Archives - June 2006

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3 June 2006

Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons, Swallowdale, Peter Duck, Winter Holiday, Coot Club, Pigeon Post: I'd like these even more if I'd come to them as a child, but I like them an awful lot anyway. They're about a group of children who spend all of their holidays outside camping, sailing, hiking, and having adventures. There's marvelous character development throughout, idyllic settings, and a nice variety of plots. Probably the most exciting of these six books is Peter Duck, in which the children have an actual Caribbean adventure, with pirates and buried treasures; it strained my suspension of disbelief a little, but I couldn't put it down anyway. (I think it's probably meant to be a story the children came up with, rather than something which really happened to them, judging by the references to a clearly imaginary Peter Duck in Swallowdale.) These are books to which I really look forward to introducing Liam.

Books read: 6

4 June 2006

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is on my favorites page.

Books read: 1

5 June 2006

M.M. Kaye, The Ordinary Princess: This is a charming fairy tale, of a princess who at her christening is given the gift of being ordinary. I loved it as a child and enjoyed rediscovering it a few years ago.

Books read: 1

6 June 2006

Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Fistful of Sky is on my favorites page.

Books read: 1

7 June 2006

Helen Dore Boylston's Sue Barton books are on my favorites page.

Books read: 7

8 June 2006

Anthony Rapp, Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent: a memoir of Rapp's life in the theatre, focusing on "Rent" and the sudden death of its creator, Jonathan Larson, and the death of Rapp's mother. The writing is awkward here and there, but the memoir is powerful in its emotion and candor. I'm glad I got it from the library, as I doubt I'll want to read it again, but it was definitely worth reading once.

Books read: 1

10 June 2006

Laurie R. King, A Grave Talent, To Play the Fool, With Child, Night Work, The Art of Detection: King hasn't written a new book about Kate Martinelli, San Francisco police detective, in years (having apparently been too busy with the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books and assorted thrillers) so when I finally got The Art of Detection from the library, I was quite excited and decided to reread the four previous books in the series before reading the new one. I like To Play the Fool best, because it has a really fascinating character at the center of the mystery, but they're all very good and stand up well to rereading, as the psychology and interactions of the characters are just as interesting as the mysteries (the details of which I'd mostly forgotten anyway).

The Art of Detection is billed as the coming together of the Martinelli series with the Russell/Holmes series; Martinelli is assigned to solve the murder of a Holmes fanatic who has apparently discovered a new Holmes story, written in the first person (and for fans of the Russell series, clearly taking place around the time of Locked Rooms). This was a bit of a disappointment; the action is somewhat plodding and the characters not as fully realized as in previous books, though the exploration of the society of Holmes fans is interesting.

Books read: 5

11 June 2006

Aaron Elkins, Unnatural Selection: the latest in his mystery series about Gideon Oliver, physical anthropologist. Here Gideon has accompanied his wife Julie to the Isles of Scilly for a consortium on conservation. Gideon is just wondering what he'll do with his time while Julie is in meetings when he's invited to identify some bones at the local museum; of course, it turns out that one bone is more recent than the rest and points to foul play involving the members of the consortium. I didn't think the mystery was as compelling as some of the earlier books, but it's well-constructed, and I always enjoy reading the physical anthropology bits.

Books read: 1

13 June 2006

Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War: I really, really liked these. They're set in an alternate universe England during the Napoleonic Wars; His Majesty's Dragon begins when Captain Will Laurence and his ship capture a dragon egg from a French ship. The egg hatches, and the dragon, Temeraire, bonds with Laurence, who because of this must leave the Navy and join the Aerial Corps. Novik has carefully changed the social structure to include dragons and their handlers, as well as women in military roles, and she makes good use of slightly formal language which rings true for the period. I loved Temeraire, and Laurence, and their relationship, particularly in the first book, which focuses mainly on the development of their bond and on Laurence's adjustment to life in the Aerial Corps.

In the second and third books, Temeraire and Laurence go traveling outside of England; these books overall were grimmer than the first. I thought Throne of Jade had some pacing problems; there's a very slow, episodic sea journey to start the book, and the ending felt rushed. However, the larger issues Novik raises were very interesting, as Temeraire starts to question the role of dragons in British society and Laurence has to deal with Temeraire's questions and with his own attitudes. I'm really looking forward to the fourth book!

Books read: 3

14 June 2006

William St. Clair, The Godwins and the Shelleys: A Biography of a Family: Frankly, I think the title is a misnomer; a more accurate title would be William Godwin and His Family. Despite the pictures of Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, and Percy Bysshe Shelley on the cover, the book is really about Godwin and sees the others mainly in relation to him; even Wollstonecraft gets only one chapter covering her entire life up to her relationship with Godwin. With that said, this is a very good biography of Godwin, with much insight into his character, his relationships with his family and friends, and his times.

Books read: 1

15 June 2006

Mary McCarthy, The Stones of Florence, Venice Observed: rather dry, sometimes cranky, but usually interesting travel writing, focusing on the history and art history of the two cities.

Books read: 2

16 June 2006

Dia Calhoun, Firegold: an excellent YA fantasy, involving a young man's quest for his origins and the struggle between his two peoples (the Valley folk, and the magical Dalriada of the mountains). The pacing was a little off, I thought -- the beginning was a little slow and the end a little rushed -- but I really liked the vivid setting and characters and the emotional depth.

Books read: 1

17 June 2006

Georgette Heyer, A Civil Contract: reread. This was the first Heyer I read, and although I enjoyed it on the reread and still think it's an interesting look at an arranged marriage, I wasn't as happy with the ending.

Books read: 1

18 June 2006

Jennifer Crusie, Tell Me Lies: reread. I still don't think the mystery and the deeper family issues mesh too well with the romance part of the plot, but I enjoyed it anyway; pretty much any Crusie is good Crusie.

Books read: 1

19 June 2006

Angela Bull, Noel Streatfeild: a short but serviceable biography, particularly interesting on the differences (and there are a lot) between Streatfeild's "autobiographies" and her real life. This makes me want to track down more of Streatfeild's adult novels, as I've only read Saplings. I'd have liked it a little more in-depth in places; Streatfeild's personal life gets rather lost later in the book.

Books read: 1

20 June 2006

Glen Cook, Whispering Nickel Idols: This is the latest, after a long hiatus, in Cook's fantasy/hard-boiled mystery series about Garrett, PI; happily, it's better than the last offering, Angry Lead Skies. I thought the plot was a little choppy, but it came together nicely at the end, and Garrett's cynical, sardonic narration is always fun to read.

Books read: 1

21 June 2006

Avram Davidson, The Phoenix and the Mirror: In the Middle Ages, it was thought that the poet Vergil was also a magician. Davidson takes this medieval belief as his jumping-off point and creates a Vergil who truly is a mage, in a fantastical alternate ancient world, full of sorcery, erudition, mysticism, and alchemy, where Vergil must construct a magical mirror and defeat the demonic powers which are after him. This is the first Davidson I've read, and I loved his language; this is the first paragraph of Chapter Three:

"Westward into the sea the last rose strokes of sunset painted the sky. Smoke of wood and charcoal drifted up to Vergil leaning over the parapet on his roof. Fish and squid, lentil and turnip, bread and oil and garlic, and a little meat -- Naples was having its supper before retiring for the night; though few in Naples would have all of these for supper. A few horses still thumped their way down the street below, and a single heavy cart rumbled. Horses and cart were probably heading for the great stable at the foot of the hill. Women spoke in tired voices, filling their amphoras at the Fountain of Cleo. A baby cried somewhere, the sounds of its wailing thin upon the cool air. The lights of tiny oil lamps flickered like fireflies, and here and there the mouth of a brazier glowed, redly and briefly, as someone fanned the embers or blew upon them through a wooden tube. From the Bay came the faint thump-thump of a galley bailiff beating out the rhythm for the rowers as the ship put into port."

The whole book is full of this kind of wonderful word painting. I hope I run across the other book in the series, Vergil in Averno, soon.

Books read: 1

22 June 2006

Barbara Hambly, Stranger at the Wedding: This is set in the same universe as The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage, but has little in common with them otherwise (barring a couple of minor characters). Instead, it has to do with Kyra, a journeyman wizard at the Citadel of Wizards; while practicing for her tests, all of her spells seem to go wrong, and eventually she sees a frightening vision: the death of her younger sister, Alix, on her wedding night. She journeys home to face her family, who disowned her when she became a wizard, and to save her sister from her unknown enemy. The mystery is engaging, as is the romance which develops, and the whole thing is given depth by Kyra's ongoing struggle to reconcile her wizardly talents and life to her family and her own desires, as well as by her remembrances of the wizard who taught her and his unkind end.

Books read: 1

23 June 2006

Terry Pratchett, Once More with Footnotes: a collection of Pratchett's short fiction and essays (often very short essays, introductions to other books and the like), this was a quick, funny read. I'd already read the short stories "The Sea and Little Fishes" and "Troll Bridge" (both Discworld) and liked them; besides those, the standout bit was Pratchett's account of a signing trip to Australia. I probably won't reread it, but it's worth a read if you're a Pratchett fan.

Books read: 1

25 June 2006

Philip Pullman, The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well: rereads -- YA historical fiction set in late 19th-century London. I liked these more the first time I read them, but they stood up fairly well to rereading. As The Ruby in the Smoke starts, 16-year-old Sally Lockhart has just lost her father, a businessman who drowned when his ship went down, and is trying to figure out the meaning of his last message to her; the second and third books follow her further suspenseful adventures. The setting is well-done, and the characters, especially practical, brave Sally, are memorable. The one thing I didn't like was Pullman's choice of narrator; it's omni, but apparently looking back at the story from a much later time, and often struck me as patronizing in tone: "If [Mr. Brown's accent] belonged anywhere, it belonged to the future: a hundred years from then, voices like Mr. Brown's would be common, though Mr. Windlesham could hardly be expected to know that." Every time there was a bit like this, it pulled me right out of the narrative.

Books read: 3

26 June 2006

Michael Wood, In Search of the Trojan War: a serviceable account of the possible historical origins of the Trojan War, though there wasn't much there that I wasn't already fairly familiar with (though the chapter on the Hittites and their historical documents and possible links to Greece and Troy was new to to me and quite interesting).

Books read: 1

28 June 2006

Sarah Monette, Mélusine, The Virtu: I reread Mélusine, one of my favorite books of last year, before reading The Virtu and have nothing new to say about it, really. It stood up very well to rereading, and it and The Virtu really are two halves of the same book, with the same fantastic worldbuilding, deep characterization, and lovely prose.

In The Virtu, Felix and Mildmay return to Mélusine and the Mirador, so that Felix can try to fix the Virtu, the magical crystal he was forced to break in Mélusine; along the way, they pick up a new companion (and a marvelous one, whom I hope to see much more of) and rejoin some old ones. I particularly loved the development of the relationship between Felix and Mildmay, and was impressed that although Felix is not very likable in many ways, it's impossible (for me, at least), not to sympathize with him. (Though I love Mildmay much more.) This is a wonderful companion to Mélusine, and I really look forward to The Mirador (though there's more closure here than at the end of Mélusine, so it'll be easier to wait for The Mirador than it was to wait for The Virtu).

Books read: 2

29 June 2006

Kevin Markey, Secrets of Disney's Glorious Gardens: I was hoping this would be more about the gardens of the Disney parks than it was; what it actually turned out to be is a fairly basic gardening guide with tips inspired by the Disney gardens. It was reasonably interesting when it talked about the parks, but I really didn't need the gardening primer. Also, many of the pictures were mediocre at best, with really poor lighting.

Books read: 1

30 June 2006

Elizabeth Bear, Blood and Iron (a slightly less rambly version of this review is also posted at Amazon.com): Elaine Andraste, now known simply as Seeker, is a servant of the Medb, Queen of the Daoine Sidhe; stolen by the Fae in childhood, she has spent her life bound to the Faerie Realm, stealing other human children for the queen. Matthew is a mage, of the mysterious Promethean Club, a group of human magic users in league against Faerie. When the Medb requires Seeker to trap the Merlin, the newest incarnation of the powerful wizard who could save Faerie or doom it, Seeker comes into conflict with Matthew and his allies, as well as with rivals from other Faerie factions.

Blood and Iron weaves together strands of folklore and legend from King Arthur to Tam Lin with Bear's own imaginings to create a compelling vision of Faerie, both terrible and beautiful; it's no wonder the Merlin has difficulty deciding whether to aid Faerie or oppose it. The characters are fiercely memorable, particularly Elaine and her wild Fae companion, Whiskey the kelpie (a shapeshifting water horse). She's one of those characters I think I would recognize if I met her on the street (though I'm not entirely sure I'd want to).

The story is immersive and intricate, full of schemes and rivalries, blood ties and friendships, mystery and sorcery, and the prose is equally complex and allusive. It required some concentration to sink into the narrative, but once I was in, I emerged only with reluctance and stayed up very late one night finishing, because I couldn't bear to put it down and go to bed (I'd just have lain there wondering what was going to happen next anyway). This is one of the best books I've read so far this year, and one of the best treatments of Faerie I've ever read; I can hardly wait for Whiskey and Water, the sequel which is due out next year.

Books read: 1

Total books read this month: 45
Total books read this year: 233


Last updated 24 July 2006. All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.