Paternus by Dyrk Ashton #SPFBO
Paternus is the second book I picked (at random) to read from the nine books that I will be reading for the final stage of the SPFBO. Details of the competition and the other finalists can be found here. Here are my reviews for Outpost and the Shadow Soul.
So, the short and pithy version of this review probably goes something along the lines of ‘what the fuck?’ Put bluntly, this is a read of epic proportions. It’s like a fantasy library exploded and somebody gathered up all the scattered pages and wove them into a story. Literally there is something of everything in here, I kid you not.
I’m not going to try to explain everything contained here, it’s not like I want to write a dissertation and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to read one. So, this is a story of Gods, myths, demons, angels – call them what you will. A story that encompasses billions of years and brings together multiple myths in a compelling and fascinating way, a story of good and evil. This is also a story of war. In a world of Gods and firstborn a thousand years is a mere bagatelle and here we have the story of a continuation of war that has spanned thousands of years but, worry not, this particular story takes place over the period of one day – all that came before will eventually be revealed but for you, the reader, just sit down and enjoy the unbridled chaos that is Paternus.
The story is told in alternating chapters that take us between the different groups of protagonists, the main ones being Flowers and Figs, Order of the Bull and Mendip Hills. There are others but those are the predominantly recurring headers. Flowers and Figs brings to us the main characters that we follow, Fi, Zeke, her uncle and his dog, and Peter. The other chapters I will leave you to discover.
Basically, as the story starts we are introduced to Fi. Fi lives with her uncle. She works at a local hospital for old folk and she has a crush on Zeke who also works/volunteers at the hospital. Fi and Zeke actually go out on a date and to cut a long story short it doesn’t go terribly well. The next day at the hospital, as the two of them prepare for a day of tippy toeing around each other in embarrassment things get a whole lot worse when a strange bunch of visitors come to visit Peter, the patient that Fi usually looks after. From here on in, the phrase ‘having a bad hair day’ becomes something of an understatement. War is about to break out and the fallout is anything but pretty.
Now, what did I enjoy about this book. It’s an adventure packed riot of action, fast paced and definitely furious. There is so much going on that there is never a dull moment and you find yourself really enjoying all the references to characters and myths that you have already read about or watched in films. In fact I think that aspect of the story is really good – I think readers always find themselves enjoying a story that leads them onto a path of discovery where they can enjoy picking up references to things they already know and can relate to. Yes, you might not know everything here, and I’m pretty certain I didn’t, but even so you can’t help but enjoy the aspects of the story you feel familiar with and also reading the twists that the author brings to those myths. The amount of world building is really quite phenomenal and the characters are actually really likeable, so much so that I felt really concerned for them at certain points of the story (plus I have to give a little shout out to Mol the dog). The amount of research that this must have involved is really impressive and to bring a story together with such a multitude of characters and threads is quite an achievement.
In terms of criticisms. Well, the whole, ‘lots going on’, is something of a double edged sword – it’s really great, but, it takes a little time to get into. I felt like I needed a good hundred pages before I really felt like I had a handle on all the characters. Now maybe I’m just not as sharp as all the other knives in the box but with all the unusual names, strange descriptions and different places there is a lot to take on board and I was almost concerned about if I was really taking it all in and, more to the point, wondering how it all played into the story. I think I would have preferred for the main storyline to be a bit more established first before the other chapters came on board. To be fair though it is all relevant and surprisingly as each of the revelations occurred I had no difficulty at all remembering who, why, what, when and where everything fit. Like I say, for a while there I wondered if I was going to really grasp the central thread but the author does manage to pull it all together. If you take my advice, the Figs and Flowers is the main storyline, the others are chapters that will play a part but don’t let them hamper your enjoyment, their purposes will all be revealed as the story progresses. My other criticism is just a small niggle concerning one particular fight sequence – and again this feeds into the whole action packed theme that’s going on here – this fight scene was so long that I felt like I needed a time out. It just felt a bit much and became a little repetitive.
On the whole though, a very enjoyable, (certainly) fast paced and action packed read. Never a dull moment with plenty of revelations that, whilst some of them you might have guessed along the way, I still think there are a few surprises tucked away here for everyone.
Ho ho ho! To the bottle I go…
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:
30th December – Ho ho ho! To the bottle I go… – a cover with drink
This week my choice is:
Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzie. Not a fantasy book this week but this book was just too perfect for the theme. I haven’t read the book unfortunately but it’s actually one that I want to read eventually for my Classics challenge. Here are the covers:
my winner:
How could I resist!
Which is your favourite??
Roseblood by A G Howard
Roseblood is a story that breathes new life into the gothic tale of the Phantom of the Opera. This isn’t a re-imagining as such, more a new tale with a different spin on things that resurrects the Phantom and shines on him an altogether new light. I wouldn’t say that I loved this quite as much as I hoped but it did hold my attention and I must concede that I went into this with impossibly high expectations!
The story revolves around the main character of Rune Germain. At the start of the story Rune is being enrolled at a private arts school, run out of an old Opera House in France. As we accompany Rune and her mother on the drive to her new school we pretty quickly discover that things are far from rosy in Rune’s life. Rune is both gifted and afflicted with an amazing operatic ability. Her singing is practically hypnotic and could charm the birds from the trees, however, her need to sing controls her and not only does singing leave her mentally and physically drained of energy but she is unable to stop herself from bursting into song, usually at the most unwanted and inappropriate times. On top of this, Rune’s past is also a little bit dramatic. She’s still grieving over the death of her father, her grandmother tried to drown her and is now imprisoned and her former boyfriend lies in a coma and nobody seems any the wiser as to how he came to be in that condition. Rune really does need a fresh start and maybe a school that showcases her talent could be the very thing. On the other hand, a school with deep connections to the Phantom and a highly competitive environment of students all aiming to be the best, where Rune’s spontaneous singing could be taken the wrong way, might not be quite as good an idea as it might originally appear. On top of that, a mysterious character who seems to be able to appear and disappear unseen by any others seems to be stalking Rune and taking an interest in her musical ability.
So, to my ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’.
I think the author has come up with a very creative story in respect of the Phantom lending him a supernatural aspect that really does work well and that element of the story coupled with the creepy opera setting with its overgrown gardens and subterranean rivers really were well done I thought. However, to be contrary, this is also one of the aspects that gave me niggles – I wanted more. More gothic. More Phantom. More fear of what was really happening in the hidden depths and secret passages. I admit that the Phantom was well written in that I veered from thinking of him as a monster in one moment to actually having sympathy for him in the next but what I also wanted was to feel his sorrow and his madness and this didn’t come across well for me. Thorn, on the other hand I thought was really quite well done. Thorn is a new addition to the story, he thinks of the Phantom as his father and undertakes his bidding, however, he starts to feel conflicted about his actions as his feelings for Rune begin to develop. Thorn has a good backstory that made intriguing reading. I could understand why he felt so tormented between his wish to please his father and his desire to protect Rune and he makes a suitably handsome yet brooding male. He definitely has something of a ‘presence’ and in fact I think he could have usefully taken over a little more page time with no problem whatsoever.
In terms of Rune and the friends she meets at school. Well, I liked the group of friends that Rune makes but I didn’t feel I spent enough time with them to really like them which made it difficult to care about some of Rune’s actions and the impact it had on them all. Rune. Well, I didn’t dislike her but conversely I didn’t love her either. I liked that she showed some strength of character, not to mention stubbornness, refusing to be cowed or scared but I was left feeling overall that she was lacking a little something and I didn’t totally buy into her feelings for Thorn.
As I said above, I think the concept here is very imaginative. The writing is easy to get along with although maybe a bit sugary in parts, and definitely overflowing with clichés. I like clichés though – I confess it! Boarding schools. Brooding love affairs. Teenagers who turn out to be the absolute ‘best ever’ at whatever particular talent or magic they’ve just discovered they have. I can live with these sort of clichés. I think though, that in spite of some very creative thinking going on in Roseblood there is also an overabundance of ideas and some of it does make you do a double take. I don’t want to give away spoilers so it’s difficult to elaborate but there was just so much to take in that the plot ended up feeling a little cluttered. Secret clubs, hidden passages, soul mates, familiars, Halloween parties, deadly traps and although a number of these ideas did help to explain certain elements of the story I think it might have been better if the story had been stripped down a little and got back to the main principles. As it is there were certain points where rather than simply enjoying the story I was instead left puzzled about how all these elements would eventually come together, if at all.
On the whole, I enjoyed Roseblood. I think it maybe loses an opportunity to be a much darker and gothic feeling read but I imagine that the character Thorn and the romance between him and Rune will definitely appeal to a wider (and maybe) younger audience.
Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey, readalong week No.4
27 December 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Kiss, readalong week 4
Today is the fourth week of our readalong of Naamah’s Kiss. Feel free to join in (the schedule is below) or to jump in with the comments. This week the questions are being hosted by Allie at Tethyan Books. Please be aware that spoilers may be lurking below for this and future books in the series so please be careful.1) The Circle of Shalomon still moves forward, despite the spirits’ tricks and the drain on Moirin. Do you think there is any deeper intent behind the gift Moirin receives, and the kindness of the spirits to her? Do you have any thoughts on how the gift might be involved with her destiny?
I don’t really know what to make of the Circle or the gift that Moirin received. I think the Circle are dabbling in things that they know very little about, I think they are putting themselves and Moirin in a difficult position – and possibly a life threatening one – and it occurs to me that maybe the spirits are kind to Moirin because they are interested in her for some reason of their own. They seem to be a little bit fascinated by her which gives me a bad feeling.
2) Moirin’s gift puts her in a difficult position, where wanting to help people could eventually kill her. Do you think you would be able to refuse the healing and/or the summoning if you were in Moirin’s place?
It’s a difficult question isn’t it. Do you keep helping others even though you know you’re affecting yourself so badly. I think Moirin does need to take a more balanced attitude – the fact is, if she kills herself then she will no longer be able to help anyone will she?
3) Phanuel returns! Do you have any new thoughts about him on his second visit? Later, when he is ill, do you think he would have agreed for Moirin to take such a risk (including her bargain to Raphael) to heal him
Phanuel seems such a calming influence – in fact I think that Moirin clearly takes after him in that respect. I actually don’t think he would approve of Moirin taking such a risk to heal him and even more so if he found out about her bargain with Raphael – although he won’t find out about that from Moirin now that she’s swore not to talk of it.
4) Were you surprised when Jehanne is finally the one to rescue Moirin from being bled dry? Do you trust her motivations? On the other side, what do you think about how Raphael and Thierry handled her being rescued from them?
I was surprised but I liked that Jehanne came to the rescue and these chapters revealed a different side to her and definitely made her a lot easier to like. Like I said above Moirin seems to be a calming influence – although, that being said, she’s not succeeding in keeping Raphael calm is she! As to the way Raphael and Thierry handled it – Raphael acted like a spoilt little boy, sulking and petulant. Boo hoo for him – he didn’t like it when his two little play toys decided to enjoy each other’s company – bully for him, he certainly didn’t mind when he had both of them dancing to his tune. Thierry, well, he maybe didn’t handle things as badly as Raphael but he also showed himself in a bit of an immature light with his comments about Moirin. At least he had the good grace to apologise and look after Moirin during The Longest Night.
5) Do you think Moirin is a good Queen’s Companion? What do you think of her influence on Jehanne, and has your perspective of Jehanne and the complicated love polygon changed?
I don’t really see Moirin in the role of Queen’s Companion. It feels more like a distraction, a temporary interlude, more than anything else. I can see that she’s had a good influence on the Queen and her relationship with the King.
6) We see another Longest Night! Did anything notable stick out to you this time? What did you think of the court festivities with respect to the Night Court?
I find that one of the things that I really enjoy about the Longest Night is the attention to detail about the costumes and seeing how everyone will be attired.
And here is the current list of participators:
Allie at Tethyan Books
Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow
Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Grace at Books Without Any Pictures
Susan (me) at Dab of Darkness
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers readalong final week
23 December 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers, Readalong final week
Today is the final week for our readalong of A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. This week takes in Part 3 to End and is hosted by Mogsy at The BiblioSanctum. Please be aware that spoilers will be lurking below so if you haven’t read this book yet and are intending to do so you might want to get out of here!
1. At the end of the last segment, we got to meet Laurian but this week we got to know him better in Jane’s sections and learn how he factors into these flashbacks. What do you think of his and Jane’s relationship and how has it impacted your understanding of the bond between Pepper and Blue?
Well, to be honest I kind of figured out that Laurian and Blue were one and the same character. It made sense with the strong bond that he and Pepper seemed to share. Nothing like risky business and dangerous ventures to bring two people close together. I think that Oouoh said the same thing to Pepper when he highlighted how obvious it was that the two of them were so close. Speaking of Oouoh what a great character – I wouldn’t mind having a comforting hug from Oouoh when needed.
2. In this section, we saw how Jane finally made it to the GC. Sidra, in her storyline, also makes headway in freeing herself from her programming and has developed a new kind of relationship with the kit. In a way, both of them managed to accomplish what they set out to do, but what do you think they each made of their results?
I thought the lightbulb moment for Sidra when she suddenly realises she’s missing her kit and the closeness and involvement that it allows her to share with others was really excellent. The whole ‘finding a purpose’ storyline was really clever as well I thought. Overall it was a great defining moment for Sidra and I really liked the direction it took.
Jane had a bit of a rotten time. I realised that she was suffering from malnutrition and assumed that was why she was so tired before she made her escape but, wow, she was carrying a whole lot more health problems than I realised – I felt exhausted on her behalf. I felt really sorry for her though, to have gone through so much, to have escaped, to have made it in a shape being held together with sticky back plastic and string and then to have Owl taken away from her – that was harsh.
3. When the seeds of Sidra’s plan started to form, what were your thoughts? Did you have any concerns about what she might do and how things might end?
I think my concerns for Sidra’s plan were threefold: firstly, concerning Tak and whether she could pull it off with her emotions running riot and giving her away. I did have a momentary concern when something seemed to be happening to Sidra’s programming and (linked to that) I also wondered if Sidra might end up being over written completely somehow! Other than that – yeah, I wasn’t worried at all (haha not much).
4. What did you make of Sidra’s comments on the nature of “Purpose”? How well do you think her views match with the examples we’ve seen so far in the story?
I liked that Sidra finally reached this conclusion and was able to adapt her own purpose. It was sensible and spot on for all the characters when you really think about it. Jane (and all the Janes) were created with a purpose – even though it was a horrible storyline – that still remains true. When Jane became Pepper she came up with another purpose for herself that was really quite similar so was able to carry on in a way that would probably make her feel comfortable. Blue – I’m not really too sure what his original purpose was but clearly he creates art to be pleasing to others as does Tak. Owl had a very nurturing and caring role and that was consistent throughout the story. I liked the idea of this – I’m not sure that we maybe think of it in quite so simple a fashion but even so it has a certain ring of truth.
5. What did you think of the ending, and/or any closing thoughts?
Well, I was surprised, very pleasantly. I really expected something to go horribly wrong and as it was it seemed like everyone had a really good outcome – I still keep thinking I’ve missed something – I was so convinced that something nasty was going to occur.
Dec. 19th Week 3 – Chapters 27-36, Hosted by Grace
Dec. 26th Week 4 – Chapters 37-48, Hosted by Allie
Jan. 2nd Week 5 – Chapters 49-60, Hosted by Susan
Jan. 9th Week 6 – Chapters 61-74, Hosted by Lisa
Jan 16th Week 7 – Chapters 75-End, Hosted by Lynn