dragons, ash, dragons
I realize I haven't done a book post in a long while. Yet I'm craving for book talk. So all memes with wait. Book it is !
I'll start with Mary Gentle's Book of Ash (which I was re-reading for the first time)
Ash is a medieval uchrony, of a weird sort. It tells the story of legendary female mercenary captain Ash in the15th century Europe, but it's framed by e-mail discussions by the Historian and his agent currently translating that story for publication. At some point, they realize something is fishy with the manuscrit they're working on. Like the obvious Mithraist leaning of the Church and the fact that Carthage is still kicking around happily. And Carthage has Golems. Then they realize that History starts shifting and that's when the real fun starts.
Ash is not a book for the faint hearted. The opening chapter relates how as a little girl Ash, who lived parentless among the camp followers of a mercenary band, was raped and then killed the men who did that to her. There's violence, blood, death, shit, graphic sex and all kind of messy things related crudely and often harshly. As far as I'm concerned it's that realism, the interesting themes about History and cool details about things like Golems and tactical computers that speak like Voices to Joan of Arc that makes that book fun. Also, one of the main character is a Lesbian (not Ash). Besides the plot is just fun.
On re-reading I did get more annoyed than before by the relative Sue-ness of Ash. Though she's certainly not without flaws, her cocksure bad-assness does get old after a while. Still a serie of book I would easily reccomend to many people
Another recent re-read was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Right now Dragonsbane is my favourite book by Hambly, which is a writer I have immense respect for.
Story starts when a young and clumsy messenger arrives in the harsh, impoverish, deadly Winterland to seek John Aversin, who killed a dragon some ten or so years ago, to seek his help against the dragon who has besieged the King's city.
They are three utterly cool characters in this story.
The first one is Morkeleb the Black, the dragon in question. I think he's my favourite dragon in a fantasy novel. He's very no nonsense and dangerous and has got an awe inspiring presence.
The second one is Jenny Waynest, who is thirty-something, a very plain woman, unwed mother of two kids who chose to live with them to concentrate herself on her study of magic. She's a witch, but not a very powerful one. I love every books that have a female character in a fantasy book that is neither a Damsel in Distress nor a Babe-in-Armour, but Jenny's an especially rare speciman of those atypical women. She's sensible, compassionate, sharp and bitter.
The third one is John Aversin, who's on my short list of character I'd marry.
I don't think I can properly describe why John is so cool. See there's that young guy who knows Dragonbanes' songs by heart and is expecting to meet a great and glorious knight. And then he meets this middle-aged, bespectacled yokel in scruffy leather and plaids, ankle-deep in pig-muck and quoting classical authors on the subject of pig breeding.
There's no words to tell you how much I adore John, he challenges every stereotypes and comes across as a big damn hero anyway. He's a got a little bit of Ned Stark in him - if Ned had been written by Terrt Pratchet and huge nerd fascinated by science and quoting half-remmbered classical authors all the time.
Stylistically, Dragonsbane and its sequels come across as a mixt between George RR Martin and Tanith Lee. Her world is just as dark and harsh as GRRM's, but with a flavour of cruel haunting beauty and poetry, especially in the sequel which introduces demons.
Last book was Michael Swanwick's the Iron Dragon's Daughter. This one was a first read and enchanted me very quickly. Thee world it's set in is utterly delightful : it's fairy's world that's undergone the Industrial Revolution, and not for the best. The back cover descrive it as a Dickensian nightmare and not very wrongly. It's got children working in factories guarded by Time Clock that maks you age a lifetime in a minute once you pass their border, high school's chosen wicker queen who get to enjoy a life full of glamour and fame for one year before being sacrificed horribly to the Goddess, and, of course, dragons which are terrible and mad machines of war that can lay napalm over their ennemies.
In this world, Jane is a changeling human child who manage to escape the factory she was enslaved in by escaping with a broken and rusted dragon. She then tries to make her way into the world which obey strange and cruel laws, and where misery and tragedy seems to beset her despite her effort.
As a heroin Jane is pretty coold. She's stubborn, sarcastic, quite intelligent, and a bit ambitious. She's not overly too good at what she does either, and she fails. And when she fails she fails hard.
Though the world was the main thing I enjoyed, the story itself and its characters are pretty fun as well. The ending was rather weird, but made some sort of trippy sense. I also really liked the writing of the sex scene, not because they were hot, but because they were written in a very fresh and real way. And used "cunt" a lot.
It for now, good night.
I'll start with Mary Gentle's Book of Ash (which I was re-reading for the first time)
Ash is a medieval uchrony, of a weird sort. It tells the story of legendary female mercenary captain Ash in the15th century Europe, but it's framed by e-mail discussions by the Historian and his agent currently translating that story for publication. At some point, they realize something is fishy with the manuscrit they're working on. Like the obvious Mithraist leaning of the Church and the fact that Carthage is still kicking around happily. And Carthage has Golems. Then they realize that History starts shifting and that's when the real fun starts.
Ash is not a book for the faint hearted. The opening chapter relates how as a little girl Ash, who lived parentless among the camp followers of a mercenary band, was raped and then killed the men who did that to her. There's violence, blood, death, shit, graphic sex and all kind of messy things related crudely and often harshly. As far as I'm concerned it's that realism, the interesting themes about History and cool details about things like Golems and tactical computers that speak like Voices to Joan of Arc that makes that book fun. Also, one of the main character is a Lesbian (not Ash). Besides the plot is just fun.
On re-reading I did get more annoyed than before by the relative Sue-ness of Ash. Though she's certainly not without flaws, her cocksure bad-assness does get old after a while. Still a serie of book I would easily reccomend to many people
Another recent re-read was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Right now Dragonsbane is my favourite book by Hambly, which is a writer I have immense respect for.
Story starts when a young and clumsy messenger arrives in the harsh, impoverish, deadly Winterland to seek John Aversin, who killed a dragon some ten or so years ago, to seek his help against the dragon who has besieged the King's city.
They are three utterly cool characters in this story.
The first one is Morkeleb the Black, the dragon in question. I think he's my favourite dragon in a fantasy novel. He's very no nonsense and dangerous and has got an awe inspiring presence.
The second one is Jenny Waynest, who is thirty-something, a very plain woman, unwed mother of two kids who chose to live with them to concentrate herself on her study of magic. She's a witch, but not a very powerful one. I love every books that have a female character in a fantasy book that is neither a Damsel in Distress nor a Babe-in-Armour, but Jenny's an especially rare speciman of those atypical women. She's sensible, compassionate, sharp and bitter.
The third one is John Aversin, who's on my short list of character I'd marry.
I don't think I can properly describe why John is so cool. See there's that young guy who knows Dragonbanes' songs by heart and is expecting to meet a great and glorious knight. And then he meets this middle-aged, bespectacled yokel in scruffy leather and plaids, ankle-deep in pig-muck and quoting classical authors on the subject of pig breeding.
There's no words to tell you how much I adore John, he challenges every stereotypes and comes across as a big damn hero anyway. He's a got a little bit of Ned Stark in him - if Ned had been written by Terrt Pratchet and huge nerd fascinated by science and quoting half-remmbered classical authors all the time.
Stylistically, Dragonsbane and its sequels come across as a mixt between George RR Martin and Tanith Lee. Her world is just as dark and harsh as GRRM's, but with a flavour of cruel haunting beauty and poetry, especially in the sequel which introduces demons.
Last book was Michael Swanwick's the Iron Dragon's Daughter. This one was a first read and enchanted me very quickly. Thee world it's set in is utterly delightful : it's fairy's world that's undergone the Industrial Revolution, and not for the best. The back cover descrive it as a Dickensian nightmare and not very wrongly. It's got children working in factories guarded by Time Clock that maks you age a lifetime in a minute once you pass their border, high school's chosen wicker queen who get to enjoy a life full of glamour and fame for one year before being sacrificed horribly to the Goddess, and, of course, dragons which are terrible and mad machines of war that can lay napalm over their ennemies.
In this world, Jane is a changeling human child who manage to escape the factory she was enslaved in by escaping with a broken and rusted dragon. She then tries to make her way into the world which obey strange and cruel laws, and where misery and tragedy seems to beset her despite her effort.
As a heroin Jane is pretty coold. She's stubborn, sarcastic, quite intelligent, and a bit ambitious. She's not overly too good at what she does either, and she fails. And when she fails she fails hard.
Though the world was the main thing I enjoyed, the story itself and its characters are pretty fun as well. The ending was rather weird, but made some sort of trippy sense. I also really liked the writing of the sex scene, not because they were hot, but because they were written in a very fresh and real way. And used "cunt" a lot.
It for now, good night.