Signor Finzione

I visited a few charity shops on Saturday and managed to get these three books for £2 each: The top one is one I downloaded for free a while ago, but never got around to reading as I don't really like reading from my tablet. The other two are the first in a series about Robin Hood - I'm quite excited to read these, since I love the legend, and it seems they're much darker than all the cheesy films and TV series' that have been made.

I don't mind him being naughty - like you said, it's all part of being young and playful. And thank you. I really hope you enjoy it when you read it!

Oh no I hope you feel better soon too. What did you buy?

Review: 'The Blade Itself' by Joe Abercrombie Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies. Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules. Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it. Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood. Recently finishing Half a King has given me a craving for re-visiting the other works of one of my favourite fantasy authors of all time. Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy was my first real introduction into the world of modern fantasy; when I first read The Blade Itself several years ago the only other fantasy authors I’d read much of were Tolkien and Feist, both of whom write far more ‘traditional’ fantasy, and I revelled in Abercrombie’s refreshing writing style during this re-read as much as I did when experiencing it for the first time. The language is forthright and sparing, the tone is dark and dry, the action is bloody and grim, and the humour is often laugh-out-loud hilarious. There are so many brilliant lines and moments of bathos (the First of the Magi storming out from the bathroom springs to mind), enough that you can’t help but admire not only Abercrombie’s ability to write but also his imagination’s seemingly endless supply of amusing situations and dry witticisms. The Blade Itself introduces two of the best fictional characters ever created: Logen Ninefingers and Sand dan Glokta. Both are very cynical, both are very realistic, and both are very, very different. Glokta is a cripple and member of the Inquisition, a former soldier who was tortured for years in an enemy prison camp and now does the same to others for a living; while Logen is the leader of a group of grizzled Northmen, a band of barbarians cast out from their tribes and wandering the lands beyond the mountains. The other characters – Ferro, Dogman, Jezal – are also very entertaining to read, and all have their own unique voice that comes across brilliantly on the page. Abercrombie really captures the essence of his characters: Jezal’s self-centredness, Logen’s practicality, Glokta’s sneering cynicism – and despite the switching POV’s I never once experienced the ‘internal sigh’ such as when beginning a paragraph about a ‘meh’ character (a bit like a ‘Bran’ or ‘Catlyn’ chapter in ASoIaF). For all that, though, I have to say that not an awful lot really happens in the book – it pretty much functions as an introduction to the characters and a set-up for the next book. However, it’s easy to overlook this most of the time as the character-focused narrative keeps it ticking along nicely, and some of the internal monologues – particularly those of Logen and Glokta – are so entertaining that you can forgive the story for being a little slow in places. You also have to remind yourself that it’s the author’s debut novel, and any minor flaws are guaranteed to be ironed out in future works; as Logen would say, you have to be realistic about these things, after all. 4/5

It was a huge surprise! I've given him lots of pets and hugs this morning. He's adorable, but he's also very playful and a little bit naughty. My hands are scratched to pieces already, and my clothes are full of holes where he keeps climbing up me. I'm wearing quite loose trousers today, and the little monster decided it would be a great laugh to burrow inside my trousers and claw his way up my leg. It was like the ferret scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Brilliant

This has been sitting on my wishlist for a few months, but I think I'm going to wait for the paperback. Awesome as his books are, I'm not paying £12.99 for a 179-word novella when I only paid about £8.99 for his 900+ word paperbacks. I'd still give his first book a go, though. It's awesome.

Ah, I've only ever read one (possibly two) of the novellas (BF & THD?), and I don't remember a lot from them. I seem to remember that I didn't really enjoy them all that much, though I'm not sure why. Yay!

Oh, I didn't see that one.

Great review as always. That cover makes me laugh.

Welcome to the forum Nicolo! Good to have another Tolkien fan around.

I've a couple of books by K.J Parker on my wishlist, but I haven't read anything by her, and I've never heard of the others! But, it seems like a good buy - you might discover a few decent authors.

Oh, yeah, it did say something about them not being able to see anything . . . or something. It's just something that's always confused me every time I've read it. Steve's signature is (kind of) the chronological order of the books by both authors; some of Esslemont's books carry on with storylines that are only mentioned in the main series by Erikson, as do the novellas (I think). Some people prefer to read them in this mixed-up order, and they even read some parts of the main books at different times, since the timelines within the main series also cross over (if that makes sense ). Personally I'll probably read all of Erikson's main series, then all of Esslemont's, then the others, or else I'll just get confused.

Aww, what a shame you have allergies. My brother-in-law suffers the same thing, and every time he calls round both our other cats always rub themselves on him. It's like they do it on purpose, because they usually just ignore visitors. Thank you! Yeah, I don't understand it either. A cat is a cat, no matter what it looks like! Yeah, luckily when we wanted to get our two last year our landlady said it was fine, on the condition that we have the carpets steam-cleaned when we leave. I also imagine we'll have to either re-paper the living room or lose a chunk of our deposit, as they've completely knackered the wallpaper on one corner, the little monsters. Good luck with the house deposit - we're in the same boat. It's a loonnng road, isn't it? Thanks BB! I think it looks better too. I love that it has the paragraphs on the front to pull you in.

In the latest kitten news . . . Lily has actually turned out to be a boy! We got her last night, and didn't even check her because the lady who gave her to us told us she was a girl. Cue the embarrassing moment at the vets this morning, when I was told "did you know Lily has a pair of testicles? Maybe you should call her Lily Savage!" So, little Lily is now little Loki. When he came to us the poor baby had conjunctivitis and fleas ( ) but the vet has given us stuff for both and they should be clearing up very soon.

While we're on cat-related topics: today was my last day at my current job, and my team got me a Waterstones voucher and leaving card . . . aren't they cute? (I think the picture on the voucher is supposed to be Coraline, but I'm not sure . . .)

I hope your dad hasn't bent any more of the spines!!

Well, I've just finished First Law #1 and started GotM . . . I think I may keep alternating between Erikson and Abercrombie for a while, as I'm really enjoying both at the moment. Oh, Laura couldn't resist starting Malazan after she read your shamelessly gushy review. Aw, that's a shame. I hope you're able to get one eventually - they're so much better than dogs, as it doesn't really matter whether you're both out at work all day. Are you both settling into your new home alright? I still haven't met her in person, but the friend who we're getting her off has put a couple of pictures on Facebook for us. Here she is: We were having a discussion at work today about cats: apparently animal shelters and people selling cats find it much more difficult to find new owners for black and white cats as they're not always 'symmetrical' or photogenic. People are apparently much more likely to go for tabbies, or ones without any patches on their face. I think that's a little bit sad.

I thought I was being cryptic! Just read the beginning of GotM in Itko Kan . . . some awesome descriptions and images, but one of the things that I've never really got is: what's with all the pigeons?

Gorgeous bookshelves!! And your new home is absolutely beautiful. I hope you're very happy there. I love snuggling up in blankets with the curtains closed and drinking hot chocolate. Wouldn't it be great to be able to hibernate for the whole winter, like a bear?

Yeah, it might have to be.

Note: I'm the first person to review Timebomb. How cool is that? Note 2: My edition doesn't look like the picture above. It actually looks like this: But the orange one was the only picture they had on Goodreads. Note 3: I'm getting a new kitten on Sunday!!! :exc: Completely unrelated to the topic, but hey, one of the only things more exciting than a new book is a new kitten!

Review: 'Timebomb' by Scott K. Andrews New York City, 2141: Yojana Patel throws herself off a skyscraper, but never hits the ground. Cornwall, 1640: gentle young Dora Predennick, newly come to Sweetclover Hall to work, discovers a badly-burnt woman at the bottom of a flight of stairs. When she reaches out to comfort the dying woman, she's knocked unconscious, only to wake, centuries later, in empty laboratory room. On a rainy night in present-day Cornwall, seventeen-year-old Kaz Cecka sneaks into the long-abandoned Sweetclover Hall, determined to secure a dry place to sleep. Instead he finds a frightened housemaid who believes Charles I is king and an angry girl who claims to come from the future. Thrust into the centre of an adventure that spans millennia, Dora, Kaz and Jana must learn to harness powers they barely understand to escape not only villainous Lord Sweetclover but the forces of a fanatical army... all the while staying one step ahead of a mysterious woman known only as Quil. Scott K. Andrews’ Timebomb is a fun, fast-paced time-travelling adventure. I must admit it was with some trepidation that I began reading part one of the Timebomb trilogy: I expected the whole ‘time travelling’ thing to be a bit daft, but soon learned to suspend my disbelief and just roll with it. The story focuses on 3 likeable, yet different, teenage protagonists: there’s Kaz the impulsive Polish immigrant from 2013; Jana the reckless, rich American from 2141; and Dora, the innocent bumpkin from seventeenth century Cornwall. All 3 characters are likeable and intriguing, although the fast-paced plot doesn’t really give a lot of opportunities to explore them in depth. The fact that the characters jump around in time provides ample opportunity for plot twists and confusion, much of which is still waiting to be revealed in the sequels. The historical settings abound with anachronisms both disjointing and bizarre (in a good way), and provide for some wonderfully disorientating ‘wtf?!’ moments; for instance, the moment when the cook worries about the flour delivery for the bread, only to remind herself that there is some in the freezer and that the toaster has a ‘defrost’ setting – in 1645. You’re like, ‘wait, what?’ Andrews has taken a well-worn trope and adapted it to create the first book in a new and exciting series. I, for one, look forward to reading more. 4/5

Well, I got sidetracked with another book sent from Hodder (review to follow), and I'm almost finished with The Blade Itself . . . but now I'm torn between starting Malazan and carrying on with First Law! What to do, what to do . . .

Nooo not the Finnest. The acorn thingy that Quick gives to Kalam. Don't really remember.