Category: Books

went?

Posted on by Greig

Codex

Lev Grossman

I really, really loved The Magicians by Grossman when I read it last year and so when I discovered that my local library had a copy of an earlier book by the author I just had to give it a go.
Codex tells the story of a talented high finance guy who, in the break between jobs, gets involved with the search for a possibly apocryphal text credited to a medieval monk.
The main story/puzzle is well set up and the subplots are intriguing but somehow the book kind of peters out and ends without ever really being satisfying for the reader.
It’s obvious from the book that Grossman is a really talented writer, but that he wasn’t fully formed yet. The Magicians saw him fulfil a large part of that promise.
It’s a pretty capable thriller and depending on your viewpoint you may find the ending less disappointing that I did.

Rating: B

nowhere?

Posted on by Greig

Fire and Hemlock

Diana Wynne Jones

Sadly Diana Wynne Jones died on the 26th March after a long battle against cancer. Always a favourite author of mine, I read as many of the obituaries and memorials as I could find online, it was reassuring to realize that many mourn her passing as much as I do.
I grew up with her Chrestomanci books, especially Witch Week and The Magicians of Caprona, and while I’ve tried to read as many of her books as I can get my hands on – one title that I’d never read kept cropping up in these articles – That’s the book I’m reviewing today.
Fire and Hemlock tells the tale of Polly Whittacker. As the book starts she’s a university student back living at her grandmother’s house during break. As she reads a book of short stories one day she realises that another set of memories has risen in her head. Most of what follows is Polly taking us through her memories, telling tales of becoming an apprentice hero and her friendship with Thomas Lynn. Typically for a Jones character, her family background is complicated, this time it’s a divorce and as she grows older you see the impact of that event and her gradual realization of both her parent’s flaws. It’s masterfully done.
The main plot is a retelling of the old Borderland myth of Tam Lin, there are no elves but there is magic.
The book, as you’d expect, is magnificent. Thrilling, funny and moving. I can see why so many of her fans totally love the book. Fire and Hemlock hasn’t suddenly become my favourite, though it might now be in my top five Jones books.
It’s going to be a sad day when I’ve finally read all of her books – because there’s nothing like reading a Diana Wynne Jones book for the first time. I hesitate to admit this but she’s the only author that’s inspired me to steal a book! It was very difficult to find some of her books before the Harry Potter phenomenon helped bring all her books back in print. Anyway, a copy of one of her Chrestomanci books found it’s way home one day with me after I spied it (I tried very hard to cover my tracks and make it look like it wasn’t simple theft and I doubt anyone noticed).
Please read as much of Diana Wynne Jones as you can – Fire and Hemlock would be a fine starting place.
Below is a list of links to every review I’ve done for a Diana Wynne Jones book while I’ve been keeping this blog:
Hexwood
Witch Week
Archer’s Goon
Charmed Life
The Pinhoe Egg
Conrad’s Fate
Howl’s Moving Castle
The Homeward Bounders
Witch Week
The Magicians of Caprona

Rating: A

tonypandy?

Posted on by Greig

The Daughter of Time

Josephine Tey

I’ll be perfectly honest – this is not the kind of book I’d read normally. A Fifties police procedural about an upright police detective who investigates a historical mystery? Not my cup of tea!
However I was reading a thread about a book I love – The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford and lots of people said that if you want some historical context then The Daughter of Time was the most palatable way to get it.
So I picked it up via the wonder that is inter-library loan. Libraries rock.
This brief book was written in 1951 and, given that some of it’s attitudes towards women and anyone who isn’t English are quite appalling, I found it quite entertaining.
The major thrust of the book is that common knowledge or the historical record is frequently a lot of rubbish and doesn’t exactly match what really happened, which he then applies to the story of Richard III. As a result it’s ironic that he accepts establishment interpretations of controversial events as examples of how historical events and the facts don’t always marry up.
If you like a detective story, or historical sleuthing then you might love this book. Personally, as primer to the fall of the Plantagenet dynasty, I found it enlightening.

Rating: B+

essay?

Posted on by Greig

Dying Inside

Robert Silverberg

dying inside by robert silverbergFirst published in 1972 and set in 1976 this is considered one of Robert Silverberg’s great novels.
David Selig is a middle aged New Yorker, barely scraping by on the bottom rung of the ladder, who has telepathic abilities.
As he has aged his power has weakened, become fitful, and he expects that one day it will go away for good.
Selig narrates the story of his everyday life and, with flashbacks, the story of his life and loves.
He’s a self-centred, self pitying creature and at times rather unlikeable.
For someone with perfect insight to other minds he treats people incredibly badly.
I really didn’t get why Silverberg included the essays that Selig ghost writes for college students to make a living and the narrator really annoyed me at times.
However, this novel is a fine character study and a clever take on the idea of ESP. Which is why it has an A rating, the minus reflects the problems I had with the book.
I’m not sure that I can say I wholeheartedly enjoyed Dying Inside, but I do think that it’s an exceptional piece of science fiction – especially considering when it was put out.
I should say that the book is very much of its time. Some bits made me rather uncomfortable, particularly some of the attitudes towards women and blacks.
I’d like to direct you to a much better and rather less amibivalent review of the book by Jo Walton.
My final verdict is that if you love Science Fiction you should probably read this book, but with the caveat that if you can’t stand books with an emphasis on the psychological then you aren’t going to like Dying Inside.

Rating: A-

killvertising?

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The Hell Of It All

Charlie Brooker

The Hell of it All by Charlie BrookerThis is the third volume of Brooker’s collected Guardian columns.
I’m very much a fan of his sense of humour and I thoroughly enjoy his work.
I was already familiar with about a quarter of the book as I’d read the columns as they appeared on The Guardian’s website.
A couple of the pieces in this book are among the best things he’s ever written, and yet, it also has some of the bleakest which can be disquieting among his firework displays of invective.
I’m happy to recommend this (and Brooker’s other collections, particularly if you come from a vaguely lefty, media obsessed and net savvy background.

Rating: A-

ambros?

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The Emigrants

W.G. Sebald

the emigrantsThe Emigrants tells the stories of four exiled German Jews. These four stories are loosely linked together by an unnamed narrator.
These four tales add up to tell the story of the narrator, another exiled German, obviously based on Sebald himself.
These tales are simply slices of ordinary lives told from the perspective of the narrator, or the narrator interpreting the memories or memoirs of others.
All four stories are haunting and linger in the memory. The writing is beautiful, economic and graceful.
I came to this book by recommendation from the James Yorkston book I read last. It was a recommendation well deserved and I think I will delve further into Sebald’s work.
It seems that there is only a small back catalogue as sadly Sebald was killed in a car accident at age 57.

Rating: A

karass?

Posted on by Greig

Among Others

Jo Walton

This wonderful book somehow gets right to the heart of what it feels like to grow up as misfit teen, with only the comfort of libraries and their science fiction & fantasy books to keep you company. It really reminded of why I decided to become a librarian…
The plot is that fifteen year old Mori finds herself farmed off to a girls boarding school after running away from her Mother and being placed in the care of a Father she doesn’t know. She’s too smart for her own good, walks with a cane after an accident and speaks with a Welsh accent so she definitely doesn’t fit in at her new, posh English, school.
The book follows her as she makes her first steps in getting to know her father, come to terms with her past and her introduction to fandom.
Among Others comes with my highest recommendation. Please read this book – you may not love it as much as I do, but I guarantee that you won’t regret it.

Rating: A+

SOS?

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Passage

Connie Willis

If this book had just been shorter, or quicker paced it would have received a much higher mark from me.
The book follows Doctors researching into Near Death Experiences based in a General Hospital somewhere in the USA. One of them develops a way to safely replicate NDEs under lab conditions in volunteers and the other has been recording the testimony of real life NDE patients.
Essentially what should be a snappy medical mystery/science fiction novel gets bogged down in the detail of Near Death Experiences and generally makes you think “this is going nowhere, do something to advance the story”
It’s extremely well written and some of the characters are great (especially the ultra pragmatic, disaster obsessed, pre-teen heart patient Maisie), and generally what happens is quite satisfying – I just felt it took too long to get there.
I think I’m going to take a break from Willis’ books – I’ve been struggling with the audiobook of Blackout for months now and lost the will to listen to it anymore!

Rating: B+

tyger?

Posted on by Greig

A Princess of Roumania

Paul Park

This alternate world fantasy novel came to me highly recommended by a friend.
While I certainly found it contained some very original twists on familiar fantasy tropes and I enjoyed reading the book, I just can’t see myself reading any further in the series.
I’m not motivated to find out what happens next.
As a side note I described the plot and a couple of the characters from the story to a Romanian friend of mine and he found it hilarious…
So, in summary, it’s well-written and has some fresh ideas but somehow lacking that magic ingredient that keeps you wanting to learn more.

Rating: A-