White Horse by Alex Adams
Just finished reading White Horse by Alex Adams which is a very dark and gritty look at a post apocalyptic world. I thought this was a very good read, it is without doubt a disturbing book to read as the world depicted certainly isn’t pleasant to live in but it is without doubt gripping. The story is told by Zoe and is split into two alternative sections – Then and Now. When reading about ‘then’ we see the life Zoe led and read about the events that took place before the majority of the world’s people were killed by a disease later named White Horse after one of the riders of the Apocalypse. In ‘now’ we watch Zoe as she goes on a quest to find the father of her unborn child and observe her fight to survive in a strange and brutal new world.
Basically 90% of the population has died. Of the remaining 10% – 5% are immune to the disease and the other 5% survived but changed during the process. The world we know is gone. Technology and modern comforts have disappeared but more than the disappearance of lifestyles is the general degenerative behaviour of the remaining survivors. I suppose what this book looks at is how long people will remain civilised and hold onto their own humanity in a world that has become so dangerous to live in.
I thought that the use of two timeframes was really good. It allowed us to watch Zoe’s progress as she travels the globe with a specific, unknown to us, destination in mind whilst also looking back at her former life where the arrival of a mysterious jar in her apartment spells the start of the troubles. Zoe is scared by the jar. How did it suddenly manifest itself in her home? She thinks she’s going crazy and seeks therapy. Enter Nick Rose – Zoe’s therapist and love interest. The two share an unmistakable chemistry restricted by the patient/therapist relationship they have. However, before things have a chance to progress pets start disappearing and people start dying.
The other winning element, for me personally, about the use of the ‘then’ and ‘now’ was that each had something of a mystery that kept you turning the pages trying to find out what exactly was going on. So instead of feeling frustrated with the switch in story as can sometimes happen because one story has become more gripping than the other, in this, you want to read both stories. In the ‘then’ – we have the mysterious jar and the whole story of how the disease became about. In the ‘now’ we have the inclusion of a new character called ‘Swiss’. How sinister is this person? Very. I didn’t have the first notion what was going on with this guy but he is nasty and he seems to have an unnatural interest in Zoe.
Zoe is a strong character. She has already suffered a lot but still clings to hope in order to help her keep going and as she travels she seems to gather about her other people who she feels the need to protect. I liked that about her. The fact that she can drag up energy from out of nowhere to fight against evil in order to protect not just herself but others. Also, what makes zoe likeable is that although some of her actions are unpalatable she doesn’t take any of them without a lot of thought.
This is a fairly bleak look at a possible outcome if man’s meddling with science and nature goes to far although I think it’s clearly meant to be an exaggerated look. For example, the notion of Zoe travelling from America to find this tiny island in search of the father of her child just carrying a compass and a map. Seems unbelievable, but I think that this is intended.
The novel also contains lots of references to mythology that are scattered throughout the novel and I suppose depict the almost herculean efforts of Zoe in the story. I liked all the mythical references, the first and most obvious being the similarity between Pandora and her box and the jar and the fact that Zoe doesn’t want to open it from fear of what she will release upon the world and then even throwing in references such as the likeness of one of the survivors to Medusa.
I thought this was a really good read. It’s not all wrapped up in cotton wool so be warned this isn’t a YA read but the author has a lovely writing style and I think she does an excellent job of unfolding this story in a way that quite effortlessly keeps your attention. This is a great debut novel and although I understand it is the first in a trilogy the story concludes in a very satisfying way without the use of the cliffhanger and the interminable 12 month wait to see what takes place next.
In terms of crticisms – very few, I think the writing can sometimes become a little flowery and this can maybe be a bit distracting but as I said I like the author’s writing style. Plus I think the comparisons to The Road are inevitable but with White Horse you get a little more of the events that occurred prior to the apocalypse plus you can also throw in a little x-men(ish) action along the way.
It’s a scary outlook – keep taking the tablets! Or maybe don’t!!
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Just finished reading Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff. I thought this had an intriguing premise ‘Hannah’s best friend, Lillian, starved herself to death six months ago, and Hannah’s been haunted by her ever since. But now Lilian’s ghost has an urgent task for Hannah – someone is killing girls in their suburban neighbourhood, and the victims want justice. Drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets, Hannah slowly pieces the clues together, starting with the child-like paper valentines the killer leaves on each body. But her investigations are bringing her into the Valentine Killer’s orbit. How long before he strikes again?’
Okay, firstly, I will quite openly admit that I’m not the intended target audience for this book as it’s YA but I do read quite a few young adult books and usually find them quite entertaining. That being said I only liked this one rather than loved. I didn’t dislike it particularly but it had too many niggles for me as I went along. Also, I think the write up on the jacket is a little misleading. That being said I think the author has a good writing style, I think she manages to write the whole teenager aspect very well and the idea she has come up with is interesting. It’s also a very quick and easy read, it never occurred to me to put the book down, as I wanted to know the outcome, and also I didn’t second guess the final reveal. I just think there were too many things going on and so none of them felt fully developed.
There’s the murder element to the story. A serial killer who is targeting young girls from the area and all the resulting paranoia of the neighbourhood. We have the development of a teenage romance involving Hannah and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. On top of that we have the ghost story element and then we’re also looking into some fairly serious issues such as anorexia, school bullying, social acceptance. Maybe these things could have worked together somehow but for me they never quite reached their full potential.
I didn’t really get a feeling of the sense of stress or fear that I think would be fairly evident if a serial killer was walking round the neighbourhood and it certainly didn’t make some of the people in the story act any more sensibly. The romance – well, again, not enough emotion going on there. It just suddenly appeared that Hannah and Finny liked each other, a lot, or at least we were told they did. The ghost story element wasn’t really developed – Lily just appeared to be haunting Hannah for no apparent reason. She certainly didn’t seem to have an urgent task for her and to be honest she wasn’t a great deal of help when the chips were down. Not to mention that her friends and family must have thought she was losing the plot. She was constantly looking over at something that wasn’t there and talking to herself alone in her room! On the topic of eating disorders – well, I never really understood what happened to Hannah. And, I couldn’t really understand why even in the strange situation they found themselves they at least didn’t finally discuss it. Lily was like the elephant in the room that nobody is talking about.
Criticisms aside I suppose as this is YA you have to allow some leeway in terms of content. It’s difficult to write things without going overboard and then finding your work is no longer suitable for the market you intended. Just personally I was looking for more scary, or more emotional, or more creepy.
However, not everybody want’s creepy and scary so if you’re looking for something a little less chilling but still enjoy a bit of a paranormal mystery then this could be for you.
Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason
Just finished reading Three Graves Full a debut novel by Jamie Mason with a very catchy first line ‘there is very little peace for a man with a body buried in his backyard’. I thought this was a really good first novel. The author is obviously a talented writer and I will definitely check out more of her works.
Jason Getty is a wishy washy type of guy. He lets everyone trample all over him. He doesn’t stand up for himself or at least he doesn’t usually until one night in a bout of uncharacteristic temper he murders a man and buries his body at the bottom of his garden. He then returns to his former self and lives in a state of fear of discovery and cowering guilt. That isn’t a spoiler by the way, there is an element of mystery to the story but the fact that Jason has committed murder is not part of it.
In a moment of, well, frankly, absurd stupidity, Jason calls in a landscaping crew to clear up his garden that in the last year and a half has become overgrown due to his reluctance to step out there and yes, they uncover a body. However, it’s not the body that Jason buried! And so the story really begins and Jason’s house becomes a crime scene.
I think this is described as a literary crime thriller with dark humour. I think if you read a lot of thrillers then you may not see this as such. I, on the other hand, don’t read a lot of thrillers so I found this quite satisfying. I don’t know whether I would say it’s particularly humorous – well, not in a laugh out loud kind of way. It’s more one of those stories where things keep going from bad to worse – usually predicated on bad decisions by certain characters. If you’ve ever watched any slapstick comedy – where you can’t for the life of you figure out how the individuals managed to survive in the world so long, then this is similar. Jason is an accident waiting to happen type of person. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I really liked him because frankly he was sort of irritating – after all, who the hell calls in landscapers when they have a body in their back garden? Doh at all!
Along with Jason we have a number of other characters introduced who add their POV to the story – even a dog! We go on a discovery to find out who the bodies belong to and who the murderer is and then the whole plot goes into overdrive. There’s a scene in the garden that is just OMG gross not to mention quite creepy! Followed by everyone chasing or following everyone else around the place in a desperate attempt to either flee the scene or help each other survive. (You understand that I’m not trying to give anything away here!)
On the whole this was a really good read and an impressive first novel. It kept me reading fairly late, particularly when the tempo increases dramatically in the last half/third of the book. I think the author has a good narrative style although she can go a little overboard at times which can be a bit distracting. In terms of criticisms – I didn’t really feel particularly for any of the characters – I didn’t dislike them all but I felt a bit ambivalent towards them. I think Ford was the most likeable and maybe that was because he was a more rounded package with the inclusion of his wife and dog. The other characters weren’t really fully developed and felt a little bit flat. The setting was also similarly nondescript – I couldn’t really tell you where this was based but I guess that’s not really of paramount importance to the story.
In spite of these criticisms I thought this was a good read, very quick and definitely catchy. It grabs your attention fairly early on and then has you reading with your breath held waiting to find out what the next calamity will be. Word of warning – if you’re a bit squeamish then the whole garden/exhumed body scene may be a bit icky for you.
I received a copy of this from the publisher via Net Galley in return for an honest review.
Feast of Souls by Celia S Friedman
8 February 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Celia Friedman, Feast of Souls, Magister Trilogy
Feast of Souls is the first in a dark fantasy series of books called The Master Trilogy and written by Celia S Friedman. This is my first reading of any novel written by CSF and as such I am submitting it for my Worlds Without End, Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge, Details here, which involves reading 12 new-to-me female authors.
I really enjoyed this story I must admit. I liked the author’s style of writing and whilst the story isn’t particularly hugely out of character with other fantasy stories or totally unique it was compelling and the author, for me, had a captivating style.
The story basically consists of a strong willed woman, determined against all odds to succeed where others have failed. A man, a prince, dying from a terrible wasting disease, who goes on a quest in search of answers and in between both of these we have a strange and dark force that is about to be unleashed upon the world, a mad, blood thirsty king who will go to any length to conquer and his queen – a gentle woman born of a race of people granted innate powers to protect the world in it’s greatest need.
At the start of the novel we are given a short introduction to a witch who is dying at a fairly young age. From this we learn that in order to weave magic a witch must use up her own soul’s power and in doing so she uses up this source more swiftly than the average person and thus die prematurely. The world created by Friedman contains a lot of magic, some of it borne by witches and the remainder by sorcerers or magisters as they are called here. The difference between the two is the source which fuels their magic and the lengths they are willing to go in order to become powerful or successful. I thought the whole concept here was really quite intriguing whilst being also somewhat horrible at the same time. We have the females who find themselves in control of great power but can only use this at the expense of their own life. They therefore learn to become very careful with how they expend that power and usually reserve it for curing life threatening illness. We then have the magisters who seem to have a never ending supply of power which comes at no cost to themselves therefore small wonder that they don’t mind undertaking the most uncalled for magic – such as simply altering their appearance for the sake of vanity. The magisters are proud and cold and very rarely work together but as the full extent of the evil that is about to be released is revealed that is something that is about to change. Man, witch and magister will have to work together if they are to survive.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the world building. It certainly isn’t a fast paced book so if you’re expecting dramatic battles and suchlike then you best look elsewhere. The author enjoys creating a world full of political machinations and manoeuvring by some of the inhabitants in order to gain power. There are multiple points of view used in order to gain a fuller understanding, an approach that I usually enjoy and think is difficult to accomplish and on top of that the author adopts a few different methods in order to bring us up to speed with past history, such as flashbacks and even old fashioned story telling. None of which feel like they bog down the story or lose the main thread.
There are a number of different characters to become familiar with. Kamala is a young witch with great ambition and determination. Her childhood years are a thing of brutality that have shaped her character. She has a wall built around her that can’t be penetrated. Basically she’s a flawed character. She’s no hero of the tale. She wants to live in a man’s world and she isn’t afraid to make difficult choices in order to do so. We know that she will do what she needs to in order to survive and this is why she is able to become a magister – the first female ever to do so in fact. Prince Andovan is almost the opposite. In spite of his privileged upbringing he has a sympathetic character and regardless of his own infirmity tries to help others. I suppose you could say it’s a bit of an obvious role reversal that’s been employed here but I thought it was a good idea. It’s not after all as though all men are exactly the same and neither is it the case for women so having a sympathetic male character and a selfish and flawed female character isn’t unbelievable. The other most notable characters are Colivar and Ramirus. I haven’t totally made up my mind about these two yet as although the magisters seem to be a cold and haughty type Ramirus shows a certain dedication to the King and his family and Colivar also seems to be taking a fairly active part in thwarting the threat that has been newly discovered – although this could obviously also just be self serving. There are plenty of other characters but I won’t elaborate further.
I thought the author also did an excellent job with the ending. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not afraid to kill off characters and being a bit of a softie I’d usually prefer the people I’m reading about to stay alive but I liked the way that the ending doesn’t conform to what you want or, more to the point, expect. I admit that all the way through I was trying to second guess how the author would manage to achieve the ending I wanted against the ending that I thought was inevitable and against all expectations she didn’t even try. At the back of my mind I knew what the ending should be, I was desperately struggling to come up with creative ways for the author to not have that ending and yet, at the end of the day, the end was how it should be in order to maintain integrity. I like the way she stuck to her guns and didn’t come up with some exception to the rule to bends things.
In terms of criticisms. I think the characters need more developing and the reason I say this is I’m not sure, even at this point, how I feel about them. Also, I couldn’t help comparing certain elements of the story to GRR Martin but given the setting and story type that’s probably inevitable. I also couldn’t help wondering about the magisters and why, if they’re so powerful, they even bother with the subterfuge of working for others? Although I think this is all part of their secretive and mysterious nature and working for others lends them a certain sort of normalcy in order that they’re not too closely scrutinised. I also couldn’t help but question why they couldn’t switch their sources – I’m trying not to give away spoilers here so you’ll have to bear with me!
On the whole I thought this was a very enjoyable novel and I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
Next month’s new author for me will be Teresa Frohock – Miserere.
Death Masks by Jim Butcher
Just finished reading Death Masks by Jim Butcher and at the risk of sounding repetitive this series just keeps getting better. Harry Dresden is a private investigator working out of Chicago. The ace up is sleeve is that he’s also a wizard. He’s a wizard who seems to be storing up more and more bad feeling between him and a lot of nasty characters – such as vampires and demons. Death Masks is No5 in the Dresden Files so beware of potential spoilers.
In the latest instalment Harry lands himself into all sorts of trouble. As we all know the Red Court don’t like him very much. Neither, for that matter, do his peers on the White Council! (Well, there are a few exceptions – thankfully). We start off with a new job, desperately needed by our wizard PI – the Shroud (of Turin no less) has been stolen. Interest has been sparked and it’s recovery is essential to prevent a rather dreadful prophecy from being fulfilled. On top of that we have a dead body – sans head and hands, some rather dastardly Denarians (more about that in a moment), the return of Susan, still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature and Michael and a couple of his co-workers, i.e. two other Knights of the Cross.
Firstly, the story. Loads going on this time around that all comes together very well at the end. There’s the theft of the Shroud, and the investigation to find the thieves and the intended buyer. Something is going on with the Knights of the Cross who all seem to have descended – scenting trouble somehow. And, Harry has been given a resolution to the impending conflict between the White and the Red – a challenge to the death with one of the Red Court Warriors – Ortega, with a promise that the war will be called off if Dresden accepts the challenge.
The characters. We literally have the good, the bad and the ugly going on this time around. These Denarians are some bad ass critters who I don’t want to meet, ever, thank you very much. They’re incredibly powerful, very difficult to get rid of and can shapeshift into some pretty terrible nastiness. We have a reappearance of Susan who has become a lot more clued in during her absence. She can look after herself now and on top of that instead of being a bit ‘yippee here’s a life threatening situation lets have some fun’ she now seems to realise that the ‘life threatening’ bit is actually quite serious! She has a man in tow and the sparks of jealousy coming off Harry could cause some serious damage. We have two new Knights of the Cross – a Russian guy – who actually doesn’t believe in God – and Shiro who is like some sort of Japanese master – now, I don’t know why but I just kept picturing Master Shifu out of Kung Fu Panda – yes, I know, different countries and a whole other load of stuff that makes that wrong but the picture was there anyway. And, is this crazy, but I liked the role that Marcone had this time round – could it be possible that I’m starting to like him?? Surely not, but he had a good bit of banter going on with Harry this time round and on top of this he jumped straight into the fray when needed, even if it was a little self-serving.
On top of all that Butcher continues with his world building and the world he is imagining is becoming a very easy place to imagine. The circle of friends and acquaintances who Harry mixes with is expanded upon each time with old characters sometimes taking a bit part or sitting out the story completely but resurfacing for a later instalment.
What else can I say. I really enjoyed it and have no hesitation in recommending this series.
