Book Review - A Shadow in Summer

A Shadow in Summer- Daniel Abraham:

There are a few authors that I have never read but am really looking forward to reading: Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson and Daniel Abraham. All three are well regarded within the fantasy community. Daniel Abraham is the one I have been looking forward to the most. A close friend of George R R Martin and a fan of his work, I was hoping for a tale that would capture my imagination as much as ASOIAF.

The Blurb:

The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit, Seedless, an andat bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, a juggernaut of an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht, though, has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity. If they can dispose of Heshai, Seedless's bonded poet-sorcerer, Seedless will perish and the entire city will fall. With secret forces inside the city, the Galts prepare to enact their terrible plan. In the middle is Otah, a simple laborer with a complex past. Recruited to act as a bodyguard for his girlfriend's boss at a secret meeting, he inadvertently learns of the Galtish plot. Otah finds himself as the sole hope of Saraykeht, either he stops the Galts, or the whole city and everyone in it perishes forever.

Do you ever read a book and get annoyed at yourself for not understanding part of it? You begin to doubt your intelligence or become annoyed at the author for making things too complicated. You then spend half the novel trying to work out what is going on.

Unfortunately this happened to me whilst reading, “A shadow in summer.” I can’t quite put my finger on why this was. I thought it could have been a number of things: Daniel Abraham’s characters all have unfamiliar names for example. Marchat, Maati, Lait, Amat, Seedless, Heshai,  Itani are the main cast, but then you have several other characters that all sound the same: Tahi-kvo, Dai-kvo, Milah-kvo. These all began to make sense eventually but initially I found it difficult to remember who was who. Still most fantasy books have odd names, so that shouldn’t have been the problem.

Maybe therefore it was the style in which it was written. Every character adopts a pose to express their feelings. For example Maati might form a pose of “query” rather than have a puzzled look on his face. This happens frequently and I mean frequently. I guess people are either going to love or hate it, personally I hated it to begin with, but it grew on me.

Finally maybe, it is just that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be taking the book in when I began reading it. This happens occasionally and when you’re feeling in that mood it is never best to start a book you are not familiar with.

Whatever the reason, I missed two important bits of information towards the start of the book and spent the next third getting increasingly frustrated and confused as I waited for them to be explained.

Having said that, once I had figured out who was who and got my head round what was going on, I really enjoyed, “A shadow in Summer”. It is difficult to believe that this is Daniel Abraham’s first novel. His prose is assured and he refuses to compromise on the story he wishes to tell. For example, action in the novel is virtually none existent. There is no gratuitous violence to appeal to a wider audience. Instead, what we have here is a real slow burner, focussed solely on the characters and their motivations.

And what good characters they are. Itani, Maati and Lait are all strong protagonists with individual traits, but it is the andat, Seedless that steals the show. His sinister plotting is reminiscing of Iago in Othello, although he does not hide who he is. This is fascinating, as the rest of the characters know where they stand with him, but still are unsure.

For those expecting a fast paced novel, look elsewhere. “A Shadow in Summer,” is a slow paced examination of characters and one I eventually enjoyed immensely. I feel that Daniel Abraham could have explained the event that the book hinged on slightly better, but now I am familiar with the world, I am looking forward to book two.

My rating: 8.2

Book Review - Lost Fleet - Dauntless

Lost Fleet – Dauntless – by Jack Campbell

Review by Jacqui Slaney

Before I started reading Fantasy and to be honest most other types of genres, I used to read Sci- Fi almost exclusively. Having an older brother who read Star Trek and authors such as Robert Heinlein and Asimov meant that these types of books were always lying around, so I was hooked at an early age. Now although I read many types of books, I still like to go back to Sci Fi now and again.

Amazon recommended this book, I did not know the author, but was intrigued by the idea so took a chance.

This is the description: 

  The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century, and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black Jack" Geary – a man who has emerged from a century-long hibernation to find himself heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.

It is not a complicated story; a hero thought years dead is found in a ships escape pod from a long ago battle. He awakes from hibernation to find that everything has changed. This is no longer the world he knew, the morals and honour that he believed in has changed dramatically after years of warfare and all the people and family that he knew have died. He himself is seen as a legend that has come back to life and will save them all. After a meeting with the enemy Captain John finds him self in charge of a fleet and has to battle against the enemy, his own legend and petty jealousies to try to get everyone home.

This is not a long story and it is the first in a series so it obviously has a very open ending. As I mentioned, it is not a complicated plot and some of the writing is a little basic. I am not sure what holds you; I have read much better stories with better science and much more action, so I think the characters themselves hold your interest.

With Geary, you get a sense of how shocking the changes in his circumstances are. He is not used to command especially of such a large number of ships and men, he has to deal with this and the fact that even the way war is now waged has changed especially with the treatment of the enemy. You see how he fights against his hero status and how this works against him with some of his officers. There are really good scene in the ships virtual conference room when he confronts those who speak against him and also how he deals with a political leader who wants to split the fleet.

If you are looking for an easy but enjoyable read and don’t expect too much star wars type battles then give this one a go, I do not think you will be disappointed.

7 out of 10

 

Book Review - Before I go to sleep (RD)

Before I go to sleep – S J Watson

Review by Rob Donovan

I was looking forward to reviewing this one. My wife bought it a little while ago as she thought the premise sounded good. Jacqui reviewed it recently and was not overly keen, but my wife read it and loved it. I was intrigued by that alone, as normally my tastes in reading is very similar to both.

The Blurb:

'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me ...'

Memories define us.
So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?
Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight.
And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

I have to admit, I did scan Jacqui’s review before I read the novel. I wasn’t going to as I didn’t want to be influenced in anyway, but I am pleased I did.

Jacqui’s main issues were that she guessed the ending and found the whole sequence of Christine waking up each day too repetitive. I will comment on both of these in due course.

First of all, anyone that reads the blurb and is not immediately intrigued is a robot. The book has a fantastic premise and the possibilities are endless. Can you even imagine being in that situation. Have to discover your identity every single day? Wonder who are the strangers that are telling you they love you? It might just be me, but the thought just blows my mind.

It is probably why, from the first chapter I was totally immersed in the novel. As Christine began to look for clues to her pass, so was I. I was on that journey with her. It may help knowing that you are reading a crime/thriller but I was still as suspicious as she was.

S J Watson strikes a terrific balance between Christine discovering things and then rediscovering things each day, without making it tedious for the reader who has the advantage of having a memory. Perhaps it was because I was forewarned that this may have been tedious that I did not find it as bad as expected, but I don’t think this is the case.

After the initial waking up and not remembering anything, S J Bolton does a great job of skipping this part of Christine’s morning and goes straight to the point where she has read the journal she has kept and reacquainted herself with her past. There are only a few occasions she does not do this but this is essential to the plot.

Another issue Jacqui felt the novel fell down was that she found it completely implausible that Christine would not have more people around her to offer her help. Admittedly I agree with this as once her husband Ben goes to work, she is left to fend for herself which just would not happen. However, I can see why S J Watson has done this. Introducing more characters would have bloated the plot and meant the reader would not focus as much on the few main characters in the novel, namely Ben and Dr Nash.

Both of these are well drawn and provide just enough of a hint to make Christine suspicious of them.

If I am honest I did guess the ending fairly early on. Unlike other novels when I do this however, I was not annoyed. I think we are supposed to guess most of it. The clues are laid out for all to see and it is not as if Christine is one of those dumb protagonists that miss the glaringly obvious all the time.

The ending is well handled and satisfying, even if you have to suspend your belief system for a number of parts.

As you can see I enjoyed this novel. I can see why it got the positive reviews it has, but then again I can completely understand why Jacqui had issues with it. It just goes to show how lucky I am to have Jacqui on board this site to offer an alternative opinion.

My rating: 8.4

Book Review: Gallows Thief

The Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell:

Review by Jacqui Slaney

Most of you will have heard of Bernard Cornwell through his ‘Sharpe’ series and ‘The Warlord Chronicles’, all of which have been mentioned on this blog by Rob.

Having read all these and enjoyed them immensely, I picked this one up with no hesitation. This is the story description:

It is Britain in the 1820s. After the wars with France, with unemployment high and soldiers paid off, the government lives in mortal fear of social unrest. The solution is draconian punishment for any crime, and thousands die on the gallows. But despite this, it was possible to petition the King and instigate an investigation. Cornwell's new hero Rider Sandman is a hero of Waterloo struggling to repay his family debts when he becomes involved in the case of a man waiting to be hanged in Newgate prison. Given the job by the Home Secretary of investigating the man's guilt or innocence, Sandman finds himself knee-deep in labyrinthine plots involving bribes, sedition and a massive conspiracy of silence. As this suggests, the contemporary parallels are never far away. The world Cornwell has conjured for us is as richly drawn as any in his distinguished career: gentlemen's clubs and taverns, haughty aristocrats, fashionable painters and their mistresses, and professional cut-throats; all this creates a heady melange that is just as impressive as anything in Cornwell's Sharpe series

Rider Sandman is the hero of the story, he has been likened to Richard Sharpe- but unlike Sharpe, Rider came from a well-to do family. It is due to his father’s debts and suicide that he has been left virtually penniless, as he has given the majority of his funds from selling his officers commission to look after his mother and sister. He lives in rough lodgings while looking for work. He is finally commissioned by the Home Secretary to look into a murder following a recommendation from a friend. In 1817, most people once convicted of a crime hang, but in this case due to Royal intervention, there has to be seen to be a token investigation. Rider however is an honourable man, and cannot just let the case go so easily. The book follows his investigation into the case and we are given insights into the appalling nature of the legal system in those days, the treatment of the prisoners and the complete lack of justice.

 This is another excellent story from Cornwell. He sets the scene easily with his descriptions of the worlds in which Rider moves, one minute in the shabby lodgings with highwaymen, the next with his wealthy ex fiancée. At the start of the book, a hanging is described and the graphic description brings it vividly to life, and you feel the hopelessness of those involved and what they have to do to have an efficient hanging. There is good period detail with the use of the slang of the time and  also some interesting detail about cricket, which Rider uses as an escape from his problems and we get to see the problems that there were with gambling in the sport even then.

Some reviews say that this is one of the weaker Cornwell novels, as the intrigue is quite basic. However, in my opinion, it is good as any of them with a good plot and as in any of the Cornwell novels, the characters are real and completely individual. There is also a small chance of a sequel, as this novel has a slightly open ending, which we can hope is revisited by the author, as Rider is an excellent character.

9 out of 10

Book Review - Hells Bells

Hells Bells: Samuel Johnson Vs the Devil – John Connolly

John Connolly has been one of my favourite authors for a long time now. His Charlie Parker crime/supernatural series which forms the main body of his work is excellent. However, John also writes in other genres. His fantasy novel, “the book of lost things” is brilliant and his short story collection of horror tales, “Nocturnes” is far from shabby as well. Recently John ventured into the Young Adult market with, “the Gates,” a humorous novel not dissimilar in comedy to Pratchett. Hells Bells marks his second entry into this series.

The Blurb:

Samuel Johnson - with a little help from his dachshund Boswell and a very unlucky demon named Nurd - has sent the demons back to Hell. But the diabolical Mrs Abernathy is not one to take defeat lying down. When she reopens the portal and sucks Samuel and Boswell down into the underworld, she brings an ice-cream van full of dwarfs as well. And two policemen. Can this eccentric gang defeat the forces of Evil? And is there life after Hell for Nurd?

I really liked the first book in the series, the writing was simplistic without being too basic. John continues in exactly the same fashion with this book. The story is accompanied by a collection of footnotes where John light-heartedly talks to the reader sometimes about random observations, science and sometimes about figures in history. In “the Gates” many reviewers found the footnotes hilarious, personally I found them a bit hit and miss. They often distracted from the flow of the story and I found myself skipping over them until the end of a chapter. In “Hell Bells” I thought they were great. Everyone of them was wistful and added to the enjoyment of the book. They introduced enough information about historical figures to make you go and research them more – fantastic for young readers.

The story is much the same as the first, although this time it takes place in hell. Samuel is a little more grown up this time round. He is interested in girls now and starts to question his parent’s actions more. It is a nice development of his character.

Most of the characters are back although the stars of the first book, “Nurd and Wormwood” are not as prominent in, “Hells Bells.” This is a shame as they were my favourite thing about the first novel and where most of the humour came from.

However, John introduces Mr Merryweather’s Dwarves. Anyone that has read “The book of lost things,” will know how enjoyable the dwarves in that novel were. It seems John enjoyed writing about them as well, as “Hells Bells” the dwarves he writes about are fantastic. He seems to have let rip on their personalities and made them as despicable but at the same time, delightful as possible. I genuinely laughed out loud on a couple of occasions when reading about their antics - something I hardly ever do.

There story itself is hardly taxing. But the love and humour poured into the novel is evident. There are several minor characters that you can’t help but love. The battle that rages in hell is well handled and there are some surprisingly graphic moments for a children’s book.

All in all, this is a delightful book. It does feel a little too similar as the first in terms of the plot but the comedy and characters can’t help but win you over.

My rating: 8.4

Book Review - The Last Days of Newgate

The Last Days of Newgate by Andrew Pepper

Review by Jacqui Slaney

As you have seen from my last few reviews, recently I have not been talking about books that I have only just read but books that I have read in the past and enjoyed.

This one is another one of those. I bought this book shorting after reading Ratcatcher by James McGee, as I thought that it would be similar, that Pyke, the hero of this story would be of the same style of McGee’s Hawkwood, I could not have been more wrong, though Hawkwood bend the rules- Pyke smashes them.  This is the description:

 St Giles, London, 1829: three people have been brutally murdered and the city simmers with anger and political unrest. Pyke, sometime Bow Street Runner, sometime crook, finds himself accidentally embroiled in the murder investigation but quickly realises that he has stumbled into something more sinister and far-reaching. In his pursuit of the murderer, Pyke ruffles the feathers of some powerful people and, falsely accused of murder himself, he soon faces a death sentence and the gallows of the Old Bailey. Imprisoned, and with only his uncle and the headstrong, aristocratic daughter of his greatest enemy, who believe in him, Pyke must engineer his escape, find the real killer and untangle the web of politics that has been spun around him. From the gutters of Seven Dials to the cells of Newgate prison, from the turmoil of 1800s Belfast to the highest levels of murky, pre-Victorian politics, THE LAST DAYS OF NEWGATE is a gripping, darkly atmospheric story with a fantastic, pragmatic - and reluctantly heroic - hero.

Pyke’s job is a Bow Street Runner but is sometimes not far from the criminals he is supposed to be catching. The book is quite dark and you get a real feel for the time in which Pyke lives by the excellent writing and descriptions of the places and of the characters with which he interacts. Some of the dialogue may be a little stilted at the start, but this is a new author, and to be fair the story is good enough so that this not distract at all.

The book starts by Pyke being asked to investigate robberies at a bank, but then the story really takes off with quite a horrible murder. The description is not for the faint hearted, as one of them is a baby that death stays with Pyke on his investigation and spurs him on. There is violence throughout the story, not least when Pyke finds himself accused of murder, and you find your self really gripped by the fast pace that the author has set for the story. The violence may be unsettling, but it is part of the world in which Pyke moves and very much part of him. 

I found myself changing my mind about Pyke as I read the book. I found myself disliking him, as Pyke is not an easy character to like, in fact in real life I doubt if you would want anything to do with him. He is completely ruthless, but does have some softer feelings, which I found made him a bit more human.  Pyke is not the normal run of the mill type hero, but then again as you read the story, it comes across quite clearly that the author was not planning to make him such. To do what he does, he has to hit back as hard as those around him do without too many qualms of conscience. This is shown very well when he takes his revenge at the end of the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a different type of detective story. This is a good read which excellent characters. It is the first of a series as well, so the writing gets better as the series goes on.  

9 out of 10

Book Review: Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

A few weeks ago I posted about trying books in new genres. My first foray was, “the return” by Sophie Hislop. The book left me with mixed feelings. Next on the list was the popular, “Water for Elephants,” a book known to many probably due to the film adaption starring Robert Pattison and Reese Witherspoon.

I tend to find popular books a bit hit and miss but I’d watched a two minute scene from the film when flicking through the channels recently and it was enough to get me interested in the blog.

The blog:

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

My experience of reading about circus life in a normal genre is non-existent. I’ve read, the excellent, “the Troupe” recently and also “Something wicked this way comes,” but both were more fantasy/horror.

“Water for Elephants” was my first venture in this type of novel. As most regular viewers know, I prefer my novels to contain strong interesting characters rather than action or plot driven, “Water for Elephants” has a wealth of such characters on display.

The novel starts with an elderly man, struggling to come to terms with his age and begrudging the fact he is in a residential home. In truth he is the most likeable of people but Sara Gruen captures his frustration well. The story then splits to his younger life and it is here the story begins in earnest with constant trips back to the older Jacob.

Jacob could easily have been the robotic protagonist that we so often see in novels. The type that allows the other interesting characters to shine around him. To a certain extant he is, but in a very good way. He is naive, but never annoyingly so. He struggles between his conscience as he longs to do what is right and learning to accept the code of the circus lifestyle. It works well as reader learns at the same pace as him.

The members of the circus he interacts with are all intriguing. It would have been easy for Sara Gruen to define them purely by the acts they perform, but quite often their acts supplement their characters. For example, security are more than the tough guys they first appear to be.

Kinko the clown is perhaps the best of these. The relationship he has with Jacob is a delight to read, but Big Al and especially August are great creations.

The romance element to the book is well handled. It is prominent but without being dominant. Which leaves the real star of the novel to shine through – the circus and animals themselves. Rosie the elephant is so well written she is almost like a human character.

Sara details how she went about researching the novel, including studying the animal’s behaviour etc. I am no expert but the resultant novel feels very authentic and I would say the era and lifestyle has been captured perfectly.

One thing I was delighted to read is that a lot of the events involved in the novel are lifted from old circus stories. It is nice to think there is an element of truth to the novel particularly with some of the more outlandish behaviour of the animals.

As you may have guessed, I loved this novel. The ending is very touching and pretty much all a reader could ask for. Sara Gruen’s affection for the subject matter oozes through the pages. One of my favourite reads this year.

My rating: 9.3