Here’s a sample from the diverse range of books that have been keeping me busy in my non-internet writing days of recent weeks.

Wives and daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. This novel follows the life of teenager Molly as she learns to cope with life beyond her sheltered home and her father’s remarriage. It’s a novel focussed around family relationships and growing up in a small town (including a sweet romance). I enjoyed it, but less so than North and South, perhaps because I found the social observations in the latter more interesting. When I read Wives and daughters I didn’t realise it had been written as a serial, but I wasn’t surprised as it definitely feels like a drama that has been stretched out further than is strictly necessary (however as I read it on a long train trip I certainly didn’t mind!). I also didn’t realise Gaskell died before completing the story and so was very shocked when I reached the last chapter and read “and here the story ended” with another writer finishing up the book!

Melusine by Sarah Monette was recommended to me by Checkers and other people and it was a very different type of book! (Lots more swearing for one thing!) The setting is a fairly typical fantasy world with magic etc but with an abundance of small details and interesting politics and social problems of its own. Melusine is very fast paced book and is narrated by two very different characters. I often find this type of storytelling difficult and want to keep skipping ahead to stay with one narrator but in Melusine I was interested enough in both stories to read it all in order! It finishes fairly abruptly with lots of preparation made for the sequel, which is already out (thank goodness!).

I only heard about Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks: a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits and a very interesting boy when I read a review of the sequel (not out yet) at Bookshelves of Doom. The references to Nesbit and Enright were enough to get me trotting around to the library. Having read the book, I agree that the story of a family’s summer adventures did have that lovely old fashioned and happy feel - I can see why it might be too cozy and sweet for some readers. For me, though, it was a really enjoyable read and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out later this year!

Tags: birdsall, books, fantasy, gaskell, monette, romance

Some quick thoughts on books I’ve read recently:

Popco by Scarlett Thomas. Alice is singled out by her large children’s toy company to create a new fad for teenage girls. While trying to understand her new task Alice is also trying to solve the mystery of a locket left to her by her grandfather, a coding genius. Scenes of scary insights into marketing for children are interspersed by Alice’s memory of herself as a young girl and teenager.

There were many great elements to this book but overall I don’t know that it really worked for me. I loved the whole code breaking aspect (I would have been a sucker for the children’s spy kit described in the book), Alice’s teen experiences rang true and there were lots of intriguing side stories. But I think some of the suspense in the book was let down by the various ensuing events. I also wasn’t convinced by Alice’s sudden conversion to understanding the evils of mass marketing/mass meat production etc. But I know other people found the story meaningful, so I might have been a bit hard on old Alice. I think rowana recommended this book to me – thanks Ro!

All seated on the ground by Connie Willis. Aliens have landed on Earth, but they just stand around looking disapproving. This was a fun novella by one of my favourite authors, with Christmas carols playing a large role, so I enjoyed reading it. But I admit I’m glad I hadn’t bought the expensive hardback as a lot of the themes and storytelling methods were reminiscent of other Willis stories and I’m hungry for something new.

Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass- Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce. Everyone has written about this book extensively over the last year so I won’t write too much (hee, that’s a good excuse isn’t it?). As the wonderful title suggests, Flora Segunda is set in a fantasy world crowded with colourful names and magical beings. Unfortunately things aren’t going so great for Flora – her mum is absent, her dad depressed and the magical butler that is supposed to look after Flora’s house has diminished and the whole place is collapsing around the family. But in the best tradition of a penny dreadful, the plot soon picks up and Flora is having adventures all over the place. I thought it was great fun. At times the characters seemed two-dimensional, but this might have been in comparison to the flamboyant setting and plot. I look forward to reading the sequel!

Tags: books, children's, fantasy, thomas, wilce, willis

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay stars 15-year old Ned, who has travelled to Provence with his famous photographer father. Ned knows he’s lucky to be missing school but is also tied of being babied by his father’s assistant and is starting to feel bored. But Ned's worries are soon superceded by new concerns as the past becomes tangled with the present, placing his family and friends into danger. Kay does a great job at gently introducing the many different historical events that have occurred in the region.

Ysabel tells an interesting and action-packed story, especially if you’re a sucker for travel or history in a book. I like the modernity, too, though – the characters researched stuff on the internet and used mobile phones to communicate with each other at key moments. Too many books seem to ignore the reality of 21st century life in order to maintain tension in a story! It reminded me of Charles de Lint’s books at times. I’m not sure what it was - possibly large cast of characters thrown together and forced to deal with the reality of the supernatural. I did like that there are no clear baddies.

Sometimes the tone of the main character felt slightly off to me, like Kay was trying too hard to write from the POV of a teenage boy. And at times it felt like there were almost too many storylines going on so that they and the corresponding motivations of some of the characters couldn’t be fully developed.

If you like urban fantasy but would prefer historical characters (admittedly ones with supernatural powers) to faeries, this might be the book for you. Even though this isn’t marketed as a YA book, I definitely agree with Colleen that it would have strong YA appeal.

* Is it petty to want to bop an author on the head for getting to live in Provence to research their book?

Tags: books, fantasy, kay

OK, my break from blogging about books has resulted in me now wanting to write about lots of books but knowing I won’t have time! And everything has been mad enough this week that I think it’s safest to start with some quick thoughts on a very disparate bunch and write more entries (hopefully!) over the next few days.

First up is The Secret Policeman by Kate Thompson. This Irish children’s fantasy novel won the Guardian’s children book prize and the Whitbread Children's prize in 2005 (hey, better to read it a few years late than never). The secret policeman starts by describing a world that is running out of time. Children don’t have time to relax, adults don’t have time to get everything done, even the school bus is always late despite the best efforts of its driver. Soon it becomes apparent that there are faeries involved. I enjoyed the folklore feel of the novel but didn't really feel overly attached to the characters. One unusual touch, that I assume would be even cooler if I were a musician, is pieces of music at the front of each chapter. Overall, I enjoyed it but wouldn’t have been my first pick for the prizes.

And onto a different type of secret in Diana Peterfreund’s Secret Society Girl. This book tells the story of 20 year old Amy, who is unexpectedly tapped for an exclusive secret society of her Ivy League (fictionalised Yale) college and soon faces a range of challenges. The story is fun but not particularly suspenseful in itself - this would be a great holiday read particularly for people who enjoy reading about college experiences as Peterfreund added in lots of background detail. What probably made the book most enjoyable to me was the extreme sarcasm of the main character!

I undestand now why everyone is squeeing about Elizabeth Enright’s The Saturdays and its sequels being in print again. I can see why it became a classic childhood read for so many people. The situation in The Saturdays is something I would have loved as a child: four siblings decide to pool their pocket money so every fourth Saturday one of them will have enough money to go and do something they really want to do. They get to do it alone (this idea alone would have sucked me in, I loved my younger sisters, but a day out without them? So special!) and don’t even have to tell the others what they did. This book was reminiscent of Nesbit without the fantasy, maybe because of the close-knit yet realistic family and the generally old-fashioned feel.

Tags: books, children's, enright, fantasy, peterfreund, thompson

One of the books that accompanied me on holidays was Sherwood Smith's fantasy novel Inda. It was a good choice - nice and solid to outlast those periods of boredom at airports etc - but also bad as I was increasingly reluctant to put it down and, you know, go and see the things I went away to see.

The story starts with 10-year-old* Inda being called away from his home - an estate he expects to defend when he is an adult for his older brother - to the Royal Academy to be trained with other second sons. This part reminded me slightly of Ender's game because of the military training, and the need for younger children to outwit older ones, but it wasn't as freaky as Ender. Over the course of 6 (?) years the subsequent plot involves lots of political intrigue, ships and pirates. Yay! I was quite cranky at the end as I didn't have the next book to hand to read - sorry in advance to other fans who can now tell me how long THEY had to wait :)

I was very impressed by the characters in the book, especially the ones who started off as baddies but ended up being complicated and mixed. The social set-up was lovely and complex and evolved in a way that made it feel real. I had been warned that it might be difficult to follow the character names in Inda due to a wide array of titles, nicknames etc but perhaps the warning actually made me pay attention because I didn't think it was too bad. However, as in real life I do tend to be a bit casual about names (I think I tend to go with context) so here is a list Sherwood Smith has put up at her website for more organised readers than me.

All up, a great book for when you feel like a nice fat fantasy!

Tags: books, fantasy, smith

...a long overdue book post! Even if it is very short!

I read and utterly loved Ellen Kushner's Privilege of the sword when I read it a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if was because it was exactly the book I wanted at the time: a novel of manners with lots of swordfighting and romance. This book is set about 15 years* after Swordspoint but both Alec and St Vier feature in this book, in a far more satisfying manner. The more intriguing and realistic cast of characters was probably why I liked it more than Swordspoint. But what I said about the interesting setting is still the same! The main character this time, however, is 15 year old Katherine who has been summoned by her uncle to the city. The mad duke's only purpose for Katherine is to have her learn swordfighting, but over the course of the book Katherine starts to discover her own purposes for her life.

Privilege of the sword was well-paced and interesting. The melodrama was leavened by humour and more serious themes of gender and power. Moments like the teenage girls being so passionate over a novel filled with romance and drama rang true. I think this book would stand pretty well on its own without Swordspoint. Recommended to people who enjoyed books such Sherwood Smith's Crown duel or Wrede and Stevermere's Sorcery and Cecilia.

*Um, I think?

Tags: books, fantasy, kushner

I left a great library system behind in Brisbane but the county one here seems very good. One of the best things about it is that they obviously have a different selection of books, so apart from dredging my memory trying to remember authors I had given up on finding in Australia I can also walk into libraries and pick up new and interesting books.
( Incarceron )
( The mobile library: the case of the missing books )

Tags: books, fantasy, fisher, mystery, sansom, young adult

Because I have not posted about books for so long it is kind of daunting thinking about which one to write about. And what to write. I strongly suspect I have old entries on the computer I could post (luckily the hard drive came along with me so there was no need to tidy it up) but for now I thought I’d start writing brief descriptions of some of the reading highlights of the last couple of months. Apologies for the lack of insight and thought here; I hope my enjoyment of the books is still clear!

( A countess below stairs/The secret countess )

( Crown Duel )

Tags: books, fantasy, ibbotson, romance, smith

I have recently finished an excellent book that is different to any other I have read – Shaun Tan’s The arrival. The rave reviews and awards that this book has garnered (yes, once again I’m coming late to the party on an Australian book) indicate that it’s not just my inexperience with graphic novels that made this book an unusual and delightful read.

The arrival is told only with pictures (this is apparently called a silent graphic novel).* It tells the story of a migrant who leaves his family and arrives in a strange land. As well as a different way of life, the main character is confronted by weird creatures and food. The fantasy elements work very well here at showing the reader what it is like to live somewhere where the language and customs are unfamiliar. And it’s a book that successfully crosses cultures: despite the strangeness of the world Tan creates, the common human experiences of family, friendship, loneliness and joy are shared.

The drawings are done in shades of sepia, and are lovely. Some of them were heartbreaking, even in their simplicity, and brought tears to my eyes. There are some examples of the pictures here on Tan’s website (click on the cover of the book), but they don’t do the book justice. The book itself is beautifully designed. I will be breaking my rule of buying new books before leaving Australia to acquire a hardback copy of The arrival. It would be a wonderful addition to a library as it sure to appeal to people of many ages and backgrounds, and tells a story to which many people will be able to relate.

* As a personal aside, at times I found the lack of words difficult – I didn’t read it before bed last night, for example. I had to pay attention to what was happening more closely than in books with words. This seems strange to me as there was a time when all I could understand was pictures. I think it might have something to do with my habit of reading chunks of text at a time rather than carefully word-by-word. Often I can't just glance at a picture and "read" it - I actually have to look at it, and the ones before it.

Tags: books, fantasy, graphic novel, tan

Wow, I went all out with this post title, huh? My poor brain is shocked by being forced to work for a whole day with no fiction or fun internet reading so I guess I will cut it some slack.

Dreamhunter was one of the most original fantasy novels I have read for a while. Set in alternate Edwardian period, this novel describes a world where some people can catch dreams and share them with others. These dreams are in great demand for purposes ranging from healing to entertainment. Fifteen year-old cousins Laura and Rose have parents with extraordinary dreamhunting abilities, and are due to be tested for dreamhunting gifts themselves. However, it soon becomes evident that the world of dreamhunting is not as simple and beneficial as it appears. Even the line between fiction and fact in the dreams starts to seem blurred.

I liked the setting with its mix of history, fantasy and shadowy political conspiracies. The characters all seemed solid, particularly the adults. Sometimes Laura was a bit irritatingly dreamy, although that might have been in comparison to her energetic cousin. Hopefully the characters continue to develop in the sequel. A nice sense of mystery was maintained through the book, although I have to warn everyone that it ends with a cliffhanger! Luckily my library already had the second book, Dreamquake, in the system so I am hoping it will arrive in time for a nice weekend gobble.

I was surprised when I picked it up off my library hold shelf as I had no recollection of the title or author! After reserching the matter I think I may have heard about it on Justine Larbalestier's blog. I am ashamed I hadn’t heard of it earlier given that Knox is a Kiwi writer and the book has been out in Australia since 2005. It is out in the UK and the US already so you should all be able to read it now, too!

Tags: books, fantasy, knox, young adult