Books :)
I have been reading a lot lately - starting from a couple of days before our trip to Yamagata. I've mentioned a couple of books but not in detail, so I thought I'd put down my thoughts.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaimen is the author of American Gods, and I enjoyed that, so I had this one on my 'to buy' list at Amazon. There are several versions of this story. According to the preface, it was originally written for a BBC series which of course ended up taking out some parts of the story that the author really liked. In order to deal with the discomfort of that, he wrote the novel version parallel to the series, including all the parts that the series was unable to include. But then editors also suggested some parts be deleted, and again he was dissatisfied with the result... finally, on the third or forth publication, he released this particular publication that all the scenes that he had wanted in the story.
Having read that at the start of the book, I felt sympathy/empathy for the author as I read the story, which I think helped me enjoy it more than I would have.
The story itself is set in London, where a young man is sucked into a fantastic parallel world when he helps a girl of that world get a way from assassins who had killed her family and were now trying to kill her. The only way he may possibly go back to his world is to assist the girl in finding the person and reason behind the murders. As in many fantasy novels, there is a boy, a girl, and a quest. Gaiman himself said he wanted to create a novel in the style of LoR or Narnia, so in that sense, it is predictable. However, the fantasy world is very unique - strange, wondrous and horrific. And the read was extremely satisfying. It is totally different from American Gods, but I'd still recommend it.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
I just got this book yesterday, and sped through it last night and this morning. I think if I had been in a better frame of mind, I would have read it more carefully and enjoyed all the explanations and descriptions. As it was, I did skip a few passages/paragraphs to get to the main action. This book was closer to American Gods, in that it was about a god, Anansi - or rather 'his boys'. The story starts with Charles Nancy losing his father. Charles and his father did not have the best of relationships. It seems Charles was quite traumatized as a child by his father's seemingly merciless teasing and was terribly embarrassed by him. Charles himself is a beautiful singer but is so scared of what others might think that he cannot sing in front of anyone. He works hard and well but can never seem to hold a job. But after going to his father's funeral, several old ladies that knew his father well divulge some secrets that change his life forever. I guess you could say the story is a quest in which Charles finds his true self and happiness. What does that have to do with Anansi or 'his boys'? You'll have to read it and see.
I think anyone who enjoyed American Gods would enjoy this book just as much and in the same way.
The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning
Darkfever
Bloodfever
Faefever
Dreamfever
Shadowfever
Iced
Burned
Feverborn
This is a crazy set of books. I was actually introduced to it by sireesanwar, who wrote a review on it on LJ. The series itself focuses a lot on various addictions, which is I assume why they have titles using the word Fever, but boy did I get addicted to it! After reading the first in the series, Darkfever, I had to order all the rest of the series and could not put them down they were so engaging. I actually haven't finished the series - Shadowfever will be arriving sometime in the next week or two and, as I mentioned to stir_of_echoes, I have been left on the worst cliff hanger EVER. Suspenseful, mysterious, horrific, erotic, emotional.... All the good stuff.
Again the backdrop is on the British Isles - Ireland mainly - but the story starts in the USA, where a 'typical' pretty blond girl, Mac, finds out that her sister who had gone to Trinity College in Ireland, had been murdered. The police can find no leads on her murder and the case is to be closed. Mac decides to go to Ireland to pursue the case herself and find some clues so that the police would reopen the case. There she finds out that she is one of the rare humans who can actually see fae or creatures of the faery realms. A mysterious rich, dark, handsome man helps her come to terms with the truth in exchange for her help in finding a dark book of the fae that pretty much everyone is looking for in order to control the world(s) and gain power. Suspense and mystery abound in the question of who can Mac trust? Who is good? Who is bad? Who are Mac and her sister really? Who killed her sister, and why? The plot is laced with Mac's mourning for her sister, her wish for revenge, her feelings for the mysterious guy Jericho and again is just full of all sort of emotions.
If you need a series to take you away from RL and sweep you into a fantasy world, I definitely recommend this.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaimen is the author of American Gods, and I enjoyed that, so I had this one on my 'to buy' list at Amazon. There are several versions of this story. According to the preface, it was originally written for a BBC series which of course ended up taking out some parts of the story that the author really liked. In order to deal with the discomfort of that, he wrote the novel version parallel to the series, including all the parts that the series was unable to include. But then editors also suggested some parts be deleted, and again he was dissatisfied with the result... finally, on the third or forth publication, he released this particular publication that all the scenes that he had wanted in the story.
Having read that at the start of the book, I felt sympathy/empathy for the author as I read the story, which I think helped me enjoy it more than I would have.
The story itself is set in London, where a young man is sucked into a fantastic parallel world when he helps a girl of that world get a way from assassins who had killed her family and were now trying to kill her. The only way he may possibly go back to his world is to assist the girl in finding the person and reason behind the murders. As in many fantasy novels, there is a boy, a girl, and a quest. Gaiman himself said he wanted to create a novel in the style of LoR or Narnia, so in that sense, it is predictable. However, the fantasy world is very unique - strange, wondrous and horrific. And the read was extremely satisfying. It is totally different from American Gods, but I'd still recommend it.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
I just got this book yesterday, and sped through it last night and this morning. I think if I had been in a better frame of mind, I would have read it more carefully and enjoyed all the explanations and descriptions. As it was, I did skip a few passages/paragraphs to get to the main action. This book was closer to American Gods, in that it was about a god, Anansi - or rather 'his boys'. The story starts with Charles Nancy losing his father. Charles and his father did not have the best of relationships. It seems Charles was quite traumatized as a child by his father's seemingly merciless teasing and was terribly embarrassed by him. Charles himself is a beautiful singer but is so scared of what others might think that he cannot sing in front of anyone. He works hard and well but can never seem to hold a job. But after going to his father's funeral, several old ladies that knew his father well divulge some secrets that change his life forever. I guess you could say the story is a quest in which Charles finds his true self and happiness. What does that have to do with Anansi or 'his boys'? You'll have to read it and see.
I think anyone who enjoyed American Gods would enjoy this book just as much and in the same way.
The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning
Darkfever
Bloodfever
Faefever
Dreamfever
Shadowfever
Iced
Burned
Feverborn
This is a crazy set of books. I was actually introduced to it by sireesanwar, who wrote a review on it on LJ. The series itself focuses a lot on various addictions, which is I assume why they have titles using the word Fever, but boy did I get addicted to it! After reading the first in the series, Darkfever, I had to order all the rest of the series and could not put them down they were so engaging. I actually haven't finished the series - Shadowfever will be arriving sometime in the next week or two and, as I mentioned to stir_of_echoes, I have been left on the worst cliff hanger EVER. Suspenseful, mysterious, horrific, erotic, emotional.... All the good stuff.
Again the backdrop is on the British Isles - Ireland mainly - but the story starts in the USA, where a 'typical' pretty blond girl, Mac, finds out that her sister who had gone to Trinity College in Ireland, had been murdered. The police can find no leads on her murder and the case is to be closed. Mac decides to go to Ireland to pursue the case herself and find some clues so that the police would reopen the case. There she finds out that she is one of the rare humans who can actually see fae or creatures of the faery realms. A mysterious rich, dark, handsome man helps her come to terms with the truth in exchange for her help in finding a dark book of the fae that pretty much everyone is looking for in order to control the world(s) and gain power. Suspense and mystery abound in the question of who can Mac trust? Who is good? Who is bad? Who are Mac and her sister really? Who killed her sister, and why? The plot is laced with Mac's mourning for her sister, her wish for revenge, her feelings for the mysterious guy Jericho and again is just full of all sort of emotions.
If you need a series to take you away from RL and sweep you into a fantasy world, I definitely recommend this.