana and Kiaran were also rather intense. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the main focus of the book at all and that makes me glad because I don’t mind my books with a side order of romance but I don’t want it to overpower the story, however, in Gollum-type fashion, it also makes me sad – because reading about these two characters and the intensity between them is really rather compelling and for once I probably wouldn’t have complained to find myself reading more of it. Go figure – it’s just compelling, what more can I say.
Finally, the conclusion. I think May gives us an excellent conclusion. I’m not going to say that it wasn’t very sad – because it was, and you’ll just have to find out why for yourselves, but it was also the best ending that I think she could probably have written.
In terms of niggles – I think that I had a moment of anger with Kiaran because of at least one aspect of the story that I won’t elaborate on – and I would have expected Aileana to react a little more strongly towards him. But, I think this was tempered when I remembered that both Aileana and Kiaran had at times during the story acted out of character due to the experiences that they were individually going through. So, I got over that niggle to be honest. That only left me with one slightly raised eyebrow and it’s to do with the actions of one of the characters at the end of the book which, even though I could see coming, didn’t sit quite right in explanation terms – it’s a very small thing though and didn’t distract from the read at all.
Overall, I thought this was a great conclusion. It was dark, twisted, fantastical, well written, packed with action and imagination and brimming over with passion and intensity. What more could you want? Oh, mmm, another book maybe. Okay, greedy. All I can do is urge you to go and grab a copy, it’s available after all so what you waiting for?
I received a copy through Edelweiss courtesy of the publisher for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Books and travelling with Lynn 