The Third Section by Jasper Kent
Just finished reading Third Section (actually the 3rd novel in the Jasper Kent series of books). If you haven’t read the first two novels (Twelve and Thirteen Years Later) then the rest of this post will undoubtedly contain spoilers and therefore please do not read on (unless of course spoilers are what you seek!)
If you’ve read Thirteen Years Later you’ll already be aware that Alexsei has been exiled to Siberia following his involvement in the Decembrist uprising. Third Section brings to us two different storylines controlled now by Alexsei’s children, Tamara (Toma) and Dmitry. Tamara now works for the Third Section and is investigating a grisly murder. As a result of her investigations she uncovers a number of similar murders that took place in 1812 and 1825 and these in turn uncover the name of Alexsei as a potential witness to murders during both time periods. Tamara is keen to find Dimitry to discuss the murders but also she is desperately searching for her real parents, of whom she remembers very little. Dmitry ‘s actions are now mimicking those of his father in that he is involved in the Crimean war. During his time at Sevastopol Dmitry is befriended by another soldier Typelov who he is soon to realise has his own motives for seeking him out.
To be totally honest I would say that this instalment was my least favourite of the three. I felt the storylines were not as absorbing, the tension not as mmm, tense, and I don’t think I found it as rewarding reading about Tamara and Dmitry as I did reading about Alexsei. That being said I would still not hesitate to recommend. Just, for me personally, it almost seems to suffer a little from ‘middle book syndrome’ (even though it isn’t the middle book) or at least it seems to be used as a vehicle for setting up the next story.
What I did particularly enjoy was the insight into the vampire mind and a little bit more of the uncovering of their true nature. Iuda (or Yudin as he is now called) is his usually wonderful despicable and base self. He is such a superb villain (if that is not a contradiction in terms). He really is quite something and I must applaud Jasper Kent for giving him life. I don’t think I can remember reading a better ‘baddie’ – if that makes sense?
I also enjoyed reading about Tamara’s escapades and uncovering her, rather sad, story. She has plenty of character and gusto and certainly makes up for the lack of those attributes in Dmitry. I don’t know why but I really couldn’t find myself liking Dmitry. He seems almost like a very poor reflection of his father. As though living in the shadow of the ‘three fingered man’ has left him wanting in a number of ways. His character certainly doesn’t improve as you reach the conclusion but no more of that (although at least at the end he does seem to be suffering some regret).
Again, the story is a rich tapestry of well researched history, myth and horror. The voordalaks certainly continue with their gory feasting and their appetites seems to know no bounds. Deaths and blood are in abundance and as the conclusion approaches a number of twists are revealed.
Although this lacks the tension that had me racing to the end in Thirteen Years Later I still enjoyed the read and will without doubt pick up No.4 with eager anticipation. I love the combination of history, horror and myth and if you want some good old fashioned vampires reminiscent of Stoker then pick up Jasper Kent.
Third Section
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch readalong, week 1
For the next few weeks I will be joining a number of other people taking part in a readalong of the Lies of Locke Lamora, followed by another readalong of Red Seas Under Red Skies. I’m so excited to be doing this because Scott Lynch’s third novel is due to be released this summer and so this acts as a perfect reminder of all that has already taken place.
I love these books! They’re dark, gritty and brutal. They’re populated by great and complex characters. Definitely unflinching and not for the YA market!
If you haven’t already read these books and don’t want to read spoilers please don’t continue with the rest of this post (and, really, if you haven’t read these books what exactly are you waiting for – really, just read them). If you want to join this readalong follow this link:
littleredreviewer.wordpress.com
1. If this is your first time reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, what do you think of it so far? If this is a re-read for you, how does the book stand up to rereading?
I’ve already read the Lies of Locke Lamora but it was some time ago now and so rereading all the detail again is amazing. I think I’m noticing so much more this time because I think the first time I read a book I read it very fast and am totally on a mission to find out what’s happening next so I don’t tend to savour the writing as much as I should. With this reread I’m taking my time and absorbing properly all the information about the place, the food, the descriptions of the orphans and being introduced again to the Thiefmaker (who I can’t help picturing as Fagin from Oliver Twist) and Chains.
2. At last count, I found three time lines: Locke as as a 20-something adult, Locke meeting Father Chains for the first time, and Locke as a younger child in Shades Hill. How are you doing with the Flashback within a flashback style of introducing characters and the world?
I’m really enjoying the flashbacks and the slow reveals of what actually took place with Locke that led to the Thiefmaker finally reaching the end of his tether and deciding to dispose of him. I think the way the time lines jump back and forth make it more interesting. One moment we’re looking at Locke and his crew and what their next job is, then just as they reach a critical point we bounce back to Locke telling his story to Chains. One part of me is thinking what – no, I want to see what happens next, but then pretty rapidly I’m absorbed in ‘younger’ Locke’s tail and then I’m equally as eager to carry on reading that story. I think writing like this and jumping inbetween helps to focus your attention, plus, it’s like you’re reading more than one story so it’s double or even triple the excitement.
3. Speaking of the world, what do you think of Camorr and Lynch’s world building?
At the risk of appearing to just automatically like everything that Scott Lynch does I’m going to admit that I love the world building. What I particularly enjoy is the detail – maybe it’s not to everyone’s liking – but, I find it really easy to build up the world in my own mind’s eye. I have my own idea of what the place actually looks like (which might not be the same as everyone else’s but that’s the beauty of reading). I like the fact that traditions, lifestyles, even food have all been thought about. It makes the whole reading experience rewarding. I even have my own picture of what I think Locke looks like, the twins, Chains – I’ve got it all pictured. Plus, I like the fact that SL has thought about it all. He doesn’t just say ‘okay, here’s the world and this is what it’s like and expect you to be wowed – he builds it up gradually, he introduces you to the unsavoury elements and explores the underground, he gives you a bit about the history, just enough to keep you going, I can practically taste the food and the wine. I can imaging the squalor of certain elements and the richness of others. There are loads of layers that gradually build to give you a perfect picture. It’s like a work of art 😀
4. Father Chains and the death offering. . . quite the code of honor for thieves, isn’t it? What kind of person do you think Chains is going to mold Locke into?
Well, it seems a contradiction in terms, but I guess that Chains is going to mold Locke into a thief with honor! He’s not just going to be a ‘grab and run’ or sneak in the night. He’s going to use his cunning and intellect. Chains is going to develop him and teach him the ways of the world so that he can blend into any setting with ease. He’s going to help develop him to think on his feet and be quick witted. He’s going to help him to become an actor of sorts.
5. It’s been a while since I read this, and I’d forgotten how much of the beginning of the book is pure set up, for the characters, the plot, and the world. Generally speaking, do you prefer set up and world building done this way, or do you prefer to be thrown into the deep end with what’s happening?
I enjoy reading either way, providing the writing is good and in this case it is. Sometimes when reading a novel I just feel like I’m suddenly reading a huge info dump, which doesn’t blend in well with the story and feels quite literally as though the author is thinking ‘okay, let’s get this over and done with’. I don’t enjoy that and it can be distracting and take you away from the plot which is just annoying. The start of this book helps you to see how Locke is as a boy and gives you an appreciation of how is character has come along to reach where he is as an adult. You can see that even at a very young age he was going to be a lot more than just a regular pickpocket – he likes to succeed and has a lot of ambition.
6. If you’ve already started attempting to pick the pockets of your family members (or even thought about it!) raise your hand.
No, I wouldn’t be any good at this as I’m a total wimp. I think that there is a pickpocket in the making in my house however – I usually have to buy a new set of headphones every month (why? I dunno!) plus little things have a mysterious habit of going missing – or I’m losing the plot and can’t remember where I put them. Perhaps we have Borrowers under the floorboards – which would explain why I have 50 pairs of odd socks.
Great questions. Loving it.
Thanks 😀
On a totally superficial note : I love this cover (I can’t help myself from just going there!)
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Hounded by Kevin Hearne, week 2 of readalong
So, this is week two of our readalong of Hounded by Kevin Hearne. I’m enjoying the readalong and getting to chat with all these other bloggers who are also enjoying the series. Last week we all discussed the meaning of names and it made for some interesting reading. I didn’t know what my name meant before that and quite fittingly, giving this is the Druid Chronicles, it’s Celtic and means waterfall. There were some really interesting comments and if you’re interested in joining I’ve put the schedule below. Just go and check any of these out.
April 06th: Special interview with Kevin Hearne & announcement of winners!
1. In Chapter 6, Atticus goes hunting with Oberon and Flidais. What was supposed to be a fun hunting trip turned rather disastrous. Were you expecting something like this to happen or did it catch you by surprise? Have you ever had something that should have been fun turn disastrous or nearly disastrous?
I did expect something to go wrong on the hunting trip but I didn’t see the direction that would take and I really didn’t take into account just how very ruthless Flidais would turn out to be. Speaking personally of disasters (or near ones) I think the closest – was a highly anticipated trip to Venice where we completely mistimed the travel time to get to the airport and as we set out not only had darkness set in, it was rush hour and fog had also descended. That was a fairly torturous journey which wound up with us making a mad run through the airport and barely making it onto the plane (it felt like a scene from a Home Alone movie).
2. We are only briefly introduced to the witches (or, a witch) in chapter 7. What are your first impressions? How much would you trust the witches? Why?
It’s difficult to answer this because I’ve already read the book and don’t want to give away spoilers for others who haven’t. I can remember not liking the first witch we were introduced to – she didn’t behave very well but fortunately she underestimated Atticus. I think it would be difficult to trust somebody when you were constantly having to be on your guard and make sure you didn’t have any stray hairs that could be picked up and used against you!
3. Oberon says, “With dogs you just go up and smell their asses and you know where you stand. It’s so much easier. Why can’t humans do that?” Do you ever wish there was an easier way to find out where you stand with someone (besides Oberon’s suggestion, of course)? In what cases would it be easier or better to hide your true feelings?
What is that about with dogs smelling each others behinds – I thought they had a good sense of smell and I can’t think of many things that could be more unpleasant! I have mixed feelings about having a way to know where I stand with someone – it could be a real blow after all. You could end up finding out somebody was thinking really mean things about you or worse still that they’ve never liked you! That being said I suppose I’d sooner know if somebody didn’t like me. I think I would settle for a compromise – a bit like Atticus being able to see somebody’s aura and be able to tell from that what sort of mood they’re in.
4. Chapter 9 makes Atticus’ life much more difficult: the witches are in some way working with Aeghus Og, Bres comes after Atticus, and more trouble appears at the end of the chapter. Have you made sense of what has happened thus far? Any predictions for what might happen?
Similar to above I won’t answer this as I’ve already read and don’t want to blurt! Although I will admit that I definitely didn’t predict how things would wind up.
5. Atticus has had plenty of time to cultivate attitudes and ethics that would allow him to live a very long time. What do you think it is about Atticus that has allowed him to live for as long as he has?
This is an interesting question. There are obviously other characters in the book who have also lived for a long time but they clearly have less of an ability to adapt and fit in. This appears to be the answer to Atticus’s longevity – he adapts. As the times change so does he. He alters his lifestyle, his attidue, his way of speech and quite often his place of abode. He’s tried to stay one step ahead of his enemies and of course he does have a few allies and he plays his cards close to his chest and never gives too much away. I like the fact that he’s over 2000 years old but he isn’t cynical. He still manages to capture the essence of youth but without seeming immature. Plus he is able to brew that remarkable tea of his which has helped him to last for so long. Thinking of which I have a small amendment to my answer to question No.1 It would be really good to be able to read minds, you could pick up the recipe for the tea Atticus drinks – you could then live for 2000 years and get to carry out your wildest dreams from questions No.1 of last week’s questions!
Hope everyone is enjoying the book so far!
Lynn 😀
Touch of Power by Maria Snyder
4 March 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Maria V Snyder, Touch of Magic, Touch of power
Just finished reading Touch of Power by Maria Snyder which introduces us to a new world and characters. Touch of Power introduces us to the Fifteen Realms and brings to us Avry, raised in Kazan and a healer. Just as Kazan was once prosperous, healers were once greatly revered but the plague changed all of that. The disease ravaged the fifteen realms claiming many victims and was swiftly following by a rumour that the healers had in fact been the culprits for its start. The Realms are now greatly depleted in terms of inhabitants and are also torn with war as the remaining power bases struggle to come out as top dog.
Avry has spent the last three years stealing from one town to the next, trying to hide her abilities and usually failing as she feels compelled to help some desperately ill person. This is actually how the book starts, a healing, swiftly followed by Avry’s capture and pending execution and then her rescue by a band of characters who have a different scheme in mind. Ironicially it appears as though Healer may be the only healer now remaining since their persecution and so her fortune seems to be changing in that she’s suddenly become a desirable asset to have.
I enjoy Maria Snyder’s writing. She once again brings us a new world filled with a range of different characters, landscapes and magical possibilities. The reading is easy, fairly fast paced and not filled with huge chunks of overly descriptive world building or back history. The characters are well written and you gradually learn about them as the story progresses. There’s a lot of imagination going on here and plenty more to discover in the future series which this one plays in to quite nicely. We have many magical abilities – I think about 15? although we’re only introduced to about four here. Obviously we learn a good deal about Avry’s ability to heal which basically lends her the power to take on a person’s illness or injury which she can recover from at a greatly increased pace. Coupled with this ability is the strange phenomenon of the Lilys – plants that seem to be carnivorous and filled with deadly venom. Well, there are two types of Lily, Peace and Death and Avry seems to have some sort of connection which remains to be explored.
I liked the characters – the ‘baddie’ is a royal pain – patronising and a bit sadistic. We have Kerrick who you can’t help liking, he’s also a mage, connected to the earth and forest and able to blend into the plants and trees. Apparently he smells like fresh cut grass and sunshine and in spite of his grumpy demeanour you can’t help knowing that he’s a bit gorgeous and you also just know that the two of them will become romantically linked. What I like about the romance is it’s a slow burner. Certainly not love at first sight!
If I was going to level any criticisms I would say that this book will probably feel very ‘familiar’ to fans of the Study series. The world is very similar, the landscape and even the fact that there are magical abilities. The other thing is that maybe MS needs to get a bit more hardened to letting some of her characters go – particularly looking at some of the circumstances and overwhelming odds that they sometimes face. It would make it more realistic. In actual fact we do lose one of the characters from this story but I think if you were to look critically you would say that it was obvious. It’s not that I particularly like to lose characters that I’ve become attached to just that sometimes it feels improbable given the situations they find themselves in. I suppose it helps having a healer in the midst of the pack who can help them to recover from any injuries sustained, but still…
Anyway, I really liked joining Avry and Kerrick and will look forward to picking up their story in the next instalment.
Hounded by Kevin Hearne, readalong
For the next few weeks I will be joining a number of bloggers and commenting and answering questions about Hounded by Kevin Hearne. I love this series! It’s so fresh, the world is brilliant and Atticus is an amazing Druid with a cool Deerhound who he can communicate with. The thing I like the best about this series is that Kevin Hearne seems to be really enjoying himself righting about the characters and it really comes across with the humour.
Just added the reading schedule and name of host bloggers for info. If you’re reading this and you’re interested in reading along then go and check them out:
April 06th: Special interview with Kevin Hearne & announcement of winners!
1) Kevin Hearne had the most perfect beginning for this book: “There are many perks to living for twenty-one centuries, and formost among them is bearing witness to the rare birth of genius.” If you were to live for centuries what do you think you would be excited to see?
If I could have lived for 2000 years like Atticus I think the most exciting thing would be to meet some of the amazing people who have now passed away. But on top of that if you really had that much time I would like to travel and see the world.
2)In the 2nd chapter we learn about the amulet and its protection powers! Do you think having met the Morrigan and heard about Aenghus Og that it will be enough to protect Atticus? I mean the Morrigan has a point about hot chicks coming after him and his defenses might be down! He is very male!
I think his amulet will be enough to protect him – after all he spent a L O N G time making it and poured a lot of himself into the magic. To clarify though – I think it will only protect him against magic attacks – as for defence against feminine charms I think he’s on his own with that one!
3) The literary world’s coolest dog is introduced in this chapter! Did you love Oberon immediately? Show me a picture or describe the type of animal you would love to have as a talking companion! (Cat, Dog, Mouse, Sloth, Horse—what is your pick–pictures please)? I love Oberon – and more to the point his relationship with Atticus which is so funny.
My initial reaction would be to say my dogs – I have two. But, on reflection perhaps I would go for something else. Mmm, no, going to stick with the dogs – you can walk around with your dog and nobody would be suspicious after all. The picture below is actually my brother’s dog – he’s called Jake and he’s a year old and really gorgeous. I would dognap him but he’s so big he wouldn’t fit in my house! (Plus Dude and Jack would be very unhappy). Jake is a Deerhound lurcher and he is exactly what I picture when I read about Oberon.
4) In this chapter Flidais asked Atticus what his name is and then precedes to ask if anyone actually believes he is Greek? He says nobody pays attention to names here. Do you know what your name means and where it comes from? Or do you have a name you wish had? Let’s talk names!
To be honest I had no idea what my name meant so I just looked it up – and apparently it is celtic – and means waterfall!
5) We learn about Atticus’ lawyers in this chapter, a rather unique combo! Without jumping ahead, would you hire a lawyer combination of two supernaturals who on the surface would appear to be natural enemies or at the very least two very Alpha attitudes? What would be the positives and negatives of that decision.
Well, I think it would be good to have these two lawyers. They know what’s going on and how to get out of a spot. Plus they have lots of backup! They also know about Atticus and so he’s never in the tricky position of having to explain himself. On the negative side I guess you’re a bit bound by certain laws of the supernatural which are restrictive in some ways but on the whole I think the pros outweigh the cons!
