Wow, really behind now. Books 21, 22 and 23 coming up!
Book 21 is Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. I love Abercrombie's books, and decided to give his first foray into YA fiction a shot. It was very enjoyable and while not as dark as his adult books, there was still enough of his dark humour and revenge themes that marked this as definitely an Abercrombie book.
Book 22 is Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman. I branched out in my historical fiction reading to Wales, with this tale of Welsh prince Llewellyn the Great and his marriage to King John's bastard daughter Joanna. Very interesting and dramatic, Penman did a really good job of making John still horrible, but with some redeeming qualities to his daughter. It was an interesting take on him.
Book 23 is The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham. This is book 4 in the Dagger and the Coin series and I am really enjoying these. The world is devolving farther into war, and the dragon that Wester and Kit found at the end of the last book isn't quite the savior they hopped for. I also don't think that I've ever come across a fantasy book where they're going to attempt to save the world through banking. I mean, obviously it was going to come up due to Cithrin's presense, but yeah... different tack for sure. Still really loving Clara Kalliam though, she's a great, great character.
Showing posts with label Daniel Abraham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Abraham. Show all posts
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Friday, August 09, 2013
MORE catchup!
I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to update this thing this year, but I am. So here's a whole whack of books I've read and only a little bit about them. Sigh. I need to get back on the timely update train.
Book # 14: Kingdom of the Grail by Judith Tarr - I'd read another book of hers way back when, it was about King John I of England and how he wasn't actually a huge jerk, just misunderstood. It was ok, but I sure didn't love it. I saw this book in a used bookstore and of course went Grail! Arthur! So let's just say I was a little surprised when reading the cover blurb that no, not Arthur... Roland? Hmm ok then. I don't really know too much about the whole Roland, Charlamange tales. I know a little, but not a lot, so I figured ah what the heck, let's give it a try. (Plus a friend of mine's new PC in our RPGs was of Roland's lineage, so I thought this would be fun to try out). Overall, not bad. Roland's got magical powers and is a relation of Merlin's. There is a big Grail quest, and lots of Grail lore that I thought worked out fine. Nothing earth shattering going on here, but enjoyable enough.
Book #15: The Iron King by Maurice Druon - This is another in the 'read ALL the source material for ASoIaF' initiative. Well ok, that's really not possible, so this is part of my 'read ALL the source material for ASoIaF that GRRM says is source material for ASoIaF'. Having gone through Costain's meditations on the Plantagents, I decided to check out Druon's books for the French side of things. As despite my many, many readings of English history, I don't know much of the French side of what happened. So this book is a French translation about the latter part of the reign of Philip the Fair, contemporary of Edward I and II of England. Philip is responsible for the destruction of the Knights Templar and the relocation of the papal court to Avingnon. I can see why GRRM lists these novels as an inspiration for ASoIaF because there is a LOT of court intrigue going on. Affairs and curses and traps and all sorts of fun stuff. Bonus being this is all historical! I am interested in continuing on with this series.
Book #16: The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham - The 3rd book in Abraham's Coin and Dagger series. Things are definitely ramping up. Geder has launched the Spider Cult in other countries he is busily invading and is just becoming more and more reprehensible. And you can tell that deep, deep down he knows this, or at least this is why I assume he's allowed Jory to re-enter court life despite the treason his father committed? Or perhaps it is just selfishness in that Jory was always nice to Geder. I don't know. I think the best though is that Clara has become a one-woman resistance force, reaching out to anyone who might be able to help wrest the country away from Geder. Cithrin becomes more of a major player, but in trying to use Geder's love for her to help others, she's just placed herself in a very dangerous predicament. We know Geder is very big on revenge. And we also have West's quest to find a way to destroy the Spider Cult. While it initially ends in disappointment, a VERY game-changing discovery is made later. Abraham keeps everything moving forward very nicely. And I'm glad he gets one of these books out pretty quickly.
Book #17: Becoming Shakespeare by Jack Lynch - A very interesting look at how Shakespeare's plays survived through the ages, allowing for the 'cult' of Shakespeare we have now. He examines different publications of the plays, and a very good look at productions through the years and how the plays were changed or adapted for the times they were shown in, and even how today we don't get the 'pure' Shakespeare we've tricked ourselves into thinking we do, mainly because there wasn't really a 'pure' Shakespeare to begin with.
Boook #18: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King - Yes, I am a masochist who went back to the world of the Dark Tower. But as this was another book telling a tale from Roland's past, I thought I'd try it. I'm fond of Dark Tower books where half the main characters don't show up much. This was one of them. It's also an interesting narrative, since King is telling a story within a story, and I liked that aspect of it. It doesn't have the same emotional weight that Wizards and Glass had, but overall, this was a nice re-visit with the Dark Tower. It takes some of the bad taste that was left in my mouth after finishing the series away.
Book #19: The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick - Historical Arthur is a bit of a douchecanoe, but I'll let it go. There's no magic, no Lancelot... yeah, the elements I like best in my Arthurian legends are not here.
Book #20: Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick - See above.
Book # 21: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - Wow I enjoyed this book. Blew right through it. A lovely, charming, sad and even suspenseful tale of immigration to NYC, but told through the eyes of two fantastic creatures from other worlds; a djinn and a golem. They both find themselves in turn of the century NYC alone and very, very lost. The jinni is a magnificent, selfish and restless creature, trapped centuries before, only to be reawakened by a lowly tin-smith in the Arab speaking portion of NYC. The golem, created to be a perfect wife for a man who dies on the voyage over, has no master, no one to truly serve, and she is lost and vulnerable without one. The two creatures try to fit in, but they find it so difficult to, and once they find each other, they see they can be themselves, but their natures are so very different, and theirs is still a tumultuous relationship. Throw into this mix the creator of the golem trying to find her and you also have a wonderful villain in the mix. I highly recommend this one.
Book # 14: Kingdom of the Grail by Judith Tarr - I'd read another book of hers way back when, it was about King John I of England and how he wasn't actually a huge jerk, just misunderstood. It was ok, but I sure didn't love it. I saw this book in a used bookstore and of course went Grail! Arthur! So let's just say I was a little surprised when reading the cover blurb that no, not Arthur... Roland? Hmm ok then. I don't really know too much about the whole Roland, Charlamange tales. I know a little, but not a lot, so I figured ah what the heck, let's give it a try. (Plus a friend of mine's new PC in our RPGs was of Roland's lineage, so I thought this would be fun to try out). Overall, not bad. Roland's got magical powers and is a relation of Merlin's. There is a big Grail quest, and lots of Grail lore that I thought worked out fine. Nothing earth shattering going on here, but enjoyable enough.
Book #15: The Iron King by Maurice Druon - This is another in the 'read ALL the source material for ASoIaF' initiative. Well ok, that's really not possible, so this is part of my 'read ALL the source material for ASoIaF that GRRM says is source material for ASoIaF'. Having gone through Costain's meditations on the Plantagents, I decided to check out Druon's books for the French side of things. As despite my many, many readings of English history, I don't know much of the French side of what happened. So this book is a French translation about the latter part of the reign of Philip the Fair, contemporary of Edward I and II of England. Philip is responsible for the destruction of the Knights Templar and the relocation of the papal court to Avingnon. I can see why GRRM lists these novels as an inspiration for ASoIaF because there is a LOT of court intrigue going on. Affairs and curses and traps and all sorts of fun stuff. Bonus being this is all historical! I am interested in continuing on with this series.
Book #16: The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham - The 3rd book in Abraham's Coin and Dagger series. Things are definitely ramping up. Geder has launched the Spider Cult in other countries he is busily invading and is just becoming more and more reprehensible. And you can tell that deep, deep down he knows this, or at least this is why I assume he's allowed Jory to re-enter court life despite the treason his father committed? Or perhaps it is just selfishness in that Jory was always nice to Geder. I don't know. I think the best though is that Clara has become a one-woman resistance force, reaching out to anyone who might be able to help wrest the country away from Geder. Cithrin becomes more of a major player, but in trying to use Geder's love for her to help others, she's just placed herself in a very dangerous predicament. We know Geder is very big on revenge. And we also have West's quest to find a way to destroy the Spider Cult. While it initially ends in disappointment, a VERY game-changing discovery is made later. Abraham keeps everything moving forward very nicely. And I'm glad he gets one of these books out pretty quickly.
Book #17: Becoming Shakespeare by Jack Lynch - A very interesting look at how Shakespeare's plays survived through the ages, allowing for the 'cult' of Shakespeare we have now. He examines different publications of the plays, and a very good look at productions through the years and how the plays were changed or adapted for the times they were shown in, and even how today we don't get the 'pure' Shakespeare we've tricked ourselves into thinking we do, mainly because there wasn't really a 'pure' Shakespeare to begin with.
Boook #18: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King - Yes, I am a masochist who went back to the world of the Dark Tower. But as this was another book telling a tale from Roland's past, I thought I'd try it. I'm fond of Dark Tower books where half the main characters don't show up much. This was one of them. It's also an interesting narrative, since King is telling a story within a story, and I liked that aspect of it. It doesn't have the same emotional weight that Wizards and Glass had, but overall, this was a nice re-visit with the Dark Tower. It takes some of the bad taste that was left in my mouth after finishing the series away.
Book #19: The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick - Historical Arthur is a bit of a douchecanoe, but I'll let it go. There's no magic, no Lancelot... yeah, the elements I like best in my Arthurian legends are not here.
Book #20: Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick - See above.
Book # 21: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - Wow I enjoyed this book. Blew right through it. A lovely, charming, sad and even suspenseful tale of immigration to NYC, but told through the eyes of two fantastic creatures from other worlds; a djinn and a golem. They both find themselves in turn of the century NYC alone and very, very lost. The jinni is a magnificent, selfish and restless creature, trapped centuries before, only to be reawakened by a lowly tin-smith in the Arab speaking portion of NYC. The golem, created to be a perfect wife for a man who dies on the voyage over, has no master, no one to truly serve, and she is lost and vulnerable without one. The two creatures try to fit in, but they find it so difficult to, and once they find each other, they see they can be themselves, but their natures are so very different, and theirs is still a tumultuous relationship. Throw into this mix the creator of the golem trying to find her and you also have a wonderful villain in the mix. I highly recommend this one.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Begin again
First post of 2013!
I've been busy reading, but I didn't do a post for the first five books yet as four of them are in a series and I wanted to talk about them all together. So...
Books 1, 2, 3 and 5 are:
A Shadow in Summer
A Betrayal in Winter
An Autumn War
The Price of Spring
by Daniel Abraham
There's a lot going on these books; 'magic' and courtly politics, family dynamics and war. We're introduced to our main character, Otah Machi as a young boy. He's been sent away by his family to learn to be a poet, a man who will control the power of an andat, which is basically the magic of the country of the Khaiem, and this is a magic no other country in the world possesses. The cities of the Khaiem rely on the Andat; in Saraykhet, the main commerce is cotton, and the andat Seedless takes the seeds from the cotton instantly, meaning Saraykhet can turn it's cotton around faster than anywhere else in the world. Machi's andat is Stone-Made-Soft, and so is home to vast, intricate mines. But there is a darker half to the benevolence of andats, Seedless can also end unwanted pregnancies, and Stone-Made-Soft could level mountains. With power like that, the other countries, including war-like expansionist Galt, have left the cities of the Khaiem alone for centuries, fearing that the andat would be turned on them if they ever invaded.
But I get ahead of myself. It is as a child that Otah makes a decision that will contribute to the breaking of the world many times over; after a moment of cruelty to an even younger boy, Otah then attempts to make amends for the cruelty and tells the younger boy basically the 'secret' to succeeding at the school. And so the younger boy, Maati, is selected to be a poet, and in the scheme of things, this ends up being not the best decision.
Abraham is not shy about doing drastic things and I always admire that in a good fantasy story. I wasn't being hyperbolic when I said that he breaks his world numerous times and in different ways and all are a kick in the gut. He also advances the timeline between books significantly, which is also great because yes, things don't always move at breakneck speed but instead take time to root and be planned and fester before shit happens.
These books are very melancholy, but it's a beautiful, terrible melancholy that makes them highly enjoyable.
I've been busy reading, but I didn't do a post for the first five books yet as four of them are in a series and I wanted to talk about them all together. So...
Books 1, 2, 3 and 5 are:
A Shadow in Summer
A Betrayal in Winter
An Autumn War
The Price of Spring
by Daniel Abraham
There's a lot going on these books; 'magic' and courtly politics, family dynamics and war. We're introduced to our main character, Otah Machi as a young boy. He's been sent away by his family to learn to be a poet, a man who will control the power of an andat, which is basically the magic of the country of the Khaiem, and this is a magic no other country in the world possesses. The cities of the Khaiem rely on the Andat; in Saraykhet, the main commerce is cotton, and the andat Seedless takes the seeds from the cotton instantly, meaning Saraykhet can turn it's cotton around faster than anywhere else in the world. Machi's andat is Stone-Made-Soft, and so is home to vast, intricate mines. But there is a darker half to the benevolence of andats, Seedless can also end unwanted pregnancies, and Stone-Made-Soft could level mountains. With power like that, the other countries, including war-like expansionist Galt, have left the cities of the Khaiem alone for centuries, fearing that the andat would be turned on them if they ever invaded.
But I get ahead of myself. It is as a child that Otah makes a decision that will contribute to the breaking of the world many times over; after a moment of cruelty to an even younger boy, Otah then attempts to make amends for the cruelty and tells the younger boy basically the 'secret' to succeeding at the school. And so the younger boy, Maati, is selected to be a poet, and in the scheme of things, this ends up being not the best decision.
Abraham is not shy about doing drastic things and I always admire that in a good fantasy story. I wasn't being hyperbolic when I said that he breaks his world numerous times and in different ways and all are a kick in the gut. He also advances the timeline between books significantly, which is also great because yes, things don't always move at breakneck speed but instead take time to root and be planned and fester before shit happens.
These books are very melancholy, but it's a beautiful, terrible melancholy that makes them highly enjoyable.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The Dagger and the Coin Pt. 2
Book # 26: The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham.
This is the second book in Abraham's "The Dagger and the Coin" series (the first being The Dragon's Path) and I must say I enjoyed this one more than it's predecessor. This may be because the world feels more lived in, the characters are fleshed out beyond their introductions, and the court intrigue is starting to pay off and Abraham's got a better handle on it than he did in the first book.
We're still following a handful of POV characters; Cithrin, Marcus, Geder, Dawson and Clara. Things change significantly for the POV characters in this book, and in fact, we lose one of them along the way. While I sometimes found it difficult to get into the first book, there was none of that problem here as the Abraham keeps the plot and the action moving at a pretty fierce clip that feels both natural and really scary. Things are going downhill quickly in some ways, and the quest to stop this is only just getting under way, and I actually found myself urging those characters on. Which i took to be a pretty good sign of enjoyment.
While I'd only been luke-warm in looking forward to this book, after having read it, I'm really looking forward to the next installment.
This is the second book in Abraham's "The Dagger and the Coin" series (the first being The Dragon's Path) and I must say I enjoyed this one more than it's predecessor. This may be because the world feels more lived in, the characters are fleshed out beyond their introductions, and the court intrigue is starting to pay off and Abraham's got a better handle on it than he did in the first book.
We're still following a handful of POV characters; Cithrin, Marcus, Geder, Dawson and Clara. Things change significantly for the POV characters in this book, and in fact, we lose one of them along the way. While I sometimes found it difficult to get into the first book, there was none of that problem here as the Abraham keeps the plot and the action moving at a pretty fierce clip that feels both natural and really scary. Things are going downhill quickly in some ways, and the quest to stop this is only just getting under way, and I actually found myself urging those characters on. Which i took to be a pretty good sign of enjoyment.
While I'd only been luke-warm in looking forward to this book, after having read it, I'm really looking forward to the next installment.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Number... crap, what number am I on? Oh yeah, lucky number 13. And it is The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham. I picked this book up because it got a good review from the AV Club, invoking a favourable comparison to GRRM no less, so I decided to give it a shot.
I could immediately understand the GRRM comparison as Abraham structures this book exactly like GRRM structures his Song of Ice and Fire books; each chapter is told from the POV of a main character. The difference is that Abraham has less main characters than GRRM does. There are three main characters, Marcus Wester, Cithrin and Geder. Then a few other lesser characters who also get POV chapters.
I found this a little... hard to get into. It wasn't bad or anything, it just didn't really reach out and grab me. I found the worldbuilding a little... I don't know, pedantic? I just didn't find the unfolding of the world's history to be that interesting. Perhaps because I felt it was somehow disconnected from what the characters were going through? Geder has an almost unhealthy interest in history, but since his interest is put forth as almost frivolous and child-like, I found it hard to take all of it seriously. And I just found all the different races kinda Star Trekian and a little difficult to keep track of.
Abraham's court intreigue is definitely not on par with GRRM's. Now, the comparison is a mite unfair because that is the sort of thing that GRRM so excels at, but at this point in fantasy writing, if you're going to approach court politics, you have to bring your A game. I think we have a B game going on here. One of the other POV characters (Dawson) is knee deep in this, a nobleman mover and shaker who is convinced he is saving his king, and he brings some of the other characters into the fold whether they want to or not.
I have no problem with characters being far flung from one another, but other than at the very beginning, I just wasn't seeing connections between their storylines and that kinda annoyed me. I'm sure it will come back around again and be tied together, but the sense of... urgency isn't there? I dunno.
Not to say that there aren't some very good parts to this book. Geder makes an incredibly huge, dire decision that I definitely didn't see coming, and his character is growing very interesting. He's almost doing a reverse Jaime and I can respect that. In fact, I think I found Geder's plotline to be the most interesting of them all.
All this being said, I felt the book did considerably pick up in the second half, so it is enough to make me want to continue on when the next one comes out.
I could immediately understand the GRRM comparison as Abraham structures this book exactly like GRRM structures his Song of Ice and Fire books; each chapter is told from the POV of a main character. The difference is that Abraham has less main characters than GRRM does. There are three main characters, Marcus Wester, Cithrin and Geder. Then a few other lesser characters who also get POV chapters.
I found this a little... hard to get into. It wasn't bad or anything, it just didn't really reach out and grab me. I found the worldbuilding a little... I don't know, pedantic? I just didn't find the unfolding of the world's history to be that interesting. Perhaps because I felt it was somehow disconnected from what the characters were going through? Geder has an almost unhealthy interest in history, but since his interest is put forth as almost frivolous and child-like, I found it hard to take all of it seriously. And I just found all the different races kinda Star Trekian and a little difficult to keep track of.
Abraham's court intreigue is definitely not on par with GRRM's. Now, the comparison is a mite unfair because that is the sort of thing that GRRM so excels at, but at this point in fantasy writing, if you're going to approach court politics, you have to bring your A game. I think we have a B game going on here. One of the other POV characters (Dawson) is knee deep in this, a nobleman mover and shaker who is convinced he is saving his king, and he brings some of the other characters into the fold whether they want to or not.
I have no problem with characters being far flung from one another, but other than at the very beginning, I just wasn't seeing connections between their storylines and that kinda annoyed me. I'm sure it will come back around again and be tied together, but the sense of... urgency isn't there? I dunno.
Not to say that there aren't some very good parts to this book. Geder makes an incredibly huge, dire decision that I definitely didn't see coming, and his character is growing very interesting. He's almost doing a reverse Jaime and I can respect that. In fact, I think I found Geder's plotline to be the most interesting of them all.
All this being said, I felt the book did considerably pick up in the second half, so it is enough to make me want to continue on when the next one comes out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)