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Steve's Bookshelf 2012


Karsa Orlong

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I don't think I'll pay the current price on Amazon for it, no. When The Leopard came out for Kindle is was reduced to £4 almost straight away, so I'm hoping that might happen again :smile: You??

 

Not like I haven't got enough to read anyway :D

 

I am tempted but I am probably going to get it in tree form only beacuse I have all the others in paper and hardback and if I start a collection like that I like to continue it. but knowing me I will get bored one day spot it on my wish list and download it anyway, yeah my TBR pile is a fluid thing. :smile:

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Despite thinking that I'll probably love a book you hate and vice versa ( :friends0:) .. I'm definitely going to avoid that one .. sounds all sorts of nasty. The blurb alone makes me want to start rummaging through boxes looking for my old Enid's :D

 

£1.99 would have been better spent on chocolate.

 

Oh well, you've got to kiss a few frogs and all that :D Hope your next read is a gem :smile:

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I am tempted but I am probably going to get it in tree form only beacuse I have all the others in paper and hardback and if I start a collection like that I like to continue it. but knowing me I will get bored one day spot it on my wish list and download it anyway, yeah my TBR pile is a fluid thing. :smile:

Yeah, I've got them all in paperback up to The Snowman, but I got annoyed (as you know!) when they changed the style of the covers so, if I was going to be my usual self, I'd have to re-buy the first four books with the new covers so that they all matched on the shelf. But I'm not going to do that. :lol:

 

 

Despite thinking that I'll probably love a book you hate and vice versa ( :friends0:)

Sheesh, you're so contrary :giggle2:;)

 

And thanks, I'm pretty sure already that Revenger is going to be a gem. I loves me an Elizabethan murder mystery, I does. Plus, I really enjoyed Clements' first novel. I'm willing to bet it's going to be a better thriller than The Crucifix Killer, too. Hope I'm not tempting fate! :hide:

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Revenger (John Shakespeare book 2) by Rory Clements

 

It is 1592 and the ill-fated colony of Roanoke, commissioned by Sir Walter Ralegh, has been lost on a distant shore. Summoned by the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's former intelligencer John Shakespeare is asked to investigate a brutal double murder, and also the sighting of one of the lost Roanoke colonists here, in London. Quickly, he realises that he is being pulled into a dangerous game, as the Earl of Essex and Ralegh compete for the Queen's affections, and when Sir Robert Cecil asks him to spy on Essex he uncovers a plot that threatens the future of the monarchy. The presence of the menacing Charlie McGunn, Essex's enforcer, and Sir Richard Topcliffe, the notorious torturer and anti-papist, threaten not only his investigation but his family, too.

 

Considering how the market for historical murder mysteries has become so flooded in recent years, I think the current holder of the crown, C J Sansom, has a real competitor here. There are a lot of similarities between the two protagonists in their unwilling participation in big historical events, and their assistants, and their involvement with less than savoury real-life characters and movers and shakers in the Royal court. There is something about Clements's writing that feels, to me at least, to be more real than Sansom's. His use of language has a more authentic vibe to it and, because he writes in the third person (as opposed to Sansom's first person), he doesn't have to use such convoluted plot devices to get his characters into the situations they need to be in, he just switches viewpoints as and when he needs to in order to advance the story. This has been a particular failing in Sansom's more recent books, I think, as Shardlake's presence at certain times has bordered on the unbelievable.

 

Revenger has a real pace about it and, as Shakespeare gets deeper into the mire, and members of his family come under threat, Clements ratchets up the tension to an action-packed finale. In fact, after my comments about The Crucifix Killer and the state of thriller writing, this knocks spots off a lot of modern-day novels I've read which purport to be edge-of-seat rollercoasters.

 

If there is a failing to Clements's work it's that he tries to write a couple of sexy scenes, he really does, but the references to Shakespeare's 'yard' (really? A yard??) and it resembling a 'broomstick' made me put the book down because I was laughing so much. Maybe that's what Clements intended, but unfortunately the characters seem to be taking it all too seriously. He either needs to work on this or drop the scenes altogether - they really aren't necessary. Fortunately, they only occur a couple of times and are very brief.

 

Other than that, this is a terrific book, a real step-up from the already excellent Martyr, and a deserved award winner. It's full of atmosphere, intrigue and action, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Can't wait to read the next one.

 

9/10

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell

 

Six years ago the nine Knights of the Gabala, upholders of peace and justice, travelled through a magical gate to the land of the Vyre. Their help had been requested and great rewards promised. A young boy, Lug, witnesses their departure and, in doing so, first discovers his own immense power. The Knights of the Gabala never returned from their mission - all but for the one of them called Manannan, whose cowardice led him to flee as the others crossed the threshold - and now the kingdom has become a place of fear, with people of nomadic descent being slaughtered to purify the lands.

 

This was typical of Gemmell: the set-up sounds so cliched, so familiar, and yet - in the telling - it is anything but. He was the master of heroic fantasy, and he doesn't get nearly enough credit, as far as I'm concerned. His greatest strength was always in his ability to create vivid, memorable characters, and this book contains some of the best I have yet come across. Knights of Dark Renown is a stand alone novel, its whole story contained within its 400 pages. The pacing is almost immaculate, with hardly a word or scene wasted. This is one of his earlier novels, yet it is easy to see the progression he had made in terms of his style from, say, Legend, already a classic of the genre. The dialogue, especially, is more natural. Ubadai, in particular, has some very funny and memorable lines.

 

The other thing with Gemmell was that he had no hesitation in killing off his best characters so long as - and this is crucial, in my opinion - they were true to themselves. There are some shocking and heart-wrenching deaths in this book. None of his characters die without meaning and, consequently, emotion. He puts them in impossible situations and makes you watch as their fates are decided.

 

Finally, this book may not be his absolute best but it does have one of best last lines I have ever read - four simple words that left me with my jaw hanging open.

 

 

9/10

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

 

Campion and Purslane are shatterlings (clones) of the Gentian Line. Unlike other members of the Line, they are lovers, and travel the galaxy together. They have been in existence for six million years. In trying to transport a passenger to the mysterious Vigilance they make themselves late for the 32nd Gentian reunion, where all shatterlings gather once per circuit of the Milky Way to share their memories and experiences. When they eventually get there, some 55 years late, they find that the Gentian Line has been ambushed, and all but a few have been slaughtered. Running for their lives, they slowly start to uncover the truth about what has happened, and why.

 

This is the third Reynolds novel I have read. As usual, it's full of big ideas and a real sense of wonder. It's also fairly mind-boggling in places - stories that involve time dilation usually have that effect on me! - and has some great characters and a nice sense of humour. There's also a point in it, where things really start to kick off, that it gets pretty exciting. Unfortunately it doesn't maintain the excitement through to the finale, which I quite liked but wasn't what I was expecting (which is a good thing, in many ways). In fact, I think the book is probably 100 to 150 pages too long and, with some editing, could have been even better.

 

That said, Campion and Purslane are good characters, two sides of the same coin, and Reynolds' narrative trick of alternating chapters between them but telling it all in first person is a clever one, if slightly disorienting at first. Better still, Hesperus is a marvellous character, a machine being who develops in interesting and logical ways as the story progresses. I also liked Dr Meninx and Betony a lot - the latter being another character who doesn't quite work out the way you might think. Each 'part' of the book begins with the story of Abigail Gentian, the young woman from whom all the shatterlings were cloned. Her story alone is almost worthy of its own novella.

 

The story of House of Suns span thousands of years, as characters come and go in and out of stasis as they travel across the galaxy, but it doesn't even begin to describe what Reynolds has in store as the novel enters its latter stages. It's just such a shame that the pacing goes awry and takes the tension with it because, for a while there at least, I was thrilled. It's very good, but it could have been great.

 

 

7/10

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Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell

 

This is the second book in Cornwell's 'Grail Quest' trilogy and continues the story of Thomas of Hookton. It's hard to write a synopsis for a sequel without spoiling what happened in the previous book! Suffice to say that, as the book starts, Thomas is back in England and heading for Durham, where he is to deliver a message for King Edward. The message, naturally, has to do with the Grail, and Thomas is not the only one following the trail. Soon he is involved in a battle with the Scots, who have invaded at the request of their allies the French, and is dealing with the attentions of a Dominican monk of the Inquisition and his murderous henchman.

 

I thought Cornwell's writing - as has been the case in all of his books I've read so far - was marvellous. He has an eye for detail that brings the characters to life, and his pacing is fantastic, so it keeps you turning the pages. For me, Thomas really started to come into his own in this book, and there are a couple of brilliant new characters plus some returning from the first book. There is one slightly formulaic character: in the first book Thomas made an enemy of Sir Simon Jekyll, who dogged his steps throughout that book, and here he makes an enemy of Sir Geoffrey Carr, another moustache-twirling bad guy. However, to counter this there is the Dominican monk, de Taillebourg, a fantastic character who gave me chills - and I couldn't help but picture Jeremy Irons in the role. There's also some brilliant tension and twists and turns.

 

Although I do still think that his Arthurian trilogy had more depth and better characters, Vagabond is another terrific book that I'd have no hesitation in recommending to anyone interested in an exciting adventure set against a historical backdrop.

 

 

8/10

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Midwinter of the Spirit by Phil Rickman

 

This is the second of Rickman's 'Merrily Watkins' novels, and it's all about possession and exorcism. I wouldn't describe it as a horror novel, though, and - although it would be easy to think otherwise - it's nothing like The Exorcist. Merrily, now more settled in the village of Ledwardine, is asked by the Bishop of Hereford to become part of his 'deliverance team' - 'deliverance' being the new term for exorcism. Cue Merrily being drawn into a sequence of seemingly unrelated occurences in the area that quickly undermine her confidence in herself, and also the reasons why she has been asked to do the job in the first place. Meanwhile her teenage daughter, Jane, is continuing to push her mother's religion away and, through a new friend, is drawn in a new spiritualist direction, and Lol, the songwriter from the first book, is trying to help a young woman who has suffered in the past from mental problems.

 

Rickman's characters are well-rounded, believable individuals who you can genuinely care about. The story doesn't go for cheap shocks, and there is very little in the way of graphic scenes. Instead, it is a mystery, with some moments of fear and tension, and some thrills. The dialogue is well written and there is a nice amount of subtle wit about it. The setting and its descriptions are really well handled. Rickman has a habit of building up to a big moment and then cutting away to something else, before coming back to describe the aftermath of the first event, so there is some menace, but no outright horror, I would say.

 

If I had one complaint about the book it is perhaps a little too long, and maybe takes too much time to start drawing the various plot threads together, but this is a fairly minor complaint. In general, the pacing is good, and it makes you read very quickly because it is so well handled. It's definitely on a par with The Wine of Angels, and perhaps slightly better. I enjoyed it very much.

 

8/10

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I'm tempted to read it just for that :D

Well don't say I didn't warn you :lol: Or is this just as excuse to go back to the mirror-less secondhand bookshop?? Vampires don't like crucifix's ... :o:giggle2:;)

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Well don't say I didn't warn you :lol: Or is this just as excuse to go back to the mirror-less secondhand bookshop?? Vampires don't like crucifix's ... :o:giggle2:;)

 

:lol: Oh but it's a Saturday, in between bank holidays, it's my day off, I surely don't want to bump into the guy on a fine day like this :D

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Winter Warriors by David Gemmell

 

WinterWarriors.jpg

 

Synopsis:

 

The prophecy was clear. Upon the death of three kings the world will be plunged into chaos, and all the cast-out demons of history will return to bring blood and horror to the world. Two of the kings are dead. The third, about to be born, is hunted by the Demon Riders of the Krayakin, Lords of the Undead.

 

All the terrifying forces of evil range against a pregnant queen at bay in a haunted forest. But she is not alone. Three warriors stand with her, the last remnants of the once proud Drenai army. Three old men, ancient heroes, discarded by the king; Nogusta the Swordsman, Kebra the Bowman, and the hulking fighter, Bison.

 

The fate of empires rests on their fading skills as they journey through a tormented world on a perilous quest to save the unborn king.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

I don't think anyone here would be surprised to know I've read a lot of fantasy :lol: Well, I'm fast becoming a big Gemmell fan. I've yet to read a bad book by him. I think my favourite so far was Waylander, but this one may just top it, or at least push it very close. It's a brilliant, fast-moving, exciting adventure story, populated by some of the best characters I've come across in his books so far. The three main protagonists - Nogusta, Kebra and Bison - are beautifully realised; three ageing soldiers in a land suddenly plagued by a supernatural force intent on killing an unborn child because he is destined to become king. Each of the three is haunted by their past, and each has dreams for a future that does not involve war (well, maybe not Bison - he likes to fight). Their banter is full of humour, but Gemmell also shows their regrets and humility, and ponders on what makes a hero and why they would risk their lives for a cause that is not their own. There are some moments of genuine emotion, some lump-in-throat scenes, that Gemmell writes with wonderful simplicity.

 

There's a great supporting cast, too, especially the priestess Ulmenetha, and the swordmaster Antikas Karios. The supernatural element is also quite scary, which I wasn't expecting at all, and leads to some very tense moments. The action sequences are generally short but masterfully handled, so that you can imagine them clearly. The world building is minimal, but Gemmell's descriptions on the landscapes are wonderful and concise.

 

That's the word that best describes his style, I think: concise. He doesn't waste words, and the result is that this story races along at a cracking pace, and at just over 400 pages it certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. It is one of his later 'Drenai' novels and yet, as with all those I've read so far, it can be read on its own without any prior knowledge and still be enjoyed. There are a few references to the siege of Dros Delnoch (Legend) and the Source (God, essentially), but I can't imagine anyone's enjoyment being spoiled if they hadn't read any of the previous novels.

 

If I have a criticism of Gemmell it is that some of his stories seem to follow a similar pattern. As such, I wouldn't recommend reading a lot of his books in quick succession. But I feel much the same as I do about Lee Child - if I can't decide what to read and I want a guaranteed, no-nonsense, guaranteed adventure, Gemmell is the man. I absolutely loved this book. :D

 

9/10

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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Took a sports bag (yes, I have a sports bag :P It was sitting in the cupboard doing nothing, so thought I might as well use it - it's not like it's going to be used for, you know, sports or anyfink) full of books up to the local Cancer Research shop this morning. I suddenly have some shelf space!

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Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

 

GatesofFire.jpg

 

The story:

 

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

 

Nearly 2,500 years ago, in 480BC, at a bleak pass in a far-flung corner of eastern Greece, three hundred Spartan warriors faced the army of Xerxes of Persia, a massive force rumoured to be over a million strong. Their orders were simple: to delay the enemy for as long as possible while the main Greek armies mobilized. For six days the Spartans held the invaders at bay. In the final hours - their shields broken, swords and spears shattered - they fought with their bare hands before being overwhelmed. It was battle that would become synonymous with extraordinary courage, heroism and self-sacrifice: it was Thermopylae. In Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield tells the epic story of those legendary Spartans: the men and women who helped shaped our history and have themselves become as immortal as their gods.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

I think the problem for any historical novel of this sort is that the reader already knows how it's going to end. Pressfield even begins the novel with a foreword that actually tells you (if you didn't know already) what is going to happen at the end. For those who don't know:

they all die!

 

 

So I guess the real trick is to tell the tale with style and verve, and build the tension through a sense of inevitability - and I think Pressfield carries this off magnificently.

 

He starts with the end. An historian is called before Xerxes and told to interrogate a lowly Spartan squire who is dying from his wounds, to find out more about the three hundred Spartans and their allies who fought his Persian army at Thermopylae. From this interrogation springs the story of Xeo, how he comes to Sparta and, eventually becomes squire to one of its greatest warriors, Dienekes. I'm not spoiling anything by saying this because the story is told in a non-linear fashion, so you know from the start who Xeo is as his tale jumps around the course of his life. Through it Pressfield gets you to know the characters involved: Dienekes, Alexandros, Polynikes, Rooster, Diomache, Arete - I came to care about all of them long before the end. Leonidas isn't the main character, which was a surprise at first, but his presence is always felt, and his speeches and rallying cries are superbly written. In fact, the whole book is. Pressfield writes the best battle scenes I've yet read. They are visceral and terrifying. Through the characters he ponders on the nature of fear and courage. The novel has a wonderful flow even though it is non-linear and, as the final battles approached, my heart was pounding.

 

Any complaint I may have had was, I think, down to my own shortcomings, in that I stumbled a lot over the pronunciation of the names of people and places. I had to read and re-read many of them several times to try and get them straight in my head, and this interrupted things a little - and I still don't know whether or not I got them right. But this obviously isn't the book's fault! As you might expect, it is violent, and there is some swearing, but it never seems to overwhelm the characters or the story. If you don't read the final pages with a tear in your eye, you have no soul.

 

As a work of fiction, Gates of Fire has leaped into my top ten. I can see myself reading it many times. Obviously, I knew the story, I'd heard of Frank Miller's graphic novel, 300, and seen the film that sprang from it. But forget that.

 

This ... is ... SPARTA!!

 

 

10/10

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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:lol:

 

I know! I've made an appointment at the doc's.

 

I did pick up loads of books that I wanted, to be fair, but when I do that and can't make up my mind I nearly always walk out without making a purchase. They had a lovely little hardback version of The Odyssey which I liked the look of, and one on Norse mythology, might have to go back for those.

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Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane

 

Hannibal.jpg

 

Synopsis:

 

The great Carthaginian general, Hannibal, has never forgotten the defeat and humiliation of his father by Rome. Now he plans his revenge and the destruction of the old enemy.

 

While Hannibal prepares for war, the young son of one of his most trusted military commanders goes on an innocent adventure with his best friend - and disappears. Captured by pirates, put up for sale in the slave market, one of the boys is sold as a gladiator, the other as a field slave. They believe they will never see home or family again. But their destiny - interwoven and linked with that of their Roman masters - is to be an extraordinary one. The devastating war unleashed upon Rome by Hannibal will last for nearly twenty years. It will change their lives - and history - forever.

 

Thoughts:

 

This is the first of Ben Kane's novels I have read. In a market inundated with stories set against sweeping historical backdrops, it seemed like something I might enjoy. Setting aside historical accuracy, for which this book seems to be praised, I have no doubt of the level of research involved. Unfortunately, though, for much of the book the real history plays second fiddle to a rather underwhelming story. Hanno, youngest son of one of Hannibal's military commanders, is swept out to sea in a storm, along with his friend Suni. Taken by pirates they end up being sold into slavery and Hanno ends up working on an estate, in a position that allows the author to explore both sides of the conflict in microcosm, with Hanno quietly seething at the conversations about war he overhears, and his master, Quintus, veering between hating the Carthiginians and feeling that he owes Hanno his life. Throwing into this a sister who falls for Hanno (forbidden love, aaaah) and a slave master who hates the Carthiginians for his own reasons just adds to the familiarity. Meanwhile, back in Hannibal's army, Hanno's brothers Sapho and Bostar are at war with each other for various reasons, and they tend to fall out at very inconvenient times.

 

Unfortunately, it's all a bit predictable. The characters are stereotypical and rather two-dimensional and Kane's way of illustrating them seems to involve way too much repetition. We are reminded that Quintus is Roman and Hanno is Carthiginian practically every other page whilst they are together. Sapho and Bostar fall out and then make peace with such alarming regularity that it seems they are a couple of bickering teenagers. The dialogue, to me, just didn't ring true much of the time, couched as it seems to be in modern day vernacular. If it weren't for the occasional swearing and the violence, much of this would not be out of place in a young adult novel. The story is buried in cliche and coincidence and had me either rolling my eyes or laughing at the unintentional hilarity. One particular thing that happens to Hanno towards the end made me want to throw the book out of the window, it was so unbelievable, so ludicrous, it made all my other issues with the story pale in comparison.

 

Part of the problem for me, I think, is that I came to this off the back of reading Steven Pressfield's marvellous 'Gates of Fire'. That book was everything I could have hoped for, approaching perfection, whereas 'Hannibal: Enemy of Rome' just isn't. I was really looking forward to it but, by the last 100 or so pages, where I should have been thrilled, I had almost lost the will to live. In fact, I'd say the book is at least a hundred pages too long, and ends up outstaying its welcome. It hasn't put me off reading further Kane novels (the Spartacus one does appeal), but it's certainly moved them a lot further down my wish list.

 

5/10

Edited by Karsa Orlong
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Just started Scott Mariani's The Alchemist's Secret, which is the first of his 'Ben Hope' novels. It looks like a Da Vinci Code-type thing. After I read The Da Vinci Code I vowed that I would never read another Da Vinci Code-type thing, and yet now I'm reading another Da Vinci Code-type thing. Hmm. At least it was only 99p, I suppose. I'm going to hate it, I know I am :rolleyes::lol:

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My plan of getting my TBR pile below 80 before buying any more books almost worked ... but not quite. It's at 81 at the moment, and I'm about 30 pages from the end of the next one, but disaster struck :doh::D

 

The following David Gemmell books have been ordered from Amazon:

 

Hero in the Shadows

Stormrider

Midnight Falcon

Ravenheart

The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend

The Legend of Deathwalker

 

I really didn't want to buy them all at once, but I noticed that some of his books are about to be re-issued with new cover designs and no doubt in the larger paperback format which won't match the others I already own, so I decided to get the previous editions before they disappear completely.

 

Plus I had a £30 Amazon gift voucher for my birthday which was handy :D

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