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Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Anyone who has read Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell (as I have) and who thoroughly enjoyed that fantastical masterpiece (as I did) will expect quite a lot of this latest Susanna Clarke book. They wouldn’t be disappointed (and nor was I). It’s a strange book in many ways. It creates another world and a very small cast of unusual characters. It’s fantastical but, apart from the initial premise of there being the strange world in which the story is mostly set, it is not especially magical. It is very well written and a surprising amount happens in what is a fairly short novel (especially in the last two-thirds or so). I thought there were a couple of logical problems with the story, but they weren’t enough to stop me enjoying it. So, if you enjoyed Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell, I’m quite sure you’ll also enjoy Piranesi.
Crow moon by Suzy Apsley
If you read my blog you’ll know I went to the launch for this book, and got myself a signed copy. I quite enjoyed it. The writing is fine and most of the characters are too; the plot is sometimes a bit clever for its own good and I noted a couple of places where it was a little shaky. But overall, I wanted to find out what was going to happen, who would survive and who wouldn’t, and so forth. I confess I worked out who the bad guy was, after initially being led astray, but that didn’t really take away from finding out how the various strands came together at the end. So if you want to read a slightly nervy thriller, you can’t go far wrong with Crow Moon.
The kitchen by Simone Buchholz
I got this book because of frenetic advertising by Orenda Books on TwiX. The blurb said it was written in a wonderfully spare way, with no words too many. So I thought I’d give it a try. It’s a good book. The style is indeed very spare, which makes the reader zip along. The story itself is okay but not altogether convincing. The baddies are apprehended more by luck than judgement, and certainly not due to the efforts of the protagonist, who seems to spend her time wandering about meeting friends rather than actually working. But I guess it’s serviceable. Personally I would have deleted the very last page (don’t worry, that isn’t a spoiler of any sort), but maybe that’s just me. So all in all, I would certainly recommend this book, but don’t expect an Agatha Christe style masterpiece.
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
I got this book partly because it looked interesting, and partly because Eliza Chan apparently is a member of the Glasgow SF Writing Circle, as am I. But I’ve never seen her so maybe she’s moved on, either figuratively or literally. Fathomfolk is a good read overall, but with two provisos. First, I found it a bit hard to get into, mainly because of the large cast of characters, and at least two of them having similar names. Eventually I got over it, especially as the plot got into a higher gear. Secondly, I think there’s a rather large plot hole in the story. I didn’t really think of it until after I’d finished, so maybe it’s not too important. Essentially the Drawbacks (a group of violent agitators) do two very bad things. But, given the nature of the second one, there didn’t seem much point in doing the first one. That’s enough of a spoiler. Even allowing for these two criticisms (which not everyone will agree with anyway), I wouldn’t dissuade you from getting a copy of this book.
If people don’t speak of remarkable things, by Jon McGregor
At my book launch the other day, one of my old university friends recommended If people don’t talk of remarkable things to me. So I got it. It’s not often I’m lost for words, but reading this book has left me in that rare state. It is amazing, written in an unconventional but equally amazing style, and every description, every piece of dialogue, is almost poetic. It’s one of those books which make me wonder why I bother to write. If I was being ultra-critical I might say I’d have written the ending slightly differently... but that’s it. Oh, and I spotted one typo! Read this book. It’s one of the soundest pieces of advice you’ll read all year.
The expanse series by James A Corey
We all know by now, of course, that this series is actually written by two authors, neither of whom of are James or Corey. That doesn’t really matter: on the second reading of this series (I only got up to book 6 of 9 before), I am amazed at its scope. Great plot(s), great characters, plenty of humour, sentiment and technical details. I am convinced the authors must have read The Lensman series at some point. Anyway, this is brilliant space opera and a great read even if you’re not really in to SF. I heartily recommend it.
The mountain in the sea by Ray Nayler
My middle son recommended this book and went so far as to lend me his copy. While I was reading it I saw a Thing online that purported to list the top 75 SF books ever written. I didn’t much agree with the list, but The Mountain in the Sea was in it, round about number 30 as I remember. Well, both son and list were spot on. This is a splendid book, full of thought-provoking ideas, fascinating world building, and nicely crafted, conflicted characters. Not to mention a fairly dense plot. What more could you ask for? I thoroughly recommend The Mountain in the Sea, although I did spot one minor error that the editor really ought to have picked up. I won’t put it here, but if you want to find out what it was, venture over to my professional site and click on the errata tab.
We solve murders by Richard Osman
Anyone picking up this new book will almost certainly be wondering if it can be as good as The Thursday Murder Club and its sequels. Can it be as funny? Can the plot be as confusing but pleasurably coherent? Can the characters jump off the page as they did in TTMC? And the answer is... yes. The same very British sense of humour pervades the entire book, even when rather dodgy events are happening. And they do happen. The characters do indeed jump off the page, if possible even more energetically than they did in TTMC. The plot is satisfyingly not drawn out too far, and it covers a lot more physical ground than TTMC (which is perhaps one reason why Osman has started this new venture). It’s a great read and I heartily recommend it - although you might want to wait until the paperback is available.
The buried giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
This book got so many positive reviews in various places, and so many people referred to it as a masterpiece, that I thought I’d better read it. What did I think? Well, it might not be a masterpiece but it’s pretty close to it. It’s set in a part fantasy, part Arthurian England and basically just tells the story of an old couple making a perilous (although not very long) journey to find their son. Needless to say there’s a lot more to it than that, but I am reluctant to spoil your fun. It’s a definite recommend. I don’t think it matters what genre you usually read, you’ll enjoy The Buried Giant.
Midnight and blue by Ian Rankin
I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say got a bit of a shock when I started reading Midnight and Blue, because Rebus is banged up in prison. Of course, a murder takes place in prison and he starts sticking his nose in. Meanwhile, there’s a missing girl problem outside, together with the usual police bickering and in-fighting, so this turns into the usual shape of a Rebus novel: two strands slowly merging into one. I enjoyed the book, although I confess the police in-fighting got on my nerves a bit. When do they ever do their work? But that gripe aside, I can recommend this book as well worth reading.
The ancillary series by Anne Leckie
This series comprises Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy which I will hereafter call A1, A2 and A3 to save time typing. A1 won the 2014 Hugo, Nebula and Archur C Clarke awards, the only book so far to have done so. It’s very good, although I do have a couple of niggles which I will divulge at the end of this post. A2 is a worthy successor to A1, although not quite as gripping because by now we know a lot about the world Leckie has built, so there are fewer surprises. A3 in turn is a worthy successor to A2 although in my opinion it focuses way too much on personal relationships than is necessary to drive the plot. All three books build on a brilliantly devised universe, where spaceships are giant AIs almost human in character, which control the ships and hundreds of ‘ancillaries’, the nature of which I will refrain from saying here. There are tons of clever descriptions and unexpected plot twists. It’s no surprise this is such a well-regarded trilogy, particularly A1. My reservations: Everyone in the book is referred to as ‘she’. The reasons for this are given early in A1 but I am not convinced this helps the narrative. The author has two writing tics that an editor should have picked up on. The characters are forever ‘gesturing’ to indicate something or other without saying anything. Tediously often. And in dialogue we have ‘she agreed’ as a tag way too many times. But don’t let these grievances put you off reading such a brilliant story.
House of open wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Well, what can I say? How does he do it? On top of the other zillion bestsellers he’s written, add this to the list. I have two minor gripes. The most minor is that I spotted some editing/proofreading errors. Ha! My life is complete. In due course I will add them to my errata page. The slightly less minor gripe is that he uses the word ‘honestly’ far too often. It started to ring the repetition bell, never a good thing. But apart from this, the book is chock full of weird and wonderful characters and ideas, weird and wonderful plot twists, weird and wonderful (and funny) conversations between Jack and God, who he carries around in a box, and... honestly, the whole book is just weird and wonderful. Read it if you don’t believe me. I guarantee you’ll have trouble putting it down.
Taken by Benedict Jacka
I’ve read this before, but so long ago I couldnt really remember much about it. It’s not bad. The hero, Alex Verus, is a mage who can see a little way into the future, and the way Jacka uses this apparently not very useful power is quite clever. The overall plot isn’t bad, although you can see the underlying reason why things are as they are at Mountain Reach, where most of the action takes place, a mile off. Perhaps I’ve read too may Agatha Christie books. But if you find yourself with a couple of rainy days to fill, and you’re a fan of Jim Butcher to boot, reading Taken might not be a bad way to spend your time.
The hollow by Agatha Christie
I must have read this before, but I really didn’t remember it at all. It’s the usual set-up: a number of people invited to a weekend at a country house, one gets murdered and in comes Poirot to solve it all. I really enjoyed this book. Two things in particular struck me. One, all the character suspects are introduced quite thoroughly before the murder happens, certainly well before Poirot shows up at almost half way through. So we all know the possible motives before the murder, instead of finding out about them after it. And second, the bones of the story were a genuine historical glimpse into history. There were a number of things that struck me as being outrageously out of date: the one that sticks in my mind is a character accelerating her car to drive very fast... at 50mph. But there were others, too, but I won’t put any more spoilers here. I like Agatha Christie books in general, but this one struck me as being a good bit above even her average and I strongly recommend it.
A woman of pleasure by Kiyoko Murata
I picked this u from Waterstones the other day, using up the last of a prize book token. It’s a cleverly detailed story of a young girl sold into prostitution by her parents. It’s set in 1903 and I have no reason to disbelieve the details of the young girl’s life, which were pretty sordid but still better than many others in the ‘pleasure quarter’. The book apparently won a number of awards in Japan, and I’m not surprised. It’s beautifully written and stays on the right side of eroticism, rather like Lolita in that respect. It’s a translation, of course, and the translator has done a splendid job of making the text flow, choosing the right words without repetitions or awkwardness. It’s a relatively short book, and I recommend it.