Yearly Archives: 2008

His Majesty’s Dragon (Naomi Novik)

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His Majesty’s DragonNaomi Novik I waited a bit too long to write this review to have a completely detailed memory of this book, but maybe I’ll reread it and fill out this brief sketch later. The thing that stands out most about this book is, of course, the style. It’s written with the dialect and rhythms of the period (beginning of the 19th century, the Napoleonic Wars), which is a bit off-putting (unless you read a lot of classical work, I suppose) until you get used to the flow. It’s very convincing, which helps – I can’t remember any anachronistic […]

Companion to Wolves (Monette & Bear)

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Companion to WolvesSarah Monette &Elizabeth Bear I wasn’t sure what to make of this book till the very end. I began with the awareness of the underpinnings of social commentary, having read various discussions online about the idea of Isolfr taking on a woman’s role, and thus emphasizing the artificiality of gender constructs. However, as I went through the actual journey of the book, that point never really came to the forefront for me. I enjoyed the fluid writing style, and was fascinated at the eleventh-hour involvement of the svartalf… it was a strange, sparkly sort of thing to find […]

Storm Front (Jim Butcher)

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Storm FrontJim Butcher Storm Front is the first book of the Dresden Files, about which I’d heard a lot of good things in the corridors of the internet. Urban fantasy has been my genre of choice since I first discovered it, but the books that I’ve read in the same vein as the Dresden Files normally have female main characters. (And female authors, of course, but that’s a much more convoluted issue.) The differences, under Harry Dresden, are a surprising pleasure. With a female main character, there’s always this sort of desperate drive to prove herself, a ramrod tension where […]

Thoughts (Tea-Time & American Gods)

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I was just thinking about buying a copy of Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Douglas Adams) and remembering how it kept jumping to my mind when I read American Gods (Neil Gaiman, review below). Because, honestly? Very different styles, but the plots hit every key note in perfect harmony. Metaphors aside, the real reason why the core of American Gods didn’t surprise me — I’d already seen it. Instinctively, I knew Wednesday was Odin, even before I consciously realized the Wodin’s Day connection… because it was deja vu from Tea-Time. It was like the time I was reading this […]

Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)

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Anansi BoysNeil Gaiman I tend to read in author streaks, as you may have noticed. This one I liked a lot better than American Gods, which it follows. The evolution of tension between the two brothers to alliance against the outside danger is artfully constructed. Of course, you immediately suspect Tiger is the ultimate enemy, because throughout the storytelling interludes, Anansi and Tiger’s rivalry is repeated in many different forms, like a recurring theme in a piece of music. Those interludes were my favorite part of the book, because it was like Anansi himself was speaking to us, telling the […]

Iron Kissed (Patricia Briggs)

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Iron KissedPatricia Briggs You never really attach to characters until they’re broken. Sure, you may admire them, think they’re interesting, or funny — but the moment of truth doesn’t come until they’re pushed past their yield point, squeezed until they shatter. The yield point, in material science, is the point when the plastic deformation is to some extent non-reversible. Repairs, of course, will straighten out your twisted psyche, but some of the damage will be permanent. And watching characters fighting to pull themselves together, to cobble their pieces into a functioning framework? That’s the most gut-wrenching, truthful experience you will […]