I needed to read something different. I've read a couple of really good books lately and to read another novel in the same genre would be unfair. I've wanted to read some Lovecraft to see what all the fuss was about and now seemed like a good time to do so.
I must indicate before I review the short stories that they cannot really be judged by modern standards, written between the late 1910's to 20's the language is vastly different to what we read now. Writing conventions were different and subject handling has also altered. to apply my modern standards onto a book written nearly one hundred years ago would be unfair.
At first, I struggled with the language of the short stories, some of which is rather archaic. The sentence length is typical of the writing period: long, which makes them difficult to fathom at times. It took a while to readjust to reading them but once I managed it, the language was indeed beautiful and a pleasure to read. It just took a bit more effort than normal.
The subject matter of the short stories seems to focus on several themes: dreams and the paranormal. The ends of the stories are left ambiguous and the reader has to make up their own mind as to what has happened. The narratives are generally first person accounts of events that have happened to the narrator; who ha a desire to pass on their account of what has happened. It made a refreshing change from the norm and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I have some of the stories left to read but there themes will be similar to those I've already read and I know I will enjoy them. I hope you'll give these stories as go, once you get your head around the archaisms, its well worth it.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence
I've had a few misses lately with my choice of books, so when my kindle recommended this one I was a bit dubious. What a surprise this book turned out to be, from the first page the dark tone was set and carried throughout the rest of the novel.
The world building in the novel is subtle and puts me in mind of Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God, without being so obvious, Lawrence doesn't name any places after pies for instance but draws heavily on the religion of 'Roma' and the dead languages of this world. At least those are the two things that stuck out the most to me. He did it in a tasteful way and it doesn't detract the reader from the story, which is brilliant.
Technically, this book is a real change from my usual reads as well, it is written from a first person point of view. Everything you read about it seen through the eyes of the 'protagonist' and I use that word loosely in this case. There are no long winded descriptions as most things he comes across he has seen before, a brief sentence here and there is all that's needed and it works well. The reader is left to fill in the blanks, making this book a work of your imagination as well as the author's. I don't like to be spoon-fed details so this was a real treat to read.
The characters in the novel are dark, the whole outlook of the book is bleak, and the people populating it are no exception. It was hard to find a sympathetic ground with them to start with but as the story progresses and you learn the reasons why, it becomes easier. I was not altogether at ease with the 'means to an end' justification for the protagonist's actions but you can't love them all right?
All in all, this book was a superb read, I chewed through it in a few hours and I'd recommend you go and do the same. The language is easy to follow and the story well worth the attention!
The world building in the novel is subtle and puts me in mind of Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God, without being so obvious, Lawrence doesn't name any places after pies for instance but draws heavily on the religion of 'Roma' and the dead languages of this world. At least those are the two things that stuck out the most to me. He did it in a tasteful way and it doesn't detract the reader from the story, which is brilliant.
Technically, this book is a real change from my usual reads as well, it is written from a first person point of view. Everything you read about it seen through the eyes of the 'protagonist' and I use that word loosely in this case. There are no long winded descriptions as most things he comes across he has seen before, a brief sentence here and there is all that's needed and it works well. The reader is left to fill in the blanks, making this book a work of your imagination as well as the author's. I don't like to be spoon-fed details so this was a real treat to read.
The characters in the novel are dark, the whole outlook of the book is bleak, and the people populating it are no exception. It was hard to find a sympathetic ground with them to start with but as the story progresses and you learn the reasons why, it becomes easier. I was not altogether at ease with the 'means to an end' justification for the protagonist's actions but you can't love them all right?
All in all, this book was a superb read, I chewed through it in a few hours and I'd recommend you go and do the same. The language is easy to follow and the story well worth the attention!
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Thinblade - David A Wells
This book wasn't great, in fact, I don't even think it was that good. I couldn't finish it due to a number of reasons although I did try my best to do so. It has it's OK moments but those are far outweighed by the books downfalls.
I'll start with the positive; most of the characters are well rounded individuals and a lot of thought has gone into their development. The protagonist is a carbon copy of your generic hero and as a result is dull, uninteresting and predictable. The support cast is far more interesting, there's an alchemist character, Lucky, who has all kinds of different tricks that he uses to aid the group. He also has a big interest in food and often hands it out to people while conducting his affairs, this little detail is what makes him a better character than all the others in the novel put together.
The relationships between the characters is shown very well in points though the novel, I won't go into it much but to illustrate my point there's this. After the hero thinks his father has been killed, someone shouts for 'Lord Valentine', at this point, our hero starts looking around, assuming the call was for his father, not him. It was a nice touch.
Some of the writing in the novel is very good, in fact, aside from the odd cliche here and there, its well written. What annoyed me so much I had to put the book down, was the constant repetition of the plot. I'm savvy enough to know what's happening the first time, one recap is OK, every time we meet a new character is just too much, it was like having it rammed down my throat and not to mention a little patronising. It got to a point where these little reminders would happen just before a fight. It destroyed the tension the author had created in previous paragraphs and interrupted the pacing.
Then there's the description. This book has more than it's fair share of description, of everything, all the time. It got boring to read. I don't really care what the guy fighting the hero looks like, where he came from or what he had for lunch. I care about how he gets killed. It's the same for every building they come across. Yes, I admit, its well written and some of its useful, but it could use thinning out to help the flow of the novel and to keep the reader interested.
You'd think with all that description that everything would be covered in the book right? Not so, there was an episode in the novel where generic hero has to rescue generic princess from generic bad guy. He does so after gaining a huge chunk of skills for free (he reads a skillbook... seriously?) and mullering the henchmen, great. What is omitted is how the baddie escapes. You just get a short sentence saying he got away. How? With all this descriptive power, you'd think Wells would be able to come up with something better than that. Most disappointing!
All in all, I wouldn't recommend reading this book in its current state. It needs another read through and the issues with it fixing before I even consider looking at the sequel.
I'll start with the positive; most of the characters are well rounded individuals and a lot of thought has gone into their development. The protagonist is a carbon copy of your generic hero and as a result is dull, uninteresting and predictable. The support cast is far more interesting, there's an alchemist character, Lucky, who has all kinds of different tricks that he uses to aid the group. He also has a big interest in food and often hands it out to people while conducting his affairs, this little detail is what makes him a better character than all the others in the novel put together.
The relationships between the characters is shown very well in points though the novel, I won't go into it much but to illustrate my point there's this. After the hero thinks his father has been killed, someone shouts for 'Lord Valentine', at this point, our hero starts looking around, assuming the call was for his father, not him. It was a nice touch.
Some of the writing in the novel is very good, in fact, aside from the odd cliche here and there, its well written. What annoyed me so much I had to put the book down, was the constant repetition of the plot. I'm savvy enough to know what's happening the first time, one recap is OK, every time we meet a new character is just too much, it was like having it rammed down my throat and not to mention a little patronising. It got to a point where these little reminders would happen just before a fight. It destroyed the tension the author had created in previous paragraphs and interrupted the pacing.
Then there's the description. This book has more than it's fair share of description, of everything, all the time. It got boring to read. I don't really care what the guy fighting the hero looks like, where he came from or what he had for lunch. I care about how he gets killed. It's the same for every building they come across. Yes, I admit, its well written and some of its useful, but it could use thinning out to help the flow of the novel and to keep the reader interested.
You'd think with all that description that everything would be covered in the book right? Not so, there was an episode in the novel where generic hero has to rescue generic princess from generic bad guy. He does so after gaining a huge chunk of skills for free (he reads a skillbook... seriously?) and mullering the henchmen, great. What is omitted is how the baddie escapes. You just get a short sentence saying he got away. How? With all this descriptive power, you'd think Wells would be able to come up with something better than that. Most disappointing!
All in all, I wouldn't recommend reading this book in its current state. It needs another read through and the issues with it fixing before I even consider looking at the sequel.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Daddys Little Girl - Julia Latchem-Smith
Now, this is completely different to what I 'normally' read. For a start it's not fiction. I'm not sure how to review a book like this as the themes have caused distress and I don't want to belittle the experiences of those involved.
I picked this book up while on holiday and read it in a few hours, the language was easy to follow and the narrative voice of the author suited the serious tale she had to tell. The story itself is interesting, she tells how she was sexually abused by her father - which is awful. It's a tough subject to broach but the author does it in such a way that is sensitive but not graphic. She also tells of her obsessive compulsive mother, who has a problem with cleanliness. I found this part of her story fascinating - how she'd leave her daughter in the car for two hours while she cleaned the weekly shop was such an alien thought to me I found it hard to grasp.
The story tells of the author's growth from an eight year old girl, who was abused for five years, through rebellious teenage years- including a teenage pregnancy, to her quest for justice. It's a painful journey and I don't want to think how much pain it must have taken to walk her path.
I'm always suspicious of people capitalising on abuse stories, there have been more than a few who have done so but this is not the case with this story. Latchem-Smith has published her story to help raise awareness for shunned cases of child abuse in the middle-classes, which is a worthy cause. The book is well worth reading, even if it's not your normal genre.
I picked this book up while on holiday and read it in a few hours, the language was easy to follow and the narrative voice of the author suited the serious tale she had to tell. The story itself is interesting, she tells how she was sexually abused by her father - which is awful. It's a tough subject to broach but the author does it in such a way that is sensitive but not graphic. She also tells of her obsessive compulsive mother, who has a problem with cleanliness. I found this part of her story fascinating - how she'd leave her daughter in the car for two hours while she cleaned the weekly shop was such an alien thought to me I found it hard to grasp.
The story tells of the author's growth from an eight year old girl, who was abused for five years, through rebellious teenage years- including a teenage pregnancy, to her quest for justice. It's a painful journey and I don't want to think how much pain it must have taken to walk her path.
I'm always suspicious of people capitalising on abuse stories, there have been more than a few who have done so but this is not the case with this story. Latchem-Smith has published her story to help raise awareness for shunned cases of child abuse in the middle-classes, which is a worthy cause. The book is well worth reading, even if it's not your normal genre.
Monday, 30 July 2012
Re-review: Approaching the Dark Age - Resonance - Matthew Chivers
After the comments on my last review of this book, I agreed to read an updated version and write another review. Thankfully, it was much improved. I managed to finish it this time and, to my surprise, enjoyed parts of it too. I'll start with the positive before moving on to some of the books more dodgy areas.
The characters are now a lot more likable. I found myself enjoying the banter between Maledream and his friend Neveah, both of which have become more rounded individuals and not so two dimensional. Angelite as well was a much better character, yes, she is weepy, a bit of a sap and at times pathetic, but she also has her strong points. her foil, Boris, balances her out and both women work well together. If Angelite was on her own, she'd drive you bonkers but together, all is well.
The world building seemed a lot more complete as well. I enjoyed learning about the Dark Age lands and Meridia as well. The role of the Creators and how the Anunaki fit into the equation as well. These parts of the book are well thought out and clearly a lot of research has gone into it. The post apocalyptic world is dark and yet still has hope for the future.
The first half of the book, I will admit, was a struggle to read, I wasn't really hooked until about half way through, when I read the Council of the Anunaki. The chapter really got me interested as it introduced a large element of risk for the characters. Stick it out until then and you'll really be rewarded for your efforts.
Now for some not so positive elements. I'm afraid to say that there are still a lot of grammatical and technical errors in the novel. Mostly these are incorrect words, like too instead of to. These could easily be solved by having another person proofread the book, which is what friends/family are for right?
Some of the metaphors, while inventive, didn't make much sense, for example, "Thousands of candles within the Council Hall began blowing themselves out and relighting themselves like a beautiful opera..." Not sure how the candles relate to opera and this is just one example of many. There are also contradicting adjectives throughout the book and after a while, this gets annoying. There is also the use of many cliche terms, such as "tail between his legs" which are just lazy, there are far better phrases to use than this tired old term.
OK, so to sum up, I enjoyed the read this time and managed to finish the book, it still has its issues but it is well worth a read. I admire Chivers for admitting to his novel being flawed and going a long way to fixing some of the problems.
The characters are now a lot more likable. I found myself enjoying the banter between Maledream and his friend Neveah, both of which have become more rounded individuals and not so two dimensional. Angelite as well was a much better character, yes, she is weepy, a bit of a sap and at times pathetic, but she also has her strong points. her foil, Boris, balances her out and both women work well together. If Angelite was on her own, she'd drive you bonkers but together, all is well.
The world building seemed a lot more complete as well. I enjoyed learning about the Dark Age lands and Meridia as well. The role of the Creators and how the Anunaki fit into the equation as well. These parts of the book are well thought out and clearly a lot of research has gone into it. The post apocalyptic world is dark and yet still has hope for the future.
The first half of the book, I will admit, was a struggle to read, I wasn't really hooked until about half way through, when I read the Council of the Anunaki. The chapter really got me interested as it introduced a large element of risk for the characters. Stick it out until then and you'll really be rewarded for your efforts.
Now for some not so positive elements. I'm afraid to say that there are still a lot of grammatical and technical errors in the novel. Mostly these are incorrect words, like too instead of to. These could easily be solved by having another person proofread the book, which is what friends/family are for right?
Some of the metaphors, while inventive, didn't make much sense, for example, "Thousands of candles within the Council Hall began blowing themselves out and relighting themselves like a beautiful opera..." Not sure how the candles relate to opera and this is just one example of many. There are also contradicting adjectives throughout the book and after a while, this gets annoying. There is also the use of many cliche terms, such as "tail between his legs" which are just lazy, there are far better phrases to use than this tired old term.
OK, so to sum up, I enjoyed the read this time and managed to finish the book, it still has its issues but it is well worth a read. I admire Chivers for admitting to his novel being flawed and going a long way to fixing some of the problems.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Wolf Dawn - Susan Cartwright
It's always tough knowing what to read after you've had your mind blown by a previous book. You know nothing is going to be as good and the sense of loss can be hard to over come. What I read after The Dark Tower series had a tough act to follow but I will do my best to be honest.
This book was a half-way decent read. The writing was reasonably well crafted which made the flaws in the novel that little bit easier to swallow. Cartwright used some interesting metaphors throughout the novel, some of which I may remember for my own writing. The world building was a reasonably well done and there were only a few minor errors that could be overlooked.
Fitting the characters into this world is where the trouble begins. Cartwright has written a system of mental communication into her world called 'icom', which is installed into those people who can afford it. Which seems to be everyone except those living on the fringes of society, so when the hero is thrust into a boar pit and escapes slavery by those fringe dwellers, they manage to call the police via icom, which they can't afford, it seemed a bit jarring.
The pacing of the novel is a little off as well and there is no real conclusion at the end either. During the first half, our hero escapes doom on his home world and is pursued by a sadistic space captain. This is an interesting arc with a random police officer thrown in for good measure. I was looking forward to learning more about this after the hero is marooned away from home however the author abandons this arc until the last few pages in which we learn nothing new. She also spends half of an entire chapter discussing the pros and cons of sex in a temple lecture. It slowed the pace right down and was frankly rather dull.
The other concept I found difficult to grasp was on referred to as Dark Sankomin. This is explained as a darkness that affects all living beings, if a mind dwells on past events it becomes bogged down and the beings go mad and die. It seemed to me that everything has negative emotions at some stages in existence and although this affects people in different ways (I don't want to make light of mental illness here) it isn't severe for everyone. I found it hard to see the Dark Sankomin as a threat and it made a large part of the book hard to comprehend. Maybe I'm too positive to see this darkness as something destructive.
Most of the characters are believable, except the female lead, who was as flat and predictable as mud and you do care what happens to them. My only other issue is the genre of the book itself, it's listed as: 'Adventure Sci-fi/Heroic Fantasy Romance.' It is all of these things granted, but it is none of them well. The romance isn't well written enough to satisfy romance fans, the fantasy isn't good enough for fantasy fans. It just tried to fill too many boots at once and found that none of them fit very well.
So to finish off, I did enjoy this book - even though Roland wasn't in it - but I doubt I will be picking up the sequel any time soon.
This book was a half-way decent read. The writing was reasonably well crafted which made the flaws in the novel that little bit easier to swallow. Cartwright used some interesting metaphors throughout the novel, some of which I may remember for my own writing. The world building was a reasonably well done and there were only a few minor errors that could be overlooked.
Fitting the characters into this world is where the trouble begins. Cartwright has written a system of mental communication into her world called 'icom', which is installed into those people who can afford it. Which seems to be everyone except those living on the fringes of society, so when the hero is thrust into a boar pit and escapes slavery by those fringe dwellers, they manage to call the police via icom, which they can't afford, it seemed a bit jarring.
The pacing of the novel is a little off as well and there is no real conclusion at the end either. During the first half, our hero escapes doom on his home world and is pursued by a sadistic space captain. This is an interesting arc with a random police officer thrown in for good measure. I was looking forward to learning more about this after the hero is marooned away from home however the author abandons this arc until the last few pages in which we learn nothing new. She also spends half of an entire chapter discussing the pros and cons of sex in a temple lecture. It slowed the pace right down and was frankly rather dull.
The other concept I found difficult to grasp was on referred to as Dark Sankomin. This is explained as a darkness that affects all living beings, if a mind dwells on past events it becomes bogged down and the beings go mad and die. It seemed to me that everything has negative emotions at some stages in existence and although this affects people in different ways (I don't want to make light of mental illness here) it isn't severe for everyone. I found it hard to see the Dark Sankomin as a threat and it made a large part of the book hard to comprehend. Maybe I'm too positive to see this darkness as something destructive.
Most of the characters are believable, except the female lead, who was as flat and predictable as mud and you do care what happens to them. My only other issue is the genre of the book itself, it's listed as: 'Adventure Sci-fi/Heroic Fantasy Romance.' It is all of these things granted, but it is none of them well. The romance isn't well written enough to satisfy romance fans, the fantasy isn't good enough for fantasy fans. It just tried to fill too many boots at once and found that none of them fit very well.
So to finish off, I did enjoy this book - even though Roland wasn't in it - but I doubt I will be picking up the sequel any time soon.
Saturday, 14 July 2012
The Dark Tower - Stephen King
It's been one hell of a ride but today I came to the end of Roland's journey. I finally finished Stephen King's epic fantasy tale and what can I say? I loved it.
The writing has been fantastic throughout and the story has kept me guessing too. It twists and turns in directions that you don't expect, as it has done all through the long series. The characters develop through the story, never staying the same but learning from their journey.
I will touch on the ending of the book. I was warned by my partner that it was infuriating and it made him fall out with the series. I thought the exact opposite of this; the ending is subtly explained through the book if one knows where to look. Let's be honest, if you've come this far, you know that King puts subtle hints about the coming plot in his writing. It's just a case of being awake enough to spot them. I'd rave about it endlessly but I don't want to give it away so I'll stop there!
My only regret about this series is reading it in one massive session, I would advise future readers to have a break around book four, not because the next books are rubbish (far from it) but spending that much time with the same characters will drive you a bit bonkers. Just like spending an extended amount of time with the same people will drive you mad.
Either way, go and read these books, you won't be disappointed.
The writing has been fantastic throughout and the story has kept me guessing too. It twists and turns in directions that you don't expect, as it has done all through the long series. The characters develop through the story, never staying the same but learning from their journey.
I will touch on the ending of the book. I was warned by my partner that it was infuriating and it made him fall out with the series. I thought the exact opposite of this; the ending is subtly explained through the book if one knows where to look. Let's be honest, if you've come this far, you know that King puts subtle hints about the coming plot in his writing. It's just a case of being awake enough to spot them. I'd rave about it endlessly but I don't want to give it away so I'll stop there!
My only regret about this series is reading it in one massive session, I would advise future readers to have a break around book four, not because the next books are rubbish (far from it) but spending that much time with the same characters will drive you a bit bonkers. Just like spending an extended amount of time with the same people will drive you mad.
Either way, go and read these books, you won't be disappointed.
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