Laura's Fantasy Reviews 2014

[Signor Finzione]

Laura, just wanted you to know I finished my first Trudi Canavan book (review can be found in my thread here). I quite liked it, my only complaint with the particular book would be that it feels like an introduction to a more epic story yet to come. I will be reading the second and third book in the trilogy soon.

 

Thanks Gaia, I just read your review. Hopefully the rest of the series will be even more enjoyable!

[Athena]

Thanks Gaia, I just read your review. Hopefully the rest of the series will be even more enjoyable!

Thanks Laura ! I hope you enjoy it too when you read it.

[Signor Finzione]

Review: 'The Killing Moon' by N.K. Jemisin

 

 

 

 

In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt.

But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, Ehiru - the most famous of the city's Gatherers - must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering innocent dreamers in the goddess' name, stalking its prey both in Gujaareh's alleys and the realm of dreams. Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill - or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic.

 

 

The Killing Moon is a fantasy tale set in a region based loosely on ancient Egypt and Nubia, wherein the author uses delicate prose to weave a sad, captivating tale of love, loss and loyalty against a backdrop of religious conflict and political intrigue. 

 

The plot of The Killing Moon revolves around an innovative system of magic based on a combination of Freudian dream theory and ancient Egyptian medicine. The idea is that there are four natural by-products of dreaming: dreambile, dreamblood, dreamichor and dreamseed. Each of these can be harvested from anyone, and each has its own uses in religious healing, but the most rare and valuable is dreamblood. Dreamblood is produced at the moment of death, and can only be collected by Gatherers, who are essentially assassins completing contracts submitted to their order, the Hetawa. However, unlike most fantasy assassins, Gathering is mostly a peaceful art, and many of the victims, or ‘tithebearers’, are old or sick people who submitted the request to be Gathered on their own behalf, or that of a loved one. Jemisin uses vastly different character perspectives on the art of Gathering to explore, but not dwell on, what is essentially a moral debate about the ethics of euthanasia, and uses this as the foundation of the cultural differences between the warring states of Gujaareh and Kisua.

 

With a few exceptions, the story is told from the point of view of three main characters: Sunandi, a Kisuati ambassador trained in the art of negotiation and spying; Ehiru, the most revered Gatherer in Gujaareh; and Nijiri, Ehiru’s apprentice and closest friend. Each of the characters is likeable in their own way, and each hold different views, coming into conflict in a number of ways. However, I didn’t really feel much of a connection with any of them, and felt that the formal traditions and heavy focus on religion kept the characters at a distance, particularly Ehiru and Nijiri. I felt that they could perhaps have been developed more as individuals, despite the relatively short length of the book and the confines of the story.

 

The plot itself is intriguing, if fairly straightforward. A series of mysterious and horrific murders can mean only one thing: a Reaper – a monster possessing abilities that are a twisted perversion of a Gatherer’s own – is loose in the dark streets of Gujaareh. Somehow, its appearance is connected to both the royal Prince and the Hetawa, and an investigation into its origin reveals even darker plots of corruption and impending war. The characters’ journey of discovery throughout the novel is an intriguing and pleasant read, with a couple of twists and turns along the way. The pacing is steady and fluid, although the author foregoes much of the action, choosing instead to focus on the internal conflict of both Ehiru and Nijiri. For the most part this is fine, as there are plenty of beautiful moonlit cityscapes and evocative dream sequences to fill the imagination. However, there are two major conflicts towards the end, both of which happen entirely off-page, making the aftermath and epilogue somewhat anticlimactic and leaving me feeling a bit hollow.

 

Despite this, I look forward to reading book two in this duology, The Shadowed Sun. I enjoyed the writing style and flowing pace of The Killing Moon, and in spite of the disconnect I felt with the characters, I was thoroughly immersed in Jemisin’s world.

 

4/5

[Athena]

Great review, Laura! The Killing Moon sounds pretty interesting .

[Karsa Orlong]

 

dreamseed

 

I'm not going anywhere near that one!  

 

Great review, Laura - have to say, I've not been tempted by any of her books before

[Signor Finzione]

Birthday books! Birthday books! Birthday books! :exc:

 

So, I got a rather wonderful combination of money and vouchers for my birthday on Wednesday, and immediately went on an online shopping spree. A few are new, but most are second hand, and they all arrived today!

 

 

 

[Signor Finzione]

 

So, yes: the wishlist is a fair bit shorter than it was two days ago.

[Karsa Orlong]

Nice    All fantasy then?    You're going to run out of fantasy books to buy soon!    

 

I keep meaning to get Alif the Unseen myself

[Devi]

jimmy the hand was an awesome read! One of my favourites. Edited September 20, 2014 by Devi

[Athena]

Beautiful books! Several are on my wishlist or on my TBR. I loved the Terry Pratchett ones and the James Clemens The Banned and the Banished series is one of my favourite fantasy series of all time. I've been meaning to re-read it. I hope you really like all your books !

[Signor Finzione]

Nice    All fantasy then?    You're going to run out of fantasy books to buy soon! 

 

I keep meaning to get Alif the Unseen myself

 

I know, I just can't help myself. Yeah, Alif the Unseen has been on my wishlist for ages - for some reason the extract on Amazon really pulled me in, even though it doesn't seem like something I'd usually read.

 

jimmy the hand was an awesome read! One of my favourites.

 

Awesome! I love the character, but never actually read this one. Can't wait to have a full collection and finally start the big Feist read/re-read - only five left to buy!

 

Beautiful books! Several are on my wishlist or on my TBR. I loved the Terry Pratchett ones and the James Clemens The Banned and the Banished series is one of my favourite fantasy series of all time. I've been meaning to re-read it. I hope you really like all your books !

 

Thank you! Wit'ch Fire went on my wishlist a long time ago thanks to your recommendation.

[Athena]

Awesome! I love the character, but never actually read this one. Can't wait to have a full collection and finally start the big Feist read/re-read - only five left to buy!

How many have you read so far?

 

Thank you! Wit'ch Fire went on my wishlist a long time ago thanks to your recommendation.

I didn't know it was because of me .

[Signor Finzione]

How many have you read so far?

 

It's been a really long time since I actually read them, but I think I've read a total of 13 out of 30. But they belonged to a friend who moved away, so I've been gradually accumulating my own collection ever since.

 

I didn't know it was because of me .

 

Yes!! I noticed you recommended it to a few others as well, as figured it must be  really good. A few of the others were recommendations from Steve too, and possibly Tim and Devi - I forget whose threads I read things in.

[Athena]

It's been a really long time since I actually read them, but I think I've read a total of 13 out of 30. But they belonged to a friend who moved away, so I've been gradually accumulating my own collection ever since.

That's pretty cool, that you have your own collection now . I hope you'll enjoy (re)reading them! I have read the first one from the library when I was 15 (in Dutch), but I don't remember much of it. I would like to read all of his work at some point. There are several famous fantasy authors of whom I have a lot of books but which I haven't started to read from yet (mainly because it's a lot of books to read and I don't want to read too many at once or it gets confusing). Raymond E. Feist is one of them, and there's Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb and David Eddings. I haven't yet decided with which of these I'll start. Currently I'm reading the series by Trudi Canavan (as you know) and I plan to read some more of her books before starting a new fantasy series. But what I meant to get at, was that we could perhaps read/re-read some of Feist's books together at some point (if you're interested)?

 

Yes!! I noticed you recommended it to a few others as well, as figured it must be  really good. A few of the others were recommendations from Steve too, and possibly Tim and Devi - I forget whose threads I read things in.

I tend to forget these things too sometimes . I hope you enjoy them all though! I know I will enjoy reading all your reviews and possibly adding more books to my wishlist .

[Devi]

I'd read jimmy the hand along with you guys, and the The Empire trilogy again too.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Devi

[Signor Finzione]

That's pretty cool, that you have your own collection now . I hope you'll enjoy (re)reading them! I have read the first one from the library when I was 15 (in Dutch), but I don't remember much of it. I would like to read all of his work at some point. There are several famous fantasy authors of whom I have a lot of books but which I haven't started to read from yet (mainly because it's a lot of books to read and I don't want to read too many at once or it gets confusing). Raymond E. Feist is one of them, and there's Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb and David Eddings. I haven't yet decided with which of these I'll start. Currently I'm reading the series by Trudi Canavan (as you know) and I plan to read some more of her books before starting a new fantasy series. But what I meant to get at, was that we could perhaps read/re-read some of Feist's books together at some point (if you're interested)?

 

 

I think I have 7 books by Terry Brooks, and haven't read any of them.

 

We could definitely read some Feist together at some point. I'm planning to start with Magician and just work my way through each series. I'd originally planned on waiting until next year, as I'm currently working my way through another hefty re-read (Malazan), but I do keep getting the urge to go back to Feist sooner rather than later, maybe within the next couple of months.

 

And even if we don't read them at the same time, we can still start a thread for each book where we can have a spoilery discussion after reading.

 

I'd read jimmy the hand along with you guys, and the The Empire trilogy again too.

 

Awesome! I was about to suggest getting you in on this too, even though I know you've just finished your big re-read. The Empire trilogy can never be re-read too many times.

[Signor Finzione]

Review: 'The Light Fantastic' by Terry Pratchett

 

 

 

 

As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour.  Unfortunately, this happens to be the singularly inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...

 

 

It’s difficult to talk about the second Discworld novel without comparing it to the first, which I recently re-read and which left me somewhat disappointed. It’s been a long time since I read either book and so I had somewhat low expectations of this one too; but I have to say, I found The Light Fantastic to be a whole lot more enjoyable than The Colour of Magic. For one thing, there’s an actual plot. For another, the main character actually develops as the story progresses. And for another, the secondary characters are a lot more fleshed out and a lot more likeable. The world is also a lot better realised and I found it much easier to follow the characters’ journey in my mind’s eye, unlike the first book in which they were jumping about here there and everywhere. 

 

I’ll start with the story. As we learned in The Colour of Magic, Rincewind is a failed wizard who, as a result of an unfortunate series of events, is stuck at the wrong end of the Discworld with a naïve tourist named Twoflower, a sentient luggage case, and one of the Eight Great Spells lodged in his brain. Now, the entire Discworld is in danger from a rapidly approaching Red Star, and Rincewind must return to Ankh-Morpork with the eighth spell in order to avert the end of the world. Along the way he and Twoflower acquire several companions: Cohen the Barbarian, who is eighty-seven (or “eighty-sheven”) and has no teeth; Bethan, the beautiful former druid sacrifice; and Lackjaw, a dwarven jeweller. They must overcome obstacles and defeat rivals such as Herrena, the female Hero; and the main antagonist of the story, Trymon the wizard, who, thanks to the TV adaptation, I now can’t help but picture as the delightfully villainous Tim Curry.

 

As with the previous novel, the author’s dry humour and satiric tone saturates every page, but is toned down quite a lot here. Whereas The Colour of Magic used a sledgehammer to poke fun at the genre, The Light Fantastic is more of a toffee hammer, and Pratchett’s affectionate mockery of fantasy is a lot less ‘in your face’. I also found that there are a lot more snort-out-loud moments, usually at the author’s hilarious and sometimes outrageous use of puns, something which is now a characteristic staple of his writing. I can’t help but include an example:

 

‘Rincewind, all the shops have been smashed open. There was a whole bunch of people across the street helping themselves to musical instruments, can you believe that?’

‘Yeah,’ said Rincewind, picking up a knife and testing its blade thoughtfully. ‘Luters, I expect.’

 

Another feature of Pratchett’s writing which begins to really come to life in The Light Fantastic is his use of humorous personification, and not only relating to characters such as Death and the Luggage. Here’s how he describes Rincewind’s reaction when he finds out that another character might be dead:

 

‘Dead?’ said Rincewind. In the debating chamber of his mind a dozen emotions got to their feet and started shouting. Relief was in full spate when Shock cut in on a point of order and then Bewilderment, Terror and Loss started a fight which was ended only when Shame slunk in from next door to see what all the row was about.

 

It’s bits like this throughout the book that enable the author to explore how Rincewind has developed as a result of his relationship with Twoflower without losing any levity or detracting from the events at hand. In this way he also keeps the pace of the novel flowing quickly and smoothly, and as a result The Light Fantastic makes for a relatively fast and pleasant read. I’d probably recommend this as a starting point for the series, as it’s far superior to The Colour of Magic, and there really isn’t that much from the first novel that couldn’t be picked up from reading this.

 

4/5

[Athena]

We could definitely read some Feist together at some point. I'm planning to start with Magician and just work my way through each series. I'd originally planned on waiting until next year, as I'm currently working my way through another hefty re-read (Malazan), but I do keep getting the urge to go back to Feist sooner rather than later, maybe within the next couple of months.

 

And even if we don't read them at the same time, we can still start a thread for each book where we can have a spoilery discussion after reading.

Sounds good !

 

Great review of The Light Fantastic, I'm glad it was better than you were expecting. You make me want to read it again! (but surely I should read some more Discworld books that I haven't read yet, first). I thought Tim Curry's portrayal of the villain was really good, in the TV adaptation.

[Signor Finzione]

Sounds good !

 

Great review of The Light Fantastic, I'm glad it was better than you were expecting. You make me want to read it again! (but surely I should read some more Discworld books that I haven't read yet, first). I thought Tim Curry's portrayal of the villain was really good, in the TV adaptation.

 

Thanks! I watched Going Postal again this weekend, as I'd been wanting to watch it since we were discussing it a few weeks ago. It's much better than I remembered it being, and I actually spotted Pratchett's cameo this time! I must have turned it off too early the first time I watched it, and missed it.

[Athena]

Thanks! I watched Going Postal again this weekend, as I'd been wanting to watch it since we were discussing it a few weeks ago. It's much better than I remembered it being, and I actually spotted Pratchett's cameo this time! I must have turned it off too early the first time I watched it, and missed it.

Nice you spotted him! I'm glad you enjoyed watching it .

[Timstar]

Hey, sorry for my lack of comments, I have been keeping up though. Great reviews, I really need to start reading some Brent Weeks soon!

 

Great buys as well, be interested to see what you make of them. How is the new job going? Have you got a favourite and least favourite child yet? 

[Signor Finzione]

Hey, sorry for my lack of comments, I have been keeping up though. Great reviews, I really need to start reading some Brent Weeks soon!

 

Great buys as well, be interested to see what you make of them. How is the new job going? Have you got a favourite and least favourite child yet? 

 

Cheers Tim - I wondered where you'd been! Have you got yourself sorted out with a new job?

 

My job's going good thanks. I love the fact that I'm back to working in a school, but without having to actually be in charge of anything.

[Signor Finzione]

My internet is being an absolute nightmare at the moment. I've spent half the week on the phone to Sky and have a new ADLS (ASLD? ADSL? The grey one, anyway) cable coming in the next week. Until then, if I disappear, you know why.

 

I'm also having a bit of a nightmare looking for a new car. Twice now I've had old second (or third) hand ones (both Ford Ka's), and have ended up spending much more than the actual value of the car in repairs and stuff. I now want to get a brand new car using a finance deal, but all the small print and percentages and stuff worry me a bit, and my dad's also going on about how it might be better to take out a bank loan to buy the car instead. It's driving me crazy!  

[bobblybear]

Hope you get the internet sorted!

 

What sort of car are you looking for? My last car was rubbish - and I spent a fortune on repairs and maintenance - so I ended up getting a very reliable, yet very dull Yaris. Would like to get a nicer car at some point, but just want something reliable.

[Karsa Orlong]

Until then, if I disappear, you know why.

 

Well, you say it's your internet, but I reckon you've been abducted by aliens.  It's the time of year for it    

 

Good luck with the car