Athena Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) Great review, Laura ! I'm adding the book to my wishlist. EDIT: It's already on my wishlist . Edited April 1, 2014 by Athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 EDIT: It's already on my wishlist . Of course it is! http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11123-steves-bookshelf-2013/?p=350246 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) I knew it was you ! EDIT: My wishlist is quite big and in need of culling and typing out so I don't always know what's on it until I check . Edited April 1, 2014 by Athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 How is Lexicon going? I'm starting the last section right now. I actually finished it yesterday (I'm off work with flu and didn't have much else to do). I really enjoyed it - I'll post my review shortly. How are you finding it? Great review, Laura ! I'm adding the book to my wishlist. EDIT: It's already on my wishlist . This has happened to me before as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Review: 'Lexicon' by Max Barry Sticks and stones break bones . . . Words kill.Two years ago, something terrible was unleashed in an Australian mining town called Broken Hill. Thousands died. Few people know what really happened. Emily Ruff is one of them. She belongs to an elite organisation of 'poets': masters of manipulation who use language to warp others to their will. She was one of their most promising recruits - until she made a catastrophic mistake. Wil Parke knows the truth too, only he doesn't remember it. And he doesn't know why he's immune to the poets' powers. But he knows he needs to run. There's a word, they say. It shouldn't have got out. But it did.And they want it back... Let me start by saying that this novel has one of the most striking beginnings I’ve read in a long time. It’s horrifying and intriguing and fascinating all at the same time, and it dragged me in to the story immediately. As soon as I read page one I expected big and exciting things from Lexicon; and, for the most part, it did a great job in delivering them. Lexicon is a bit of a mixed bag genre-wise: the general set-up and pacing marks it out as a thriller, but there are elements of dystopia and SF in there as well. I don’t often read thrillers, but I found that the plot here – namely the idea of a secret society of ‘poets’ using language to manipulate others – kept me hooked. The pacing is great, the characters are likeable enough, and the setting (the Australian desert) is vivid and easily imagined. I also thought it clever how the author inserted fictional excerpts such as blog posts, emails and news articles, in between chapters: it really makes the idea of language manipulation within everyday society worryingly relevant. The main point of the story is that a ‘bareword’ – a word so powerful that it overrides all impulses and counter-acts the poets’ regular manipulations of language – is stolen from the society, where it is then used to devastating effect against an entire town of people. Much of the novel flits about in time between the two central protagonists: their stories eventually begin to converge until we finally uncover the mystery of what really happened at Broken Hill. The writer does a good job of building momentum throughout (although it does seem to stall a little, particularly at a point near the end where the story is drawn out into a needless final act). I also would have liked more details of the ‘magic’ words themselves, how they came to be found, and how the poets managed to acquire this particular word. The story suggests that a new ‘bareword’ is found roughly once every 800 years or so, and that the poets go hunting for them in areas of archaeological or geological significance. Since the words themselves supposedly originate with the Bible I think more historical details about how they were first acquired and used would have given the story an extra dimension. Still, I had a lot of fun reading Lexicon, which is Max Barry’s fifth novel. I’ll definitely be checking out others by him in the future. 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Great review , it sounds like an interesting book. You're reading fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Great review , it sounds like an interesting book. You're reading fast! Thank you! Yes, it's quite a bit shorter than the books I normally read, and being off work always helps my reading speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Nice review! Sounds like an interesting read; glad you enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thank you BB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Acquired a few more books today. I ordered the following off Amazon with my monthly pay-day book spends, and they arrived today: I'm very excited to read both of them. I also happened to pop into The Works on my way home this afternoon and came out with these, all three for £5: I've never read them before but have heard good things from other people, so am looking forward to eventually reading these too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Nice! Very interested in Elizabeth Bear's stuff, although not that particular series at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yay for new books, I hope you enjoy reading them all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Oops . . . I acquired more books. The Works have a whole bunch of fantasy and SF on their website, and I managed to order 23 books for £35! Some of them arrived today - here's a picture: The rest should be arriving next week! I also received another book today: a free review copy of The Violent Century from Hodder. Here's a picture: And the synopsis from Amazon: For seventy years they guarded the British Empire. Oblivion and Fogg, inseparable friends, bound together by a shared fate. Until one night in Berlin, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a secret that tore them apart. But there must always be an account...and the past has a habit of catching up to the present. Now, recalled to the Retirement Bureau from which no one can retire, Fogg and Oblivion must face up to a past of terrible war and unacknowledged heroism - a life of dusty corridors and secret rooms, of furtive meetings and blood-stained fields - to answer one last, impossible question: What makes a hero? It looks interesting, to say the least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I'll be interested to see what you think of the Adrian Tchaikovsky books, Laura. I bought four of them, made it through two - somehow, then gave them all to charity - which, thinking about it, might not have been particularly charitable of me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Oops indeed! Have you read Bitter Seeds yet? or are you assuming you will like it and bought the sequels in advance (I've done that too many times). The Violent Century sounds really interesting. It's a shame your OSC books don't match... but at least Ender's Game doesn't have a big picture of Harrison Ford on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 I'll be interested to see what you think of the Adrian Tchaikovsky books, Laura. I bought four of them, made it through two - somehow, then gave them all to charity - which, thinking about it, might not have been particularly charitable of me Ooh, harsh! Oops indeed! Have you read Bitter Seeds yet? or are you assuming you will like it and bought the sequels in advance (I've done that too many times). The latter. For some reason the Works are notorious for stocking every book in a series except the first one. Steve recommended the series a while ago, and Bitter Seeds has been on my wishlist for a few months. I hope I do like it when I finally get it. What did you make of the series? It's a shame your OSC books don't match... but at least Ender's Game doesn't have a big picture of Harrison Ford on it God yes, thank goodness for small blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 It's a shame your OSC books don't match... but at least Ender's Game doesn't have a big picture of Harrison Ford on it Plus they must be the only books on the face of the planet that don't have GRRM's name splattered all over the covers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 What did you make of the series? It's a great series! Highly original and refreshing, great fun mixed with great ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Plus: Gretel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Great books, Laura ! I read and liked the first book in the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. My covers are different from yours though. Speaker for the Dead is on my wishlist. I hope you enjoy all your new books ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 Haha awesome, thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Review: 'The Emperor's Blades' by Brian Staveley The circle is closing. The stakes are high. And old truths will live again . . .The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must bury their grief and prepare to unmask a conspiracy.His son Valyn, training for the empire's deadliest fighting force, hears the news an ocean away. He expected a challenge, but after several 'accidents' and a dying soldier's warning, he realizes his life is also in danger. Yet before Valyn can take action, he must survive the mercenaries' brutal final initiation.Meanwhile, the Emperor's daughter, Minister Adare, hunts her father's murderer in the capital itself. Court politics can be fatal, but she needs justice. And Kaden, heir to the empire, studies in a remote monastery. Here, the Blank God's disciples teach their harsh ways - which Kaden must master to unlock their ancient powers. When an imperial delegation arrives, he's learnt enough to perceive evil intent. But will this keep him alive, as long-hidden powers make their move? I have to admit, I very nearly didn’t make it past the first 100 pages of The Emperor’s Blades. An intriguing prologue and opening chapter were quickly followed by pages and pages of fantasy clichés: a corrupt religious organisation threatening to overthrow the kingdom, two royal male protagonists (who are just normal, humble guys, honestly!), a soldier-in-training (in the most elite fighting force in the world, of course), a long-extinct race of evil immortals that are clearly going to be revealed not to be extinct, etc., etc. And then you have the plethora of ridiculously generic fantasy names. Seriously, the majority of the character names sound like they were sourced from an RPG name generator: in the first fifty pages or so we have Micijah Ut, Crenchan Xaw, Ran il Tornja, Heqet, Meshkent, Bilkun Hellel, Tan’is, Csestriim, Ashk’lan, Uinian, Sanlitun hui’Malkeenian, Akiil, Valyn, and many more. On top of this you have the term “’Kent-kissing” at least twenty eight times on every page, which gets kind of annoying. To clarify: ‘Kent’ is an abbreviation of the god ‘Ashkent’, and ‘Kent-kissing’ is used as a curse, as in the phrase “if I see that ‘Kent-kissing term used one more time in this dialogue I’m going to hurl this book through the window”. Anyway, I’d positioned myself next to the window (ready for the next ‘Kent-kissing use of the term that shall not be spoken), when something happened. What happened? It got better. That’s it, really. I can’t pinpoint exactly how or why, but after around 100 pages or so I really started to get interested. I cared a lot about what was going to happen with Valyn, I cared almost as much about what was happening to Kaden, and even managed to care a tiny bit about what was going on with Adare. The story has three central protagonists, all of whom are the children of the emperor and all of whom appear to be around eighteen years old. Valyn is the eldest, and has spent eight years training as an elite mercenary; Kaden is the royal heir (although he is younger, he has the ‘fiery eyes’ that indicate the right to rule) and has spent eight years as a peaceful monk; and Adare has spent her life at court, and will never be allowed to rule despite also having golden eyes. The whole setup reminded me of David Anthony Durham’s Acacia in that it follows the separate lives of three siblings and explores how their radically different upbringings has changed them, for better or worse. While it was good to know immediately how all the main characters were connected, I felt it would have been a bit more interesting to explore this further by making at least one of them at least a little bit morally ambiguous; as it is, they’re all pretty much perfect. Kaden is disciplined, Valyn is brave and Adare is (sort of) intelligent, and they’re all presented as being completely loyal and heroic in their own ways. I kept waiting for the conflict that would come, either when they reunited or when one of them lost their way or was led astray, but it never happened, and I felt that made the characters sort of flat where they were otherwise fairly well-defined. My other main gripe was that Adare, the only female protagonist, is severely underemphasized (she only has around three or four chapters in total), and is not very relatable, or even particularly sympathetic. It’s made clear from the beginning that she’s frustrated about her position in society – as a woman, she is not allowed to rule the kingdom, despite being the only royal personage present in the capital at the time, and someone else has been appointed to rule until her brother returns. However, her father, the emperor, did make her Minister of Finance when he died, to the chagrin of most of the more traditionalist society. This storyline had some great potential: I thought, brilliant, he’s going to show how she struggles against the patriarchal society by showing how strong and competent she is at doing a ‘man’s’ job and change everyone’s minds! But no: we see absolutely no evidence of her actually doing her job, despite it seeming like such a big deal, and instead she acts frustratingly how everyone expects her to act. She gets over-emotional at meetings, she throws herself carelessly into an affair with a man she barely knows – the man who is ruling in her stead, no less! – and, worst of all, she takes the painfully over-obvious circumstances of her father’s murder at face value, then acts prematurely and recklessly to avenge him without bothering to try and investigate what really happened. Her position at court – royal heir yet not allowed to rule, possessed of dangerous knowledge but not yet in a position to do anything about it – was not played out to full effect, and as such I never really felt invested in her chapters. Believe it or not, there was way more to like about this book than not: the pacing is fairly strong once it gets going, the settings and scenes are really vivid, and there’s a whole tonne of action. There are some really great scenes and images in there, including a brilliant sequence underground in a slarn lair, and the subplots and mysteries bring a nice variety and change of pace to the story. It’s easier to talk about things you don’t like than things you do, which is why so much of this review seems so critical, but I honestly enjoyed reading this book. I even stayed up until 1.30am just to finish it – and on a ‘Kent-kissing work night, too! 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Great review Laura! I know what you mean when you say it's easier to write about what you didn't like. Don't think I will be reading this one though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Great review, Laura ! I also find it easier to write about what I didn't like about a book. I think what you say about Adare, the female protagonist, would annoy me too. You said the first 100 pages you found difficult to read, how many pages does the book have in total? I imagine maybe 600ish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Brilliant review, as per usual I think I would've thrown it out of the window, though. It sounds far too much like a 'Kent-kissing Sanderson book for my liking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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