More books read so far this year.
Firstly, let's get the Torchwood tie-ins out of the way... (but it was nice of Tesco to do them at such a low price.)
Torchwood: Border Princes by Dan Abnett
Like Peter’s book (reviewed earlier) this is much more the way we wanted Torchwood to be than the way it actually came out on screen. If the characters and relationships are not quite as good as in Another Life they are certainly better than onscreen, and the plot is better than both. In fact, despite the fact that some of it is very, very obvious (I am not giving anything away because within the first few pages we meet a team member we’ve never heard of who, though interesting himself, is treated by the rest of the team as if he has been around for years), it has more ideas than the whole of the first series - what’s more, despite fantasy elements, they make more sense.
There is also some good observational writing.
Slow Decay by Andy Lane
This particular one has an excellent (though unoriginal) line in alien menace. It also plays well on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. I liked the first world war veteran...
Then the rather more literary...
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Am I alone in being disappointed that there are what I would call "science fantasy" elements in this book?
That said, I was impressed by the 20th Century story and its resolution far more than I was by the 19th century magician’s duel. I didn't engage with the 19th century characters, who I rather thought deserved all they got.
And the fantasy...
Solstice Wood by Patricia A McKillip
This is a sort-of sequel to Winter Rose in that it take place in the same location, that some of the characters are descendants of those that appeared there, and that it is about the interaction between the human world and faerie.
The story is told first person through a number of point of view characters, all of which are well drawn and all of whom have their distinctive voices and world views.
Sylvia is living in a big city. She is beautiful, talented, owns and bookshop which is making money (blimey!) and has a wonderful lover. What she is also doing is avoiding going anywhere near her grandmother, who lives somewhere out in the North Eastern backwoods of the USA. However, her grandfather has died, and she has to go. Waiting for her are several kinds of dangerous inheritance, people who love her but want her to conform to their own agendas, and magic…
Like Something Rich and Strange this story takes place in the modern world (something rare in MacKillip), but it is much more involving - possibly because SR&S concentrated on characters who were totally tied up in their own feelings for each other. There is a much wider view here, and the dangers are greater.
There are motifs that MacKillip has used before - noticeably the use of sewing in magic, which formed an important part of Od Magic. There are a number romantic love stories, but they are not really at the heart of the story. What is is the family relationships, and that of faerie - or of anything dangerous and beautiful - to the modern, mundane world.
I enjoyed this one. Not the best MacKillip, but running it close.
And, last but not least, the space opera.
Gridlinked by Neal Asher
A few things surprised me about this first of what might be described as the Ian Cormac vs Dragon books. Firstly, there was the lack of the wild imagination that so characterises his later books. There are no really nasty complex alien beasties, for a start. Another surprise was that the all-important first encounter with Dragon was told in flashback.
Though I enjoyed the book, if I'd come to Asher this early I probably wouldn't have got hooked. He's a writer who is definitely improving with practice. As witness:
The Voyage of the Sable Keech which is flooded out with the characteristic space battles, alien fauna, off-the-wall tech, sneaky AIs, and a feeling of a universe so big and complex, even in human-occupied space, that there's always going to be more surprises than you can cope with around the corner. (No-one expects a ginormous whelk - though they ought to have by the end of the book. She don't give up easy.) Another tightly plotted roller-coaster ride, with mental pictures you could never have thought of yourself...
Torchwood: Border Princes by Dan Abnett
Like Peter’s book (reviewed earlier) this is much more the way we wanted Torchwood to be than the way it actually came out on screen. If the characters and relationships are not quite as good as in Another Life they are certainly better than onscreen, and the plot is better than both. In fact, despite the fact that some of it is very, very obvious (I am not giving anything away because within the first few pages we meet a team member we’ve never heard of who, though interesting himself, is treated by the rest of the team as if he has been around for years), it has more ideas than the whole of the first series - what’s more, despite fantasy elements, they make more sense.
There is also some good observational writing.
Slow Decay by Andy Lane
This particular one has an excellent (though unoriginal) line in alien menace. It also plays well on the relationship between Gwen and Rhys. I liked the first world war veteran...
Then the rather more literary...
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Am I alone in being disappointed that there are what I would call "science fantasy" elements in this book?
That said, I was impressed by the 20th Century story and its resolution far more than I was by the 19th century magician’s duel. I didn't engage with the 19th century characters, who I rather thought deserved all they got.
And the fantasy...
Solstice Wood by Patricia A McKillip
This is a sort-of sequel to Winter Rose in that it take place in the same location, that some of the characters are descendants of those that appeared there, and that it is about the interaction between the human world and faerie.
The story is told first person through a number of point of view characters, all of which are well drawn and all of whom have their distinctive voices and world views.
Sylvia is living in a big city. She is beautiful, talented, owns and bookshop which is making money (blimey!) and has a wonderful lover. What she is also doing is avoiding going anywhere near her grandmother, who lives somewhere out in the North Eastern backwoods of the USA. However, her grandfather has died, and she has to go. Waiting for her are several kinds of dangerous inheritance, people who love her but want her to conform to their own agendas, and magic…
Like Something Rich and Strange this story takes place in the modern world (something rare in MacKillip), but it is much more involving - possibly because SR&S concentrated on characters who were totally tied up in their own feelings for each other. There is a much wider view here, and the dangers are greater.
There are motifs that MacKillip has used before - noticeably the use of sewing in magic, which formed an important part of Od Magic. There are a number romantic love stories, but they are not really at the heart of the story. What is is the family relationships, and that of faerie - or of anything dangerous and beautiful - to the modern, mundane world.
I enjoyed this one. Not the best MacKillip, but running it close.
And, last but not least, the space opera.
Gridlinked by Neal Asher
A few things surprised me about this first of what might be described as the Ian Cormac vs Dragon books. Firstly, there was the lack of the wild imagination that so characterises his later books. There are no really nasty complex alien beasties, for a start. Another surprise was that the all-important first encounter with Dragon was told in flashback.
Though I enjoyed the book, if I'd come to Asher this early I probably wouldn't have got hooked. He's a writer who is definitely improving with practice. As witness:
The Voyage of the Sable Keech which is flooded out with the characteristic space battles, alien fauna, off-the-wall tech, sneaky AIs, and a feeling of a universe so big and complex, even in human-occupied space, that there's always going to be more surprises than you can cope with around the corner. (No-one expects a ginormous whelk - though they ought to have by the end of the book. She don't give up easy.) Another tightly plotted roller-coaster ride, with mental pictures you could never have thought of yourself...