currently reading

Sorry I've been M.I.A this week, I'm starting a new job (v. excited) next week so I've been busy getting everything sorted. 

Anyway, here's a a quick update of what I'm currently reading:-

1. Fool's Errand, Robin Hobb 

I'm carrying on with this fantasy series. For my review of the first book, see here. The quality of the series is remaining consistent, and Fitz and the Fool are fantastic endearing.

2. The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters 

I love Sarah Waters, every single one of her books has been highly enjoyable, and I'm confident that this will live up to expectations. It's about a mother and daughter who have to take in lodgers, because of financial difficulties post-WWI. Lesbians and historical fiction, win win. 

3. The King's Curse, Philippa Gregory

Such trash, but good trash. Historical fiction from the queen of bodice rippers. Set in the reign of Henry VII, and all about court intrigue and politically advantageous marriage, this is sure to be a guilty pleasure.    

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Another fantasy review for you today, The Name of the Wind. I promise this'll be the last one (for a little while) so if these isn't a genre that interests you don't worry, I've been reading a variety of other things as well.

The Plot: Kvothe is masquerading  as an unremarkable innkeeper, but his origins are a lot more eventful. When his parents are murdered Kvothe is left destitute, scrambling for survival on the streets of the city, but he still harbours ambitions to attend the prestigious university. Providing he can pass the entrance examination and scrape together the tuition fee, the university offers to teach him the magical disciplines of Sympathy, Alchemy, Artifice and Naming. This if the first book in the Kingkiller Chronicals, which recalls Kvothe's early life as he tell his story to a scribe. 

Rating: 3.8/ 5 (I liked it slightly more that The Blade Itself , but not quite as much as Assassin's Apprentice

the problem with fantasy

I've been reading a fair bit of fantasy recently, and though the issues of racism and sexism are not exclusive to the genre, I've noticed a repeated pattern that these sagas are predictably full of white, straight men swinging swords. Women, and People of Colour are rarer than dragons.

Brienne, Maid of Tarth. George R.R Martin, Song of Ice and Fire 
Artwork by Rory Phillips
source

*warning small spoilers for Song of Ice and Fire/ Game of Thrones 
see after the cut for my opinion on the problem with fantasy

Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

I'm still on a fantasy kick at the moment (read my review of Robin Hobb The Assassin's Apprentice here) and ordered a whole bunch from my local library after reading some samples (see my mini-review of fantasy samples here).

The Plot: Logan Ninefinger, renown warrior of the north has become separated from his comrades, who believe him dead. He is found by a wizard's apprentice and taken to meet the great Bayaz himself. Together they form an alliance against the king of the North. Inquisitor Glokta, himself crippled in the dungeons of the Gurkul Emperor, now tortures and investigates treason in the Union. Captain Jezal, arrogant and wealthy seeks glory in the fencing circle. A war is brewing between the North, the Union and Gurkul. Conspiracies, treachery and death are coming to the three countries and Logan, Bayaz, Glokta and Jezal all have a part to play.

Rating: 3.5/5

fantasy kindle samples

As I mentioned in my review of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice  I'm looking for a new fantasy saga to get into whilst I wait for the new Game of Thrones (I'm going to have to be patient- it took 10 years between A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons). 

I downloaded a whole bunch of kindle fantasy samples to try, here are my initial impressions:-

Robin Hobb, Assassin's Apprentice

As George R.R Martin is a notorious slow writer, I'm trying to find an alternative fantasy series to get into while I wait for the next A Song of Ice and Fire. Robin Hobb has been highly praised by George R.R. Martin, so I thought her Assassin series was worth a go.

The Plot:The Kingdom of the Six Duchies is heading towards civil war, and further problems arise when is comes to light that the King-in-waiting has fathered a bastard son, Fitz. He is raised in the castle keep, resented by the populace but cared for by the gruff stable master, Burrich. As Fitz approaches adulthood, by order of the King,  he begins his secret training to become an assassin including an eduction in the Skill, the ability to ability to infiltrate and influence people's minds. He also shows a taboo affinity with animals, known as Wit.  

Rating: 4/5

Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere

I've been expanding my reading horizons recently, first with a Western  now with fantasy. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is all about an alternative London, LondonBelow a subterranean world full of monsters, personified tube stations and people who have fallen through the cracks.

Although this is the first of his book that I've read, Neil Gaiman is a publishing phenomenon who has won numerous awards. Neverwhere started life as a 90s tv show, but frustrated by the contrasts of this medium and the quality of the programme, Gaiman wrote the novel to expand the universe and retell the story.

 
The Plot: When Richard Mayhew comes to the aid of a young woman huddled and bleeding on a London street, he is thrust into a perilous situation. Through his charitable act of kindness Richard aligns his fate with Door, who is running for her own life as well as trying to avenge to deaths of her family. Together, Richard, Door, Hunter and the foppish Marquis de Carabas navigate through the fantastical LondonBelow. They seek help from an angel called Islington, by first they must evade the sinister Mr Coup and Mr Vandemar and the other threats of the underground cit
Rating: 3/5
full review under the cut:-

Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Djinni

I picked up The Golem and the Djinni for £1.99 after reading a sample at the start of this month.

The Plot: Chava is a golem, shaped from clay and brought to life by a rabbi, who dabbles in dark magic. When her master, dies whilst a ship bound New York, Chava is left purposeless and alone. Similarly forlorn is Ahmad, a being of fire, trapped for centuries in a copper flask. Once freed, he is still tethered to the physical world, by a band of iron and must, like Chava, try to survive in a strange, human world. 

Rating: ««¶¶¶ (2.5/5)
full review under the cut:-

science fiction & fantasy kindle samples

I've been reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy recently, (see my mini reviews of previous kindle samples here and here) and a loss of what to read next I downloaded a couple of kindle samples to try. 

Lexicon, Max Barry

Synopsis:  'sticks and stones break bones, words kill'. At an exclusive school students are taught to persuade and manipulate other people using words, the very best will graduate as poets and will have the power to control people's minds. Emily is hustling on the street when she is recruited, under the guidance of Bronte, Lowell and Eliot she becomes the school's most talented pupil. Meanwhile Wil is violently attached in a airport bathroom, he has no recollection of what he is supposed to have done, or who his attackers are. 

My thoughts: The book starts with a Wil been ambushed, and rather like him as I reader I felt thrown into the middle of something I didn't fully understand. My initial reservations about the novel, is that it will be too plot driven, all gun fights and car chases without any depth or character development. That might be a hasty conclusion however, and I would like to read the rest of book. The premise intrigues me, propaganda and rhetoric are powerful tools, that have lead to the deaths of many people, so I think the author is clever to make this concept literal, words as weapons.   

Verdict: want to read, but not worth buying(have already reserved it from the library) 

Annihilation (The Southern Reach Trilogy), Jeff Vander Max 

Synopsis: There have been elven previous expeditions to Area X, an environmental disaster zone monitored by the secretive Southern Reach agency. Each of this expeditions has resulted in fatalities and terrible consequences. The narrator, an unnamed biologist, is part of the twelfth group to investigate Area X, the quarantined area soon begins to affect her and her companions is strange and disturbing ways. 

 My thoughts: My initial reaction was yay! as all the members of the expedition group are female, though I was soon to realise most of them aren't going to last long. The opening is pretty creepy, I'm expecting that there has been some kind of outbreak, or contagion that will physiologically unbalance the group. I also suspect that the Southern Reach send people to Area X as part of human experimentation. I wasn't immediately drawn in, perhaps because I can predict what's going to happen, though of course I could be wrong. 

Verdict: not fussed, either way. There are other books I'd like to read first       

Dawn (Lilith's Brood, book 1), Octavia E. Butler

Synopsis: After the world has been annihilated by nuclear war, and humans are nearly extinct, aliens first make contact. Hoping to save the earth and humanity, the Oankali rescue the people they can and begin to rehabilitate the planet. Lilith is one of the first to be awoken by the Oankali, and she must prepare her fellow humans to survive in a hostile environment. 

My thoughts:  I've been on an Octavia Butler kick recently, Kindred was my top pick last month (see my review here) but this sample didn't really grab me. Going of the strength of her other books though, I think I may have been too quick to judge. I'm a fan of post-apocalyptic books, I'm always interested to see how authors think society will rebuild itself, so that appeals to me. It's just the involvement of aliens that puts me off. 

Verdit: There are other Octavia Butler books I'd like to read first (I bought Seed to Harvest the other day and am waiting for it to arrive)  

The Golem and the Djinni, Helene Wecker 

Synopsis: Chava is a golem, shaped from clay and brought to life by a rabbi, who dabbles in dark magic. When her master, a failed businessman, dies whilst they are travelling, Chava is left purposeless and alone in 19th Century New York. Similarly forlorn is Ahmad, a being of fire, trapped for centuries in a copper flask. Once freed, he is still tethered to the physical world, by a band of iron and must, like Chava, try to survive in a strange, human world. 

My thoughts: I only know a little about golems, so this novel had instant appeal for me, I love learning about different myths. The turn of the twentieth century is also one of my favourite time periods, so that gave the book another tick from me. Though Chava and Ahmad are supernatural beings, there story will have a lot in common with the flood of immigrants that arrived in New York in this time, culture clash and alienation are going to be huge themes in the novel, as both try to navigate their way around the human world. I was immediately invested after reading the sample.

Verdict: desperate to read (plus it's only £1.99 on kindle) 

Patrick Ness, Chaos Walking Trilogy

After finally convincing my mum to read The Hunger Games (which she loved by the way) I fancied reading some YA fiction of my own. I spotted the first of Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking Trilogy for a mere pound on Amazon kindle, which I quickly devoured, before scooting off the the local library to pick up the other two.   

The Plot: A month away before becoming 13 and officially a man, Todd is the youngest resident of Prentisstown - a town in which all the women are dead, and the men are plagued by Noise, a telepathic disease which means no thoughts are private. When Todd stumbles upon a silence in the Noise, his discovery has far-reaching consequence which threaten the survival of the entire planet.

Rather than reviewing the books separately, I'm going to lump them all together, so I'm going to put spoilers under the cut. However, in brief, if your perhaps looking for a book for adolescents/teenagers Chaos Walking is not a bad idea. In my opinion, it lacks the brilliance of  His Dark Materials or The Hunger Games, and isn't as a successful as them for YA/adult crossover, it's not without merit though. The initial premiss, pioneers to a new world and the complication of Noise, is clever and imaginative. My main gripe is with the main protagonist Todd, but like I said spoilers under the cut:-
 

Ben Aaronovitch, Moon over Soho

I picked up Moon over Soho in a recent library haul. Its the second in a series of books called Rivers of London, the first of which I read ages ago, so I've been meaning to read this for a while. I was initially attracted to the series thanks to the intriguing quote on the front cover, "what would happen is Harry Potter grew up and joined the fuzz". 

The Plot: Peter Grant, met officer and trainee wizard, investigates the suspicious deaths of Jazz musicians in Soho. 

My thoughts and views are under the cut (warning may contain spoilers):-