It’s tough up North..
10 July 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Grim Company, Prince of Fools, The Fantasy Review Barn, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Seven Forges, The Wee Free Men, Tough Travelling
Every Thursday Nathan at The Fantasy Review Barn takes us travelling through the tropes of fantasy. I love this although I have to admit that the newest books are the ones that usually spring most readily to mind and LoTR seems to be making my list virtually every week! Without further ado this week we’re looking at:
‘NORTHERN BARBARIANS’
1. Brodar Kayne from Luke Scull’s Grim Company. Tough as old boots. Used to be ‘The Sword of the North’ but now seems to be on the run from his former master, accompanied by his trusty psycho friend The Wolf. He’s no longer a spring chicken but he can kick ass! An entertaining pair!
2. The Sa’ba Taalor from the Seven Forges by James A Moore- a race of people, largely forgotten who live amongst the huge mountain ranges of the north – The Seven Forges. The Empire of Fellein, always in search of more places to plant a flag or collect goodies send an expedition over the blasted lands of the North and this expedition returns with more than they ever anticipated. I’m not sure that I would call these Barbarians although I’m sure that the Empire thought little more of them than that until they had a rather rude awakening!
3. Yeine Darr from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N K Jemisin. Yeine’s mother was once heir to the Amareri throne until she eloped with a man considered to be far below her status and was disinherited. At the start of the story Yeine’s mother has died and Yeine is called back to the city in the Sky. Against all odds, and not least because being half Darre she is considered a barbarian, she is named heir along with two others – and thus starts a political struggle with all kinds of deception and maneouvering.
4. Sven Broke Oar – from Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Fools. – a particularly nasty character. Ruler of the Hardassa Clan. His Black Fort really is based far up in the icy North.
5. The Nac Mac Feegles from Terry Pratchett’s Wee Free Men – I had to. They’re rum little buggers with fiery tempers and unquenchable thirsts (for anything even remotely alcoholic). Do not get on their wrong side.
‘OK, lads, this is what we’ll do. As soon as we see somethin’, we’ll attack it. Right?’
This caused a cheer.
‘Ach, ‘tis a good plan,’ said Daft Wullie
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Woah, just finished reading Annihilation and, seeing as how I’m having a week of confessions I’ll continue in the same vein. What the hell just really happened! Yes, I own up that I’m a little bit puzzled – but, this isn’t in a bad way and frankly it’s clearly the intention of the author to leave a lot of things unspoken – whether that’s for this particular book or for future instalments – who knows. What I do know is that this is a dark, creepy, spooky, threatening and intensely psychological read. Strangely compelling and a bit surreal.
At the start of the story four women cross over the boundary into Area X. We learn very little about what the actual boundary ‘constitutes’ or Area X for that matter – is it some strange experiment zone that has gone horribly wrong, is it a different realm somehow? It’s all a bit vague and to be honest more creepy because of the lack of explanation. All we know is that four women have set up camp with the objective of taking back samples and observations – and more expressly being told not to be contaminated. This isn’t the first expedition and I dare say it won’t be the last but as the story goes forward we learn that not only are there unknown quantities to be found in Area X but also amongst these latest visitors. There are secrets that will be revealed not to mention that the authorities who organised this little foray into the unknown may have been a little less than honest with what they already know. Secrets and lies all around, on top of which I wouldn’t say the four members of this particular crew are chummy! There feels like an animosity between them – a little bit more of the why eventually being revealed.
This is only a short story and it gets off to a fairly immediate start. The narrative is related through one of the expedition members – the biologist – and the story stops here and there to give a bit more background about her. We don’t find out names – which all adds to the creepy feel – you almost feel like you can’t become attached and there’s a terrible sense of foreboding that something horrible is going to happen to each one of them. Then the author throws in background and past experiences from the biologist which makes you latch onto her with a profound sense of relief. It’s like the author has somehow made you flounder around and then thrown a lifeline. And, so you follow the story of the biologist, jumping back and forward on occasion as she casts her mind back in some form or revelation or self recrimination – and yet, rather than diluting the suspense of the novel this only serves to increase it.
I can’t really give a lot more away to be honest because it would be so easy to be all spoilery! This is a scary little number, I’d class it as horror although a true horror reader may think that it’s light on that aspect. I’m also not going to deny that it probably wouldn’t be for everyone. Not because it’s particularly horrific but more a rating of ‘hide behind a cushion’. It’s the whole creepiness of Area X really. Anything seems to go here – it’s like a Nightmare on Event Horizon. In fact it’s nothing like that – it’s just messed up! I will certainly be reading the next in the series. Yes, it’s not the kind of book that you come away saying ‘I enjoyed that’ – that statement would just be wrong! It scared me a little bit, in fact I was near the ending but didn’t finish as I was up alone so saved the remainder until the light of day! It intrigued me a lot! And, it gripped me. It was surreal in parts and I’m not really sure what is going on in this zone – I certainly hope it doesn’t spread any further and let’s say it’s safe to say I won’t be volunteering for a trip any time soon!
Confessions of a book blogger…
8 July 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Blogging Confessions, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. The theme this week is : ‘Top Ten Blogging Confessions’ 
- I’m a bit ruthless with my books. I don’t loving look after them – they are literally stacked about the place. Plus – I confess to cracking the spines! Sorry, that sounds so harsh but I hate it when a book can barely be opened!
- I buy far too many books to realistically read – unless my house becomes marooned and I stop collecting titles I will never catch up!
- I’m not a completist – if I don’t like a book I won’t carry on reading it. I need to work on this – particularly review copies.
- Book covers are my thing – I admit that certain covers would definitely put me off picking up a book. This is bad too.
- I read 50 Shades of Grey!! I won’t say I liked it (because I didn’t – but I buckled under pressure). Is there no end to my bad book reading.
- If somebody is reading a book – I will try any method possible to find out what they’re reading – shameless rubber necking for example.
- My organisation is terrible! I’m a shambles. I frequently find that I have the same book more than once. Or I order books from the library and they all come in together.
- My classical book reading has gone down hill badly – I do have a challenge to read 50 in 5 years and I really need to work harder at it.
- I also need to work on my review book ratio – no more requesting until I’ve improved it dramatically!
- The first step to recovery is admittance – Okay, I have a problem, I’m a book addict!
The Martian by Andy Weir
I’ve just finished reading the Martian. Firstly, wow – what an ending! I was gripped, I could cry right now and I’m exhausted having read the full thing in virtually one day and holding my breath for long bouts when the tension cranked up – I think I’m oxygen starved!
I don’t think I’m giving away much when I say the Martian is about an astronaut (Mark Watney) who gets left behind on Mars! In a nutshell, when the crew are making ready to depart an accident occurs that leaves one of them injured, believed dead and out of sight. The crew, believing there is no hope, and also facing a high storm, reluctantly leave without the body! When Mark wakes up he’s on his own, injured and without any real hope of survival or rescue! But, this is a resourceful guy! Planet earth may be blue but there’s plenty Mark can do. If this was me, well, apart from the fact I wouldn’t be on such a mission in the first place, I would probably curl up in a ball, Mark, however, is a real fighter and so our story begins.
First things first, basics. Food, water oxygen, then communication, then rescue! These are the problems Mark has to solve and let’s just say he’s a creative thinker! Sci fi fans will love the creativity and ingenious thinking. I won’t deny that there’s lots of number crunching, equations, ratios – you name it, anything that my brain usually struggles with is thrown in here – and yet it’s done in a way that doesn’t leave you mind boggled. On top of that Mark’s sense of humour in the face of such dire circumstances is positively heart warming. He’s a botanist – fear his botany powers! The whole growing crops aboard his little station is so inventive – not to mention his creativity about fertilisation, ahem. Put bluntly, it’s one of those books where you alternate between thinking he’s going to die to breathing a sigh of relief, to thinking he’s going to die, to breathing – yeah, you get it! Then, just in the nick of time, because that could become tedious – we have the inclusion of the people on earth, what’s going on at NASA the public frenzy generated by the media trying to discover what exactly is going on when they realise Mark is still alive! I enjoyed those elements and thought they brought something extra to the story. It’s difficult after all for one man to completely carry the story.
The story is told by Mark as he records his actions on a log and treats us to his life and death escapades with a little humour thrown in between as he comments on his only form of entertainment – 1970s tv and disco music.
In terms of criticisms… well, the sci fi problems and solutions could prove a bit much for some people. Personally I enjoyed the creativity involved but I admit that the inclusion of ‘the earth rescue’ section came at just the right time and stopped the book from becoming too set in a pattern. Also, I wouldn’t say that the characters are deeply explored – this is more a book about survival and the human will to live at all costs – it’s not a deeply emotional or reflective book so if you’re looking for that element you may be disappointed. This is more a one man action/survival story with a gripping ‘will he/won’t he’ conclusion.
Personally I was pretty much glued to the page – not like I’d glued my hand there with resin or anything (you need to read the book for that reference) – in fact, towards the end, it feels like everyone on planet earth is watching Mark’s progress, gripped with tension and holding their breath and I literally felt like I was one of them!
I received a copy from Netgalley – many thanks to the publisher. The above is my own opinion.
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Just finished reading Half a King by Joe Abercrombie which I really enjoyed. I confess that I haven’t read Mr Abercrombie’s previous books although that’s not for the want of owning them so I can’t compare his YA to his other works. What I can say is that I was riveted to the pages of this story. The tale itself is just a really intriguing read and the storytelling voice quite mesmerising.
The story begins with Yarvi. Yarvi is a Prince but only half a man in the eyes of most of his kingdom. Born with a deformed hand, unable to wield a sword and shield at the same time his worth as a warrior of the kingdom is greatly diminished. At the start of the story Yarvi is perfectly happy. Little does he realise just how obliviously happy he is. Apprentice to the King’s Minister – a role usually held by women – he awaits his final test before throwing off the mantle of prince and becoming a successor to the current advisor to the King. Jarvi is the second son and therefore was never intended for the throne but a cruel twist of fate will bring him a crown, a throne, a betrothed and an army bent of vengeance sailing head first to the start of his troubles – or adventures into manhood.
One thing I will start out by saying is that Joe Abercrombie doesn’t beat about the bush. There’s no going around the houses with this guy he just literally plows right in with both boots and gets the action off to an immediate start. Within a chapter you have the gist of how it’s going to be, a few chapters later and the course of the young Prince’s future has been turned on it’s head.
This really is an excellent story. The characters are interesting and pop out of the book before your very eyes. You will care about them and develop likes and dislikes. On top of this we have war, treachery, slavery, life out on the rough seas – and plenty more. It really is a thoroughly entertaining book!
I went to an event of Joe Abercrombies recently at which he made very clear that his main focus lies in characterisation and he isn’t kidding. I love character led stories and so I confess that basically Mr Abercrombie had me at ‘hello’ and to be honest he was sincere. The characters are interesting, the vocabulary is sharp and friendships are formed where you least expect.
The thing with Yarvi – he’s his own worst critic really which is no surprise when you consider how constantly he’s been put down by others. Mocked and laughed at Yarvi does have a sharp intellect. What he lacks in braun he certainly makes up for with his wit and mental abilities and he puts these to use very effectively constantly. On top of this his training kicks in quite often. Yes, he’s not your typical hero – he’s not going to rush into the fray wielding his sword and felling enemies in one swoop. He takes the course of action open to him and whilst that doesn’t always feel like the best course of action in terms of others he at least has the honesty to sometimes feel regret. Basically put, Yarvi uses the gifts he’s been given in life.
This is to a certain extent a coming of age story and also, although being nothing like the actual story or style of writing, has a Tolkien feel in terms of the friendship/fellowship that is formed. I don’t doubt that this is different than JA’s more adult novels – specifically in terms of the ‘f’ bomb and the level of graphic violence, however, let me be perfectly plain, whilst this is YA – the emphasis is undoubtedly on the ‘A’ in YA and if we get back to comparisons – plenty of adults have read Tolkien and yet those books aren’t graphic, etc.
The other winning point for this book is that it is a self contained novel. I love that. I’ve finished it and it feels complete. Now, iroinically that’s probably more a bonus for those who don’t like this as much as I do – there’s nothing more grating than feeling like you have to continue with a series simply because you’re completist or want closure and cliff hanger endings do have a certain feeling of torture or even strong arming! Now, personally, I do want more from this series – that is without doubt. But, I still love that it doesn’t end on one of those horrible notes of suspense.
Well done indeed. Will absolutely without doubt read more in this series.
Which cover? (I thought I liked the black best but I’m no longer sure – the white and blue is very effective and has more of a feel for the story.) Thoughts??
Books and travelling with Lynn 