Book Review - The Return

The Return – Victoria Hislop

As far as “Reading outside my usual genre” goes, “the Return” did not fit into my original plans. The book was recommended to me by my mother who knew I had recently started reading historical fiction and thought this might kind of fit the bill. One look at the blurb told me that it was not going to be my cup of tea. However, not wishing to disappoint dear old mum - who wants to be that guy? I said I would give it a whirl.

The blurb:

"Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada's cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city's shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet cafe, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain's devastating civil war. Seventy years earlier, the cafe is home to the close-knit Ramirez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country's fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.

After the first 20 pages I was seriously worried. In fact, for much of the first 150 pages I struggled. I was spurred on by assurances from my mother. Victoria Hislop commits all of the writing sins I have been taught to avoid:

·         Too many adjectives – check

·         Explaining every minor detail – check

·         Not sticking to the protagonist’s viewpoint and therefore learning what every character is thinking all of the time – you guessed it, check.

I grew increasingly frustrated that Sonia and Maggie could not just meet in a cafe and talk about the subject relevant to the plot. Instead: the walk to the cafe had to be described in minute detail; as would the 2 second conversation asking someone politely to move out of the way; as would the food they were eating; as would the..... well, you get the idea.

I understand why Victoria Hislop went into this detail as it did provide a flavour of setting and what life in Granada was really about. However, a lot of the time it simply came off as tedious. In the grand scheme of things, 60% of this was irrelevant to the story and the problem was I knew it was irrelevant as I was reading it.

The story really begins when an elderly cafe owner takes the time to educate Sonia about the Spanish civil war. This is where the novel steps up in quality in a big way. Gone are the overly descriptive passages, replaced with a frank retelling of the events surrounding the Ramirez family.

Victoria Hislop spares no feelings as she describes the harsh realities of the time and even more impressive is that as interesting as the retelling of the facts are, they are eclipsed by the internal war that rages within the Ramirez family as the parent attempt to unite their children.

All of the children are well portrayed: The arrogant bull-fighter Ignacio is suitably loathsome, the reclusive Emilio is both sympathetic and frustrating, the pragmatic Antonio is torn between family and duty and finally there is Mercedes who just wishes to dance. Mercedes is almost a retelling of Sonia’s story in her passion for dancing. However, here is actually interesting and VH succeeds in capturing the reader’s imagination.

I have no idea how much of this novel is factually correct, I assume the way it is told means that a lot of it is accurate. What I do know is how ignorant I was of the whole Spanish war and the tyrant that was Franco. This novel has made me go and research the whole subject further and so you can’t praise a book better than that.

When the book returns to the present day we discover that the two stories are actually linked. Any experienced reader will see the link a mile off. The whole set up is a little far-fetched as to how Sonia discovered the cafe but I was entertained by the book.

Overall then, do away with about 70 pages of the first 150, edit some of the prose in this section as well and put a little more thought into making it less of a coincidence, you are left with a very good novel.

My rating: 8.2

Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire 1) By JR Rain

Review by Jacqui Slaney

It is strange how many different authors I have come across since getting a kindle. They have obviously always been there, but I have missed them on the bookshelves by looking for familiar names first.

This is such case; I came across this author shortly after getting the Kindle while looking at the recommended titles. I nearly passed it by, not a great reader of vampire books. Read a couple, Dracula and Interview with a Vampire, and do not mind watching films about them (though most admit- vampires that sparkle in sunlight, still strikes me as slightly odd) but they have never appealed to me that much.

However, the description on this one sounded interesting and a bit different, and the book was free so I thought I would give it a go:

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago, federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire. Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn't exactly what he appears to be; after all, there is a reason why he survived five shots to the head.

The writer makes Samantha Moon a very sympathetic character and you feel for her plight and her feelings for children. She has been a vampire for six years when you first start reading, and you feel her loneliness. She has made some new friends and as this is the first in a series, you are introduced to them briefly. They are still well described especially the husband, who I soon disliked intensely; I suppose to be fair you can understand his feelings of fear to find that his wife had been turned into a vampire, although the way he treats her will still have you booing him.

It is not a long story and it is not a complicated one, but it is an enjoyable read as the writing is fast and entertaining. Ok so it is soon obvious why her client survived the attack made on him, but the story is really about Sam coming to terms, which what she has become, and how she deals with her new life.

When you read other reviews on this series, there are complaints from some readers saying that each book ends on a cliffhanger, which forces you to buy the next one. I admit to not understanding these complaints, most series are like this and since when has some suspense been bad? These books are also inexpensive, so it is not as if you will have to spend a vast fortune keeping up with them either.

As you can probably guess, I have read the whole series, and enjoyed them all, if you want a short story that it is easy to read, then definitely try this one.

10 out of 10

Book Review - The eye of the moon

The Eye of the moon - Anonymous

 

I read the “book with no name” a number of years ago.  At the time of its release there was a very clever marketing campaign. The book was written by a mysterious author (Anonymous) and who ever read the book later died.

It was more than enough to get me interested. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t the crazy, enjoyable romp full of witty dialogue and cool set pieces I got. Think “from Dusk til Dawn” meets “Sin City”. When the “Eye of the Moon” was announced I snapped it up immediately. I have a bad habit of purchasing books the minute they are released and then not actually getting round to reading them until much later (sometimes when they are released in paperback – which irks me as I could have saved myself loads of money). I don’t know why I do this but suffice to say I have only just got around to reading, “the eye of the moon.”

The Blurb:

In this, the sensational follow-up to "The Book With No Name", those who miraculously survived the blood-soaked conclusion to the first novel are back in town for another massacre to remember. Young lovers Dante and Kacy, hapless bartender Sanchez, Peto the Hubal monk and the mysterious Jessica - each will be drawn into the violent vortex surrounding the Bourbon Kid, the supernatural killer who is himself now being hunted. Hot on his heels are several vampire gangs, the US Secret Service, a couple of werewolves, some corrupt cops, and the Dark Lord himself, and none will rest until he is dead. But the Kid has vengeance of his own to wreak...

I am one of the few people that is not a fan of Steven Erikson’s Malazan series. Now I know what you are thinking, (apart from, “what the hell as Erikson got to do with anything?”) even if I didn’t like Erikson’s series surely I do not have the audacity to compare it with this book. Bear with me please.

The two main problems I had with Erikson’s “Garden of the moon,” was 1) it was unnecessarily hard to follow (some people like overly complicated plots and I do as well but only to a degree – it has to maintain my interest) and 2) it seemed every other chapter a new “cool” character was introduced that was even more badass then the previous incarnation and so you never got a sense of the order to the world.

I mention this digression, as this is exactly the same problems I should have with, “the eye of the moon.” The plot makes no sense in places and random characters are introduced who seemingly have no relation to the story. The difference is that Anonymous writes such enjoyable dialogue and with such humour that I didn’t care.

The book hurtles along at a frantic pace; the author leaves it up to you to decide who to root for as none of the characters are particularly nice and the thing is the manic plot makes sense in the end.

We also get an insight into the Bourbon Kid’s past. Well at least enough to know what made him so angry at the world.

All the other surviving characters from the first book return and we learn why the hapless Sanchez was spared by the Bourbon kid as well. The new characters are all enjoyable, especially the Shades. Dante’s attempt to infiltrate them is highly amusing.

As you may have guessed I loved this book. It shouldn’t work but it does. At the end of the book, although the plot threads are mostly resolved there is enough unfinished business to imply there will be a third book. You can bet your bottom dollar I will be there.

My rating 8.3  

New genres

Branching out on reading

Lately, I have been thinking I should branch out on the genres I read. I’ve already read a lot of: fantasy, historical fiction, crime, thriller, horror and action books. However, two of my favourite books of all time, “Boys Life” by Robert McCammon and “To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee do not fall into any of these categories.

I therefore find it mind boggling that I do not read more variety. This can only aid my writing as well as I experience new styles etc. So if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. I already have “Water for elephants” and “the help” lined up. Check out my forthcoming review of Victoria Hislop’s “the Return” as well.

Book Review - Night Watch (JS)

 Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Review by Jacqui Slaney

Now I find myself doing reviews, I could not resist writing about one of my all time favourite authors, and in particular this book. I imagine that most people have heard of Terry Pratchett, and that if they haven’t read his books then they have seen one of the dramatisations that have been on TV, which are good but in my opinion do not capture the full flavour of his books. Everyone will have their own favourite character, mine is Samuel Vimes without a doubt.

He first appeared in ‘Guards, Guards’ one of the earlier Disc world novels, and due to the careful handling of the author, his character has developed as the books have gone on. He is cynical, sarcastic, endearing, trying to be a good man in difficult circumstances in other words a true copper. Even after his rise in the ranks to Sir Samuel Vimes, he is still a policeman who knows the street.

In this book he is very much the central character, you get to learn of his past and what makes Vimes Vimes. His wife Sybil is currently giving birth, and the story sees Vimes sent away from this event and back to his past. Back to the early days of the City watch, when Ankh Morpork was a lot nastier, and the ruler (or Patrician) was insane and there was a secret police force used to interrogate prisoners. Vimes travels back in time with a murderer who he is trying to capture and finds he has to defend both himself and his younger self from this crazed psychopath. To complicate matters he finds that he also has to save his future by ensuring that history takes its correct course.

This is a great novel, not one to read if you are new to the disc world series, but definitely one to treasure when you have read a few earlier books.  Night Watch lets you meet well known character when they were young, and gives you a whole other perspective on them. This is a darker story than the earlier ones, there is still the humour that you expect from Pratchett, but there is also horror, intrigue, grief and sadness. You see the light and dark conflicts in Vimes, of what he wants to do and what he will let himself do and how he wants to protect his younger self from seeing all the evil around him. 

I’m not a great lover of time travel in stories, but this story is excellent, Terry Pratchett’s skilful writing gets you hooked from the start through to the ending which came all too soon. Out of all the disc world novels I have read, I would say that this is one of my all time favourites, and I would definitely recommend it.

10 out of 10

Book Review - The Wind Through the Keyhole

Stephen King – The Wind through the keyhole.

When Mr. King announced he was going to return to Mid-world many so called fans took the opportunity to once again lament how Stephen King destroyed the series after book 4 and how he is not the same writer he was. Many others (and I fit firmly in this category) couldn’t contain their excitement at once again being part of Roland, Eddie, Susan, Jake and Oy’s journey toward the dark tower.

For the record, I do not prescribe to the belief that the books declined in quality after book 4. Book 5 for example is my favourite in the series and inspired me to write my book. Book 6 I agree is perhaps the weakest and book 7 has it’s problems but I still thought they were great. (I still maintain that moving the first third of book 7 to the end of book 6 would have improved both novels).

The blurb:

This story within a story within a story finds Roland Deschain, Mid-World's last gunslinger, in his early days during the guilt-ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-shifter, a 'skin-man,' Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime. 'A person's never too old for stories,' he says to Bill. 'Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them."

As much as I loved returning to Mid-World, the time spent with Roland and his Ka-tet is brisk to say the least.

We meet our heroes as they are just about to embark on the journey to Calla Bryn Sturgis from the Emerald City. Before they set out however, they are warned by the strange behaviour of Oy that there is an imminent threat of a Starkblast (a horrendous storm that is fatal for those that do not find shelter). This provides the perfect opportunity for Roland to regale the group with another one of his stories. Although the time spent with the series regulars is brief, there are still some nice touches. For example, once again we are reminded of how harsh Roland can be in his treatment of Jake.

So what we essentially have here is a similar set up to “Wizard and Glass” where the majority of the book consists of Roland telling a story of his childhood. I’m fine with that as I loved Roland’s stories.

This however, is slightly different as it is a story within a story encapsulated within a third story.

Story 2 then is of Roland’s childhood and recalls a time when he is sent by his father to investigate reports that a skin changer know as the Skin-man is killing innocents. Here we are treated to a Roland who is not quite sure of himself as a Gunslinger. We see glimpses of the man that he is to become, but there are times when he doubts himself and shows his naivety. It is refreshing to see how he approaches the investigation and his thought process as he unravels clues. King still uses the excellent technique of hinting that Roland is working towards a goal that the reader is not allowed to see until it is revealed. This is great as you pit your wits against Roland to figure out what he is doing. Lee Child does this sometimes with Jack Reacher and I wonder if King (a fan of Child) did this with Reacher in mind?

Half way through story 2 we are introduced to the third story where Roland recalls his favourite fairy story his mother used to read to him. The story is called the “wind through the keyhole” and takes up the largest portion of the book.

Undoubtedly this is the strongest tale in the book. Still set in Mid-world the story feels very much like King’s other excellent venture into the fantasy genre, “the eye of the dragon.”

The story involves the young boy setting off on a journey to find out what happened to his father and make things better for his mother. King handles the tale with style. His writing seems so effortless that I can’t help but wonder why he does not delve into this genre more often.

A host of great characters are introduced and we once again we meet the character that defines Stephen King.

When the story is finished and we return to Roland and the skin-man, the story is well wrapped up. The end is satisfying and we find out more about Roland’s relationship with his mother which is rather touching.

For those looking for another Dark Tower story involving the usual line-up you will be disappointed. For those looking for King writing at his best, you will not be. Stephen, if by some mad chance you ever read this blog, I know Dark Tower is your take on the fantasy genre, but please consider writing another fantasy series. You are so dam good at it. At the very least, please do a collection of short fairy tale stories that will pee all other the Grimm brothers!!

Overall rating: 9.3

Book Review - The Wine of Angels

The Wine of Angels – Phil Rickman

This is another book that I happen to come across on the Kindle that seemed to be well regarded and very cheap. It is book one in the Merrily Watkins series, of which I believe there have been 11 books so far. It often amazes me how someone who has written 11 books and is relatively popular can escape my notice but Phil Rickman had done just that.

The Blurb:

The new vicar in the village of Ledwardine does not need a haunted vicarage, or controversy over the first Ledwardine Festival. The event's focus is the mysterious death of a previous minister during the 17th-century witch-hunts. Then a girl disappears and an old apple-tree bears fruit.

I will be the first to admit that the blurb hardly sounds the most original but I was pleasantly surprised with, “The wine of angels.” The characters in the village are all well portrayed and are not forced upon you. Phil assumes that his reader has a degree of intelligence and introduces them quickly but leaves it up to you to work who is who out for yourselves. After a while everyone falls into place and you realise that you are firmly immersed into the intricate world of Ledwardine.

Merrily Watkins is a flawed character. Nervous about her new role but with an inner confidence in her ability, she is mythed when she is unable to demonstrate this to her new flock. She also wrestles with her relationship with her teenage daughter Jane, who increasingly questions her mother’s parenting skills whilst forging her own existence in the village.

As with Robert Jackson Bennett’s the Troupe which I read recently, the mystery or supernatural element is not what you would expect. The spooky elements follow the familiar tropes of bumps in the night etc but overall they are underplayed and as such more effective.

The third point of view character Lol is a former musician who was relatively successful before his career spiralled out of control. Lol wishes to keep himself to himself but finds himself embroidered in the drama that engulfs the Watkins family. Lol is perhaps the most interesting character. You empathise with his pain, but also worry about the type of man he really is.

Rickman excels at dialogue, his characters are all believable and you can feel the hatred and tension they have for each other.

One reviewer on Amazon (A Watson) describes this book as, “a ghost story wrapped inside a mystery and bound tightly together with the twine of dark folklore.” This sums it up perfectly but I would go as far as to say that this is also a lesson in characterisation.

The conclusion is more than satisfying with a nice twist. This is again underplayed and adds to the book.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of Merrily Watkins and would recommend the book to anyone looking for something familiar but different.

My rating: 8