Reviews and Comments

I’m not especially a reader of poetry, with the exception of Homer’s The Odyssey, which I have in various prose, free verse and rhyming verse translations. The Sign of the Dragon caught my eye because of the epic scope it suggested. I found it an easy read in terms of both comprehending the language and following the storyline.

I liked the presentation as a set of individual poems which went together to make up a full story. Xau is noble, responsible, larger than life and too good to be true, although he has his moments as a vulnerable human. Similarly, the forces acting against him are irredeemably, grossly evil (other than those that are misled or bewitched). I don’t think such characters would have worked at all well presented in prose. In poetry, we can appreciate the vignettes of Xau’s life and his situations more… symbolically? without worrying too much about realism.

So, despite my not being a reader of poetry, I’ll be watching out for more of the author’s works. Highly recommended.

I hadn't come across this author before, and I was (probably) too young for True Names to show up on my radar when it was first published as a novella in 1981. This reissue is accompanied by several essays that were written 10 or more years later, still well before the current date.

The plotline of True Names is straightforward on the surface: a hacker is pressured into attempting to uncover the real-life identity of a more dangerous hacker, which (of course) isn't as straightforward as initially hoped. There are interesting themes of symbolism and trust, and perhaps a sense of assessing people by what they do rather than what they say. I'd say the story has aged rather well.

I dipped into the accompanying essays, and I'm sure I will again. The concepts were a bit "technical" for me to fully appreciate from my non-IT-specialised background, but even so, they were thought-provoking.

Worth a read, and then a re-read.

I thank the publisher for a free copy of this book, which I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme. This is my honest review.

The story is told in third person, past tense, from the points of view of twin sisters Jacqueline/engineer and Angélique/artist/werewolf. The prose was generally tidy, with only a few typos catching my eye. Unfortunately, I tripped up on the first page when Jacqueline (the non-artist twin) seemed to learn the name of a strange artist without an introduction: making me think the twins were telepathic. That first impression took me a while to shake off.

What particularly drew me towards this book was the steampunk setting and hints of a mysterious international plot. I enjoyed the uncertainty over the (non-point of view) characters’ motivations and just whose side they were really on. The technical/logistical stuff was handwavy and convenient, but I was happy not to think hard about plausibility.

The characters didn’t make me feel especially invested in them. Both sisters felt “young” in their behaviour and decision-making. The amount of internal emotional processing was of a level I tend to associate with writing aimed at a Young Adult readership, especially with (tiny spoiler) the absent parent who shows up at the end. Those of you who’ve read my other reviews know I’m not interested in romance. So it won’t be a surprise that I found the (metaphorical, sometimes!) drooling over their love interests a distraction from everything else.

Overall, a fun steampunk mystery/romance with a good dollop of the mystical.

I’ve not previously read anything by the author, although I’d put a couple of her books on my wishlist. I decided to start with Shades of Milk and Honey since I was in a fantasy of manners mood.

The prose was easy to read, though some repetitions stood out. In places, the language seemed to stray between period(ish) and more modern.

The setup and environment will be familiar to anyone who’s read Austen—though with the addition of magic, and a reduced level of “formality” compared to what we might expect. I liked the idea of glamour as an additional tool in social interactions, and I’d guess in future books we might see more practical (military?) applications.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters. They did not feel fleshed out. We spend the entire story in Jane’s point of view, and I found her rather tiresome. She was pretty passive and kept belabouring her problems, with a combination of feeling put-upon, gaslighting herself and feeling somehow smugly martyred. OK, the last might have been my imagination, but her ruminations tended to reinforce that impression.

The pacing was sedate until just before the final confrontation, when the tone flipped into melodrama with a rush towards the end.

I came away feeling that the book hadn’t quite decided what sort of book it wanted to be and so it wavered in its direction. Maybe a bit like Jane.

This is my first foray into the world of Achten Tan. It seems like a fascinating place - though admittedly, one I probably wouldn't enjoy visiting. Buildings in bones and giant ants are only the start of it.

Mila's story is a fairly uncomplicated quest to find her magical power. We get to see Achten Tan's various cultures along the way. It's a pretty light read, in many senses, and a refreshing contrast to the grimdark stories I keep tripping over.

I think the book will mainly appeal to younger readers. Generally, the rest of the world takes a back seat to Mila's (and her allies') immediate concerns. For my tastes, there's a bit much of teenagers mooning over each other and blushing, and Mila getting tangled up in her feelings about relationships. The narrative is entirely in first person, present tense, and so we get a running commentary on her thoughts and reactions.

Overall, a fun, fast-paced read in a rich fantasy setting.

This is an oddly appealing combination of slice of life/found family in a… I guess it’s a postapocalyptic setting? (Never sure how to define these.) Essentially, Big Corp has taken over, and the characters are part of the effort to undermine the current regime. Though that’s background rather than the story here.

The Hands We’re Given is first in a series. The focus seems more on character relationships and seeking/offering acceptance rather than whiz bang acts of rebellion and violence. I haven’t read any sequels (yet), so I don’t know if this is the tone of later books. I wasn’t totally convinced by the challenges the Wild Cards run up against (eg scarcity of xx item but apparently no problem doing yy thing), but I was happy to go with the flow without worrying too much about realism.

The prose was tidy, and the read was easy. I’m not a visual reader, so I got a bit tripped up when (named) characters were referred to as eg “the redhead” or “the older man” and I had to backtrack because I’d lost track of who the term was supposed to refer to.

I’ve been reading quite a lot of cosy-flavoured books recently. This one is too high-stakes to be categorised as such (I don’t imagine that was the author’s intention anyway!) but it certainly has cosy moments too.

I've read a few books by the author previously, but The Soul Eater is a new read for me. I see from the 1981 publication date that this is one of his early works, but his distinctive style is already there. The major characters are larger than life, if not particularly relatable - more representatives of a type than human (or alien) beings with foibles and quirks. Consequently, the plot has the feel of a fable, or... almost a thought experiment, with a sense of inevitability. This isn't a negative criticism, and it's all very readable.

I didn't feel concerned about Nicobar Lane during his increasingly obsessive pursuit of the Dreamwish Beast, but I was definitely curious as to how far his obsession would take him, and what kind of person he would be when he got there.

Overall, an enjoyable short read, although I probably won't rush into re-reading it.

I had the pleasure of first reading this book as an early draft, and it’s been a privilege to follow its development over the years.

In this murder mystery in a weird/steampunk setting, we follow devout blacksmith Nette and irreverent charlatan Mary as they try to achieve their conflicting goals. While Nette strives to bring her parents’ killer to justice, Mary just aims to turn a profit and rid herself of some old familial debts.

The world feels very “frontier”, with dollops of magic and infrequent godly intervention (or maybe that should be interference). However, magic isn’t used casually, and so the characters have to be devious rather than handwaving their escapes after they get themselves (and each other) into trouble.

As you might imagine, Nette and Mary have distinct personalities, and they’re haunted by different issues. It was greatly satisfying to see how their disparate stories came together as the story progressed.

Highly recommended.

This book came to my attention as one of this year’s SPFBO finalists. It’s categorised as Christian fantasy, so (not being interested in religion, whether Christian or other) I was a bit dubious when I picked it up. However, I needn’t have worried. I’d say the Christianity features as part of the setting rather than the story being Christian-themed.

The prose was tidy and only tripped me up a couple of times (still scratching my head over the use of “Juste” in French. Maybe I’m missing some subtext cleverness). I didn’t like the footnotes. To me, if felt like they were trying too hard.

There will inevitably be many comparisons to Good Omens. I’d say the storyline here is much simpler—that’s just an observation, not a criticism at all. Despite the introduction of a Big Bad maybe halfway through, and characters having sad pasts or current circumstances, the stakes never felt really threatening. I found the final outcome a bit “happened to work out like this” rather than being able to appreciate the characters’ efforts.

I got very little sense of the environment/setting. I don’t remember if specific locations were mentioned, but all I took away was that we weren’t in America. Presumably this is a world where hardly anyone knows about the supernatural. The “regular people’s” lack of surprise (or alternatively, complete acceptance) regarding odd happenings felt contrived—not played up enough for humour/satire and not realistic enough to play it otherwise.

Overall, a pleasant and unchallenging read.