Steve's Bookshelf 2011

[Karsa Orlong]

 

The Dresdencrack - it calls ...

[Karsa Orlong]

Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds

 

Tanner Mirabel was a security specialist who never made a mistake - until the day a woman in his care was blown away by Argent Reivich, a vengeful young postmortal. Tanner's pursuit of Reivich takes him across light-years of space to Chasm City, the domed human settlement on the otherwise inhospitable planet of Yellowstone. But Chasm City is not what it was. The one-time high-tech utopia has become a Gothic nightmare: a nanotechnological virus has corrupted the city's inhabitants as thoroughly as it has the buildings and machines. Before the chase is done, Tanner will have to confront truths which reach back centuries, towards deep space and an atrocity history barely remembers.

 

I was casting my mind back trying to remember why I bought this book. Several years ago I read a book called Revelation Space by the same author, and remember finding it quite heavy going, and I'd never gone back to any of his other novels. But now I remember that it was the Amazon blurb, above, that made me want this book. Even then, it had been sitting on the shelf for quite a while, unread. It's quite a daunting looking tome, big and black and heavy, and Reynolds' reputation for hard SF had me on the backfoot a little. But discussing him on this board a week or so back made me pick it up and, lo and behold, once I started reading it was impossible to put down.

 

Chasm City is a very different book to Revelation Space, even though it is set in the same universe. Told mostly in the first person, it is a science fiction thriller, rather than space opera, and the structure of the novel is brilliant. There are, effectively, three storylines. The main one, that is happening as you read, is that of Tanner Mirabel's pursuit of Argent Reivich, the man he believes responsible for the murders of his former employer and that man's wife. The novel begins with a thrilling sequence set on an orbital elevator above the planet Sky's Edge, and then shifts forward fifteen years, as Tanner comes out of reefersleep with short-term memory loss, having travelled to another system on Reivich's trail, where lies the Chasm City of the title.

 

It is here that the second tale kicks in, as Tanner, infected with a techno-virus, experiences - through dreams - the life of a man called Schuyler Haussman, who had travelled on the original flotilla, a group of generational ships that carried mankind to Sky's Edge centuries ago. On top of this, Tanner's memories of what happened to his former employer, Cahuella, and his wife, Gitta, begin to haunt him, and various colourful and crazy characters try to help or thwart him as he continues his hunt for Reivich.

 

The way Reynolds interweaves these three stories is quite brilliant, and lends the novel a thrilling pace that rarely - if ever - lets up for the entirety of its 600+ pages.

 

In Chasm City he has created an intriguing and scary place. In some ways, it seems like a cross between the future LA seen in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and the steampunk-ish environs of China Mieville's New Crobuzon. Both the city and its denizens are well-realised, and the gap between the classes within the city come across really well. In some ways, I wish he'd done more with it, because it's such an impressive creation that you can't help but feel there is much more to tell about it, but it easily serves its purpose.

 

Anyway, I finished this novel and immediately went out and bought three more by the same author, including Revelation Space, which I am now determined to re-read and see if I was wrong about it last time around.

 

In the meantime, if you're looking for a futuristic thriller, I can't recommend Chasm City highly enough.

 

9/10

[Karsa Orlong]

Crikey, time for some brief comments on recent reads, just to try and catch up a bit

 

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

 

Hard to criticise a classic, I suppose, but it wasn't for me. I think I would've enjoyed it more had it not been so long. For the amount of actual plot involved it's an incredibly drawn out book. I did enjoy some of the characterisation. There was a distinct overuse of exclamation marks, though(!)

 

6/10

 

 

Waylander by David Gemmell

 

A man who becomes an infamous assassin after his wife and child are murdered is drawn into a war that he wants no part of, and is sent on a mission to retrieve a set of magical armour that will supposedly bring his people together to fight off an invading force.

 

A fairly standard set up for heroic fantasy, but Gemmell's characters are a step up from the usual, and he concentrates more on them than world building or magic systems. He doesn't waste many words, either, and their is humour and a fair bit of emotion as well. Plus he handles the action sequences brilliantly, and there is a fatalism to it that means things never quite work out in the way you expect. For me, this was on a par with - if not better than - Legend by the same author.

 

8/10

 

 

The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill

 

The son of a Cumbrian woodcutter becomes a millionaire, marries a beautiful woman and builds the life he dreams of, when suddenly he is accused of being a paedophile and of fraud. Thrown in prison, his life falls apart and a psychiatrist tries to get to the bottom of his fall from grace.

 

I enjoyed this one a lot. It's a little far-fetched, but it moves with pace, and it kept me guessing for longer than it really should have, and Wolf Hadda is a very charismatic main character. It's only in the last hundred pages, once its biggest secrets and twists and turns have been revealed, that it falls into rather predictable thriller territory, which is a shame, but up to that point it's a very good read.

 

8/10

 

 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre

 

I'd meant to read this for ages, and seeing the trailers for the new movie version made me pick it up in a 3 for 2 at Waterstones. This tale of the hunt for a Russian spy reminded me, in writing style, a lot of James Ellroy. There are lots of names thrown at you, lots of jargon, lots of short cryptic sentences the meanings of which only become clear pages later. I like Ellroy, but I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. I just didn't care about any of the characters, and by about the 300th page the end couldn't come soon enough. I have to admit, I don't get what all the fuss is about.

 

6/10

[Karsa Orlong]

I suddenly seem to have become a Neal Asher fan. I usually make a point of never reading two books on the trot by the same author, yet I'm suddenly on my third Asher book in a row

 

I read The Skinner last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the first of his 'Spatterjay' novels, Spatterjay being the name of a planet. Actually, Spatterjay is a hellhole. It's surface is largely covered in water, and within those depths lurk all kinds of deadly monstrosities which are usually large, usually angry, usually have lots of teeth, and are usually killing either each other or the humans who dare to live on the surface. The humans themselves are known as Hoopers. Almost every human who sets foot on the planet is infected with the Spatterjay virus, a virus which can increase longevity and physical recuperation to the point of immortality - but it does have drawbacks: if the infected person does not have a diet of non-infected foodstuffs then they begin to mutate into something far less friendly. The Hoopers are a seafaring people, of course, and amongst them are the Old Captains, those who were infected early in the planet's habitation and have lived for centuries as a result.

 

Anyway, I finally returned to this series with the sequel, The Voyage of the Sable Keech. It took a while longer to get going than The Skinner but it was worth the wait. Once it kicks into gear it is positively outrageous in the number of threads it weaves together into a coherent whole. Set ten years after the previous events, most of the cast from The Skinner return, along with several intriguing new characters. Janer, Erlin and Ambel all appear, and are usually in some kind of peril. Here, a cult of reifs (reifications - basically dead humans who have been brought back to life - don't ask!) come to Spatterjay on a pilgrimage, with the hopes of being truly resurrected, as happened to the eponymous Sable Keech. They build a huge boat in his name and set off for the island where his resurrection took place. Unfortunately, not everyone is pulling in the same direction, and all sorts of merriment ensues (usually involving violence with big weapons and even bigger enemies). Throw into this mix all-powerful AIs, grumpy but lethal war drones, and the last survivor of an alien ship that crashed into the ocean during The Skinner and has now begun to mutate into something even less friendly, and you have a recipe for glorious mayhem. This book really snowballs and, by the time it reaches its latter stages, it is moving at such pace that it's quite literally breathtaking.

 

I followed that up with Prador Moon. This one is actually a prequel to Asher's entire Polity universe, of which the Spatterjay series is a part. It's quite an old-fashioned book, in that it is only 222 pages long and tells a wonderfully concentrated tale, but he packs so much into those pages that it feels like it holds more content than some authors manage in books three times the size. The Prador are a species of crab-like aliens, and boy are they NASTY. This book tells the story about how the war between humans and Prador first began, and it's a fantastic read. It rattles along at an amazing pace without foresaking characterisation, and also gives a lot of information without resorting to overlong info-dumps. It's the sort of book you read in one or two sittings, unable to put it down until you turn the final page.

 

And now I've moved on to the third Spatterjay novel, Orbus (the name of one of the aforementioned Old Captains [who was a sadist - with a crew of masochists - until he got taken prisoner by a Prador ... ), which - at the moment, at least - seems like it's going to be even better than the others I've read to date.

 

Asher's version of science fiction is like Spinal Tap's version of rock music - it's turned up to 11. It is full of wild ideas, huge action sequences, vivid description, wicked humour, and - above all else - great characters. I'm hooked - but I'll never be able to look at the sea in the same way again

 

The Voyage of the Sable Keech 8/10

Prador Moon 9/10

[Karsa Orlong]

Okay, so I finished Orbus and it was great - quite tightly focused with a smaller cast of characters than Sable Keech. It was written in the present tense, which seemed to make the action more visceral than ever. A good ending to the series, I thought.

 

Orbus - great conclusion to the Spatterjay series - 9/10

 

 

Then I read Zoo Station by David Downing. This was about a freelance journalist living in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War, and how he gets drawn into a situation where he is helping both the Russian and English secret services to smuggle information out of Germany, and also how he innocently gets involved in teaching a Jewish family to speak English and ... well, you can imagine what happens. I thought it was a well written book, and it certainly kept me turning the pages, but it wasn't quite as tense as I expected it to be. For sure, there is tension, and it is ever present throughout the book, but it never seemed to ratchet up in the way I thought it might. I thought that the ending would have me genuinely fearful for the characters, but it didn't happen.

 

Zoo Station - worth a read - 7/10

 

 

Next up was Fallen Idols by Neil White. I knew this would be pulp, and it didn't disappoint. Premiership footballers are being shot dead by someone using a high power rifle. A freelance journalist (again!) - who just happens to have a thing for the female detective investigating the case - works out an exclusive angle for a feature which leads him back to his home town and into its murky past. There's a character in this book called David Watts. Every time he was mentioned I started singing The Jam's cover version of that song. Fortunately, I was singing it in my head, otherwise wildlife for miles around would now be fleeing the country. Anyway, the book's a page-turner for sure, and it's not badly written, but the plot is so far-fetched it made me laugh more than it had me on the edge of my seat. Still, it was only £1.99 on Kindle when I bought it, so it was worth the price.

 

Fallen Idols - wish I could be like David Watts (not in this case!) - 6/10

 

 

Finally, All My Sins Remembered by Joe Haldeman was my first Kindle purchase via the all-new (and rather excellent) SF Gateway. This is a book about a trained killer, and how he deals with the emotional turmoil caused by those actions. Like The Forever War, it's Haldeman drawing on his own experiences in Vietnam. AMSR is basically three short stories pulled together by a common character and an overlying framework where he is briefed and debriefed. Within the short stories there are some good and fascinating ideas but, as a whole, it doesn't quite hold together. I think this is mainly down to the main character, Otto, being under cover in each story, and therefore being an almost completely different person each time. It makes it hard to identify with him, which is a shame. A great idea, just a bit lacking in the execution. If you fancy trying some Haldeman then The Forever War is definitely the place to start.

 

All My Sins Remembered - great idea that doesn't quite come off - 7/10

[Karsa Orlong]

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

 

I kind of read this one against my better judgement. I loved Hyperion so much (see up-thread) that I was worried the sequel would not do it justice. I probably shouldn't have been so concerned. Fall picks up almost immediately where the first book left off, with our group of travellers at the Time Tombs and the galaxy beyond on the brink of war. Due to its very nature, and the fact that the travellers' stories were all told in the first book, Simmons has to adapt a more traditional approach to the story, although he does manage to throw in a slight twist in that a 'new' character is seeing the events through his dreams. It works pretty well, and allows both the story on Hyperion and the war out in The Web to be told with a liberal dosage of cliffhangers.

 

I really enjoyed it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. There was something so perfect about Hyperion that I could almost have lived without knowing all the answers. That Fall comes so close to achieving the impossible is a huge compliment to Simmons's ability, I think.

 

8/10

 

 

 

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 

At the time I bought this I didn't know it was a YA novel, and I don't know whether I would have chosen not to buy it if I had known beforehand. I think I'm pretty much alone in not liking the book, and I won't be bothering with the sequels so am probably coming at it from an uninformed viewpoint. I guess it's supposed to be an allegory but, even then, I found the idea of teenagers being forced into a 'kill-or-be-killed' situation a little unpalatable. It's written well enough, if a little repetitive, but it wasn't for me. Still, I bought this for £1.99 for the Kindle, so it was worth it just to see what all the fuss is about.

 

6/10

 

 

 

Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf by David Gemmell

 

Another sequel. Set ten years after the events of the first book, Waylander is living with his younger daughter in a secluded cabin when he discovers that someone has put a bounty on his head, and a number of assassins are on his trail. Who they are, what lays behind it, and how Waylander deals with it, all make up another tightly plotted heroic fantasy adventure from the late Mr Gemmell. As always, the strength of his writing is in his wonderfully flawed characters. Angel and Miriel are particularly memorable this time around, and he gives all of the supporting characters ample time to develop. There is, perhaps, some similarity between Gemmell's novels, with sieges and heroic deaths aplenty and, as such, I will probably leave a gap between reading his books. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that

 

8/10

[Karsa Orlong]

Well I would review Michelle Paver's Dark Matter here, but I've already said most of what I wanted to say in the book-specific thread here. Suffice to say, I thought it was very good indeed. One thing I didn't mention in that post was the presentation: from the cover design to the photos at the start of each chapter, it all adds to the atmosphere of isolation and dread that claws at you throughout the book. This, it has to be said, is something the Kindle just can't do, so I'm glad I got the paperback on this occasion. And yes, after finishing it last night, when I turned the light off, I did have a few uneasy seconds in the dark. That's the biggest compliment I can pay to this book - it reminded me that fear of the dark is something that will always be with us!

 

9/10

 

 

When I finish Dracula it'll be my 63rd book of the year, which means I have to read another 13 this year to match last year's total. Unlikely, I reckon, but I'll give it a go!

[willoyd]

When I finish Dracula it'll be my 63rd book of the year, which means I have to read another 13 this year to match last year's total. Unlikely, I reckon, but I'll give it a go!

Well, you've averaged just over 6 books a month, so on that basis you've only got to read one more than that in either November or December and you've done it. Good luck - my biggest annual total ever has been 55 (last year), and I'm way off that this year (27 so far), so am mighty impressed at anybody who can sustain that level of reading throughout the whole year.

[Karsa Orlong]

Well, you've averaged just over 6 books a month, so on that basis you've only got to read one more than that in either November or December and you've done it. Good luck - my biggest annual total ever has been 55 (last year), and I'm way off that this year (27 so far), so am mighty impressed at anybody who can sustain that level of reading throughout the whole year.

Thanks I won't be unhappy if I don't reach it, but it's worth a try.

[Karsa Orlong]

I finished Dracula last night. I expected a lot of things from this book: I expected the diary writing style, I expected multiple viewpoints, I expected flowery language. I hoped it might be scary. I didn't expect it to be boring! It started really well, with Jonathan Harker's journey to Dracula's castle, his subsequent encounters with the Count and his 'wives'. Even when the story got back to the UK it was still diverting enough. But it dragged on and on ... and on and on ... There was, in my opinion, nowhere near enough story to fill 450 pages. There was so much filler, so much hand-wringing and speeches that lasted forever and went nowhere. I probably should've given up, but I soldiered on to the end, and even that overstayed its welcome and was nowhere near as thrilling as it should have been. I guess part of the problem with writing a story in a diary/letter format is that you know, seeing as one of the characters is writing in said diary, that they are going to make it through that particular situation alive. For some reason, it worked really well for me in Dark Matter, but made me want to claw my eyes out in Dracula.

 

Disappointed.

 

5/10

[Karsa Orlong]

Infidel by Bob Shepherd

 

This one's a debut novel about two ex-SAS guys working as private contractors in Afghanistan who incur the wrath of a local warlord and go on the run. It's a fast-moving action/adventure story, quite well written, and I think it benefits from concentrating on a small cast of characters. There's a nice set-up at the start (it's one of those books that starts with the end and then goes back in time to tell you what happened) and leaves you guessing almost to the end about what exactly occurred. It's not particularly ground-breaking, but it doesn't overstay its welcome.

 

7/10

 

 

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

 

I was in the mood for another ghost story, after enjoying Dark Matter so much, so I got this one on the Kindle. I didn't realise at the time, but I had seen the tv adaptation of this story (rather than the stage play) a few years ago, so I remembered a lot of what was going happen, which was a shame but didn't spoil it completely. This one's about a young solicitor whose boss sends him oop North to deal with the estate of a recently deceased client who lives on the coast in a dark, spooky old house that just happens to be cut off from the mainland at every high tide, and can only be reached by the 'Nine Lives' causeway even at low tide. Naturally, bad things have happened at this house in the past, and the locals are suitably tight-lipped about the details, just giving our hero, Arthur, cryptic warnings. Of course, he soon begins to see and hear things which seriously mess with his mind.

 

It's another ghost story that's told in the first person. Perhaps the only thing that spoiled it (before I remembered knowing the story) is that it starts in Arthur's 'present', where his step-kids are sitting around the fire telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve. This brings the memories of his experiences flooding back, and he vows to write it all down, which is what makes up the rest of the story. The problem here, similar to Dark Matter and Dracula (above), is that it robs the story of any real suspense because you know Arthur will make it to the end in one piece.

 

This doesn't diminish its spookiness, though. I was reading this late at night and, at one particular point, jumped out of my skin when a floorboard creaked next door

 

I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Dark Matter, but it was still a good, atmospheric read that lasted just as long as it needed to.

 

7/10

 

Edit: and I've just seen that Hammer are making a new film version of it for release next year

Edited November 15, 2011 by Karsa Orlong

[lauraloves]

Infidel by Bob Shepherd

 

This one's a debut novel about two ex-SAS guys working as private contractors in Afghanistan who incur the wrath of a local warlord and go on the run. It's a fast-moving action/adventure story, quite well written, and I think it benefits from concentrating on a small cast of characters. There's a nice set-up at the start (it's one of those books that starts with the end and then goes back in time to tell you what happened) and leaves you guessing almost to the end about what exactly occurred. It's not particularly ground-breaking, but it doesn't overstay its welcome.

 

7/10

 

 

 

I was about to add this book to my wishlist after reading your great review, and then realised that I already have it on my TBR pile! I really want to get reading this

[Brian.]

I didnt realise Bob Shepherd had written a novel. I've read his non-fiction title 'The Circuit' which is about working for private security firms in war zones around the world. Its a pretty good read so I might have to get a copy of 'Infidel'.

[Karsa Orlong]

I was about to add this book to my wishlist after reading your great review, and then realised that I already have it on my TBR pile! I really want to get reading this

Don't you love it when that happens?

 

I didnt realise Bob Shepherd had written a novel. I've read his non-fiction title 'The Circuit' which is about working for private security firms in war zones around the world. Its a pretty good read so I might have to get a copy of 'Infidel'.

I think he wrote it in conjunction with someone else, but I haven't got it to hand to check.

 

The story was inspired by The Man Who Would Be King, apparently.

[lauraloves]

Don't you love it when that happens?

 

Yep means I wont have to wait as long to get to read it

[Kylie]

Fallen Idols - wish I could be like David Watts (not in this case!) - 6/10

 

Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa.

 

I'm so disappointed that you didn't enjoy Dracula. It's one of my favourite novels.

[Karsa Orlong]

Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa.

 

I was disappointed that I didn't like Dracula, too! I really wanted to like it, I really did.

[~Andrea~]

I finished Dracula last night. I expected a lot of things from this book: I expected the diary writing style, I expected multiple viewpoints, I expected flowery language. I hoped it might be scary. I didn't expect it to be boring! It started really well, with Jonathan Harker's journey to Dracula's castle, his subsequent encounters with the Count and his 'wives'. Even when the story got back to the UK it was still diverting enough. But it dragged on and on ... and on and on ... There was, in my opinion, nowhere near enough story to fill 450 pages. There was so much filler, so much hand-wringing and speeches that lasted forever and went nowhere. I probably should've given up, but I soldiered on to the end, and even that overstayed its welcome and was nowhere near as thrilling as it should have been. I guess part of the problem with writing a story in a diary/letter format is that you know, seeing as one of the characters is writing in said diary, that they are going to make it through that particular situation alive. For some reason, it worked really well for me in Dark Matter, but made me want to claw my eyes out in Dracula.

 

Disappointed.

 

5/10

 

I know what you mean with this. The first four chapters make a cracking opening - but somehow the rest of the book fails to live up to it. I think it would have been vastly improved if the third quarter had been done away with (but I get the impression you would have ditched a lot more than that lol)

[Karsa Orlong]

I know what you mean with this. The first four chapters make a cracking opening - but somehow the rest of the book fails to live up to it. I think it would have been vastly improved if the third quarter had been done away with (but I get the impression you would have ditched a lot more than that lol)

 

Every time Van Helsing opened his mouth, for starters All that business where he was saying "I know what's going on, but I'm not going to tell you"

 

No, you're right, some serious editing in the second half of the story would've worked wonders for me.

 

I was going to ask what you think of Royal Assassin - but I should ask you that in your own thread!

[Karsa Orlong]

Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg

 

A little gem courtesy of the SF Gateway releases. This one is about a man who returns to a world that was colonised by humans but then turned back over to the indigenous species. He is dealing with guilt brought about by events that occurred during his tenure on the planet some years before, and sets out on a journey into the depths of a previously unexplored area, seeking his redemption. I liked this book a lot. It's well written, the characters are engaging and the alien ecology is intriguing, although the final twist is fairly obvious from quite early on. This was my first Silverberg novel, and I'll definitely be reading some more.

 

7/10

 

 

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

 

A Western, set in the time of the Gold Rush, that was nominated for this year's Booker Prize, The Sisters Brothers tells the story of the, um, Sisters brothers, Charlie and Eli, who are hired killers sent to California to hunt down a man who has broken a contract. I loved this book. DeWitt's writing style is quite stark. There's a lot of laugh-out-loud humour in the relationship between the brothers, and the characters jump off the page. Even the supporting characters are so well written you can almost see, hear and - it has to be said - smell them. There's a sense of danger in their journey, and no real telling who is going to make it to the end alive. The whole book has a real Coen Brothers feel to it. Brilliant.

 

9/10

 

 

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

 

Butcher's third Dresden Files novel sees Harry trying to find out why ghosts are turning nasty, and getting himself involved in a feud with the vampire council. I thought it was another engaging read but, whereas the first two books were just a bit fun, I got the definite sense that Butcher was trying to kick things up a notch in this one. That's not to say it's deep and meaningful - it's not - but it's definitely darker than the first two novels, and bad things happen to good people. The ending was scary and tense, and set up what I can only imagine is going to be a humdinger of an ongoing story. Oh, and the vampires are evil, which is how it should be. Looking forward to Summer Knight.

 

8/10

 

 

The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

 

This wasn't at all what I expected. For some reason - based on a friend's recommendation - I was thinking it would be some kind of Da Vinci Code type thriller, I don't know why. In reality, it's a historical novel set in Glastonbury in 1560, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth - and it's fantastic. There's a touch of the paranormal about it, with ghosts, sacrifices and myth and legend woven throughout the story, which centres around John Dee, Elizabeth's astronomer/astrologer, who is branded a conjurer and eyed with suspicion by most. Based on fact, Dee is sent to Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur, and is drawn into a web of murder, suspicion and intrigue, and a battle between beliefs in the wake of Henry VIII's severing of and Queen Mary's restoration of England's Roman Catholicism. I thought this was a terrific read, full of atmosphere and a sense of foreboding. Where it might have got bogged down in relaying historical fact, Rickman manages to keep it moving at pace, and its 500-odd pages raced by. My only problem with it is that I found Rickman's writing style occasionally, and deliberately, a little obtuse, meaning that I sometimes wasn't sure which character was talking or doing a particular thing. It's a small niggle. You always feel how precarious Dee's position is, and the ending is truly tense. I'm a big fan of C J Sansom's books but, with him getting so much attention, there's a danger this novel might get overlooked, which would be a shame. I'll be seeking out more of Phil Rickman's books in the future.

 

8/10

[SaraPepparkaka]

The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

 

This wasn't at all what I expected. For some reason - based on a friend's recommendation - I was thinking it would be some kind of Da Vinci Code type thriller, I don't know why. In reality, it's a historical novel set in Glastonbury in 1560, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth - and it's fantastic. There's a touch of the paranormal about it, with ghosts, sacrifices and myth and legend woven throughout the story, which centres around John Dee, Elizabeth's astronomer/astrologer, who is branded a conjurer and eyed with suspicion by most. Based on fact, Dee is sent to Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur, and is drawn into a web of murder, suspicion and intrigue, and a battle between beliefs in the wake of Henry VIII's severing of and Queen Mary's restoration of England's Roman Catholicism. I thought this was a terrific read, full of atmosphere and a sense of foreboding. Where it might have got bogged down in relaying historical fact, Rickman manages to keep it moving at pace, and its 500-odd pages raced by. My only problem with it is that I found Rickman's writing style occasionally, and deliberately, a little obtuse, meaning that I sometimes wasn't sure which character was talking or doing a particular thing. It's a small niggle. You always feel how precarious Dee's position is, and the ending is truly tense. I'm a big fan of C J Sansom's books but, with him getting so much attention, there's a danger this novel might get overlooked, which would be a shame. I'll be seeking out more of Phil Rickman's books in the future.

 

8/10

 

Straight onto my wishlist. It really sounds like something I could enjoy.

[Karsa Orlong]

Straight onto my wishlist. It really sounds like something I could enjoy.

Yay, let me know what you think of it

[Karsa Orlong]

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

 

I've been wanting to read this one for a while, I guess because I like the BBC's Merlin and I wanted to read something Arthurian. I suppose, in some ways, this wasn't the best place to start, especially if you're looking for swords in stones, wizards, mythical beasts and ladies of lakes. No, this is the story of Arthur told as historical fiction, with the myths and legends stripped away and turned into something wholly believable. If Arthur really existed (there's no smoke without fire, after all!) then I can well imagine that this might be how it was.

 

I guess I was slightly suprised that Arthur isn't the leading protagonist in this story. All of the following is explained in the first few pages, so I don't consider this spoilery. Cornwell tells his tale from the point of view of a Saxon boy called Derfel, who - at an early age - walks unharmed from a Druid's death pit and is found and raised by Merlin, himself a Druid, who believes Derfel might be watched over by the Pagan gods. The story starts several years after this, as High King Uther Pendragon, nearing death, worries over the impending birth of his child, who he prays will be a boy to inherit his throne.

 

Derfel has grown, along with Merlin's young lover Nimue, amongst the English and no longer considers himself a Saxon. As such, he is perfectly placed to relate the story. And what a story! I have never read any of Cornwell's other novels and didn't know quite what to expect. In fact, opening the book and seeing the density of the text, I was thinking it might be heavy going. Fortunately it is anything but. I found his writing marvellous. It made me jealous! I wish I could write like this. It flows gracefully, and with a level of detail and atmosphere that is hypnotic. The characters came alive in my head - every single one of them. His versions of Arthur, Galahad, Lancelot, Guinevere etc are not quite what you might expect, but they live and breathe through the pages. Nimue is a standout, and he makes Merlin his own - Ian McKellen was playing him in my head. It was brilliant. The action, when it comes, is just as good. It's vivid and visceral and totally believable.

 

Considering this is just the start of the story it's amazing that it isn't just info dump after exposition after padding. The pacing is just right, and made it impossible for me to put down.

 

So yeah, I loved it, obviously Time will tell, but I'd already rank it among the best books I've ever read. The problem is, it's the kind of book that makes me think I need to revise all my other scores. A ten should only be for perfection, after all, and there's the chance that the next two books in the trilogy might be even better, if that's possible. But what the hell - I can't score this any less ...

 

10/10

[vodkafan]

10/10? I am going to bump this one up my TBR list.

[Karsa Orlong]

For me, definitely! I'm just worried that the next two will be even better. That's what I mean about having to revise my other scores downwards - I've given too many 10's this year

 

Actually, the others were The Snowman, The Lions of Al-Rassan, A Storm of Swords (which was a re-read, so shouldn't count I suppose), A Song for Arbonne and Hyperion, all of which I rank as highly, except maybe The Snowman, which should probably be a 9.5.

 

I'll have to be a bit harsher next year

 

On another note, I'm glad I got the paperbacks of this trilogy - I was constantly referring to the map, which would've been a pain in the bum on the Kindle