Steve's Bookshelf 2013

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #15:  Heresy by S. J. Parris

 

 

 

From Amazon:

 

In Elizabeth’s England, true faith can mean bloody murder…
 

Oxford, 1583.
 

England is rife with plots to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and return the country to the Catholic faith. Defending the realm through his network of agents, the Queen’s spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham works tirelessly to hunt down all traitors.

 

His latest recruit is Giordano Bruno, a radical thinker fleeing the Inquisition, who is sent undercover to Oxford to expose a Catholic conspiracy.  But he has his own secret mission at the University – one that must remain hidden at all costs.

When a series of hideous murders ruptures close-knit college life, Bruno is compelled to investigate. And what he finds makes it brutally clear that the Tudor throne itself is at stake …

 

 

Thoughts:

 

I like historical murder mysteries, particularly those set in the time of the Tudors, and they seem somewhat rife these days.  I thought this book was . . . okay.  I would describe it as C. J. Sansom-lite.  Unlike Sansom's Matthew Shardlake, or Rory Clements's John Shakespeare, Parris's protagonist, Giordano Bruno, is not a fictional character.  Much like Phil Rickman's books about Dr John Dee (who gets mentioned in this book), Parris has taken a real person and woven a story around events in his life.  Starting with his escape from accusations of heresy in Naples in 1576 the story jumps forward seven years to find Bruno in London, having made his way across Europe (and gained favour in France), with the goal of locating a long lost book which he intends to use to prove his heretical theories on the nature of the universe.

 

Elizabeth's spy master, Sir Francis Walsingham, asks Bruno to travel to Oxford as part of a Royal party, ostensibly to take part in a disputation at the university, but really to seek out and report upon traitors within the fold, and he has barely been there a day when one of the Fellows of Lincoln College is killed by a half-starved hunting dog, in a walled grove, all the doors to which are locked.  The rector claims it is a tragic accident, but - rather naturally, I thought - Bruno wonders exactly how the dog managed to unlock a door, then close it and lock it again behind itself.  Could the dog have had an accomplice in its cunning plan?  Could it - shock horror - have been murder?

 

Um, ya think??

 

Yep, it's all pretty much by-the-numbers, full of anachronisms, stereotypical characterisation, and cliche upon cliche, and it's far too long for the amount of plot it actually contains.  But its not without its good points (thankfully, as I already have the next two books on the shelf!), particularly the character of Bruno himself, who is neither brave nor selfless but has that unerring inquisitiveness that makes for the best detectives and inevitably lands him in a lot of hot water.  The writing is okay, but seems a little like it was written on autopilot, with enough period detail to make it feel authentic, but undermined by errors and a weird lack of atmosphere.  Sansom, Clements, Rickman this is not, not yet anyway, but there is promise, so I'll read the next book at some point . . . probably.

 

 

6/10

 

 

[Karsa Orlong]

Plan update:

 

Marathon Man - William Goldman - finished 03/02/13
The Kingdom of Bones – Stephen Gallagher - finished 24/02/13
The Mozart Conspiracy – Scott Mariani (next in Ben Hope series) - started 07/03/13
The First Men In the Moon – H G Wells - finished 10/02/13
The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan (next in Wheel of Time series) - finished 21/02/13
Heresy – S J Parris (first in Giordano Bruno series) - finished 07/03/13
Post Captain – Patrick O’Brian (next in Aubrey/Maturin series) - finished 01/03/13
The Heresy of Dr Dee – Phil Rickman (next in Dr Dee series) - finished 07/02/13

The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis (Milkweed Tryptich Book 2) - finished 14/02/13

 

 

I've dropped Dead Beat from this plan as I don't want to buy it yet (too soon after my last 'Dresden Files' read), so I'm going to start on the next plan (The Plan Reloaded  ) after reading The Mozart Conspiracy.  Or I may slip an unplanned book in between, cos I'm a rebel

[Janet]

I love it when a plan comes together...!

 

Looks like you're doing really well. 

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #16:  The Mozart Conspiracy by Scott Mariani

 

 

 

From Amazon:

 

Former SAS operative Ben Hope is running for his life.

 

Enlisted by the beautiful Leigh Llewellyn - world famous opera star and Ben's first love - to investigate her brother's mysterious death, Ben finds himself caught up in a centuries-old puzzle.

The official line states that Oliver died whilst investigating Mozart's death, but the facts don't add up.  Then Leigh and Ben receive video evidence of a ritual sacrifice being performed by hooded men who will stop at nothing to remain a secret.

 

From the dreaming spires of Oxford to Venice's labyrinthine canals, the majestic architecture of Vienna and Slovenia's snowy mountains, Ben and Leigh must forget the past and race across Europe to uncover the truth . . .

 

 

Thoughts:

 

This is the second book in Mariani's 'Ben Hope' series.  I read the first one a while back and found it reasonably entertaining, and this one's exactly the same.  It's a bit bonkers, very daft, moves at a hundred miles an hour, and probably doesn't bear up to close inspection. 

 

But it's fun.  It's the sort of book that Lee Child used to write before Jack Reacher became omniscient and indestructible, more Bourne than Bond (although it's easy to imagine Daniel Craig in the lead role).  Ben Hope has flaws.  He rages, he wallows in self-pity, but - when it comes to getting the job done - he is remorseless, single-minded, and quite capable of making mistakes that put not only himself in danger, but those he cares about as well.  It has a plot full of twists, explained well enough in the blurb above, and you have no doubts as to who the good guys are, and who the bad (if they had moustaches to twirl it couldn't be more obvious).  And it's one of those tales dragged kicking and screaming out of Hollywood, full of false endings followed by just one more twist.  Predictable on many levels, but written with such pace that it manages to excite.

 

The writing's functional, nothing spectacular, with the occasional mistake in continuity that probably should have been picked up before it went to print.  Nobody seems quite sure as to the illness from which Mozart died, and Mariani has his own theories, and has some fun with them here.  It's a book, though, where you can probably put your thinkymeatz to one side to chew some gum.  Fire and forget.  Read and enjoy, and inevitably come back and read the next book in the series at a later date.  Mission accomplished.

 

 

7/10

 

[Karsa Orlong]

Plan update:

 

Marathon Man - William Goldman - finished 03/02/13
The Kingdom of Bones – Stephen Gallagher - finished 24/02/13
The Mozart Conspiracy – Scott Mariani (next in Ben Hope series) - finished 11/03/13
The First Men In the Moon – H G Wells - finished 10/02/13
The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan (next in Wheel of Time series) - finished 21/02/13
Heresy – S J Parris (first in Giordano Bruno series) - finished 07/03/13
Post Captain – Patrick O’Brian (next in Aubrey/Maturin series) - finished 01/03/13
The Heresy of Dr Dee – Phil Rickman (next in Dr Dee series) - finished 07/02/13

The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis (Milkweed Tryptich Book 2) - finished 14/02/13

 

That's the end of the plan.  Really happy with the way it went.  It took just over five weeks to complete.  The only major change was dropping Dead Beat, and that was purely because I don't want to buy it yet.  New plan to follow almost immediately . . .

[bobblybear]

Well done on sticking to your plan!

 

The Mozart Conspiracy sounds like a fun read. I like books like that; they're not too serious, and you can whiz through them quickly. It looks like Scott Mariani has written quite a few in this series - 8 so far. Another one to add to my ever growing wishlist.

[Timstar]

Congrats on sticking to the plan! I bet you're as surprised as I am 

 

Looking forward to seeing the next one.

[Karsa Orlong]

Still in its formative stages, but . . .

 

 

The Plan 2

 

From the TBR list:

 

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Stonemouth by Iain Banks (no 'M' )

The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle Book 2)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (Gentleman Bar Steward Sequence Book 1)

HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey/Maturin Book 3)

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive Book 1)

Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

The Cure of Souls by Phil Rickman (Merrily Watkins Book 4)

 

 

Re-reads:

 

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (about 20 years since I read this)

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (over 30 years since I read this!)

 

Books I might buy:

 

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files Book 7)

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (Kovacs Book 1)

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey (Expanse Series Book 1)

Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis (Milkweed Tryptich Book 3) - this one's a definite

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Shogun by James Clavell

 

I've no doubt I'll make impulse buys along the way, but I'll try and stick to the plan 

 

 

The 'one no-one saw coming'

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

 

 

That should keep me occupied for a while

 

I'm thinking I might chuck The Odyssey in there somewhere, but we'll see.  Thanks everyone for the support for the first plan! 

Edited March 12, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Karsa Orlong]

The Mozart Conspiracy sounds like a fun read. I like books like that; they're not too serious, and you can whiz through them quickly.

 

 

Yes, I think  that's exactly the case - a nice easy, entertaining read.  Worth a look if you like the Bourne/Reacher-type books

[Timstar]

That is a great plan! Lots on there I really want to read. You will not be disappointed by Locke Lamora, I am about two-thirds through the audio book and it just keeps getting better and better. I have actually sat there with my jaw hanging open in disbelief and suspense.

[Karsa Orlong]

That's good to know!

[Athena]

You have a few books there that I've read / that I own / that are on my wishlist. I look forward to read your thoughts once you've read them!

[Karsa Orlong]

Plan two is under way:  made a start on The Way of Kings this morning.  I can't think of many books I've read that have both a Prelude and a Prologue   Action-packed beginning, interesting magic system, again. 

[Athena]

Sounds good! I've got both books, they are split up into two parts (part one and part two). I hope you enjoy it .

[Karsa Orlong]

Me too!

 

I'm considering adding both Lonesome Dove and Shogun to the 'books I might buy' part of the plan, because I need more door-stopper novels on the list.  Obviously

[Ooshie]

Lonesome Dove is a great read, Steve, you should make it a definitely buy! 

[Karsa Orlong]

Lonesome Dove is a great read, Steve, you should make it a definitely buy! 

 

 

I think I will, I remember you put me onto it in the first place     Shogun's an almost definite, too

[Ooshie]

I think I will, I remember you put me onto it in the first place     Shogun's an almost definite, too

 

I had forgotten I was responsible for that!    

[Devi]

The Lies of Locke Lamora sounds really interesting, I think I might have to add the series to my list. Like I need to add another to the list.

[Timstar]

The Lies of Locke Lamora sounds really interesting, I think I might have to add the series to my list. Like I need to add another to the list.

 

I've just finished that and wrote a review here

[Karsa Orlong]

Shameless self-promotion 

 

Great review, though

[Karsa Orlong]

Interesting post from Joe Abercrombie on his blog, about gritty - or 'grimdark' - fantasy.  Given my preference for grittier fantasy, I agree with much of what he says, but I can understand why others would disagree.  I think, with the quote below, he summed up my feelings pretty well, and his thoughts in the full post probably go a long way toward explaining why I struggle with more traditional takes on the genre these days.

 

 

No doubt there were, and probably are, enthusiasts for the western that found Fistful of Dollars a purposeless and disgusting debasement of their genre.  To me it’s a necessary, valid, and entirely natural development and investigation of it, a step in pushing things forward to new and interesting places.  If a movement is worthless, it will quickly dry up.  If a movement is valuable, it will influence what comes after.  This is why I always raise an urbane eyebrow when people go beyond declaring something bad, and into the arena of proclaiming it wrong.
 

And the fact is, for those who don’t like it, one has to smile, shrug and say – Tough Grit.  There have always been rich seams of darkness, cynicism, savagery and moral ambiguity in fantasy, but this stuff is in the commercial heart of the genre now, and at the core of many of those examples that are spilling out into the mainstream.  There are an awful lot of readers who love it, who find it has reinvigorated their interest in a tired genre, and the genie won’t go back in the bottle.  I would say sorry, but I’m not.  George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, surely the gold standard of gritty epic fantasy, is also rapidly becoming the most successful epic fantasy of this era, and he its definitive living writer.  There are still plenty of writers and publishers very successfully putting out more traditional stuff if you really need another righteous hero endlessly prevailing against the odds.  In due course I don’t doubt the pendulum will swing back at least some of the way towards romantic and heroic.  It’ll just take one great, interesting, exciting book to do it and I look forward to reading it.  Who knows, I might even try to write it.  But for the moment most of the debuts, most of the things that are really generating excitement, are more or less gritty.  In this, fantasy is simply starting to catch up with what’s been going on in TV for some time now, and where written westerns and thrillers have been for years.

 

In my case, he's certainly right: it has reinvigorated my interest in the genre.

 

The full post is here.  Well worth a read

[Karsa Orlong]

^^  Just finished reading through the 19 pages of posts Abercrombie's posts provoked on the SFF Chronicles forum.  He and a few other authors contributed to the debate, which got quite heated at times.  Fascinating to read.

[Karsa Orlong]

At last, an official publication date for Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves 

[Karsa Orlong]

I've been naughty and bought some books.  I had a £5 off voucher to use at Waterstone's, so I got the next two Patrick O'Brians (The Mauritius Command and Desolation Island) and, fancying something completely different, James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia.  None of these were part of the plan, so won't get read for a while.  I veered away from buying any sf or fantasy, as I may still buy one or more of the ones in the plan.  I was originally going to Waterstone's for Lonesome Dove and Shogun, but they're both so huge I decided to wait and have a look at the Kindle editions instead.

 

Has anyone else seen this latest scheme Waterstone's are running?  They give you a card with ten boxes on it, and each time you spend more than £10 in store they stamp one of the boxes.  When you have all ten boxes stamped they give you a £10 gift card.  The offer runs till the end of June.  What are the chances of anyone spending over £100 on books before then?