Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. Read along conclusion
This week is the conclusion of our readalong. I’m away at the moment so this post won’t have links and pictures. This week our host is the lovely Lisa. Beware of spoilers. Q&A below.
1. Isidore d’Aiglemort comes back into play for the battle against the Skaldi, and Phedre takes a huge risk to turn him from an enemy back into an ally – to a point, at least. And d’Aiglemort’s one demand is to have Waldemar Selig left to himself on the battlefield… What were your thoughts on Terre d’Ange’s unlikely hero, when all the dust settled?
Well. He’s a difficult one. In one respect he was a back stabbing traitor but on the other hand I couldn’t help cheering him on when he fought Selig. I have to say that in that respect he did redeem himself in my eyes although I confess that i wasn’t surprised that he met his end. And it would have been impossible to totally trust him again so he kind of went out on a high note.
2. After the war, we get a wedding! Ysandre and Drustan survive to unite their people after all. Did you think they’d both get this far, and do you have any thoughts on how this union (political, romantic, or both) might turn out?
I did think they would get this far and I was kind of pleased for them both because apart from all the politics of court they seem to have the makings of a lovely romance in the making.
3. Melisande is finally discovered, and brought before the Queen to be punished for her treason. Though, of course it’s not as simple as that with her… Were you surprised at all when she escaped? And do you have any ideas about who might have aided her?
In a way I’m not surprised that she escaped. It was a bit easy though and I would have liked a bit more detail. But she makes a good baddie and so it’s no surprise that Carey wants to keep her in the picture.
4. Ysandre and Drustan aren’t the only ones to get their happy ending – well, up to a point, anyway. Phedre and Joscelin try on the quiet country life, and it goes well for a while… Once again Phedre is unable to forget, or be forgotten by, Melisande – wherever she is. Do you think Phedre will return to her old life, as we leave her contemplating? If so, is her choice the right one?
Again. I would have liked a bit more detail here. The happy ending with Joscelin felt a little lacking somehow. But that being said perhaps if we’d had too much of a happy ever after then it would be difficult to believe that Phedre would want to return to her espionage. As it is this is a perfect set up for book 2.
Extras. That scene where Selig captures Phedre and tortures her. Eugh! Part of me just thought ‘how could you’. It was interesting that there was no tender feelings or remembrances.
Sorry about the brevity and any typos.
We’re all considering reading book 2 so if you want to jump aboard then watch this space or leave me a comment and we will add you to the list.
A short adjourn
I’m away for a few days. Hopefully there will be plenty of this:
this…
and this…
I might not have wifi so there might not be much of this…
Have fun and see you all soon 😀
Time Salvager by Wesley Chu
Just finished reading Time Salvager by Wesley Chu which kicks off what promises to be a very good series.
Set in a future where time travel has become possible you would imagine the world would be a bright and shiny place, high tech and advanced. You’d be mainly wrong of course. The planet earth has become little short of a wasteland, so toxic and covered with sludge that most people have abandoned it and sought out life elsewhere in the solar system.
Time travel is a dangerous job, jumping back in time is not exactly conducive to good health and added to that is the psychological impact. There are a whole bunch of rules for jumping back in time which I’m not going to go into! You’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that Chu has managed to write this in a very accessible and clever way. I’m not going to say that you couldn’t pick holes in it if you really wanted to because I have no idea if you can or not – I simply didn’t try. I just read it and accepted the whole ethos behind Chu’s set up. Maybe I’m just easily pleased but I decided to pay more attention to the story than the whole mechanics of it. After all the area of time travel can easily become fraught with ‘what ifs’ so I figured if I’m going to suspend my disbelief enough in the first place to read a story about jumping back and forth through time then I might just as well go the whole hog and believe the how’s and why’s that the author gives me. Simples.
Our main protagonist James is a Chronman (a time jumper). He’s a bit jaded to say the least which isn’t really a surprise when you spend most of your time travelling back to times when massive disasters are taking place and people are dying around you while you just pop in and out and take whatever it is you’ve been sent to retrieve. It weighs on a person’s mind. The most important rule is nobody from the past gets brought back. Nobody has ever broken that rule until James, bogged down by his own ghosts, takes sympathy on a scientist called Elise who has caught his attention whilst on his latest mission and in a moment of weakness he takes her with him. Of course, this isn’t something that can be hidden and the authorities who govern time travel are immediately onto him. Now fugitives, James and Elise have to evade capture and try to stay under the radar and this is where they discover not only new allies but also the potential for a cure and possible hope for a brighter future?
I thought this was a really good read to be honest. It has a very dark feel to it which isn’t really surprising. James is a jaded character haunted by the ghosts of all those people he’s had to watch die before his eyes. The world really holds no appeal for him and he longs for a time when he can just get out from this job. On top of that the world in which he lives is also miserable and seedy and the other inhabitants suitably repressed. Yes, there is a whole feel of doom and gloom but it’s fitting for this part of the story. Chu manages to make you feel the lethargy and you almost become annoyed reading at the way people have simply lost hope and no longer seem to have an inner spark. Then, we have Elise, who unexpectedly becomes part of James world. Being from a different era she manages to bring with her a little ray of sunshine and hope into this world. She simply hasn’t given up yet and she still cares enough about the world and the people on it to try and make a difference.
The Characters. Well, in spite of James hardboiled and prickly exterior I quite liked him as a character and found the interaction between himself and Elise interesting. I think watching his development is going to be very intriguing. Chu has a way of writing characters and relationships that give them time to become meaningful. He doesn’t rush them but allows them to grow and adapt so that you actually feel yourself starting to care about them. Now enter the scene Levin. Levin is an auditor and he’s been given the task to find James. I kind of felt sorry for Levin to be honest. He’s one of those characters that really needs to get a life! He’s just so bogged down by rules and playing everything by the book that he’s become almost inhuman. His adherence to the rule book and failure to see things other than black and white means he basically spends a very lonely existence as people simply don’t like him. Again, i think it will be interesting to see how he adapts. My favourite character so far though has to be Grace. I just couldn’t help liking her. She’s like this 93 year old ‘mother of time’ sassy, argumentative character. She definitely brought a little something more to the story and much like Elise hasn’t been bogged down by the present world’s dire predicament.
The setting is very well done. We have the grime and filth of the city where people shuffle around aimlessly trying to eek out a living. From there we move out to the ‘wilds’ as James and Elise try to evade capture. The landscape then becomes quite a contrast and is vividly imagined. We actually come across areas that don’t seem to have completely fallen into despair yet and groups of people who are still willing to commit to each other.
On the whole I thought this was a really good read and I’m looking forward to seeing where Chu goes next. And after reading the Tao stories I think that what we can expect from this author is the unexpected.
I received a copy of this from the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
‘Do you copy? Shut down all the garbage smashers on the detention level!’
9 July 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, Otherworldly Creatures, Tough Travelling
Being smashed by the garbage smasher is only one of the worries…
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn we are once again tough travelling with Nathan. Our topic this week is:
Otherworldly Creatures (Tentacles preferred)
Just for Tiara, this topic explains itself. Creatures not of our world or even our plain of existence, perhaps living in another dimension. Preferably, though not required, with tentacles. Or really anything with tentacles can be considered weird enough to be otherworldly.
American Elsewhere by Robert J Bennett – here be tentacles. In the quiet town of Wink time almost seems to stand still. The residents seem to live an idyllic life with perfectly manicured lawns and lifestyles – it’s so perfect it’s positively Stepford(ish). Except maybe everything isn’t as rosy as it seems. You’ll never find this place on a map. On top of that it seems that strange creatures have come to stay in wink. How did they get here. What exactly are they. They take strange shapes – there will 
be horror – and tentacles!
City of Stairs by Robert J Bennett – the monster that isn’t really a monster – the one that Shara unwittingly releases into the world and the very same monster that Sigrud gets buck naked to tackle. Yes, there were tentacles – and lots of teeth.
Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore – the clue for this one is in the title of course! The Serpent of Venice is a strange mash up of Shakespeare and Poe in which a strange creature lurks in the canals of Venice. I couldn’t possibly say more!
Resistance is Futile by Jenny Colgan – in which a bunch of nerdy mathematicians try to work out if there is a meaning in a long sequence of numbers that has been transmitted to earth. Involves aliens – which are definitely otherworldly.
Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson – this may seem like a strange choice – there are definitely no tentacles but there is a strange and sinister demi goddess otherwise known as the ‘Keeper of Secrets’ who lives in another dimension.
‘Do not disturb the water…’
The Watcher in the water from LotR – it has tentacles!!
Armada by Ernest Cline
Just finished reading Armada by Ernest Cline. I confess that I’ve been waiting for this book for ages! (Or at least it feels that way – you know how it is when you’re really anticipating something so badly). I really enjoyed Ready Player One, in fact it was a big surprise for me because it really didn’t hold any appeal and I resisted reading it in spite of all the love going round – so I did wonder how Armada would stand up. Well, this is without doubt a fun read that will appeal to many readers. I’m going to be frank and say it didn’t give me quite the same buzz as the first book but even so I enjoyed the ride and found it very entertaining.
The story starts with Zack – a young man, on the brink of finishing his education and with his full life ahead of him – even if he is undecided about what he wants to do with it. Zack is definitely a dreamer, however, when he finds himself watching a flying saucer darting back and forth through the sky outside his classroom window he definitely snaps awake. Is he the only one to notice? And, what?? Is this space ship actually straight out of one of one of the games he plays every night? Kind of freaky! Either there’s a space ship whizzing through the earth’s atmosphere or Zack is losing the plot! It certainly makes for a compelling start to the story.
I’m going to give a very quick synopsis, and I don’t think this will be spoilery at all! Basically the alien threat is real. It’s been real for quite some years and all those conspiracy theories – well, they’re more fact than fiction. The men in black (not really but you get the picture) are aware of the threat posed and have been preparing us for years for a possible alien invasion by use of film and other media and for years video gamers, playing on space invader type games, have actually been learning how to fight off such an invasion. Right here is the means of not only training but recruiting top simulator style pilots and Zack is in the top 10. All his dreams of becoming a hero overnight are about to be realised.
Of course, if it was that easy then this would be a pamphlet and not a novel. There are a few counter conspiracy theories going around and basically the clock is ticking. What is the real threat here – that is the big question.
What did I really enjoy about this. It’s a fairly gripping narrative for the most part (I hold my hands up – a few of the more detailed game parts lost me a little). I enjoyed the writing and the story and it basically had me at ‘hello’. There are so many references to songs, movies and games that I frankly lost track and there’s a good deal of humour injected into the story through that very means. I liked Zack (although there were a couple of occasions where I wanted to shake him just a tiny bit for being whiny) and I thought that Cline does an excellent job of taking just about every sci fi film ever and referencing it here. And, frankly, I think it’s very cleverly done. You could spend your time saying this is a rip off of film ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ – but it isn’t. It’s supposed to be a big mismash of all these films because basically the authority’s in this book were already aware of aliens, and everything that has been created since their awareness was raised has been with that in mind – so it’s kind of a chicken and egg scenario – is this a take on the films, or are the films a take on the aliens. it sort of gives a certain amount of carte blanche to the author really which I thought was pretty cool (although I’m not really explaining my thoughts very well in that respect).
What did I think pulled the story back a little – the timeframe. In one respect it’s this action packed wham bam type of affair, so great in terms of fast pacing and, in a way, I think that the book has been set up almost to read like an early video game with plenty of action and everything over before you even realised it began – and in that respect, again, it’s quite clever. But, the whole thing takes part in about two days and it feels like there is very little time for anything else. I wanted more from the characters, a bit more depth and a bit more life going on. Not boring stuff – I don’t care what Zack ate for breakfast (although, strangely enough, that particular detail was included!), but I would have appreciated a little bit more, particularly about the other characters who for the most part were a bit one dimensional. ( It’s just so very quick paced that it’s more like reading a graphic novel – without the graphics. For me, and this is probably one of only a very few times in my life that I’ve said this, but I think this could have been expanded without any detriment. The time frame could have been lengthened slightly and the characters given more personality and feels.
Criticisms aside, this is without doubt a fun read and it’s a great potential set up for a further book.
So, fun, fast paced, action focused plot with massive appeal in terms of huge doses of pop culture references.
I received a copy of this from the publishers through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Books and travelling with Lynn 