I Am Behind You (Platserna #1) by John Ajvide Lindqvist
7 September 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: I Am Behind You, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Platserna #1
I Am Behind You is the strangest psychological horror that I think I’ve ever read. Quite an accomplishment really! Bizarre, creepy, insidious, thought provoking, compelling and absolutely baffling. I don’t really know what happened to be honest. I”m not totally sure how to review the book but I do know that this has kept me thinking for days and I know without doubt that I want to read the next instalment – I simply have to, I need to. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Twilight Zone.
At the start of this story we pretty quickly become aware that overnight four caravans and their occupants have been mysteriously transported from the campsite on which they resided and literally dropped into a never ending field. The green grass and blue sky stretch as far as the eye can see and an exploration by car just uncovers more of the same. You’re hooked by that aren’t you – you can’t deny it. Exactly like I was, Why were these four families picked up and removed to this strange place? What’s the connection? Have they all died overnight and ended up in a hell of their own making? My mind was simply racing with the need to find out what was actually happening.
So, to the occupants of this unusual territory. We have four caravans and their occupants. One, a couple of blokes, friends for many years and maybe with a friendship on the brink of developing into something more – it just needs a nudge. An unhappily married couple with a young daughter called Molly. Molly is one of those children that gives you the goosebumps, you can feel a chill on the back of your neck when you’re reading her chapters, as though somebody’s cold breath was on your skin. We have another couple, they don’t really know each other as well as they could, they have a son called Emil, a shy boy who is a little tied to his mother’s apron strings. Finally a couple whose family have grown and left the nest, leaving them a little in the land of ‘do we really like each other now we have nothing to occupy us’ territory. Basically we have this eclectic bunch of characters, thrown together in an unusual and stressful situation and we watch as the cracks begin to show and develop from cracks into deep yawning chasms.
The writing here is so good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author has an excellent way of making his characters come alive in the imagination. Slowly and surely he develops a picture of all of them and most of them have skeletons in their closets just waiting to jump out. It’s a fascinating and compelling ride watching all of them as they basically try to hold their sanity together. To be honest, many of them are not likeable characters and as their pasts are revealed you can’t help but wondering if this is some devilish punishment for past misdemeanours.
In terms of the action. Well, this is where we really enter the land of bizarre. Literally, prepare to encounter Darth Vader and his star troopers, an entire class of frantically exercising females, huge, six foot tall rabbits, tigers, zombies and James Stewart. I kid you not. Plus looming storm clouds and an horizon that seems to disappear into blackness with who knows what beyond.
I’m not going to deny that this book is unusual. I also admit that it might not be for everyone. There are no neat and tidy wrap ups here, no clean cut solutions. You’re probably not going to have any lightbulb moments and if the thought of reading a book and thinking wtf just happened doesn’t really appeal to you then you might just want to give it a swerve. Simply put, although I like answers as much as the next person, I found myself totally absorbed and want to read more. I guess I’m hoping for answers eventually but even without them I’m in the zone now.
I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
#SPFBO My third batch of books
The SPFBO is going strong and I’m on to my third batch of books. They’re listed below in the order I’m going to check them out – five books a month for the next six months. I will choose one book out of each of the six batches and then from those 6 potentials choose one to submit for the final stage.
Without further ado here are my books:
Faeborne by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
Brennon Roarke is cursed. Stolen from his family at the age of sixteen and forced to use his glamour in the service of Eilé’s most malevolent goddess, Brenn has little room for warmth in his heart. For seven long years, he endured hardship and pain, only to escape and find his parents and sister murdered, his nephew left blind and broken. With the stain of dark magic on his soul, Brennon perseveres for the sake of his young ward, always worrying that one day the evil infecting his spirit will destroy him for good.
Seren is an outcast among her own kind, ridiculed and ostracized by all but her mother. Born to the Fahndí tribe of the Weald, Seren’s glamour allows her to transform into a deer, but it also grants her the power to heal grave wounds. When she reveals this gift to her peers, jealousy and hatred drive them to murder, forcing Seren to either flee or fall victim to their malice. Taking on her animal form, Seren leaves her old life behind hoping to find a safe haven in a world that has only ever offered her hardship.
Despite being worlds apart, Seren and Brennon are brought together in a single life-altering moment. When the doe Brenn shoots turns into a young woman before his very eyes, he has no choice but to bring her home with the hope that she’ll recover. What he doesn’t realize, however, is that Seren is quite capable of healing herself with glamour that may be able to cure his wounds as well, and not only the ones that run skin deep.
The Age of Mages by Ilana Waters
“A mage should be able to handle anything, but really, the circumstances are getting quite ridiculous.”
Joshua’s witch mother has been missing and presumed dead since he was a teen. Years later, when he learns she might be alive, all he can think of is finding her. His antagonistic vampire father agrees to help, but Joshua fears he has ulterior motives. The situation gets even more complicated when they discover why she disappeared: she possessed a mysterious crystal whose powers remain a secret.
Unfortunately, Joshua and his father aren’t the only ones interested in the crystal. As their search leads them from New York to Las Vegas to Rome, they’re pursued by the Paranormal Investigation Agency, the High Council of Witches, and yet more vampires. In the process, they uncover a plot to wake the deadliest vampire who ever lived.
If Joshua can find the crystal, he might find his mother—and stop a massacring blood-seeker from rising. But that means not fighting with his father long enough to hold off adversaries both human and supernatural.
It might just be more than one mage can handle.
Jack Bloodfist by James Jakins
Jack Bloodfist fixes things. That’s what his card says, anyway…
When the orcs and goblins of Summervale, Virginia need something done they call Jack.
He’s the one who convinces the local PD to ignore any tribal violence. The guy who makes sure the goblins aren’t evicted whenever they do something decidedly goblin.
He does the little things that no one else is willing to do. Like handing keys over whenever a prodigal son returns, or identifying the body of said prodigal.
He’s always believed himself capable of fixing any issue his extended family needs fixed, even those they create for themselves, but when a powerful paladin comes to town and starts killing orcs, Jack may be out of his depth.
With the help of Drow detective, a reporter that is more than she seems, and a wizard with plans of his own, Jack hopes to, if not fix the problem, at least make sure it doesn’t get any worse.
That’s when the paladin’s angry god shows up with a whole army of holy knights.
All in a day’s work.
The Lost Secret of the Faeries by Tiffany Turner
It’s for REAL! Wanda had always read about adventure. Now she was in the middle of one. The World of Fairies is real, and she is their new Crystal Keeper, human caretaker to the World of Fairies. But the Fairy World is in trouble. The fairies are falling ill from the pollution that ravishes the world above. Wanda has to find the key to their cure, before it’s too late.
But like in all adventures, there are a few unanswered questions to solve. What has happened to the old Keeper? What are Germites? And can Wanda get used to her cat giving her backtalk while trying not to get grounded for helping the fairies? Join Wanda on her adventure, while she finds out that sometimes the best solution to a problem is the one you find within yourself.
Grace the Mace by Tirzah Duncan
Grace has always been there for her mother, ever since she was old enough to bite the legs of those thugs and leeches that called themselves lovers. Ever since she was old enough to understand the world in a way her mother never would.
Now, she comes home every winter with blood money from a year of running with a band of sellswords. No more scrounging in midden heaps and cutting purses for a low court lord to survive the lean months.
But this year, home is as dangerous as the battlefield. Tensions are running through the street courts of her old slums, while a new and daunting lover has confounded her safeguards and gotten at her mum–and now they’re all tangled in a vicious turf war.
Is one lone mercenary enough to protect her own? Can she trust anyone else to do the job?
Waiting on Wednesday : Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3) by Brandon Sanderson
6 September 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Brandon Sanderson, Breaking the Spine, Oathbringer, Waiting on Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was created by Breaking the Spine. Every Wednesday we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3) by Brandon Sanderson. I cannot wait to read this. Cannot. Wait.
In Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Timesbestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.
Dalinar Kholin’s Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.
Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar’s blood-soaked past and stand together–and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past–even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.
Eagerly Anticipated
Due November 2017
‘I put a spell on you..’
Every Tuesday over at The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. This week’s topic is:
10 Books that I struggled to get into but ended up loving:
- We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver – I’m not going to deny it, this book took me almost 100 pages to get into. It’s very bleak indeed. But, I then found myself hooked and compelled to read on.
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – strangely enough this is probably one of my favourite series but when I first picked it up I did come close to putting the book down. Definitely a book worth persevering with.
- A Game of Thrones by JRRMartin – no, I didn’t struggle to get into this but it does have a long build up in the first book, in fact the fantasy element to the story doesn’t arrive until virtually the end of the book. That being said – what an excellent book.
- Storm Front by Jim Butcher – this is an excellent series, but, the first book was a little slow – of course, each subsequent book seems to have got better and better, I think this is something that I encounter with a few UF series – the first one definitely suffers a little from ‘first book’ syndrome but it’s certainly worth carrying on.
- The Traitor (Baru Cormorant) by Seth Dickinson – this really is an amazing read but a little bit of a slow burner in parts – such a magnificent ending.
- The Black Wolves of Boston by Wen Spencer – I enjoyed this but felt that there was a lot of knowledge to be imparted which left the plot feeling a little slow in parts, ultimately, it didn’t detract from the story.
- The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Sparks – a book that I thoroughly enjoyed but that took me a little time to get used to the writing style at first.
- Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory – I absolutely loved this book, but, when I first started I was puzzled and I really didn’t think it would be my kind of book – how wrong I was.
- Lord of the Rings by Tolkien – yes, the first book is a slightly slower build – but it’s definitely worth it.
- Which book did you struggle with but then ultimately fall in love…
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
What an interesting and curious story this is. I couldn’t help thinking when I first picked this up that Horowitz took a real risk here in writing a story in which he himself narrates but I’m pleased to say that the risk paid off and was in fact a clever ploy – I found myself becoming totally sucked in and really enjoying this. A whodunnit with a difference.
At the start of the story we learn of Diana Cowper who within hours of visiting a funeral parlour to arrange her own funeral is found dead in her apartment. The police commission one of their own PIs (Hawthorn) who specialises in unusual cases and he in turn approaches Horrowitz to write a story based simply on the facts of the case. It’s a very unusual way of coming up with a story but I have to admit, after my initial reluctance I became completely absorbed in this untraditional style whodunit and I think that Horrowitz makes a great Watson to Hawthorn’s Holmes.
This is such an unusual way of telling the story because it mixes all sorts of truths in with the fiction which perhaps seems a puzzling way of writing a story and yet at the same time adds a level of realism that made me at times wonder if these events did actually take place. I suppose if you think of the Holmes stories, they’re narrated by Watson who gives his version of accounts and this is a very similar way of telling the story. We don’t always see what Hawthorn is up to and although there are clues throughout the book Horrowitz, like Watson, quite often misinterprets them – which again is such an unusual twist to the story because he’s the writer – so he knows what’s happening after all. This is a total head warp to be honest but for me it worked.
I won’t go into the plot. There are twists and turns aplenty. Red herrings and clues dot the pages and undoubtedly some readers may pick things up quicker than I did as we follow the breadcrumb trail but I was caught up in the events and anxious to turn the pages.
In terms of the characters, well, Horrowitz plays himself, obviously! It’s an interesting element to the book in which we watch his internal struggles to remain with a story that appears to be running out of his control, to deal with a character that he actually doesn’t really like as the story starts and the concerns he has about whether anybody would even pick up this book and read it – it all feels like extra layers that all add their own individual elements. Then we have Hawthorn. He’s this secretive, blunt, not always terribly nice character who seems to be riddled with prejudices that simmer just beneath the surface. Did I like him? Well, at the start he’s definitely a cold fish but he reluctantly becomes more human as the plot progresses and eventually gives up some of his secrets. I love his clinical methods of deduction that are, again, Holmes-like. He just comes out with random statements and seems to have this pleasure in listening to Horrowitz trying to figure out how he reached such conclusions.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this – I rather hope, in fact, that Horrowitz decides to continue with more stories from H&H – I think they made a great team and I could imagine this being a series that wins a good following. A modern day Holmes and Watson, an intriguing story and a tale of observation. I would certainly read more.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy through Netgalley. The above is my own opinion.
