‘April hath put a spirit of youth in everything’
16 March 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Spring reads, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday
This week over at the Broke and Bookish the topic for Top Ten Tuesday discussion is:
Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List
This was difficult – simply in terms of keeping it to 10! Been a bit naughty because a couple of these are definitely not Spring but you know! So here goes:
- Clash of Iron by Angus Watson – April
- The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari – April
- When we were Animals by Joshua Gaylord – April
- A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson – May
- When the Heavens Fall by Marc Turner – May
- The Vagrant by Peter Newman – May
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas – May
- The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence – June
- Time Salvager by Wesley Chu – July
- Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan – July
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone, Readalong Part 2
16 March 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Max Gladstone, Readalong Part 2, Three Parts Dead
And the second week of our readalong is upon us already – time really does fly when you’re having fun!
This week’s lovely hostess is Susan from Dab of Darkness. Be sure to stop there and leave a link or check out her answers. Also, beware of spoilers below – they’ll be running amok. Plus, if you still want to jump in the schedule and other participants are here and so without further ado lets get to the Q&A. Conspiracies and intrigue have been aplenty this week and I’m keen to see what everyone makes of it all.
1)Throughout this section, we learn little tidbits about our main characters: Tara & her time at the Secret Universities, Kevarian and her past works, Abelard & his childhood. What fascinated you the most?
I think all the little snippets of information were interesting to read about and some very enlightening. I mentioned that I was keen to know more about the Craft and whether its a magic that anyone can wield so I really enjoyed learning that it seems to be something that presents itself fairly early on in life and the school then seems to take an interest in these children that are gifted. Sticking to Tara for the moment it was good to find a little bit more about her expulsion from school. I admit I felt a wee bit guilty as I’d automatically jumped to the conclusion that she’s done something to provoke the situation when in actual fact she was simply standing up to the Professor who was abusing his students and taking terrible advantage of them. Also interesting to pick up that maybe that same Professor has perhaps had a relationship with Kevarian?? Did it feel to anyone else that Kevarian was a little bit scared of the Prof maybe??
2) So many conspiracies! Someone tried to burn out some of Raz’s memories, there were super secret contracts between the dead Cabot and Kos and some unknown third party, and Abelard found a hidden altar in the heart of Kos’s church! Do you think they are connected?
There is a lot going on here. The history between the Stonemen and Justice and the obvious animosity between the two. It seems to me that the Stonemen have been set up to be the fall guys by someone. They’ve not been in the city for years and when they’re called back it’s to find themselves at the scene of an ugly crime. Personally, I can’t help thinking that the Professor is the main instigator. My main reasons are that he was the person who set up Justice, thereby banishing the Stonemen – so he certainly won’t have any qualms about pinning the dastardly deed on them. He also seems to be up to no good with his students and leaching their power. I’m not sure why I think he’s the lynchpin – maybe he’s trying to see the destruction of all the Gods, maybe he manages to steal some of their power somehow. There was also this strange contract between Kos and Cabot. Again, if Kos had to ‘pay out’ on that contract (whatever it was) but never got his ‘pay back’ then perhaps somebody else gained in power – okay, I’m useless. Still think it was the Prof though.
3) This question is just for fun & came about from discussion over at Violin in a Void last week. Abelard is a chain smoker and his worship of Kos keeps him safe from any ill effects of said smoking. If there were multiple deities who could protect you from ill effects of different vices (alcohol, illicit drugs, gluttony, etc.), which vice, if any, would you pick?
The vice of sitting around endlessly, reading and chatting to people about books, perhaps taking the odd glass of wine in the evening and generally being useless and lazy in every respect. Sloth!
4) Stonemen! Will Tara be able to win over Shale and gain his assistance? Will Justice’s Black Suits face off against them, potentially destroying the city? Discuss!
I feel sorry for the Stonemen after reading about their downfall. They’re casualties of circumstances outside their control and they’ve been hated on for a while now. If I was Shale I’d be pretty damned vexed with Tara about now! I mean, she took his face off for goodness sake. That’s got to be a bit disorientating. I think she’ll manage to bring him around though – after all the Stonemen need allies who believe they’re not the baddies right about now. You can’t help feeling that the Stonemen and Justice could work so well together if they could just overcome their differences.
5) The Courthouse of Crafts is a strange place. Feel free to comment on it. Ms. Kevarian tells Tara, last minute, that she will be the one to face Donovo. Calculated way to boost Tara’s confidence? Or a cruel way to test her?
I loved the Courthouse. It felt like something out of Harry Potter where nothing is ever as it first seems. Rooms seem to change, staircases rotate, doors appear, etc.
Personally I don’t think Kevaria was being cruel. I do think it was a test because at the end of the day Tara is in something of a sink or swim situation at the moment and throwing her in at the deep end could be just what she needs to get the creative ideas flowing. Some people just work better under stress so I suppose it will help to show whether Tara can rise to the occasion or not.
And what a cliffhanger – I’m relieved to get back to it now I’ve made all my ridiculous answers.
A bookish break
This weekend I’ve been out and about with the lovely hubby. We went to visit Hay on Wye in Wales. Known as the town of books and a general must visit place for all bibliophiles it hosts a yearly Festival which people travel all over to visit, details here.
We weren’t going for the festival but just a general visit to check out the town and more importantly the upward of 20 bookshops that reside in this beautiful village.
I bought a few books:
- Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
- The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit
- Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie
- London’s Hidden Walks by Stephen Millar – we’re visiting London shortly and this looks like a great way to explore. Thirteen planned walks with all sorts of random odds and sods of information that you would likely miss otherwise. I’ve already had a good look through this and it has the feel of a guided tour. I don’t think we’ll manage all 13 walks but we’ll choose a few of these and definitely give them a try.
So, HoW was great with lots of books for me to obsess over plus cafes, antiques, art and other lovely things that you would expect. On the way out we spotted an old castle and we then paid a flying visit to Ludlow. We even saw a dragon – although it was a wooden carving and I’m afraid my picture didn’t work out!
Art it Up: Dreamer’s Pool
Art it Up. This is a meme hosted by Tabitha over at Not Yet Read. The idea being to see if you can come up with some 
inspiration for a little sketch or doodle from your last week’s reading or just anything else in general. My recent reading includes the first part of Max Gladstone’s Three Parts Dead (as part of a readalong), His Own Good Sword, by Amanda McCrina Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell and Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier. Straightforward rough sketch this week.
Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier
Look, far be it from me to tell you to read a book – but just read this book, pretty please. I’m not going to beg – okay, I will, please, please, please read this book. That should probably give a slight hint as to my feelings for this story. It was great, it was enchanting, it put a spell on me which I couldn’t break until I’d completely finished reading – literally in virtually one day!
In a nutshell (a little acorn maybe) the story is about a woman, wrongfully imprisoned who accepts help from the most unexpected source. Blackthorn, as she will become known, is a wise woman and healer. She has been incarcerated in a miserable, filthy prison for too long, the only thing sustaining her the dreams she has of bringing down revenge on the head of the man who destroyed her life.
The story gets off to an immediate start as Blackthorn finds out that she is to be murdered rather than given the opportunity to air her tale. At the same time, she receives a visitor, Conmael, a member of the fae who has an unusual proposition in which Blackthorn will give up her desire for revenge, will live a life of good far away from this place and provide help to all those who ask. In return he will save her life and see to her escape. And so a pact is made, of course, a pact with a member of the fae is not to be taken lightly. The terms between Conmael and Blackthorn will remain intact for seven years. If the terms are breached, a year will be added for every time the pact is broken.
And so Blackthorn escapes into the night. Followed closely by a giant of a man, and former prisoner called Grim. The two will find themselves travelling to the land of Dalriada where their services will soon become in great demand.
To be honest I don’t really want to go into the plot. It’s just a magical explosion of gripping story told almost like an adult fairytale. The writing is simply gorgeous and evocative.
The story is narrated in three different voices, Blackthorn, Grim and Prince Oran. Crown Prince Oran of Dalraida has finally chosen a bride and although this is an arranged marriage the two have exchanged letters and seem to be perfectly well matched. Most believe that Prince Oran is too sensitive, he cares about nature, he’s respectful to people regardless of station or sex and he enjoys reading and poetry. And yet, in spite of the doubts of some, his little neck of the woods seems to run smoothly, his people wish to work for him and work hard to please and the villages within his remit are pleasant places to live. And then there’s Dreamer’s Wood. One of the old places, on the edges of the realm, it has a mystical feel and walking under the dark canopy usually produces a feeling of being watched. Nobody really enters the forest. The ‘others’ are believed to dwell there and none will brave the unspoken menace.
Why did I love this so much. It’s difficult to pin down. I wouldn’t say I had any difficulty in second guessing certain elements of the plot and I’m sure that others would no doubt do the same. But, there are a number of different strands to the tale and more than the actual main story, which seems to have turned into a mystery that Blackthorn and Grim will become involved in trying to solve on the Prince’s behalf, there are little jaunts into side stories not to mention a number of occasions where we look back at Blackthorn’s past. I also really enjoyed the three main characters and alternating the chapters between them gave the story an added pace and a more rounded feel.
Blackthorn is a great character, twisted with anger and yet the chances she has been given have already started to have a positive effect. We have Oran, the thinker – and in fact forward thinker given the way most nobles behave. And Grim. I loved this character. He’s a great hulk of a man with a quick temper that once roused is usually followed by a blinding flash of temper resulting in the use of fists – and yet he’s afraid of the dark and has developed a strong devotion to Blackthorn. Both of these characters are badly broken and yet in coming together they are forming a strange bond that is helping them to heal.
On top of this we have a setting straight out of a storytime read. Castles, damsels in distress. Wicked nobles and scheming fae. What’s not to love!
I really loved this book. I can’t give it enough feels. If you enjoy a story with beautiful writing, strong and intriguing characters, a fairytale setting and magical creatures then I think you will also enjoy this book. Juliet Marillier definitely goes on my authors to be watched and auto bought (yep, I’ve got my beady eye on JM!) And, given the way this book develops I’m expecting more instalments – at least six maybe???
What are you waiting for. Get out of here and pick up a copy.
Other reviews:
And, if all that doesn’t convince you then I just despair. I do. I’ll just go dive into Dreamer’s Pool!!!!
