frankie Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Oh Karsa, you've now upset three readers with your review... I'm only joking. Maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 You guys may like it Although, from what Tim says, it sounds like it isn't a one-off . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I am already thinking I will love it .. not really. He's stuck a y in April .. I don't trust that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Fine, I'll be quiet at the back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 I am already thinking I will love it I'll send you my copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I'll send you my copy Thank you .. you are too generous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Book #70: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Blurb: London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths - under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away. Thoughts: I think to reveal more details than the blurb already does would totally ruin the experience of reading this novel because, for me, it was the twists and turns of the plot that kept my attention. On the face of it, I suppose, the book is quite different from what I normally read. Although I have read a fair amount of historical fiction it has usually been to do with Ancient Rome, Medieval times, and the Tudors - mainly the likes of Cornwell, Sansom, Harris etc - but I have also read a bit of Dickens and Austen, and this book felt to me like a modern take on the latter two, rather than my usual fare. It's a book split into three parts. I found the first and last parts very enjoyable, and both those parts were told from the point of view of Sue. Whether or not I enjoyed these parts more because I liked her character most, I am unsure. For much of the book I had trouble liking any of the characters, including hers - I found them all, without exception, completely unsympathetic, but I suppose that some of the twists that happened made me understand her a little more. The middle, and longest section, of the book is told from a different point of view. For the most part I liked it, but there did seem to be an inordinate amount of hand-wringing going on and - if you've ever read my reviews of the likes of Dracula or Riders of the Purple Sage - you'll know how much that sort of writing makes me want to start throwing things around It's a beautifully written book, very evocative of time and place, and the characters are brilliantly drawn, if wholly unlikeable. A little humour wouldn't have gone amiss, and the end . . . whilst I enjoyed the fatalistic nature of what happened to many of the characters, I didn't like the very final scenes, which almost had 'and they lived happily ever after' as the final line, and felt - to me - at odds with everything that had gone before. This is the second book I've read off frankie's challenge list. I liked it a lot, but it couldn't have topped Kavalier & Clay however much it tried. Thanks again frankie! 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Thanks to Amazon's 'Autumn Harvest', I just bought a couple of Kindle books for 99p each. Tempted by others, too. Blimmin' TBR list . . . The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers and Safe House by Chris Ewan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 The first of the Jim Butcher Dresden Files series was in the Autumn Harvest sale and I've had it on my wishlist since you first reviewed it, so it's now finally on my Kindle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 (edited) Hi Steve, glad you gave Fingersmith 7/10 . I agree the plot is a good one, the double betrayal and also the fact that the two women's fates are linked almost from birth is what is brilliant in my opinion Interesting that you did not find any of the characters likeable. I think watching the TV version helps make them all appear more sympathetic , even Gentleman who dies a horrible death . Edited October 27, 2012 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Those last few words are a bit spoilery, James! The first of the Jim Butcher Dresden Files series was in the Autumn Harvest sale and I've had it on my wishlist since you first reviewed it, so it's now finally on my Kindle! Yay, hope you enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Those last few words are a bit spoilery, James! Oh dear yes. Now corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Book #71: Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian Blurb: Master and Commander is the first of Patrick O’Brian’s now famous Aubrey/Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. It establishes the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his secretive ship’s surgeon and an intelligence agent. It contains all the action and excitement which could possibly be hoped for in a historical novel, but it also displays the qualities which have put O’Brian far ahead of any of his competitors: his depiction of the detail of life aboard a Nelsonic man-of-war, of weapons, food, conversation and ambience, of the landscape and of the sea. O’Brian’s portrayal of each of these is faultless and the sense of period throughout is acute. His power of characterisation is above all masterly. This brilliant historical novel marked the début of a writer who grew into one of our greatest novelists ever, the author of what Alan Judd, writing in the Sunday Times, has described as ‘the most significant extended story since Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time’. Thoughts: Well for me this was definitely a book of two halves. Beginning in Minorca with an elbow in the ribs, as Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin meet for the very first time at a music-room recital (Maturin isn't very happy with Aubrey's enthusiasm for the music), the story gets off to a decent, humourous start. Once it sets sail, however, there is page after page after page riddled with nautical terms. Seeing as I don't know my leeward from my larboard or my main topgallant from my stuns'l, at times I found this was like reading a foreign language. O'Brian casts Maturin as a lubber, and has various members of the Sophie's crew explain this and that to him, but I definitely found my mind drifting in those parts. To add to my confusion, the vessel upon which the characters serve in this book is a sloop, the aforementioned Sophie, which has two masts, yet the diagram at the start of the novel, which tries to explain masts and sails, has three! I also found, as battle was joined, invariably there would be so many ships named in so short a time that I lost track of which one belonged to which side. Perhaps I should have concentrated harder, but I persevered, and I'm very glad that I did. About halfway through, this aspect of the novel suddenly drops away, the pace picks up, and suddenly I was into the book that I'd expected to find from the start, full of exciting sea chases and battles and characters who have very quietly become fully rounded individuals, and it's really fun to read. In fact, I actually found myself fearing for the characters, as the sloop goes up against far greater forces, as cannonballs rip through hulls and rigging, and as the crew board other ships to fight hand-to-hand. I almost forgot how much I struggled with the first half but, just to ease my suddenly aroused curiosity, I have ordered a copy of this, so that when I read the next book, Post Captain, - which I now cannot wait to do - I will be a bit better prepared. Hopefully. I can't help thinking, though, that it comes to something when you have to buy another book just to be able to follow the book you're reading. Hmm. Rather handily, there was a documentary on Five the other night about the true story of Master & Commander. It was a little lightweight but did shed some light on some aspects, particularly that of the real-life person upon whom the character of Jack Aubrey is based (one Thomas Cochrane), and on how many of the events in both the Peter Weir movie and in the books were based on his true exploits. So, for the first half of the book I'd probably give a 6, but for the second it ramps up to a 9. Overall . . . 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Er...isn't the difference between 6 and 9 7.5? But I guess you don't do halves. The book sounds good a proper boy book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Er...isn't the difference between 6 and 9 7.5? Yeah, I wondered about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Book #72: The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey Blurb: When his old partner asks for help with an old rape case, Michael Kelly, former Chicago detective turned PI, finds himself in the middle of a massive coverup with links to a notorious serial killer on death row. With the help of his childhood friend, DNA analyst Nicole Andrews, feisty and sexy TV reporter Diane Lindsay and a handful of cops he hopes he can trust, Kelly must solve the original rape case while staying alive as the men who killed to keep a secret set their sights on him. Thoughts: I found this quite a riveting read. I suppose in other hands it could've been a by-the-numbers thriller-without-thrills but, considering this was Harvey's first novel, his style is so confident and readable it managed to push any of my doubts aside. Those doubts, initially, weren't helped by the use of a quote from De Palma's movie version of The Untouchables, actually crediting Sean Connery for the quote - you know the one: "You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way." It seemed kind of hokey to have that quote up in lights before the first chapter had even started, and I must admit it had put me off reading any further for quite a while. I was in the mood for a crime novel, though, and this was the one I'd had the longest, so . . . Written in the first person, the writing has that hard-bitten, noir-ish feel that you'd associate with the likes of Elmore Leonard and Dashiell Hammett. Obviously, it's not quite on the level of those two authors, but it's laconic, full of self-deprecating humour and neat turns of phrase. For a change, the 'hero', Michael Kelly - an Irish-American ex-cop turned private investigator - is not down on his luck, scratching around for cases and money. In fact, money doesn't seem much of a stumbling block for him, especially as he has an envelope full of the stuff thrust at him very early on. The crime itself is one of those cold case types. His ex-partner, John Gibbons, comes to him about a rape case that happened some eight years previously. The victim has suddenly reappeared and enlisted Gibbons's help in trying to close the still unsolved crime. Gibbons believes Kelly to be the best detective he ever worked with, and wants his help (cos if he didn't it wouldn't be much of a book!). From small beginnings the story quickly spirals outwards, and it's full of surprises, right up to the necessarily downbeat ending. As it deals with the aftermath of this most unpleasant crime, it is never graphic or gratuitous. I thought he handled it with a welcome degree of subtlety. As I've only recently been to Chicago, and many of the streets and landmarks in the novel are fresh in my memory, this only added to the enjoyment. Harvey has a great knack with description, and the atmosphere of the city comes across very well. Perhaps some of the peripheral characters could have done with a little more depth (there are some definite stereotypes that crop up), and Kelly himself has perhaps a few too many cliched skeletons in his closet, but overall I thought it was a cracking debut, and I'm looking forward to reading more. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 I might have bought a couple of books on the way home . . . Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - this was the one I actually went for, and I bought it even though the cover is totally knackered (I usually refuse to pay full price for damaged books). I'll probably regret it if I end up loving it and wanting to keep it (along with the upcoming sequels) and end up replacing it with a pristine copy, cos I'm mad like that Heresy by S J Parris - I had Prophecy by the same author on my wishlist without realising it was the second book in the series. Heresy is the first book and they had one copy left of the 'Waterstones loves' edition (£2.99!) so it had to be done Both these books were on my wishlist, so no random purchases for once . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Book #73: Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover Blurb: Renowned throughout the land of Ankhana as the Blade of Tyshalle, Caine has killed his share of monarchs and commoners, villains and heroes. He is relentless, unstoppable, simply the best there is at what he does. At home on Earth, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose adventures in Ankhana command an audience of billions. Yet he is shackled by a rigid caste society, bound to ignore the grim fact that he kills men on a far-off world for the entertainment of his own planet--and bound to keep his rage in check. But now Michaelson has crossed the line. His estranged wife, Pallas Rill, has mysteriously disappeared in the slums of Ankhana. To save her, he must confront the greatest challenge of his life: a lethal game of cat and mouse with the most treacherous rulers of two worlds . . . Thoughts: Got 180 pages into this one and gave up. I don't like abandoning books, but I wasn't enjoying this one at all. The writing's a bit clunky, I didn't like the characters (although, to be fair, you're probably not meant to), and there seemed to be a lot of monotonous description which slowed it down to a crawl. I just wasn't feeling the love, man! Plus, I discovered that the sequel is difficult to get hold of and is ridiculously expensive even if you get it second-hand: http://www.amazon.co...52287813&sr=1-1 So I figured why bother carrying on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Book #74: Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis Blurb: The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room. It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar. If the British are to believe their eyes, a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers. And Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay. But dealing with the occult exacts a price. And that price must be paid in blood. Thoughts: The blurb for this book sounded so cool I couldn't wait to read it. It sounds a little like X-Men meets Lovecraft and, in some ways, it is. But it is also much, much darker. Starting in 1920, Tregillis introduces us to his main characters as children, some orphaned by the Great War. What I really liked about this book was that, despite the potential for it to lurch into comic book territory, it treats its subject matter with respect even when it's drawing on elements of science fiction, fantasy and horror, and it always, always places the characters first and foremost - which I found pleasantly surprising considering the Hollywood aspect of its USP. His main characters are both British and German, and they are all fully fleshed out individuals, none of whom overstay their welcome, and all of whom you want to know more about. He doesn't invite you to favour one side or the other - all motives are shades of grey, and each side is seemingly capable of despicable acts. So clever is he with his characterisation that my favourite character in the book was the one who had the least 'screen time', Gretel, the German orphan who can see the future. His story is somewhat episodic in nature, covering the period 1939 to 1941, and leaves much to the imagination, often jumping back into the story to tell of the aftermath of certain events. Being effectively and alternate history tale, the effect his characters have on real-life events can be quite chilling. At no time does Tregillis play it for laughs. This is very much a 'what if?' novel, rather than a crash-bang blockbuster. The action, when it comes, is frightening and brutal, and the way he shows his characters dealing with the consequences of their actions is wholly believable. However, in one particular case, that these characters would even consider such actions in the first place is a little debatable. This is Tregillis's first novel, and the first in his 'Milkweed Triptych', and it is an astonishingly good start. The second book, The Coldest War, arrives in February, with the final instalment, Necessary Evil, coming just two months later. Can't wait! 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 The cover alone makes me want to read it! was there anything you didn't like about it? why only an 8? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 The cover alone makes me want to read it! was there anything you didn't like about it? why only an 8? There was one particular action that one of the characters took in it that didn't sit quite right with me - I just couldn't see anyone agreeing to do it (although the affect it had on him afterwards was really well handled). Plus I hear that the second book is even better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Plus I hear that the second book is even better ahh the room for improvement score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 ahh the room for improvement score That's the one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 15, 2012 Author Share Posted November 15, 2012 Book #75: Safe House by Chris Ewan Blurb: Sometimes hiding isn't your only option. Everybody say 'oooooooh!' (okay, the blurb doesn't say that ) Thoughts: Set on the Isle of Man, the story begins when its main protagonist, Rob Hale, is involved in a motorbike accident (a motorbike accident on the IoM? Go figure!). As he lies injured at the roadside a paramedic arrives and tells him that he's going to be okay but his passenger, Lena, is in more serious need of attention and will be taken in the first ambulance. Another ambulance is on the way, don't worry, says the medic. Some hours later, Rob wakes up in hospital with a nurse at his bedside. When he asks after Lena he is told that no-one else was brought to the hospital. When two police detectives turn up to take his statement they say the same, and the doctors say that Rob may be experiencing false memories brought on by the blow he has taken to the head. But, even though he only knew her for a few hours, Rob is certain that Lena exists. I can't make up my mind about this book. On one level, I really enjoyed it. It's fast-paced, there is a decent amount of suspense, some good twists and a great sense of place (Ewan lives on the IoM and it shows). On another level, it's got some silly holes in the plot, the characterisation isn't particularly good, and it is perhaps a tad too long for the amount of story that actually exists. My biggest problem with it, though, is that it starts in first person, told from Rob's point of view, but then regularly jumps to third person to tell you what's happening to other characters. I've read other books like this, and I'm not sure it works. If an author's going to be brave enough to tell a story in first person then they should, imo, be brave enough to stick to it. It's demanding, of course, because it means they can only relate events that the main character has witnessed themselves, and I felt that Ewan cheated by dropping out of first person with such regularity. It's almost like he's admitting that he couldn't tell the story that way, which begs the question: why didn't he just tell Rob's story in third person as well? Problem solved 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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