Archives - August 2006

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2 August 2006

Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword, The Fall of the Kings (with Delia Sherman), also "The Swordsman Whose Name Is Not Death", "Red-Cloak", "The Death of the Duke", which are included in my Bantam reprint copy of Swordspoint: Swordspoint and The Fall of the Kings were rereads. The Privilege of the Sword is, of course, new and is my favorite of the three books; for me, it had an emotional immediacy, perhaps created by the use of first person for the heroine, which is a little lacking in the other two (especially in the end of The Fall of the Kings). In all three books, the writing shines; it's lyrical, lush, witty, and gorgeous. I can't really discuss the plot of The Privilege of the Sword without spoilers for Swordspoint, and I don't want to assume everyone's read it. But I will say that I loved the heroine, Katherine, who comes to the city at the behest of her uncle, the Mad Duke, to become a swordswoman -- she's vivid, idealistic, brave, and now one of my favorite fantasy heroines.

Books read: 3

3 August 2006

Sherwood Smith, Inda: Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir is the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, destined to become Shield Arm (military leader) for his older brother Tanric. His future seems all laid out for him, down to the girl he'll marry -- until one day when a messenger arrives from the King, summoning Inda to the King's Military Academy. Inda thinks he's prepared for the harsh life at the Academy, as Tanric has always followed the tradition of thrashing his younger brother into obedience, but when he gets there, he finds himself caught up in a confusing tangle of loyalty and treachery.

What I was most impressed with in Inda is the worldbuilding, which is fantastically deep and rich. Particularly interesting to me was the relationship between men and women, which isn't at all the standard medieval fantasy world one of "men fight, women don't". Inda's society is war-oriented, constantly on guard, skirmishing, and occasionally conquering. Though the men are in charge of war and offense, that does not exclude the women, who receive their own kind of training, oriented toward defense rather than offense.

Along with the worldbuilding, the characterization is also excellent. Inda himself is the character we spend the most time with and get to know the best, but there are a variety of other viewpoints which enrich our understanding of him and of his friends, family, and enemies. Sometimes I find multiple viewpoints offputting, if there's too much switching and not enough time spent with each character; here, I felt that the different viewpoints really contributed to the depth of the characters and their relationships.

Inda is the first in a trilogy, and I'm already eager for the next book.

Books read: 1

4 August 2006

Peter S. Beagle, The Line Between: a fine collection of stories. I love Beagle's elegant writing and wonderful characters, and I wasn't disappointed here. I was a little worried about "Two Hearts", which takes place after The Last Unicorn (which I love), but I thought Beagle did justice to the book and its characters, along with introducing a new and engaging character, the young girl Sooz, who narrates the story. I also especially liked "El Regalo" (which Beagle plans to follow up with a novel), about a young witch and his sister, and "Salt Wine", a haunting story of sailors, mermen, and fate.
Georgette Heyer, The Nonesuch: not one of my top-rank Heyers, but quite good nonetheless; I particularly liked the governess heroine.

Books read: 2

5 August 2006

Noel Streatfeild, Mothering Sunday: The day before Mothering Sunday, Anna Caldwell is waiting in her garden for the postman to bring the usual presents from her children...but the postman passes her by. As it turns out, this is because her daughter Jane has arranged a surprise Sunday visit for Anna from all the family, who are worried about Anna's increasingly odd behavior. Streatfeild begins the book from Anna's point of view, then progresses through various other members of her family, revealing more and more about the family's history and their relationships as she goes. This works really well; the characterization is marvelous, and I really liked the gradual revealing of secrets. This is only the second of Streatfeild's adult novels I've read; it wasn't an easy book to find, as it's long out of print, but it was well worth the search.

Books read: 1

6 August 2006

Ann Halam, Siberia: As a little girl, Rosita is sent with her mother to a Wilderness Settlement, after the mysterious (to Rosita) disappearance of her father. During the day, her mother makes nails to earn a living, but at night, she does what Rosita thinks of as her magic, biological work which holds the key to the continued existence of the planet's wildlife. She tells Rosita of a great journey they will have to make when Rosita is older, taking her mother's magic to a safe place, but when Rosita (now called Sloe) comes back from the boarding school to which she is sent, her mother is gone, and Sloe must make the journey on her own, braving the cold, the wilderness, and many other dangers to save her mother's work. I liked this a lot: excellent main character with a distinctive voice, lots of shiny ideas, and a future which even though it's stark and discomfiting is not without hope.

Books read: 1

7 August 2006

Laura Kinsale, The Shadow and the Star: This is the second Kinsale which grabbed me hard and wouldn't let go. (The first was Flowers from the Storm.) Samuel Gerard has been brought up in Hawaii by a family of English aristocrats who rescued him from childhood abuse; trained by their Japanese butler in the ways of the ninja, he wants nothing more than to marry his foster sister and live chastely with her...until he meets Leda Etoile, a young and proper London woman who has fallen on hard times. The plot is on the bizarre side (hey, it's Kinsale), but the hero and heroine have wonderful chemistry, and the historical details are solid; I particularly enjoyed the bits set in Hawaii, since I know a fair amount about Hawaii in the late 1800s. I also really liked how Leda's conventionality and innocence rang perfectly true for her time, without making her unsympathetically prudish, and how Kinsale worked out the consequences of a particular scene between Leda and Samuel.

Books read: 1

8 August 2006

Emma Bull, War for the Oaks: reread. Eddi McCandry has just left her rock band, and she's about to break up with her boyfriend, the leader of the band. Just when she thinks things can't get any worse, she is drafted as a mortal pawn into a faerie war, between the Seelie and the Unseelie Courts. This is an excellent urban fantasy with marvelous sense of place, great characters, snappy dialogue, and a fascinating look at the band scene. Oh, and I adore the phouka.
Sarah Pomeroy, Goddesses, Wives, Whores, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity: a very interesting overview of women's position in the ancient world. I liked how Pomeroy was careful not to impose modern viewpoints on her antique subjects. I think I'll look for her book on Spartan women next.

Books read: 2

9 August 2006

Steven Brust, Issola, Dzur: reread of Issola before reading Dzur. The relatively small scale of Dzur's plot was perhaps a little disappointing after the cataclysmic events of Issola. I disagree with the reviews which say that Dzur lacks resolution, though; it does resolve the plotline which is specific to that book, and it makes some progress in the overarching plotlines of the series (though mostly right at the end). I enjoyed it a lot, though; spending time with Vlad and Loiosh is always fun, and Brust has such a knack for turning a phrase. (I marked this one, from Issola: "She wore enigma as if it had been created for her alone." Just wow.)

Books read: 2

10 August 2006

Jo Walton, Farthing: Jo Walton is very good at taking something familiar and putting an unfamiliar, intriguing spin on it. Previously, she's done this with King Arthur (The King's Peace and The King's Name), Irish mythology (The Prize in the Game), and Victorian society as written about by Anthony Trollope (Tooth and Claw). In Farthing, she takes the traditional English country mystery, adds in alternate history, and comes up with something new and brilliant.

Lucy Kahn has come to her parents' country house, Farthing, for the weekend, bringing her new husband, David. Their marriage caused a scandal, because David is Jewish, while Lucy is of the British upper class, and Lucy is hoping that the stay with her parents will bring about a reconciliation. Instead, it brings violent death, when one of the other houseguests, who was instrumental in bringing about the 1941 peace with Hitler and Germany, is murdered, under circumstances that seem to implicate David. Soon, Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard enters the scene, and he and Lucy follow separate but parallel investigative tracks which lead to shocking conclusions.

The point-of-view alternates between Lucy's first person and Carmichael's third person, both splendidly done. I particularly liked Lucy, who's not quite as scatterbrained as she might initially appear, and who has a marvelous style of speaking and system of allusions (I loved her terms for sexual orientation). Both she and Carmichael are outsiders to some extent, Lucy because she's chosen to marry a Jew, Carmichael because he's a policeman (and for other reasons), and thus both are excellent viewpoints characters, looking from the outside in at different angles.

Walton slowly slips in bits and pieces of the alternate history, of which the salient fact, as mentioned above, is England's peace with Hitler, engineered by a group of conservative politicians called "the Farthing Set". Eventually, a clearer picture of this alternate history emerges, of what's already happened, and what might be going to happen. The resonances with today's political scene are chilling, and the book's ending is very unsettling. I'm glad I know there's to be a sequel.

Farthing might just be the best book I've read this year.

Books read: 1

11 August 2006

Sherwood Smith, The Emerald Wand of Oz, Trouble Under Oz: I read The Emerald Wand of Oz last year and talked about it here. Trouble Under Oz follows the further adventures of Dori and Em. When they receive a call for help from Princess Ozma, Dori and Em decide that only one of them can return to Oz, since there's no tornado to cover for their absence this time. While Em stays at home, fending off questions and mediating between her separated parents, Dori goes to Oz, where she joins up with the nome Rik, on a quest to regain his kingdom from King Kaliko. Rik and Dori are assisted by Prince Inga of Pingaree, from Rinkitink in Oz, whom I was delighted to see, as Rinkitink in Oz is one of my favorite Oz books, and Baum, at least, never returned to those particular characters. Like The Emerald Wand of Oz, Trouble Under Oz combines a modern sensibility with the fantastic fairyland readers love, and Trouble Under Oz goes deeper into setting and characters, making, I think, an even better book. I hope very much to see the third installment come out next summer.

Books read: 2

12 August 2006

Andrew Smith, Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth: In 1999, journalist Smith met Charlie and Dotty Duke, in order to interview them for a magazine article. Duke was one of the twelve Americans who walked on the moon (as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 16), and during the interview, they got the news that Pete Conrad, an Apollo 12 moonwalker, had died in a motorcycle accident. Duke's sad response was, "Now there's only nine of us," and therewith started Smith's personal quest to speak to all of the remaining moonwalkers. The result is a marvelous melange of space exploration history, astronaut reminiscences, and Smith's own recollections of growing up during the moon race era. Along with Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon (a straight history) and Michael Collins's Carrying the Fire (the best astronaut memoir, by the Apollo 11 command module pilot), Moondust is one of the best books I've read on the Apollo program.

Books read: 1

16 August 2006

Kate Ross, the Julian Kestrel mysteries (Cut to the Quick, A Broken Vessel, Whom the Gods Love, The Devil in Music): reread. These excellent Regency historical mysteries get even better as they go along. The sleuth, Julian Kestrel, is a dandy with a mysterious past, and there are many memorable supporting characters: Dipper, Kestrel's manservant and former pickpocket; Sally, Dipper's sister (whom I wanted to see more of after her initial appearance in A Broken Vessel); MacGregor, the crusty Scottish doctor; and young Philippa Fontclair (and I wonder if her name is meant as a homage to Dorothy Dunnett's Philippa Somerville, in the Lymond Chronicles). I only wish there were more of the series, as Ross sadly died after writing The Devil in Music.

Books read: 4

19 August 2006

Naomi Kritzer, the Dead Rivers trilogy (Freedom's Gate, Freedom's Apprentice, Freedom's Sisters): Lauria is an aide to Kyros, a military officer of the Greeks; among other duties, she tracks down escaped slaves and brings them back. When Kyros asks Lauria to infiltrate the Alashi, a bandit tribe who take in runaways and train them in war and who are apparently planning a war against the Greeks, she does as he asks, posing as a slave in another household. Soon, though, everything she has ever believed comes into question as she learns more about the life of a slave and the ways of the Alashi. The worldbuilding is good (though I flinched a little every time a Greek referred to "the Greeks", as that's not how the historical Greeks referred to themselves), and the ethical questions intriguing. I did think the last book felt a little rushed in its resolution, but overall, I quite liked these.

Books read: 3

20 August 2006

Ruth Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise: Reichl, a noted food critic, has written several books; this one is about her tenure as the New York Times food critic and the lengths to which she went to avoid being recognized at restaurants (so that the restaurants wouldn't cater specially to her and she could write a more fair review). Reichl pairs an account of each restaurant experience with the review she wrote for the Times, which was interesting as a comparison. The food descriptions are marvelous and evocative; I loved how Reichl talked about not only taste, but smell and texture. It isn't just the food that makes this a great book, though; Reichl's disguises bring out unusual sides of her own personality as well as sometimes shockingly different treatment at the restaurants she visits, which makes for some interesting thoughts on restaurant culture and society. I definitely want to read more of Reichl's stuff.

Books read: 1

21 August 2006

Rosamond Lehmann, A Note in Music: Lehmann's second novel, A Note in Music, is less successful than her first, Dusty Answer (see below; I read them out of order). Grace Fairfax has been married for years to a hardworking but tedious husband; her outer world is drearily routine, but her inner world is lushly imaginative and dreamy. When the magnetic Hugh Miller enters her life, Grace feels as though her inner life is finally becoming a reality. Critics complained about the dreariness of the characters and their failure to connect, but that's not what bothered me; I found the characters largely engaging and thought part of Lehmann's theme was, in fact, failure to connect. However, there were too many characters and plot threads introduced without being explored sufficiently to keep them interesting.

Books read: 1

22 August 2006

Rosamond Lehmann, The Ballad and the Source: The Ballad and the Source has a rather different structure from Lehmann's other works. It tells the history of rebellious, dramatic Sibyl Jardine, once a beauty, then an outcast from society, now an elderly woman relating her story to a neighbor's child, Rebecca, granddaughter of the woman who was once Mrs. Jardine's best friend. Rebecca learns more through conversations with an old servant and with Mrs. Jardine's grandchildren. Though the story that emerges is fascinating in spots, too much of it is secondhand; we do get Mrs. Jardine's own words, but not her thoughts, so there's a lack of that inner life which is such a remarkable feature of Lehmann's other books. As well, the plot is overly melodramatic and hard to follow. However, Mrs. Jardine herself is a compelling enough character to keep the book going, and the bits with Rebecca, her sister, and Mrs. Jardine's grandchildren are an excellent showcase for Lehmann's talent for writing about children.

Books read: 1

23 August 2006

Delia Sherman, Changeling: Having loved Sherman's story "CATNYP" in Datlow and Windling's The Faery Reel, I was very pleased to find out that she was writing a book about the heroine, Neef, a human changeling who lives with the fairy folk in New York Between. Neef's curiosity leads her to break a faerie law and sends her on a quest for three magical items, which she must find if she's to continue her life in New York Between. Any faerie world which includes not only the standard traditional fairies, from brownies to pookas, but also Iolanthe from the G&S operetta, Grahame's Water Rat, and White's Stuart Little, has definitely got my vote. I hope Sherman writes more in this setting.

Books read: 1

24 August 2006

James Thurber, Thurber's Dogs: a collection of Thurber's dog pieces, fictional and non-fictional, plus some of his best dog cartoons. I had read many of the pieces before, but there were quite a few new to me, of which I liked most "Lo, Hear the Gentle Bloodhound!", a fascinating journalistic piece about that breed and the myths and realities thereof.

Books read: 1

26 August 2006

Emile Zola, Therese Raquin: shocking, clinically observed tale of adultery and murder in nineteenth-century Paris. Certainly an intense read, but too unpleasant for me to want to reread. (This doesn't mean I wouldn't try other Zola, just that this particular one wasn't to my taste.)

Books read: 1

27 August 2006

Rosamond Lehmann, Dusty Answer: This was Lehmann's first novel, published in 1927 when she was just 26. Sales were initially slow, and not much critical notice was taken of the book until Alfred Noyes gave it a glowing review in the Sunday Times, making Dusty Answer a bestseller almost overnight. Its heroine, Judith Earle, is an intelligent, earnest girl who becomes entangled in the lives of five cousins who have occasionally visited at the house next door to Judith's; Judith played with them as a child, and years later, comes to know them again as she enters adulthood. When they reenter her life, she falls desperately in love with one of them. There's also a very powerful relationship between Judith and a fellow student at Girton, which scandalized reviewers who saw in it lesbian undertones. (Lehmann indignantly denied this, and unfortunately, the character in the book who's more clearly meant to be a lesbian is unattractively portrayed.) Dusty Answer often lacks narrative drive (especially in the rather uncertain, diffuse ending), but its intense, often idyllic, and impassioned style is compelling, a foretaste of things to come.

Books read: 1


Last updated 18 October 2006. All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.