Kidsmum Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 (Ewan lives on the IoM and it shows) That made me laugh, not sure what you meant by it so you'll have to spell it out for me. I don't come from the IOM or know anyone who lives there so don't worry about causing offense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 15, 2012 Author Share Posted November 15, 2012 I just meant his descriptions of the environment are very good, but I can see how it might be taken another way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Book #76: Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy Trilogy Book 1) by David Gemmell Blurb: Three lives will change the destiny of nations. Helikaon, the young prince of Dardania, haunted by a scarred and traumatic childhood. The priestess Andromache, whose fiery spirit and fierce independence threatens the might of kings. And the legendary warrior Argurios, cloaked in loneliness and driven only by thoughts of revenge. In Troy they find a city torn apart by destructive rivalries - a maelstrom of jealousy, deceit and murderous treachery. And beyond its fabled walls blood-hungry enemies eye its riches and plot its downfall. It is a time of bravery and betrayal; a time of bloodshed and fear. A time for heroes. Thoughts: I wasn't intending to read any more Gemmell this year, as I felt I'd overdosed and that the books were starting to feel a little samey because I was reading them so close together. But I was at a loss for what to read next and picked up several books to do my usual 'read the first page and see which one grabs' thing. This was the one that grabbed, and I'm glad it did. Whereas his Drenai and Rigante books have a fairly familiar flow to them, this was Gemmell spreading his wings, using a larger cast of characters against a more epic backdrop, combining history and myth. He had, apparently, long held a desire to write a story about the Trojan War, and this is the result. I suppose it falls in somewhere with the likes of Bernard Cornwell and Steven Pressfield, although it takes a more action/adventure driven approach. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Lord of the Silver Bow is that it is very much a scene setter. Choosing Helikaon (aka Aeneas) as his main protagonist, Gemmell sets about introducing the many feuds and rivalries among the peoples living on and around the Aegean Sea. Agamemnon, King of the Mykene, has put a bounty upon Helikaon's head after the so-called Golden One defeated and killed his father, Atreus. As a result, when he takes on a couple of Mykene passengers for his new ship's maiden journey north, to Troy, there is more than enough suspicion to go around. Gemmell's characterisation is masterly; quick, incisive introductions makes his characters instantly memorable. So many fantasy writers fail in this regard, bombarding you with character names but giving you little else to go on, but the people inhabiting Gemmell's story are real, three-dimensional human beings and, even if they disappear from the story for a while, you remember them immediately the moment they reappear. Helikaon is painted in shades of grey - there is great good in him, but also great fury, which he struggles to control. Argurios simmers with hatred but sticks to his principles. Andromache, who loved her life among the priestesses of Thera, dreads the future ordained for her by the death of her sister. These are all wonderful characters, but best of all is Gemmell's interpretation of Odysseus, the middle-aged teller of tall tales whose past deeds have left him loved and feared in equal measure, who came alive in my head with his re-enactments and world-weary advice. All paths converge on Troy. Along the way the story encompasses peace, war, love, hate, deceit, intrigue, loyalty, murder and betrayal, and more. And, through it all, Gemmell never wastes a word. It's a taut, focused tale, driven forward relentlessly and brilliantly. I loved it, so much so that I have jumped straight into the second book, Shield of Thunder. Awesome stuff. Of course, the tragedy of this is that Gemmell died whilst working on the final book of the trilogy (which was completed by his wife, Stella). This is without a doubt my favourite of his books that I have read so far, and it demonstrates a quality of writing, plotting and characterisation that only makes me wonder what heights he could have scaled had he not been taken from us so early. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wow, a Stevie Tenner! I'm very happy you enjoyed yet another book this much. I didn't have the time to read the review in full now, I'll have to come back later to read it. I've also missed some of your earlier reviews, I'll make amends soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 This book looks so good, I'm writing it down for my next library stop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Yay, enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Book #77: Shield of Thunder (Troy Trilogy Book 2) by David Gemmell Blurb: The war of Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder. Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers; Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come. Shield of Thunder takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from Lord of the Silver Bow; the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus. Thoughts: I won't say too much about this one, in case it spoils anything from the previous book. I thought that, whilst this one wasn't as good as the first, it's still a good read. There are some revealing sub-plots, particularly with regard to Andromache and Hektor, and some good new characters but - again - much of this is build-up to the main event, which surprised me. As such, it deals with a lot of the political machinations involved which, to Gemmell's credit, is kept clear and is never confusing. And thankfully it never loses sight of the characters and their various plights. Kalliades and Banokles are the winners this time around, as well as Andromache and Odysseus. However, after saying that Gemmell never wastes a word in my thoughts on the first book, I did think this one started to plod a little towards the end, verging towards the familiar feel of his regular fantasy novels. I am wondering if I thought this due to author 'fatigue' - in that I very, very rarely read two books consecutively by the same author. That may have counted a little against this one (and may count even more against the third and final instalment, which I have already started) but, ultimately, I think this one suffers a little from 'middle book' syndrome, and is probably a little too long for its own good. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 ^^ I should have mentioned, of course, that David Gemmell passed away two months before Shield of Thunder was published. He had had quadruple heart bypass surgery just months before, and was found slumped at his keyboard by his wife, Stella, on 28th July 2006. He had been working on the final book of his Troy trilogy, Fall of Kings. Stella decided to finish that final novel almost immediately, which I find quite remarkable considering the circumstances. It was published in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ooooooooh! http://www.rorycleme....asp?NewsID=104 Out tomorrow, what a nice surprise - love the John Shakespeare books so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Also just found out that the follow up to Bitter Seeds is out on Kindle next week - I hadn't even checked that as I had seen that the paperback is out in February. Hmm. Well, I'm definitely getting the paperback, so the question is whether or not I can hang on until Feb or if I'll succumb and get the Kindle version, too, so I can read it sooner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Kindle dude, kindle ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 ^^ Book #78: Fall of Kings (Troy Trilogy Book 3) by David & Stella Gemmell Blurb: Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided. On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat. Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, his hope is pinned on two heroes: his favourite son Hektor, and the dread Helikaon who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands. War has been declared. As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that many of them will die, and that some will become heroes: heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries. Thoughts: It's very rare that I read all the books in a series (or, in this case, trilogy) consecutively, so I'm quite happy that - although I suffered a mini burn-out towards the end of the second book, and a little at the start of this - the last 400 pages of Fall of Kings (or, as I keep typing it, 'Fall og Kings' ) are solid gold. Which, come to think of it, would make this a blimmin' heavy book, but you know what I mean . . . David Gemmell's ponderings on the nature of heroism and the flaws in human nature are in full flow here. Just how much of this is attributable to his widow, Stella, is impossible to tell. The biggest compliment I can pay to her is that the passing of the baton from husband to wife is invisible. David had, apparently, written 70,000 words of this, his final work, when he died. I'm not sure how many words there are in this book, but I'm guessing it's around three times that. Yet it's still brimming with his wonderful characters, his gallows humour, his ability to balance the epic with the intimate. The battle scenes are intense, vicious, often scary, and always with characters you know and care about at their centre. That's what he did so well - he made you care so, when the characters fall (and many inevitably do so), their deaths resonate long afterwards. This is very much an alternate version of the story of Troy, so be prepared for the odd twist or three on the legend. I won't go into detail . . . There's a lovely four page tribute written by Conn Iggulden at the end of the book. In it, he says: "In my pantheon of literary greats, David Gemmell stands alone. I read his first book, Legend, when I was fourteen and knew even then that I had found the kind of writer I wanted to be. Like Julius Caesar himself, Gemmell wrote with a spare elegance, racing along with characters and events until I found it was dawn and I had to get up for work. Gemmell is the only writer who ever stole my nights in such a way. I'd grown up with that sort of resigned, grim humour from my father's memories of seeing friends die around him. Gemmell captured it better than anyone else I've ever read. His warriors banter and laugh at the appalling situations in which they find themselves - yet there is never any cruelty in it. Gemmell's heroes are admirable, flawed and very, very human. Though the author passed on too soon, his people: Jon Shannow, Helikaon, Waylander, Regnak, Bane, Tenaka Khan, Parmenion, Druss, Connavar and all the others live and remain. Gemmell wrote about real heroes and in doing so, made me want to be one. That's good writing." Couldn't have said it better myself. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 Book #79: The Long Way Home by John McCallum Blurb: At the age of nineteen, Glasgow-born John McCallum signed up as a Supplementary Reservist in the Signal Corps. A little over a year later, he was in France, working frantically to set up communication lines as Europe once more hurtled towards war. Wounded and captured at Boulogne, he was sent to the notorious Stalag VIIIB prison camp, together with his brother, Jimmy, and friend Joe Harkin. Ingenious and resourceful, the three men set about planning their escape. Thoughts: This true story took place at around the same time the events of The Great Escape. John even got a motorbike at one point - although he didn't go jumping any barbed wire fences in a Steve McQueen stylee. This is a very down-to-earth telling of McCallum's story. You can almost imagine him sitting beside a fire one Sunday afternoon and recounting his tale to his grandchildren - which, in some ways, undermines the level of danger he, his older brother and their best friend were in. It also means that it is lacking in detail, so anyone looking for a deep, involved retelling of the escape is in for something of a disappointment. However, it has that kind of homespun charm to it that is very engaging and, although it makes everything to do with the escape a little easy (and it can't have been, surely?!), it is told in such a laidback, matter-of-fact style that you have to wonder at the amount of times fate played a hand in their saga - especially considering that fifty of the men in that 'other' escape were executed on Hitler's orders. 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Sorted out loads of books over the weekend to give to the local hospice, and I now have some shelf space back for new books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Book #80: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers Blurb: Lake Geneva, 1816 As Byron and Shelley row on the peaceful waters of Lake Geneva, a sudden squall threatens to capsize them. But this is no natural event - something has risen from the lake itself to attack them. Kent, 1816 Michael Crawford's wife is brutally murdered on their wedding night as he sleeps peacefully beside her - and a vengeful ghost claims Crawford as her own husband. Crawford's quest to escape his supernatural wife will force him to travel the Continent in the company of the most creative, most doomed poets of his age. Byron, Keats and Shelley all have a part to play in his fate, and the fate of Europe. Thoughts: This is the third of Tim Powers' novels that I have read. The first one, The Anubis Gates, is one of my favourite fantasy novels, totally off-the-wall bonkers and yet a huge amount of fun. He threw the kitchen sink at it and it worked, brilliantly bringing together so many disparate elements in its final third. The second, On Stranger Tides, later had its plot nicked for one of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. The less said about that the better, but the book was still fun. So now it's The Stress of Her Regard, a Gothic horror/fantasy novel set in the early 19th century. Much as in The Anubis Gates, where Samuel Taylor Coleridge made an appearance, here Powers begins his tale with the story of the night that Byron, Shelley and his wife-to-be, Mary Godwin, gathered around a fireplace in a dreadful storm and set about telling each other ghost stories. We all know the outcome of that in real life, but what if one of the stories were true? Here, Percy Shelley is a man haunted by his past, and carrying a dark secret into his future. He drags Byron into this, and Keats, and - by pure coincidence - the books main protagonist, Michael Crawford (no, not that Michael Crawford). On the night before his wedding, Crawford unwittingly invites one of the Nephilim (effectively a vampire) into his life, and awakes from his wedding night to find his young wife dead and the finger of suspicion pointed firmly at him. It's Crawford's quest to rid his life of this horror that forms the backbone of the book, and brings him into contact with the aforementioned poets and their dark secret, and his wife's sister, Josephine, who hunts him in a quest for revenge. I don't claim to be any sort of expert on Byron or the Shelleys or Keats but - on face value at least - the way Powers has woven events from their lives into this tale is quite brilliant. And, for at least two thirds of this quite serious novel, he keeps the fear and the intrigue going. Sadly, due to circumstances, I was unable to give the last third of the novel the attention it really deserves, and I ended up feeling it dragged and overstayed its welcome by some distance. Whether that is down to the writing or to me I don't know. Also, I felt at times that he was having trouble getting across his ideas, and descriptions of some of the major events were a little confusing. Again, this may be down to me not being able to give it my full attention. As such, it's a difficult one for me to score. I may re-read it in the future and see if my opinion changes. I think anyone who enjoyed the likes of Dracula may find something to like in this book, even though this is quite a different take on vampires. And there's no doubt about it - Tim Powers is one of the most original and inventive fantasy authors around. 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Sorted out loads of books over the weekend to give to the local hospice, and I now have some shelf space back for new books A family friend has just come and taken them away to the hospice. Does that make them my ex-books? I did retrieve some from the bags before they went, though: I couldn't bring myself to part with my Tor import editions of the Malazan books, or my older edition of Dune (as opposed to the new hardback with the cover I prefer, as seen somewhere up-thread), or Alastair Reynolds' House of Suns. I need more time to think about those, so some of the shelf space has disappeared already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Book #81: The Man in the Snow by Rory Clements Blurb: When a reluctant John Shakespeare answers a plea for help from Joshua Peace, Searcher of the Dead, a few days before Christmas, he cannot know what lies ahead. A naked man has been found in a snowdrift, a wreath of holly crowning his head and a bullet in his back. But it is no ordinary corpse and, as all around him prepare for the festive season, Shakespeare must unravel a complex plot of passion and treachery and confront a cold-blooded murderer who will not hesitate to kill again. Thoughts: Over the course of the last twelve months I've read the first three of Rory Clements's 'John Shakespeare' novels and he has quickly overtaken C J Sansom as my favourite writer of historical crime/mystery novels. So I was really pleased when I saw this novella was being released, especially with only a little over a month until his fourth JS novel, Traitor, gets its paperback release For all its brevity, The Man in the Snow still manages to include a lot of what makes the novels so much fun. Obviously, it is not as deep and the characterisation is done with broader, quicker brushstrokes, but the essence of John Shakespeare's world is still there, even if his arch nemesis, the wonderfully obsessed and vicious priest hunter Sir Richard Topcliffe, makes only a cameo appearance. There are a few suspects for the murder, all of whom have some motive or other, a bit of action, and a lot of snow. In fact, the snow is the only Christmasy thing in the story, which amused me considering it says it's a 'John Shakespeare story for Christmas' An enjoyable, quick read, with some intrigue and danger thrown in, too. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 A family friend has just come and taken them away to the hospice. Does that make them my ex-books? I did retrieve some from the bags before they went, though: I couldn't bring myself to part with my Tor import editions of the Malazan books, or my older edition of Dune (as opposed to the new hardback with the cover I prefer, as seen somewhere up-thread), or Alastair Reynolds' House of Suns. I need more time to think about those, so some of the shelf space has disappeared already! I find it admirable you manage to give away some of the books. I am rubbish at it...I have books I KNOW I won't read or I've read and won't reread and still can't part with them And I know they'd be better of in a charity shop or at a hospice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 I find it admirable you manage to give away some of the books. I am rubbish at it...I have books I KNOW I won't read or I've read and won't reread and still can't part with them And I know they'd be better of in a charity shop or at a hospice! Oh I wish I had the room to keep them all but I really don't have the shelf space, so once or twice a year I just have to pass some on to charity so I can have room to buy more books (which is a necessity!) . . . and I can sense a trip to the Waterstone's down the road coming on right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Oh I wish I had the room to keep them all but I really don't have the shelf space, so once or twice a year I just have to pass some on to charity so I can have room to buy more books (which is a necessity!) . . . and I can sense a trip to the Waterstone's down the road coming on right now I don't even have bookshelves where I live now I really should take your example... Ooooh, trips to Waterstones are always so nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Ooooh, trips to Waterstones are always so nice! Yeah! I didn't buy anything, though . . . might go to the bigger branch on the way home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 Book #82: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny Blurb: Amber is the one real world, casting infinite reflections of itself -- Shadow worlds, that can be manipulated by those of royal Amberite blood. But the royal family is torn apart by jealousies and suspicion; the disappearance of the Patriach Oberon has intensified the internal conflict by leaving the throne apparently up for grabs. In a hospital on the Shadow Earth, a young man is recovering from a freak car accident; amnesia has robbed him of all his memory -- and he is in deadly peril . . . Thoughts: My next read was a toss up between this and the next of Glen Cook's 'Black Company' novels (Shadow Games). I chose this, I guess because I'd only read one Zelazny book before and so wasn't quite sure what to expect. Nine Princes in Amber is the first of Zelazny's ten book 'Chronicles of Amber' sequence, and it starts with a good hook: a man wakes up in hospital after a car accident which has left him with amnesia. His quest to find out who he is takes up much of the first half of the book. Chasing one lead conveniently lands him in the company of the people who may or may not have been responsible for his condition. As he is unwilling to let on that he can't remember anything, he plays along with the situation. The way Zelazny has written this meant that I felt as much in the dark as his main character, and that kind of pulled me along. Having said that, after the mesmerising, thought-provoking Lord of Light, which I read earlier this year, I thought that this book was aimed at a younger audience - or, at least, not at me. Perhaps it is due to when it was written. At various points in the narrative the main character turns to the reader and says "You dig?" and then, before the page is out, is saying "thee" and "thou". There is a reason for this, but it didn't make it any less jarring, and continually pulled me out of the story. It is an incredibly simple story that proceeds in a very linear fashion and, even though there are massive armies and huge battles involved, Zelazny chose to skip over these entirely. I remember one particular paragraph that described a passage of time in which he reeled off vast numbers of men dying, 50,000 here, 3,000 there, etc etc. It left me feeling rather ambivalent about the whole story. I realised that I knew nothing about - and felt nothing for - these people who were giving their lives for a cause that didn't really grab me. In fact, I didn't really feel a connection with any of the characters at all until a certain thing happened towards the end. But it wasn't enough to make me dive straight into the second book. I don't know, yet, if I'll return for more. I have, instead, picked up the Cook book (ba-dum-tish!). Nine Princes is, I think, pulp. It doesn't mean it's bad, but I do think I've become accustomed to a more adult, gritty, complex approach to fantasy, and this just didn't grab me the way I thought it would. 5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I agree totally with what you have written here Steve. I read at the most, two of the Amber books when I was a teenager . They are not his best stuff at all. Yeah! I didn't buy anything, though . . . might go to the bigger branch on the way home Is that the big one we went in Steve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 Is that the big one we went in Steve? Nah, it was the one at Finchley Road, which is on my way home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Book #80: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers I admit, it was the beautiful cover that got me interested in this in the first place, and then the list of some rather famous names, but the book sounded great in its own right when I read through your review. I'm thinking I shall look out for this one Haaa, I am quite sure The Anubis Gate is one of the titles that ended up on the challenge list, did it not? I think if I read this and like it, I'll be more inclined to try TAG at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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