Author: Greig

Professional Librarian from Fife who likes books and music.

kale?

Posted on by Greig

Night And Silence

Seanan McGuire

As my re-read of the October Daye series progressed I finally came to the first one I hadn’t read before. So I read this one while I had it’s audiobook on the go.
October is recovering from the trauma of events in The Brightest Fell when she’s called in to investigate a missing college student – her own daughter Gillian.
This was another very enjoyable installment in the series and contained quite a few cracking twists that impact on the long arc of the series.
The only issue really was that it felt less like a novel and more like a couple of novellas mashed together.
The accompanying novella is intimately tied in with the events of the book and are very illuminating in ways that I found tantalising about the direction of the series.
Lots of fun but not any kind of entry point.

Rating: B+

purple?

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This Is How You Lose The Time War

Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

This is – of all things – an epistolary novella where agents of the two sides engaged in a time war start communicating with letters hidden through ever more elaborate means up and down the time stream.
This is just a fantastic piece of very well written Science Fiction. It’s a really engaging read and I highly recommend it to folks who like SF.

Rating: A-

portland?

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A Red-Rose Chain

Seanan McGuire

a red-rose chainThe latest instalment of the Toby Daye story finds her in Portland on a diplomatic mission to avert war between Faerie kingdoms. Obviously this being Toby nothing quite goes to plan.
I read this because I have been going through the series as audiobooks and this was the first I couldn’t find at a reasonable price. So old-fashioned physical reading was my only option.
Last time I read this I gave it a higher rating because I genuinely really enjoy the October Daye series but on a re-read in the context of the series it felt like a lesser work. Still good but not as good as the best books in the series

Rating: B

valeska?

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99% Mine

Sally Thorne

Darcy is a world travelling wild child and photographer except she’s stuck in her Grandmother’s old house helping renovate it for sale. The contractor is her childhood friend and crush Tom and he’s going crazy dealing with Darcy and her twin brother who are co-owners and want different things.
This is not as good as the previous offering by Ms Thorne. The Hating Game, while flawed, was a lot of fun. This one is laboured and I struggled to get through it.
Hopefully it’s just a sophomore slump and we’ll see better work in the future because that first novel held a lot of promise.

Rating: C

rommalb?

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The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Patricia A. McKillip

Winner of Best Novel at the inaugural World Fantasy Awards. It tells the story of Sybel, a daughter of wizards, who keeps a menagerie of magical creatures in her high mountain home.
She is removed from the world and knows little of other people and then one day a baby is left with her to keep safe from the King of Eldwold.
How she is changed by that event and the consequences that flow out from that point form a unique kind of fantasy tale.
The distinguishing thing about this book is the quality of the writing. It’s really unlike anything else I’ve ever read in the Fantasy genre. The words flow like a sing-song fairy tale. Somehow retaining the structure of prose but feel of the poetical.
I found it fairly difficult to get into but the last half of the book is incredible.
I really don’t know if it’s going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I suspect I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

Rating: A-

babelfish?

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Don’t Panic

Neil Gaiman

In this highly entertaining biography (a young) Neil Gaiman profiles the life of Douglas Adams with a particular emphasis on the many versions of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.
Features interviews with Adams himself and many of his collaborators over the years. Also includes unused snippets of TV and radio scripts, the original pitches for Hitch-Hiker’s and more.
Gently aping Adam’s style Gaiman manages to make all of this into a very enjoyable package.
I wouldn’t recommend buying it at anything more than cover price but it’s worth the read.

Rating: B+

hudson?

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The Prenup

Lauren Layne

Very solid “fake married” contemporary romance.
Charlotte Spencer and Colin Walsh got married ten years ago. He wanted a green card and she needed to be married to come into an inheritance.
They’ve basically not seen each other since the wedding day. When Colin asks for a divorce it triggers a clause in their prenup that requires them to spend three months living together before they can part.
The result is inevitable but it’s a very entertaining journey. Worth the cost of a cheap ebook if you like a fake relationship tale.

Rating: B

trolleys?

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Reaper Man

Terry Pratchett

The second book in the Death sequence.
This is a solid Pratchett – funny, clever and very enjoyable – but not quite as impactful or as perfect as his later masterpieces but quickly building from the more parodical early works.
The biggest surprise on this re-read is how many of the little details tie into overall Discworld canon in later books.
As always I encourage anyone to start reading the man’s books. Not only are they bloody great reads – they’ll also give you an insight into the human condition that we all sorely need.
On a personal note: I’m slightly stunned to realize that I’ve never reviewed this book for the blog in all 17 years of the blog’s existence. Like all the Pratchett books I’ve read it multiple times before but I guess since it came out in 1991 these were all pre-blog.
It’s also the case that I’ve been revisiting the Pratchett oeuvre via audiobook rather than from my battered old books these last couple of years thanks to Edinburgh City Libraries & Audible.
Also a note on my rating system and the wonky idiosyncratic beast it has become over the years…

Rating: B+

pita?

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The Trouble With Mistletoe

Jill Shalvis

Willa runs a pet shop that’s also a sanctuary for waifs and strays – human or animal.
Keane’s just had a cat dumped in his lap and Willa’s shop may be the perfect solution.
Only trouble is she remembers their high school past and he doesn’t…
Solid, enjoyable and fluffy contemporary romance.

Rating: B

franchise?

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Just Married?

Natasha West

When an English bookseller is dumped by her fiancee for being too predictable she takes a spontaneous journey to Las Vegas.
She wakes the next morning married to a C-List TV actress with a shot at the lead role in the next big movie franchise.
Things happen and the next thing you know we’re in a fake relationship story.
This is a solid contemporary romance novella with a WLW twist. It’s sweet and fluffy with a little bit of family drama thrown in.

Rating: B