Book roundup, second half of August
Sep. 5th, 2005 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellarienMidnight Tides, Steven Erikson
I think this may be my favourite Malazan book so far (though there are barely any Malazans in it). By Erikson's standards, it's quite light-hearted, with more comedy and less mega-deaths than usual, though there's enough tragedy to go around. It also has some passages that could quite easily be read as commentary on recent world events, with the capitalist, colonizing Letherii up against the primitive, savage and reactionary Tiste Edur.
The Dark Mirror, Juliet Marillier
Marillier stays with dark-ages Scotland for this new series, based on the life of Bridei, a ruler of the Picts.
I didn't find this very satisfying, though I did stay awake until 1am to finish it. The marriage of the fantasy elements and the attempt at historical accuracy didn't seem to mesh very well, leaving the magic seeming rather useless at times. The tension between enlightened druids and treacherous Christians was a bit hard to swallow in the early parts of the book, though it does develop nuances later on, and one of the most powerful sequences demonstrates that the druidic religion has its problems. Also, Bridei was just too perfect to be an interesting protagonist.
The Secrets of Jin-Shei, Alma Alexander
This is a beautiful book, moving and exciting by turns, telling the story of a group of women joined by the unbreakable bonds of Jin-Shei, a vowed sisterhood that overrides class distinctions and all other loyalties, in a land very like ancient China.
The problem I have with books in this kind of setting is that there's very little to compare them with; Kij Johnson's Japanese princess would recognize some of this setting, I think; the only other fictional referent that comes to mind is Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt.
If I have a gripe about this, it's that again, the magic and the realism don't quite gel; the fantasy elements are barely hinted at in the beginning, and become overt so late that they feel superfluous, even though, later still, they become important to the overall plot. At its heart, I think, this is the story of a group of friends, and the fact that their adventures include some magic seems a litle beside the point.
Pavane, Keith Roberts
This seems to be one of those retrospectively-cliched things -- a book that creates the tropes for a generation. I was amused to see the possible origins of the Diskworld's Clacks system, in particular. The writing is beautiful, especially in the descriptions of the landscape. The plot, such as it was, or maybe the underlying premise, I found a bit unconvincing. It's obviously a book of its time, and the time was the height of the cold war when nuclear destruction was a real and overwhelming fear.
Captain James Cook, A Biography, Richard Hough
I bought this at the Natural History Museum in London. The subject matter is fascinating; the prose is workmanlike and the treatment oddly old-fashioned and deferential.
Also read in the last few weeks: re-reads of The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and
Madame Curie, all very old favourites.
I think this may be my favourite Malazan book so far (though there are barely any Malazans in it). By Erikson's standards, it's quite light-hearted, with more comedy and less mega-deaths than usual, though there's enough tragedy to go around. It also has some passages that could quite easily be read as commentary on recent world events, with the capitalist, colonizing Letherii up against the primitive, savage and reactionary Tiste Edur.
The Dark Mirror, Juliet Marillier
Marillier stays with dark-ages Scotland for this new series, based on the life of Bridei, a ruler of the Picts.
I didn't find this very satisfying, though I did stay awake until 1am to finish it. The marriage of the fantasy elements and the attempt at historical accuracy didn't seem to mesh very well, leaving the magic seeming rather useless at times. The tension between enlightened druids and treacherous Christians was a bit hard to swallow in the early parts of the book, though it does develop nuances later on, and one of the most powerful sequences demonstrates that the druidic religion has its problems. Also, Bridei was just too perfect to be an interesting protagonist.
The Secrets of Jin-Shei, Alma Alexander
This is a beautiful book, moving and exciting by turns, telling the story of a group of women joined by the unbreakable bonds of Jin-Shei, a vowed sisterhood that overrides class distinctions and all other loyalties, in a land very like ancient China.
The problem I have with books in this kind of setting is that there's very little to compare them with; Kij Johnson's Japanese princess would recognize some of this setting, I think; the only other fictional referent that comes to mind is Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt.
If I have a gripe about this, it's that again, the magic and the realism don't quite gel; the fantasy elements are barely hinted at in the beginning, and become overt so late that they feel superfluous, even though, later still, they become important to the overall plot. At its heart, I think, this is the story of a group of friends, and the fact that their adventures include some magic seems a litle beside the point.
Pavane, Keith Roberts
This seems to be one of those retrospectively-cliched things -- a book that creates the tropes for a generation. I was amused to see the possible origins of the Diskworld's Clacks system, in particular. The writing is beautiful, especially in the descriptions of the landscape. The plot, such as it was, or maybe the underlying premise, I found a bit unconvincing. It's obviously a book of its time, and the time was the height of the cold war when nuclear destruction was a real and overwhelming fear.
Captain James Cook, A Biography, Richard Hough
I bought this at the Natural History Museum in London. The subject matter is fascinating; the prose is workmanlike and the treatment oddly old-fashioned and deferential.
Also read in the last few weeks: re-reads of The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, and
Madame Curie, all very old favourites.