Gone, but not forgotten

This blog I mean.

Summer comes and life is anything but routine for 8 weeks, and while I can get reading in, the recording of said reading has taken a serious hit. 

Last I wrote, I was on Book 14. I've read like another ten since I last blogged. 

Sigh.

So here goes: 

Book # 15 is Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch. Number three in the Peter Grant, magic cop series was good, but I didn't like it as much as the first two. Aaronovitch does continue to seemlessly blend the fantasy with the urban part of urban fantasy, but London really does lend itself to that. I believe it was Chris Claremont who, way back when in an issue of Excalibur, called London "the haunted capital of a haunted realm.". Yup. 

Book # 16 is the Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan. This is the first of the prequels about Hadrian and Royce and details how they met. It really is a fantasy buddy road series, right down to them hating each other when they first meet. It does nicely set up what we know will eventually happen. And as much as I like reading about the two boys, it was actually the sections on Gwen and her girls attempting to set up their own brothel that I found most interesting. And left me feeling the most anxious in my hope that they would succeed. 

Book # 17 is Hild by Nicola Griffith. This book is incredibly well researched and it shows, but I think it shows too much? In trying to flesh out the early history of the girl who would become St. Hilda, I think Griffith gets a little too bogged down in her time period. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, and I'm still not certain if the book ended with Hild marrying her half-brother?

Book # 18 is Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch. This is Peter Grant, magic cop book 4. Where Peter discovers an old, about to be destroyed, housing project is actually a magically significant piece of architecture. Shades of Ghostbusters to be sure, but I liked it quite a bit. Aaronvitch paints such a vivid picture of his Skygarden Estates that I had to google it and see if it was real. It's not, exactly, but based on a place called Heygarden. Either way, the place certainly came to life. Oh and the betrayal at the end of the book? Well set up enough that I could see it coming, and yet was still shocked it actually happened.

Book # 19 is Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch. And with this one, I have reached the end of the currently published Rivers of London novels. Damn. Anyway, I think this was my favourite, mainly cause Faeries. I usually always like Faeries. Also, there is totally an acknowledgement of a universal law that Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman put forth in Good Omens and I was totally chuffed to see it used here.

Book # 20 is Pawn in Frankincence by Dorothy Dunnett. Holy crap. What a book. Lymond journeys all over the place to find the son that Graham Mallet has hidden from him. The twists and turns and ultimate heartbreak are.. heartbreaking. On the upside? I really liked Jerrot Blyth and Phillipa Sommerville is all kinds of awesome.

Book # 21 is Half A War by Joe Abercrombie. The conclusion of the Shattered Seas trilogy, it concluded well but also with a bit of WTF on my part. The revelation of who the Elves may have been didn't sit well with me, but oh well. But Yarvi was his wonderfully conniving self, Princess Skara was a nice addition, but the killing of a certain character wasn't really called for. This was my least favourite of the trilogy.

Book # 22 is The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett. Definitely not the emotional wallop of the last book, this one sees Lymond escape that emotional turmoil by heading to the wilds of Russia with Guzel, so he can advise Tsar Ivan the Terrible on all things military. There's some numerous, lovely action set pieces as usual, and once again, Phillipa Sommerville is awesome.

And now we are all caught up.

Some not so light jazz and some fantasy

Book # 13 is Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

The second of the Peter Grant books, still much fun and Aaronovitch is developing his fantastic London very well. We learn more about Nightingale's past and the toll WWII took on magicians, and we also meet Peter's parents. I found this one slightly more predictable than the first one, but that didn't really detract from it. There seems to also have been a more major, long term nemesis introduced with the Faceless Man, a dark magician into all sorts of sordid things, and so far, completely unidentifiable by either Peter or Nightingale. So I'm interested in seeing where that goes.

Book #14 is Half the World by Joe Abercrombie.

The second book in Abercrombie's Shattered Sea series, I liked this one just as much as the first. We meet Thorn, a girl very much built in the mold of Brienne of Tarth, although even more rough around the edges. After a training mishap, Father Yarvi takes her amongst his crew for some adventures and further world building by Abercrombie. Face paced, fun, still that dark humour, intrigue and even some romance. "Fools boast of what they will do. Heroes do it." had to be my favourite line. It's a very Abercrombie line. 

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.

Book #34 - Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

I'M GOING TO GIVE AWAY AN IMPORTANT PLOT POINT HERE. GO NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW SHIT...

So Red Country... ah how I love Joe Abercrombie. So wonderfully violent and dark and damn funny at times. And here we have his foray into blending the Old West into his fantasy world.

We don't even have a catchy name for the world Abercrombie introduced to us in The Blade Itself. No Middle-Earth or Narnia or Midworld or Westeros (ok, yes I know, that's just a continent  or anything like that. It is what it is. And yet, I'm getting that wonderful feeling of familiarity now each time I come back to Abercrombie's books. And this is mainly because he threads characters through them all, to the point where you're not sure who might show up again, or where.

Which brings me to the best freaking part of this book...

Logen Ninefingers is BACK!!

To say he's one of the best characters I've come across in a long time is an understatement. And he was left in such a literal cliffhanger at the end of Last Argument of Kings, I really had no idea if he lived or not. But he did, and he went far away from the Northlands, assuming the name Lamb, and turning into 'some kind of coward' as his adoptive eldest 'daughter' Shy South constantly reminds us. Seems Logen has done everything he can to shed his past, but of course he couldn't stay away from trouble forever.

When Shy's brother and sister are stolen, off they go across the Far Country on an epic journey into the wild frontier to get them back. All the tropes are there, dangerous 'savages' just trying to protect what's there's, the motley band of settlers bonding against adversity, the frontier town that is a wretched hive of scum and villainy... yeah, it's all there and it should all be cliche, but Abercrombie makes it work and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Some of the characters were a little under developed, and I'm still not quite sure what Abercrombie was getting at with his introduction of the Dragon People (I got the idea that this might be set up for another book?) and some of the dialogue got a little repetitive (the endless renditions of 'can't escape your past' and 'I'm too old for this shit' could've been cut down some), but those are small quibbles in what was generally a fun (and violent) romp through new territory in Abercrombie's world.

The Heroes

Book number 30 - The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

((I'm now WAY behind on my reading because I totally ran aground on the huge fucking problematic rock that is Stephen King's the Dark Tower. I hit a point in that book that made me so damn mad I had to put it down and pick up The Heroes and cleanse my palate. I'm glad I did.))

Set in the same world as his other novels, we see some familiar faces engaged in a familiar past time; war. But this book is very interesting, as Abercrombie gives us one decisive battle, and the whole story takes place over the three days of this battle between the Union and Black Dow's Northmen.

The Heroes refers to both the place of the fight (a stone circle at the top of a hill) and of course, those who are fighting. And of course, some find that they are heroes or not.

There are multiple POVs throughout the novel, and it's one of Abercrombie's great strengths that he can pretty much make all his characters likeable enough that you end up wanting them to survive, no matter what side they're on. He's also wise in not giving us, for the most part, POVs of the more 'villianous' characters such as Black Dow or Bayaz or even poor old Caul Shivers, returned home from Styria.

But for the others, old vetern Curnden Craw, deposed Prince Calder, new recruit Beck, disgraced bodyguard to the King and combat monster Bremer dan Gorst... even when they're not likeable, there's still something about them to like. Abercrombie is so good at this it's a little scary sometimes.
There were a couple of POVs I could've done without (I understand Corporal Tunny's inclusion in the narrative, but I didn't really need him.), but nothing so bad it detracted from the overall story for me.

He does an admirable job of showing war in none of it's glory. Even those who are there for glory realize it's not. War is bad for everyone, even for those who are good at it. Also, he did a fantastic job of making Finree dan Brock's capture horrifying, without resorting to violating her. Although I'm sure poor Alize didn't fare as well, I appreciated him not putting that out there.

The ending is a little... pat, where we find out that a certain someone is pulling all the strings again. I'm hoping that Calder's little move at the end may have thrown a wrench in that someone's plans, 'cause I didn't really anticipate Calder doing what he did.

Looking forward to Red Country even more now.

Revenge is...

Book # 19 - Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Set in the same world as Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy, there are some overlaps, but for the most part, we are following new characters in a new part of the world.

Overall, I didn't like this one as much as the First Law Trilogy. The main character here, Monza Murcatto, a betrayed mercenary captain, and seeker of the revenge alluded to in the title of the book is a very complex, flawed and interesting character, but unlike the characters in the First Law Trilogy, she never becomes likeable. 

In this book we don't have a sublime character like Logen Ninefingers who should be so incredibly unlikeable, but you end up liking him all the same. I started out feeling that way about Shivers ( a familiar face from the Trilogy), but poor Shivers is changed so much and instead of feeling sympathy for him, I just end up not liking him.

In fact, I think he did the best here in rehabilitating Nicomo Cosca, Murcatto's former boss and another familiar face. It was actually really nice to see Cosca, who was such fun in the Trilogy, restored to something of his former glory. And really, he was the only injection of humour in this book.

Which makes me wonder if I didn't like this book as much because it's missing the dark humour so prevalent in the other books. 

By the time Murcatto got to the end of her revenge, I was about as ready for her to be done as she was.

All that being said though, I do really like this world that Abercrombie has created and will gladly go back for more.

Book 7 - Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie and Book 8 - The Sword and the Chain by Joel Rosenberg

Last Argument of Kings

I've reached the end of Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy and I must say I'm a little sad it's over. Not only because it ends on a literal cliffhanger (just as it started with one), but because I immensely enjoyed these books. And the characters. Abercrombie did a very find job of changing your perceptions about his main characters and then, in some cases, changing them again. And yet, I didn't feel I was being manipulated at all, these changes are a natural progression.

So this book starts with our adventures back in the capital city of Adua, which is going to be very, very invaded very, very soon. There's still a lot of travelling to be done by everyone, and death and destruction and one of the greatest holding out against an overwhelming siege scenarios since The Two Towers. Well, at least I thought so.

Things don't end well for a lot of the characters, or are left up in the air or whatever. I don't know if this points towards sequels in the future, but I wouldn't mind because I really liked Abercrombie's cynical, darkly humourous style of writing.

The Sword and the Chain

Book two in the Guardians of the Flame series. There is definitely more world building going on here but I'm still left with the idea of wanting... more. There's still not the depth I'd like and I'm still having a hard time connecting to characters, the world, motivations etc. What they're trying to do is all very well and good, but... it's not working for me.

Some things are assigned more weight than they should be, while other things... no. When a minor character gets killed, the main character Karl gives him such an overblown eulogy that I was completely reminded of Walter's final word's for Donny in the Big Lebowski. And I doubt that's what I should've been left with.

And Karl's reunion with Andy at the end also bugged the hell out of me. Ellegon had it right 'you humans are always making things more complicated...' When the author has one of his own characters pointing out the flaw in what he's writing... I don't think that's good.

The inclusion of some sort of Arthurian connection didn't really do much for me either I'm afraid.

I'll continue onto the next book that I was given, but then I'm definitely out.

(An aside: Talking about this book with Evan led to the beginning of an interesting conversation where we thought about books that we read and loved when we were younger that just don't stand up now. Same with authors. My teenaged self adored Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern stuff, and I still enjoy the first 3, but I also see a whole lot of problems with them that I didn't see as a teenager. In non-fantasy work though, I first discovered one of my all time favourite authors, Alice Munro, when I was 17 and I still read and love her work.)

Oh dear. I didn't even do an end of year post this time round. I have been SO caught up in re-reading the Song of Ice and Fire extravaganza again that I really didn't read many new books last year.

So for first post of this year, I have two new books done:

Book #1 is His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

This is one of those books I kept hearing about, that it was pretty good and I should check it out, but I just never got around to doing so. However, finding the first three novels bundled together for my e-reader made finally reading it simple.

So, the story of Will Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire (question for anyone else, how would you say that? Silent e at the end, or pronounce it so it's more like Temer-airy? Just curious), British captain and dragon during the Napoleonic Wars.

Yes, this is Sharpe meets the Dragonriders of Pern, and as I like both those things, I liked this book too. The plots not overly complicated or anything, but Novik has created a nice, parallel world where dragons are common place and used for war, complete with combat crews aboard them. It's fun. She writes a nice battle sequence, and has managed to not make Temeraire too precious, which is definitely a good thing.

I'm glad I have a couple more of these to go through, they're pretty popcorny.

Book #2 is Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie.

This is the second book of Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy, so we're back with our main characters from The Blade Itself, but the nice thing here is that there's less introduction and the characters are knee deep in action this time round as the threat of the wars introduced in the first book explode here.

We follow Inquisitor Glokta (quite possibly an even more cynical character than Tyrion Lannister) to a doomed city as he tries to uncover a treasonous plot. Major, no sorry, Colonel West is far in the North trying to keep the ridiculous Union army from imploding on itself before they can meet the enemy in battle; and the strange group of Logen, Bayaz, Ferro, Jezal et all continue on their quest for a weapon of supposedly great power. So we have all the lovely trappings of a regular fantasy novel, but what Abercrombie does best is making these seemingly unlikeable characters quite likeable; as they grow on each other, they also grow on you. His dialogue is sharp and cynical itself, and in a lot of places, incredibly, darkly funny. This is some good stuff.

Hey guess what? Number 14 is more fantasy! I don't think I've read this much consecutive fantasy novels that weren't all part of the same series in a very long time. But anyway, number 14 is The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. This came suggested from a number of sources, so thought it was time to give it a try.

Glad I did. So since this is the first book of a trilogy, this is our introduction. We meet the cast ; Barbarian Logen Ninefingers, crippled Inquisitor Glotka, selfish-spoiled pretty boy Jezal; the commoner who made good Major West and of course the powerful and enigmatic magus, cause you always need one of those.

I liked all the characters, even when they were made to be unlikable. Jezal is a complete pratt, West is a little too moral, Glotka is so very cynical (with good reason though), and Logen, well he's not as barbaric a barbarian as he's been in the past.

So not only do we meet the characters, but Abercrombie does some very successful world building too as he takes us through a few countries and their history and the wars that all of the main characters (except Jezal) have lived through. It's nicely done.

I don't have much to say other than I did enjoy this book a lot and will definitely be forging ahead with this crew, especially as they were finally heading out on the quest that that aforementioned powerful and enigmatic mage had enlisted them for.