The Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld

Good day all,

I know I've had a bit of a long break from posting but let me try and explain what happened. I started reading a book by Stephen King called Gerard's game. It's a pretty cool premise a wife about to have kinky sex with her husband is chained to a bed. But just before she does the deed she wants out so she kicks her husband back which results in him going into cardiac arrest. He dies and she is trapped.


It is a cool premise but I found it a bit slow so I moved on to Leviathan the first book in the Leviathan trilogy.

Leviathan is set in a fascinating and imaginative alternative history around 1914. The events of the three books all revolve around the first world war. The very cool steam punk twist is that the Germans have these giant steam powered walkers and some are truly enormous as big as battle ships walking on legs and towering over forests as well as Zeppelins and what have you.

Now the other side the allies Russia, Britain and France are all Darwinists. Indeed there are alot of in jokes between the clankers and Darwinists about who went the better technological route. So what is a Darwinist well basically they have genetically engineered animals into weapons of war.

The leviathan to give you a good idea is actually a giant whale floating through the air. In fact it's not just a whale it's an echo system that flies with hydrogen produced in its belly by other creatures living inside it including strange balloon like jelly fish fabrications. They also have hyrdrogen sniffer dogs to spot leaks and motivator engines to steer the giant beast.

As you can already tell this is a very imaginative world. This is my first steam punk novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now I'll get to the two main characters because really this is the best part of these amazing books. First we have Alec, he's the son of the assassinated arch duke of the Austrian Hungarian empire, as such he is hunted down by his fellow clankers as he could be the next heir to the throne and could help end the war his great uncle incited.

Then there is Deryn a Scottish girl dressed as a boy so that she can. Exile a pilot. On her first test she inadvertently gets dragged trough the air towards the leviathan which she then becomes a midshipmen on from that point forward and manages to forge a new identity as Dylan Sharp.

I think the best moments in the trilogy is by far when the lives f these two characters intersect. In each novel there are points where they are together and then apart. The book ialternates between both Alec and deryns perspective.

I'm not one for spoilers but I will say how they first meet. The leviathan after an epic air battle against a fleet of German Zeppelins crashes in Switzerland right near where prince Alec is hiding. He goes to help and finds Deryn in the snow and she has her crew take him captive when she realizes he is Austrian (and a bit posh to boot).

I honestly think even though the plot centers around critical battles and moments in which the actions of these characters shape the outcome of the war, the story is also very much at its heart a romance.

It is a slow boil at first but it's really gripping and doesn't fall into the trap of so many romances of putting stupid obstacles in the way. All I'll say is the romance alone was enough to keep me turning the pages.

Even if the fights and action which there is tonnes of aren't enough to get you to read it, I really enjoyed Alec and Dylan as characters. I also feel for te most part the plot moved along quickly and didn't seem to plod. The most plodding section of the trilogy is unfortunately about midway through the last book, but it does pick up momentum and leads to a very captivating climax.

That's also another thing to appreciate about the series. Each book has its own plot and it's own climax and own wrap up. The only thing really not resolved is the romance and perhaps the larger scale of the war, but these aren't those annoying books who takes 3 novels to get to the epic battle or fight.

This is a real page turning and fast paced series and it's also relatively short. Another Hilight for me are the illustrations that helped me see exacty how Scott Westerfeld imagined the leviathan and his other animals and machines of war, including giant sea monsters, giant lightning cannons, hull tall hulking monstrous Russian beers. The list goes on and sometimes the descriptions were not enough for me, but the illustrations really bring all those concrete details to life.

This really is a good series. I've probably said enough for now but check them out.

Leviathan
Behemoth
Goliath

For me possibly the best reads of 2011.

Well that's it from me for a while I'll post again soon when I return to Sydney. Well to all those eyes scanning this page in cyberspace happy reading!

The John Cleaver sequels: Mr Monster and I Don't want to Kill You by Dan Wells

I just finished I Dont want to kill you and I may in fact kill Mr Wells for not having written book four yet. On the surface John cleaver Dan Wells protagonist lives in a very ordinary life of a teen in small town America.

Then of course there's the fact that being inside Johns head is anything but ordinary. He doesn't love girls...he loves to thought of mutilating and trapping them. He's a sociopath deaf and simple.

I already wrote a review for his first John cleaver novel a while back and now I've polished off the next two. And to quote Dan himself I do believe they are getting better. As with the first book John directs his serial killing tendencies into finding and catching demons.

In Mr Monster he struggles to do all the normal things including date a girl he's had eyes for since book 1. He continues to work with his mother, Margaret her twin sister in the mortuary and. Regina working closely with an FBI agent foreman to catch the next killer.

Also and sorry for spoilers but johns relationship with his mother hits new interesting places now that his mother and he are the only ones who know about the demon he killed in part 1.

I admire that so much of these books revolves around johns family perhaps Mr Monster moreso. We also get to understand the strained relationship between Lauren Johns sister an his mother when she brings a real pain in the ass home for dinner.

The end of this novel takes an intriguing twist and Dan wells purposes the climax of book 1 I reckon. I won't spoil it but the demon in this book is very different to the guy in book one.

Now I Don't Want to Kill You. I can't reveal too much but suffice to say all your favourite characters are back. We get to learn more about Brooke and this is a bit of a spoiler alot of this book tracks a romance between John and Marci the popular girl at school.

I think the fascinating thing about John is sure he may be a sociopath, but he never accepts that part of him. In a way he has higher principles and is far more courageous than anyone else. By book 3 he has very proudly taken upon the role of demon hunter.

So what more can I say read these books. On the surface a fascinating story that goes inside a dark and unfamiliar mind. We grapple with questions of morality and often love and what the hell is it especially web your John Cleaver and you just don't feel.

Still by the end of book 3 that idea of John is completely abandoned...anyway no more spoilers. I wish there was a book four they are easy to read books and relatively short so really there's no reason no to give the John Cleaver series a try. You will not be disappointed.

Anyway happy reading everyone and merry christmas!

Eden by Keary Taylor

Hi guys, it's taken me awhile to get around to writing this review (I'm sorry! Life's far busier than is fair sometimes), but now that I've started, I'm really excited to get to finally talk about this novel. The novel I'm talking about is Eden by Keary Taylor. It's one of the millions of young adult dystopian novels that seem to be swarming the shelves lately, but what caught my eye was the cover - and that is ironic given that it was the Kindle version which I guiltily purchased and read on my i-phone. I feel like I'm betraying my printed companions that have guided me through the ups and downs of Sookie Stackhouse's twisted world, introduced me to the Shifter's series, and left me with an obsessive compulsion to read anything written by Sherrilyn Kenyon. But it was just so damn awesome to have a 400+ page book in my Iphone and not taking up precious space in my already overcrowded handbag. So Eden was ahead of the game five seconds after I purchased it.

And when I started reading it, it got even further. The novel is set in a dystopian future where humanity has become the hunted. Technological advancements that once saved lives have become a virus that literally consumes humans, turning them into cybernetic soldiers that have only one purpose - to spread the infection until there are no humans left to assimilate. Eve is a surivor in this devastated world, her memory of the world before the virus nothing but fractured images without sense. Nowhere is truly safe anymore, but hope is pervasive and the establishment of Eden, a nomadic self-sufficient village is the place that Eve and the other survivors call home. West, a secretive new recruit to Eden, and Avian, the man who's been by her side longer than she remembers, cause Eve to question everything about herself and her forgotten origins. In a world where staying alive is a minute-by-minute battle, Eve struggles to understand the place of love within it and the very definition of what it is to be human. And in the end, its her humanity that will keep Eden a reality and reveal the answer her confused heart is looking for.

Now, I really enjoyed this book - it's concept is something that I can see being scarily possible in our time - or maybe our kids' times, but still. It reminds me of a movie I saw called Repo-Men where Jude Law (looking reasonably cute) is a man employed to repossess manufactured organs when their owner can no longer afford the payments on them (actually, I think I might have to watch it again - Blockbuster time). Anyway, back on track, its a freakily possible concept that still makes me look at my i-phone a little suspiciously sometimes.

The internal monologue of Eve and the interactions between the characters improves on the concept even more so. Eve is a fantastic character and identifying with her is easily done, and when Avian and West form a neat little love triangle, its hard not to be a little jealous of the girl. The differences between Avian and West's characters was really dramatic to me, and something I thought the author demonstrated really well was the way love could be unpredictable and you could love different things about different people.

While I love the tug-of-war that goes on in this love triangle, I find some of the reasoning for Eve's anti-Avian logic a bit dated. Mainly the age-gap concept, I mean, in an essentially post-apocalyptic world, does the age difference between an 18 year old and a 25 year old really such a big deal? But then maybe its a personal preference thing, I don't know. It still bugs me though.

The same as the scarily soap-operatic scare of one of them potentially being a relative - I won't tell who - but it just seemed like an unneccessary complication of an already interesting storyline. And honestly, after all the effort that the author went to in building up the sexual tension and conflict between Eve, Avian and West, it felt like a waste of energy in relating to the characters only to pose the possibility of familial relations and the far-too-easy dissolution of one of the key players in the triangle. I mean, it would be like Bella Swan finding out that Jacob wasn't an option because her mother Renee decided to give someone in the wolf-pack half-a-chance - it'd just ruin the whole thing!

Fortunately the author doesn't destroy the fascinating love triangle through something so shoddy, and instead she brings Eve to a place where what she wants and what she needs are so blatantly obvious to her (and no one else) - until, with an earth-shattering kiss, we, the audience, get the answer we didn't know we wanted. And better yet, the author doesn't close the book on a death or a happily-ever-after, instead she leaves us with a satisfying ending that provides a wealth of opportunities (also known as 'potential for sequels') while also making Eden a pretty darn good stand-alone read.

All in all, I loved Eden. It took a complicated dystopian world and turned it into a simple examination of what it is to be human and why it matters so much. It is well-worth the reading, providing hours of escapism into a world defined by humanity and its determination to survive without compromise; and perhaps more importantly, into a young woman's discovery of love and life and the confusion that unavoidably comes with it.

Definitely worth the click the next time you're browsing the "shelves" of eBooks if you ask me. Next up for me, Branded by none other than ... Keary Taylor - it's a look at the angels and demons dynamic that has me far too eager to fall into its pages. Until next time ...

I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

Hi all,

I actually finished reading this a while back. Sometimes it's nice to read something a little bit shorter and Dan Wells has done a good job of creating a page turning thriller but also a fasinating character study. The tale begins in a morgue, where the very twisted sociopath John Cleaver is helping his mother and twin sister (both morticians) clean up a dead body. This is something John Cleaver enjoys as well as an unhealthy obsession with serial killers.

The interesting thing though is that John Cleaver has a very strong desire to be normal and keep the monster inside him at bay. In fact as he talks to his psychologist we learn he has certain rules for himself to stop the inevitable occuring. I find this a very endearing quality about John Cleaver. He is the perfect example of free will over determinism. He is forcing himself to rebel against his own nature every day. As such for a teen he comes across rather mature and much older.

As the say though one cool idea is not enough to make a book. So once we get our bearings on John Cleaver and his twisted existence, although what I like so much about him is how relatable he is. So through his workings in the mortuary it becomes clear there's a serial killer in the local town and John Cleaver is the first to noitce it due to his obsession with serial killer lore. This bugs his mother enough when he says it out loud that she banishes him from the mortuary.

So John Cleaver begins a quest as more bodies pile up to unearth who the killer is. When you think though you have your bearings on this book it suddenly surprises you. I do admit the back cover gives this away and there are sentences dotted through the first 100 pages or so which blatantly spell it out, but I didn't buy until I got to the first major turning point in the story. All who want to avoid any spoilers read no further, although I'm pretty sure the book is advertised with this spoiler included.

Because the story takes a fantastical turn. It turns out the killer is not in fact human at all, but a demon. Why does he kill? How to kill him? These are all things John Cleaver must work out and in my opinion this was a great idea to include this fantasy element into Cleaver's suburban world. Although I know that this may simply turn other people off, but I suppose with Dexter running a similiar concept the demon killer angle is a way of distinguishing himself, but in all honesty I think what distinguishes this novel from Dexter, is this is a guy who is facing a critical choice. Who do I want to be?

I think that's what makes this so interesting and of course it's always interesting watching a sociopath who doesn't really want to connect with people, connect with people. He has an odd romantic feelings...I say odd, because really his romantic feelings come packaged with feelings of wanting to torture and bleed this girl. To Cleaver that is emotional intensity and yet somehow we feel for this guy. Why because he knows how messed up he is basically...and his relationship with his mother is pretty interesting too. He has an annoying best friend, but his closest relationship is probably with his psychologist who Cleaver can be most honest with.

It's odd for me to go into so much detail about the book itself, but this is a good read. I enjoyed it so much I reached a point where I literally had to see how it ended. So it's a good thriller and I think what I like about it is it's really different. I know Dexter is out there and stuff like that, but I think this is a good place to start. It's about a teen and it's a quick easy and delightful read. Although admittedly it's quite dark so don't let the age of the characters fool you, this is no kids book, but it is a very interesting twist on a typical crime novel, although I suppose technically Dan Wells describes his writing as horror. So let's call it that.

I'm currently working on the Leviathan Trilogy I had planned on writing a review for Leviathan, the first book in Scott Westerfield's very awesome trilogy, but I think I'll write one for the trilogy as a whole, because what is great about it, is unlike even the Hunger Games I feel as though each book is absolutely essential and it really is just one story broken up into three parts. Don't get me wrong I loved the Hunger Games, but by the end of Leviathan nothing is really resolved we've basically just had our first act, whereas the Hunger Games is written so you have an ending at the end of book 1 and then it does that thing becoming increasingly more common where the next two books are basically Part 1 and Part 2. So in that sense I'll call it a proper trilogy.

Anyway it's really good and I'm loving it so I must get back to the second book Behemoth. So until next time happy reading everyone! There are so many great books out there, so I highly recommend having a good browse over the internet and finding something you may not have tried otherwise. It's a great time to be a reader, particularly a fantasy reader I reckon.

Lucky Child by Loung Ung

It's been a while since I listened to First they killed My Father. It was an amazing story I just happened to fluke upon it all began by wanting to know more about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. Then I found Loung Ung's book and thought what better way to understand what actually happened. It's a pretty tragic story and if you want to hear my thoughts on it then check out my earlier review and also while I'm netioning that anyone interested in knowing more about her books or her own life check out her site, trust me you won't regret it and it'll probably take five minutes of your time.

Also just as a way of a brief overview the Khmer Rouge invaded Phenom Penh Cambodia's capital in 1975. They then sent all Cambodians into the Country side and established a communist dictatorship with a guy named Pol Pot at its head. Everyone was forced to work as peasants growing rice under the constant watch of Khmer soldeirs. To maintain power they slaughtered any intellectuals, including engineers, teachers, doctors and anyone in the previous government. About a third of the population of Cambodia was killed during the regime, which lasted only 4 years until Vietnam crossed Cambodia's border and invaded driving Pol Pot's forces back. Anyway, anyone who is at the moment unaware of these tragic events, do yourself a favour and try to learn a bit more.

Okay now on to Lucky Child basically this book tells the story of the aftermath of the Pol Pot regime. In the end of Loung Ung's first memoir, she was on her way to the USA with her elderst brother Meng and his wife Eang. Her sister Chou and brothers Khouy and Kim were left back in Cambodia with her Aunt and Uncle. So this is the story of everything that happened between Choi and Loung's separation and their reunion fifteen years later in 1995. So it tells both Chou's story and Loungs.

I have to mention here that what Loung does really well is write. Not only is her content very moving, but I enjoy her descriptions particularly when she first arrives in America and describes everyone by what animal they are. It's a perfect way to describe that sense of how alien the new world is of course what I find funny and what I'm arleady privy too is there's a bit near the start where an American is showing them how to use basic household appliances. It's funny that they assume they never had Televisions or any luxuries in Cambodia. It's interesting of course that this isn't the case at all, having read the life Loung lived in Phom Penh before the Khmer Rouge.

On the other side of the world Chou is having a pretty hard life, but has her family. I think what Loung captures in the chapters about her sister, is the clear and present danger. There are many incidents where Chou and her family are forced to hide and directly confront Khmer Rouge soldiers prowling through their neighbourhoods.

There's also the subplot about Loung wanted to forget her family and struggling to move past the pain. She wants to be all American and forget where she came from. I find that Loung really captures the past the way it invades her life. There's a particularly eerie moment by the pool at a party she goes to as a girl. A boy falls under the water for a moment and life guards and mothers are on alert. They fish him out after he's been submerged for a few moments. All Loung can think is how angry she is. She's angry at how lucky that boy is and how none of them understand the pain. She says later on in the book that violence is something that comes naturally to her and needs to be controlled.

I think perhaps that's what's so powerful about Loung's writing it is so brutally honest. It doesn't skim over anything. It's amazing to even have someone brave enough to write about the torments they endured, but to admit to the ugliest thoughts going through their head is something particularly moving.

As with her other book though I think what I love is the strength of the Ung family. At the end of the novel when Loung and her sister reunite, I did cry and I had the biggest smile on my face. It was really touching, because to them family is everything. In a way I think we all underestimate the importance of family so I think it's important to have books and writers, even just writing about that for a change.

I can't recommend Loung Ung's books enough. I think a third one is coming out next year. So I'll be back for more when I see that out on the shelfs, but honestly I cannot recommend this enough. This is a great piece of writing and an amazing story about truly courageous people. At the same time it's also a touching story about the very simple pleasures and agonies of family life.

Happy reading everyone! Next I've got a shorty but hopefully a goody. It has a spiffy title, but let's see what the books like. Stay tuned for next time for I'm Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells.

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

I was meaning to write this discussion (or review) sooner. It's funny I heard something some guy called Jack Heath said at the Speculative Fiction Festival recently and he said he hadn't been reading any female writer and so has made a vow for this whole year to read only female writers.

Anyway, why do I mention that? I don't know, I'm not going to get into gender stereotyping in terms of the very heartfelt and touching Speed of Dark I just wanted to point out that inadverdently this blog has an uneven distribution of male to female authors funnily enough, even though as history continues to tell us there are probably twice as many or just as many excellent female writers. So here I am to look at what I consider to be another of them.

The book is essentially set in the near future. It's a future pretty much the same as our current reality, with one key difference. Scientists have found a way to stop autisim in newborns. However, people like Lou, who are autistic and well into life there's no such miracle cure...until now. When a new boss called Crenshaw is employed to the company Lou and a team of his autistic friends work for, Crenshaw is convinced that the best way to save the bottom line is by shutting the autistic section down. Of course this is far from the truth, however, as he is however briefly in free reign of the direction of the company, he basically decides to have all the autistic persons undergo assessment and testing for a new type of therapy that could cure them of autism.

So this is the premise of the book, but it is so much more. The key to the success of this book is the beautiful way Elizabeth Moon portrays the protagonist Lou. In some ways Lou behaves very child-like at least in the way he speaks and analyses the world and I found this instantly endearing. My chest is tightening just thinking about the way he fumbles over his romantic feelings for one of the other characters in the book known as Majory. To me and as you've guessed I'm a bit of a sucker for romance, that is probably one of the highlights.

Basically the book follows Lou's day to day life, as he competes in fencing competitions, talks with friends, learns what it is like to love and tries to negotiate the ever painful and intimidating Crenshaw. There's also a subplot where poor old Lou is the subject of vandalism that escalates.

Ultimately, though it's a novel as much about Lou as it is about the different ways the world understands someone different. There's Crenshaw who hates Lou because he seems just as capable as him, but due to some stroke of fate he gets all these extra privileges. There are those who treat Lou like a child and then there are his friends who understand him and the way he is. Then there's his fencing buddies. Man it's an amazing book and it really appeals to anyone, because who hasn't in their lives wanted to be normal.

Another thing I think I havent' full credited is how well Elizabeth Moon maintains Lou's very unique lens on the world. Definately check out her sight it's obvious from reading her novel that she understands austism intimately, here's the link.

Next up I'm looking at the Sequel to First they Killed My Father by Loung Ung. It's an interesting read and will provide another interlude from all these male authors.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Hey all,

so it's official this is the first sequel reviewed on the Cyber Book Club. What can I say about the Magician King, well once again we're back in Quintin's shoes. This time he's the king of Fillory and decides to go on a quest, which grows into a quest to restore the world's magic.

But let me just stop there because as I was discussing this book to my friend tonight, this book has all the trappings of a Narnia story or dare I say a childish quest tale. The characters move from one location to the next, but Grossman is a man who writes fantasy but one who isn't really interested in exploring the glitz and glamour of it. No Grossman very brutally exposes the grime and that there are no "true fairy" stories. Time and time again in the Magicians Quintin was reminded that magic would not magically solve his own inner issues, so too in the Magician King do we see a similiar arc happening with the character Julia.

Only let me be honest, it is perhaps one of the most depressing stories I have read. The bits with Quintin are a bit lighter, but the Julia sections are dark and bleak. This is literally a person who cannot and will not fit in and as his characters often do, well his Main one's at least Julia like Quintin in the Magicians finds ways to make herself miserable and she will not give up her quest to be a magician, which turns to an obsession. She unlike QUintin did not make it in through official channels. So she truly had to struggle for magic and gave up literally everything else and as for the climax of Julia's story...I'll just say it's pretty horrific what happens.

Now Quintin. It's interesting to see how far Quintin has come. He's no longer the whiney person he was in book one. He still seems dis-satisfied, but by the end of this novel I think he has come to a place where he doesn't believe in the conceit of the fairy story. And honestly I think this is the whole point perhaps Fillory is just a metaphor sometimes the things that happen appear so random and revolve so closely around Quintin (we're talking cosmic events here) it makes it feel as though Fillory is his world. His quest is yet another reflection of his failures as a person that he is constantly seeking that thrill, seeking in a way to escape from reality.

There are a few moments. Nice moments actually where Quintin reflects that he may not have given the real world  enough credit. It's hard to describe the Magician King in terms of plot, because for me the plot isn't very meaningful sure, alot of cool things happen. But alot of the things that happen seem very random and coincidental and so to me what Grossman here has achieved is to create a very powerful exploration of two psychologically disturbed characters and wrapped it up in the trappings of a fantasy quest story. The thing that always intrigues me about Grossman's style is his characters and his world pokes fun at itself and is very aware of how much it is ripping off of other authors.

In a way The Magician King deals a lot with the theme of what is real, but on a deeper level it might be seen as a criticism of stories like Narnia, because even though this has all the trappings of Narnia. Instead of that blinding conviction in the reality of the world you get from CS Lewis. In Grossman's writing as in the narrative voice of Quintin there is nothing but disdain and cynicism that Fillory is in fact a real place and that the fact he needs to find seven magical keys does in fact make any sense whatsoever.

I really enjoyed The Magician King. It seems quite a simple world on the surface, but as I perhaps elaborated in the Magicians review there is something Grossman does that is so dark, twisted and above all really tugs at your heart strings. God does he pull at those emotions. I highly recommend The Magician King and I'm hoping that...sooner rather than later there will be another Magician book of his, because as miserable as Quintin is I have to admit I kinda like the guy.

Anyway happy reading everyone! Next time I'll be looking at a very different but also very emotional novel "The Speed of Dark" By Elizabeth Moon and I'm really loving it.

Perdido Street Station by China Meiville

Hey readers,

I thought I'd try something different for this post, cos chances are there's a bazillion reviews already talking about China's amazing imagination and vivid world. So I thought I'd do one better and list all the nifty things about the amazing world he's created in Bas-Lag.

Khepri - a race of bug people. The women have scarab heads and human bodies while the males are just big bugs. Procreation is done via the head. The bug race also make sculpture from chewed up and spat out material from their bug heads. The book also feature a human and Khepri romance.

Cacatae - a race of cactus humanoids. They have developed particularly gruesome weapons to chew threw their plant hides (yes there's even a scene where a child gets stabbed by the spikey spine of its mother)
Vodyanoi - Amphibians creatures that can magically shape water by using their watercraft, one of the Vodyanoi in the book also has a water elemental strapped across them to keep them hydrated.

Garuda - Proud bird creatures that live across the desert in a place called Cymek. One of the main characters in the story is a Garuda guilty of the races only crime choice theft (read to find out what that is) and he comes looking to fly again.

Re-Made - The official version is done to punish people guilty of crimes. Basically a person's body is remade in grotesque ways attaching parts from other creatures and often the way a person is "re-made" is a reflection of their punishment. There is organic remades, but some are mostly machine. In the underworld, remaking is a means to develop a good ol private army. There is one particular character who has taken remaking to the extreme and is very literally almost a piece of every creature you can think of. Why and how?  (read, but I won't promise you'll find anything else).

AI Constructs - This comes in later, but through a out of control computer Virus the little helper robots of the city develop a sort of conbsciousness born of calculations and mathetmatical formulae.

 Weavers - Now this is a truly aweinspiring creature. It's an interdimensional spider that speaks in verse and moves between dimensions as easily as walking down the street. It also tends to the world web you might say it weaves it.

There's also very cool technology and energies. Thaumaturgy I haven't quite worked out what it is, but there's lots of different types. To me it's almost magic really. Then there's Crisis Energy that comes from objects in crisis. And a really cool kind of energy called Torque. One bit of the book we're treated to Bas-Lag's version of nuclear fallout where a Torque bomb was left off. No one knows what it does, but when you emerge your body may have strangly transformed or you may be vaporised. It's very cool like a cloud of random magical energy.


And I haven't even mentioned the evil demons the protagonists unleash and have to track down. I won't spoil the story but do you want to read it are you curious? The story itself is easy enough to follow, but China Meiville breathes such freshness into a world populated with such alien creatures. And these creatures think like what they are, the Khepri are bugs and think like bugs. What can I say.

So what about the story? Well it's actually really engaging and nothing that's set up is a red herring or lose end. The main plot takes a while to get to, but on the way you get to meet these really interesting characters and ultimately what is a very interesting adventure story is not lost in this amazing world. So what should you all be doing, reading Perido Street Station that's what!

I think you'll be seeing some more China Meiville on this blog, just a feeling. Anyway, up next we have my first sequel on this blog. The Magican King, which is the recently released sequel to Les Grossman's The Magicians. I enjoyed the first book so I'm really looking forward to getting into the next one.

Anyway happy reading everyone!!!! and read Meiville even if you hate it (cos I imagine fiction like this can only be loved or hated) you'll walk away with some fascinating experiences and stories (trust me).

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Good day all,

Nah I know what your thinking, but I'm not that faster reader. Basically reading for me is 2hrs a day, 1 HR to work and the hour back. But I actually digested Ender's Game as an audio book.

I admit I've only listened to a couple, but I think this made the best use of the medium and coincidentally Mr Scott Card himself says it is his ideal medium. Their were multiple voice actors which I think helped give the different narrative perspectives in the book a nice tone.

Now usually you I don't even think of this when reading but this has so much dialogue and honestly i loved it. I love the long passages between each character.

Okay I've digressed enough now to the story haha. In a nutshell Ender or Andrew Wiggin is a child in the future and at the ripe age of six the International Fleet (IF) recruit him to lead the defense of Earth against the alien buggers.

Ender though is no ordinary six year old in case your wondering. Most of the book focus's on the brutal training regime and the military's attempts to continuously break and re-break Ender. I wont go into the details but it's a dark
Story definately not for kids.

Ended endures hell and like any kid just wants go home, but he changes and it's both sad and fascinating watch him develop and do things he never wanted or expected he could at the beginning.

The thing though that really got to me though was Ender's relationship with his sister Valentine. In the beginning Valentine protects Ender her younger brother from her cruel eldest brother Peter. Watching how the relationship changes as years go by growing up without eachother is really tragic. They both love each other more than anyone in the world and so the separation is even more punishing. I felt sorry for Ender as Valentine continues to move on with her life and dare I say at times seems to forget Ender. Ender never stops. Some of the best moments in the book for me were the times Valentine and Ender meet. Really it's a love story but not in the way we imagine love is and i think these sorts of relationships should be explored more often personally !

I won't give anymore away except info want to say a little about Colonel Graff. He I would say is the closest thing to a villain in this story. He is ruthless and is the one behind tormenting Ender into the perfect tool for the military. What makes him terrifying is that despite his affection for Ender he let's nothing get in the way of what he sees as his job and he always presents as cool and calm. Laughing off the suggestions of others that he is pushing Ender too hard. From the beginning he and Ender have a very unique relationship.

I remember vividly the first conversation as Graff is about to lead Ender away from his family. He tells him how he is a burden to his parents and even though they love him they will be glad to see him go. He also explains that in time they will forget one another. They will soon be perfect strangers. I found it chilling that he was telling a child all this, but it says everything about what the relationship is between them.

What can I say I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. In substance it is Enders story the stuff about the bugger to me is filler. It poses an interesting ethical question too I think.

Well that is Ender's Game an amazing science fiction book. I hear there's a whole Ender saga. I know I hate series but maybe in this case I'll make an exception.

So happy reading every body. Next Perido Street Station!

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Good day all,

I apologise for the delay between this post and the last but rest assured I have some nifty books coming your way. Not least of which is this gem, Dan Simmons The Terror, again I can't recommend the top 25 best stand alone fantasy book list enough. So if you have seen this page and want to find some more books The Terror is just one of many on this list which I'll be honest are full of gems.

Okay so what's this book about, well let me put it this way. This is an interesting fusion of horror, alternate history and fantastico/spiritual elements. This is story tells the tragic tale of the Franklin Polar expedition and how the two ships that were part of its expedition got trapped in the ice. So the tale turns into a struggle for survival, as much as the story is based on historical events Dan Simmons takes liberty with some of the details adding a monster that begins to terrorise the men on the ice. This is a thrilling, gory tale of survival, treachery and courage.

The first thing that will strike you as you begin reading The Terror is the detail. Now I have to take my hat off to Dan SImmons, I like to write myself, but I can't imagine researching as thoroughly the Franklin expedition as he did. Oh and for anyone who's read this, all the main characters in case you didn't know are real people (...maybe though I was the only dumb one...) Francis Crozier, John Franklin and Captain Fitzjames. I'm not sure about Goodsir Blanky, Irving, Shadow, Peglar and Hickey.

We get to appreciate the detail from a lot of angles i.e the ice master Blanky tells us all about the ice. We learn about the ships engines and as other reviewers have put it we become experts in polar exploration. I think what this book does really well is it raises the stakes and it really helps us sympathise with the main characters. While Franklin is a bit of an imbecile the second in command Crozier is portrayed from the beginning as a man with a bad rung of luck and a true underdog. He's had his share of heart break...a nice flashback scene that I have to admit I could relate to and made his arc all the more tragic.

The book ends up exploring a lot of different view points throughout and I'd say its quite an achievement that for the most part Simmons kept me hooked. I only have one issue with this book, but I'll deal with that later and for once...there may be some minor spoilers if you read on.

The fate of the crews of The Terror and the Erebrus the two ships stuck in the ice, get worse and worse. The food is poisoned, there's the constant fear of the men, the harsh cold and the constant threat of mutiny. I have to hand it to Simmons the first chapter starts midway into the story and then it goes back to the beginning from there, but the way he introduces the creature. Crozier leads a group of men down a ladder into the hold. One of his crewmen Manson doesn't want to get a bag of coal from the hold, because he can hear strange rattling noises from a room down below housing the bodies of the already dead. The noises Crozier says are rats, but the second he says it Simmons very clearly states that not for a moment does Crozier believe its rats at all. They enter the hold and they see the monster has somehow tunnelled into the hold.

I had to tell it because it really hooked me. Still it's funny the most terrifying scenes to me didn't necessarily involve the bear at all as always its real human evil that has a more profound effect on me, but for once I would say that this is a book that will give you the creeps if you read it at night and reflecting back on the scenes he paints and the brutality of what happens to so many of your favourite characters this book can be unrelenting and things get to such a low point...all I'll say is that it's a page turner and I don't have a problem with the length.

Okay now the spoiler part. The one thing I didn't really like all that much and had a little trouble following is when we discover what the beast is. I won't give away much else save that the book becomes somewhat mystical and the beast is described as this mythical creature from an eskimo legend. I'd be lying if I thought the last section gelled with the rest of the book, it works...I think I was just waiting for a final face off that never occurred, but really that's my only gripe although I admit it's a long slog to get to a bit of a dissapointing ending.

Still I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy or anyone who enjoys alternate history. I think this is a nice genre bridging book. Next time I'll be talking about Perido Street Station another fascinating fantasy book, which I am pleased to say is probably like nothing I've ever read. Anyway till next time happy reading.

J

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Now this was an interesting read. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what I think of this book, but hopefully by the end of this review you'll all know whether American Gods is for you or not. So first of all let me say is readjust your expectations, this is a fantasy story but in no way is it a fantasy story.

The style of writing reminds me funnily enough alot of Stephen King. It's funny Gaiman choose America as a subject seeing as he's English, but anyway. So yeah he likes to get into the head space of all of his characters and I'd say Shadow reminds me alot of many of Stephen King's heros that sort of quiet dude. You know the one, the observer the guy who somehow gets on with everyone without having to try, the quiet mysterious type, typically a guy who does an honest sort of job, not white collar. Anyway that's what I thought.

But the book itself is in the simplest terms Shadow's story and also the story of the new American Gods versus the Old. The book begins with Shadow released on parole from Prison. He's looking forward to three things we're told and this gives you an idea of Gaiman's style and Shadow. A Bath. Seeing his wife again. And a new job his friend Robbie has set up. Sadly though when they're both killed in a car accident and it seems Shadow has nothing to go back to, along comes Mr Wednesday. And you guessed it, he's a god!

From then on the book continues along. The way to enjoy the book is to not try and flip the pages and get to the climax. This is a slow burner. In many ways it's a road trip. Shadow becomes Wednesday's body guard and they go around trying to persuade other gods to join Wednesday's crusade. So we meet each god in turn and learn a little about them. On the way there are also interludes. Now these take you completely out of the story.
These sections often titled coming to America interupt the main narrative by telling a story of someone immigrating to america, either centuries or thousands of years ago from all over the world. One tells of a woman who came from ireland another a pair of twins from Africa. While I was reading I often wondered, what these bits had to do with the story, I thought these sections weren't really about the gods at all. And they aren't...really.

But I looked on a website after reading and I think this guy (the guy I'm talking about is Dan on the forum, but I think with a book like this it pays to read around and get a few different opinions) knows a good way to look at it, basically in the story the older gods are fighting(supposedly) the new gods. I'll get to the god thing in a minute, but the battle of the gods a reader eloquently suggested can be seen as a metaphor for immigrants coming to America and their cultures and families being Americanised. Essentially the old ways are being shafted.

Anyway the thing I'm most confused about is what the heck is a god? In the book the gods are people that often personify who they are. For example the good of the internet is a dweeby kid, who has all these riches yet maintains his social awkardness. Included among these godly figures is not only ideas and new concepts like the internet or dare I say the TV (in fact there's an interesting scene involving Lucille Ball...), but also heroes, people told in stories. The idea is a god is anything worshipped or believed in. They all basically want the same thing, to be honoured, worshipped remembered. It's interesting seeing gods portrayed as being so human. Still the thing that confuses me is the existence of the gods...they exist like humans have sex with humans marry them...are fathers to them too...and yet they're not a singular thing or person really. There are times in the book where the god characters are more god and others where they are more human. Perhaps I just found this difficult to reconcile.

So for me the weaker bits were the less human bits, the bits where I honestly had no idea what was happening and the bits that no doubt inspired critics to use the term "hallucinogenic" to term it. On the other hand, what I really love about the book is well for one Shadow's journey. I think he gets overshadowed, but there are some pretty powerful moments and I think its quite compelling watching the moments particularly in the second part of the book where he's trying to reconnect.

In fact there's a really long section where Shadow is essentially living in a slow burn town called Lakeside hiding out from the authorities. And even though one might question why it needs to be in this book, I quite enjoyed it. I found the human characters in a lot of ways, a lot more compelling. Of course the gods are too and there are alot of sections with the gods and shadow where there are long strings of dialogue.

There are so many stories within a story here. Each god brings to the table these odd stories, some of them sounding like what you'd expect a god thousands of years ago and others like a particularly memorable scene where Wednesday discusses with Shadow these thrifts (cons) he pulls.

The ending I'll admit did a lot to satisfy me. It is a little of a twist, but I think it wraps up everything very neatly and I found myself really happy with how it all turned out. But I think this book isn't for everyone, for me there were parts of the book that went over my head. It's not an easy read and it's a book you'll find yourself thinking about long afterwards, it's probably something worth re-reading, but above all this is the sort of story where it's best to just leave all preconceptions at the door.

Next time I'll be bringing you something entirely different, Dan Simmons "THE TERROR"! I'm really excited to tuck in, so I'll go back to my book for now and until next time happy reading everyone!

Blurb of the Week: Surface Detail

Welcome to the second to the second installment of these blurbtastic posts. This is an interesting one for me to . About a year ago I wanted to know more fanatasy so naturally I did what I had always done. I headed down to dymocks and had a browse. Now Iain m Banks has some pretty nice covet designs and coupled with my ignorance and tendency to rely on blobs I decided as I saw his long row of scifi books I was determined to buy one and try it. I'd base my choice on the blurb. I bought one and read it and was a bit disappointed so I returned nonetheless and got Surface Detail and below is the blurb that hooked me.

"it begins in the realm of the real where matter still matters

It begins with murder

And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself

Lededje Y'breq is one of the intagilated, her marked body bearing witness to shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release - when it comes - is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.

Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of it's most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.

It started in the realm of the real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether. "

Story

I have to say reading this again reminds me why I bought this book. It does a great job eh? It shares with us that this is a complex story set in an interesting world where dead souls are kept alive in cyberspace and they're warring.

Then this is balanced against Lededje's story. It's a clever way to draw us into a story starting with an enticing hook then getting us to care about the protagonist and giving us some idea of this complex world.

The idea of the culture though vague is intriguing, who are these god like beings and what about that warship.

Target audience

I can't help thinking the people who designed the blurb were thinking of roping in as wide an audience as possible.

You can't deny the blurb makes you believe this will be an epic tale and One following the journey of Lededje who seems to be an example of that rags to riches story. Basically this appealed to me as a non-fantasy reader who loves stories like lord of the rings, but with the added bonus that it has some really cool stuff thrown in. It's in apace and the idea of cyberspace being a realm of dead souls appeals to anyone who loves high concept movies and films.

Style

Again this is painted epic. I think the most honest notes as to what the book is actually like are in the way the culture warship is described as arguably deranged.

The book itself is a lot more quirky than it gives away in the blurb. The style here is epic, but the book especially when it is in the world of the culture is very chaotic and kinda fun.

I have to admit the blurb and book dot marry for two main reasons for me. First Lededje while purportedly portrayed as the main character has very little stake say or even I don't think any understanding of the war being fought. The tragic story of those inthe cyber world fighting a war against the hells (cyber worlds established to be just that hell for any of the souls inside is completely removed). I think the way the blurb indicates the various thread of this book tie together is misleading. The plot is haphazard and the two main threads of the story are pretty disconnected and for me that was what let the book down.

Still it's powerful blurb hooked me in, so just goes to show how important marketing is for any book.

Anyway catch you next week for another weekly book blurb.

First they Killed my Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung

This is a bit of a change of pace (and genre) from what I've posted so far. Recently, I found myself wanting to know a bit more about the hell in Cambodia. This was not only the first book I've read about this, but it's also my first audio book. It's a good medium and I have to hand it to the narrator Tavia Gilbert, she really breathes life to Loung Ung's incredibly provocative story. I think I'll have to write about my impressions of an audio book in another post, because there's a lot I want to say about this.

This is a story first and foremost about a family. Loung Ung is the second youngest daughter in her family when the book opens just before the invasion of the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia's capital Phnom Pen, in 1975. Loung, is only 5 years old, but she's already a precocious and vivacious young girl. It's a touching quality to have in a narrator, knowing the hell she has endured.

Her youngest sister Geck is only 3 at the time. Loung remarks how cute and adorable she is. Then there's Chu, even though Loung is closest to Chu in age and also has the closest relationship with her, the two of them are polar opposites. Chu is calm and avoids conflict, while Loung is always bugging her mother and assaulting her father with questions. There's also Keim her older brother about ten years old at the time. Their mother calls him Monkey, because he's so agile and full of energy.

Then there are Loung's  three older siblings, Cave a very attractive Cambodian teenage girl. Then her two older brothers Meng a quiet reserved boy and Coy who rides in on a bike winning the attentions of many of the local girls in Phnom Pen.

Loung has such a deep love for her father. Each night they stand out on the balcony and she asks him questions about the world. He works for the government and is the first in the family to know what's happening. Then there is Loung's mother, who she has a bit more of a hostile relationship towards, but it is the sort of frustrated love typical between a mother and child.

Why do I bother going over these details? Because to me, this is what we miss in history. Loung Ung tells us all so clearly about her family. They are all so happy. It seems idyllic, to me her family life is the same as mine except she was in Cambodia. As she weaves the story of how the regime of Pol Pot, the Ankar and the Khmer Rouge invade Cambodia and destroy her life and the life of Cambodia's people, we get to know all of these people and perhaps the most tragic thing about all of it is the way everyone in her family changes.

People forget when they are far removed from this sort of chaos, but for Loung Ung, her family will never be the same. I think though what makes this story so compelling is not what happens, I honestly think Loung Ung not only writes from the heart, but is not afraid to relate the darkest aspects of what she witnessed. She relives the memories and all of the pain.

As always I don't really want to throw any spoilers in so I won't reveal too much more. However, I'd like to say one last thing and it may sound preachy, but when I finished listening to this powerful story, I realised how artificial history is. I've read accounts of what happened in Cambodia, but none so detailed and vivid. Our information culture demands that everything be reduced into easily digestable snippets of data. I suppose this is what a history book does as well, condenses the lives of millions into an easily digestable chapter or so,or perhaps a book.

If nothing else, First they Killed My Father is a well-told and well written story about the atrocities of Cambodia. But at it's best it is the story of a family whose love endures despite all the odds. It's telling the information that history prioritises, but I ask you was it the first or second line that made you want to read this book. I won't soon forget about Loung Ung and her family and the sacrifices they endured.

There's a sequel about Loung Ung's subsequent life in America (in fact it has an interesting bit towards the end about her experiences as a "boat person" travelling from Vietnam to Thailand) and her reunion with her sister Chu. Hope I didn't give away too much.

Anyway slight detour, but one I think it was important to make. Next time as promised I'll be back into fantasy and I'll be having a look at Mr Gaiman's American Gods, which is a very different sort of read from the emotional intensity of Loung Ung's first person narrative, but don't get me wrong there is plenty of intensity to be had.

Stay tuned folks! And as always good reading.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Hi all. I'm Stacey and this is my first post for The Cyber Book Club. As a dedicated fantasy reader, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say that the search for a great fantasy novel is a frustratingly rewarding experience. Sometimes I end up stuck in the aisles of a bookstore searching through a tonne of similar looking books with an endless bunch of blurbs to work my way through. Other times, I stumble upon a book that promises the world and actually (Thank God!) manages to deliver it.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks is one of these awesome books. And before I rave about it, I want to warn you that there may be some spoilers so don’t hold it against me, pretty please.

Anyway, The Way of Shadows is Week’s first book and the first of The Night Angel trilogy. It follows a familiar path in the world of fantasy fiction, telling the story of a legendary assassin with magical abilities (or “wet boy”), Durzo Blint, and his apprentice, a common street kid (or “guild rat”), Azoth. Assassins, even magical ones like Blint, are pretty common place in fantasy books, but Week’s gives a depth to the characters that drew me in from the first page. Even in a completely foreign fantasy world, his characters humanity is captured so honestly in their motivations and mistakes, with their redemption as complicated as their survival.

The story chronicles the life of Azoth, a common guild rat, who in desperation, seeks to apprentice with the legendary wet boy, Durzo Blint. The streets are a dangerous place to live, and when Azoth commits to his escape, he finds out that the price of his freedom will be paid for with blood. And not just his own. It’s a lesson that defines him and sets in place a course of events that will ultimately form the man, and the killer, he becomes. Predictably, Azoth wins his place as Blint’s apprentice and escapes the streets, only to find himself dedicated to a new, higher skilled version of danger that plays havoc with both his mind and morals.

Trained by Blint, the identity of Azoth, the desperate guild rat, is forgotten and in his place, a stronger identity emerges, by the name of Kylar Stern. As his skills sharpen and his Talent (magical abilities) grows, Kylar battles with the desire to stay true to himself and his humble beginnings, and to model himself on the enviable strength that his master, Blint, exudes. It’s a fight that wages in the shades of grey that most authors try to resolve, but Week’s lets his characters work through the layers of moral ambiguity without the promise of such a Disney-style happy ending. Which for some people may be frustrating, but I quite liked the honesty of his approach.

Nothing frustrates me more than an obviously fake happy ending, so I was genuinely happy that Weeks didn’t go down that path. In my opinion, there is nothing more important than characters being relatable and real, which Weeks does really well. So well in fact that I actually found myself thinking about Blint and Kylar during a university lecture instead of focusing on the critical aspects of childhood development. Probably a no-no, but that’s one of the reasons I enjoyed this book – the characters just stick with you.

Most of the book focuses on Kylar as he struggles his way through this moral minefield, with Blint providing the cynical, bitter backdrop of a hero turned disillusioned wet boy. It’s a somewhat sweet relationship between the two, with Blint serving as a father figure on some level. Maybe not the most positive father figure though, which is obvious in one of the most striking lines in the novel, for me at least. It’s the mantra that Blint lives by and attempts to ingrain within Kylar:

“Life is empty. Life is meaningless. When we take a life, we aren't taking anything of value. Wetboys are killers. That's all we do. That's all we are. There are no poets in the bitter business”

It’s harsh and it’s depressing, but it’s one combination of words that helps to understand the characters and the inner workings of their minds. While character development is a big part of the novel, the world around Blint and Kylar drives the plot forward as the more fantastical elements come into play. Unknown to Kylar, Blint is not only a legendary assassin but also a Ka’Karifer, the bearer of a magical artifact called a ka’kari, one of only six in existence, which endows the holder with immortality and enhances their Talent. As Kylar taps into his own Talent, he poses the most genuine threat to Blint as he too is a Ka’Karifer. These magical artifacts aren’t alone, with a magically imbued sword playing its part, along with many a mage and meister throwing their powers around as well. All of this is backed up by the world-building that focuses on both their home city of Cenaria, and its wider world, Midcyru.

My only issue with Weeks novel is that for the first twenty five pages, I felt like a little kid that got lost at Disney World – everything was interesting and amazing but I didn’t understand any of it. It’s something he fixes fast and soon enough the references make sense, but I know that that’s a deal-breaker for some people. What kept me going for those twenty five pages was his writing which kept up the promise of something interesting and worthwhile, and lucky for me, it actually delivered.

Ultimately, Weeks uses irony, in its greatest sense, as prophecy, blackmail and circumstance pit master against apprentice when Cenaria is attacked and brought to its knees by a rival kingdom, the Khalidorian empire. It’s a brutal and sudden attack that involves plenty of well-written action scenes and alot of swashbuckling adventure (which is incredibly fun to read) until the last few pages. That’s when Weeks grants us romantics some pleasant, old fashioned declarations of love and worthiness which made me pretty happy I must say. There’s something great about that little dose of happiness that the characters get after all of the darkness of the story leading up to it. It almost made me a little misty eyed.

In the end, some characters live, some characters die, and some characters that die, don’t stay dead for long. And all of it makes me super keen to brave the book store again and find the second of the trilogy, Shadows Edge. Which considering I’m now all out of fantasy to read, may in fact, be an intelligent idea. One thing that I ought to mention, is that The Way of Shadows actually resolves itself pretty well - so well, that even though you know it’s the start of a series, the book still finishes well enough that you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a stand-alone fantasy book which doesn’t happen too often.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading it and have developed an affection for both Blint and Kylar that’s got me pretty keen to get into the second book. I’d definitely recommend it to anybody looking for an entertaining and unique take on the whole fantasy-assassin story. It’s got the whole depth-characters-action-romance-reality-and-humour interaction going for it so I think you’d be hard pressed to find something not to like about it.

Anyway, I’m off so I hope you enjoy your forays into the weird and fantastical, and hopefully I’ll be back soon to report on my own :)

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Good morning all. Well here it is. Of all the reasons to read this book for me it would have remained in obscurity, but for this charming list of stand alone fantasy books (top 25) I recommend anyone who hasn't already checked it out to do so, there is a lot of fun and many surprises to be had. These books are as diverse as they are well written, true story. Here is the link.

I had high expectations for this book. It was number 1 on that list. So did I like it. Yes I did, although before I go into it there's something troubling me about this particular style of fantasy it's the same thing that bugged me about Game of Thrones by George R R Martin.

It could just be the setting, a medieval one, that brings to the fore a certain quality of all the female characters. But goddamit! It makes me mad, how many attributes doe Kay give Brandin, Devin or Alessan when they are brave, stupid or whatever cruel perhaps or angry. They get their power from their qualities. Now let's have a look at the way the main female characters are described and there is only one word we need. Beautiful. Yes whenever one of the women in this world are succeeding or have influence it is because they are quote unquote, "Beautiful" or they are the most beautiful thing anyone's ever seen. Ahh, this bugged me with Daenyrs's character in Game of Thrones. Particularly how it influenced her relationship with the barbarian king guy. The same might be said of a certain character in this novel, Dianora. These are strong independant cahracters, but in both novels neither can escape that all defining attribute beauty and then of course a need for men. Not just a desire, no it's made very clear "need". I just have a problem with the language of love and desire in these books.

Still if this was all I had to say about Tigana I would have been dissapointed. There might a be a few small spoilers so don't read on if your afraid of finding out too much. In a lot of ways Tigana is very similiar to George R R Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice. Both authors clearly want to paint characters with shades of gray. Both are set in a similiar world and both are both very adult and don't shy away from sex and violence. They're both this new breed of fantasy so to speak. But I think where Tigana rocks and Song of Fire and Ice blows is the focus. There's this focus in Fire and Ice on the politics of the court, particularly a lot of characters get their kicks from manipulating and trapping others through political motivations. What I enjoyed about Tigana is that the motivations are much deeper and more tragic. There is true tragedy in the world of Tigana. The main characters have lost their home.

In fact the soceror Brandin makes it so know one can remember Tigana except the people that already lived there. He levels the whole country to the ground, destroys its history, its art, everything. Its no coincidence this sounds similiar to what happened in China during the Cultural revolution as you'll read in the afterword, which I high recommend. It just feels like the stakes are very high in this book and when the characters do sometimes stoop low we can still empathise with them. In Song of Fire and Ice, I had a hard time sympathising with any of the characters.

I'll also clear something up, because I feel as though the start of Tigana is somewhat offputting, but I think in a way how it begins is a metaphor for the story as a whole. Indeed Kay, likes to surprise us and this book has some amazing moments. Before we get to the first, we're introduced to our eyes Devin. Devin is a musical player, playing at the funeral of a former ruler of the country Astibar. He lives on the Palm, which as we will learn is currently controlled by not one socerrer but two. Brandin of Ygrath the evil bastard I told you about and Alberico from Barbadior.  So all nine countries are basically under a kind of dictatorship at the start of the novel, but trust me even I was overwhelmed by the amount of foreign names dropped during the first twenty or so pages. Kay isn't guilty of what many know as the sin of info dumping. In fact I'd say I was at a loss as to why I should read on and then something magical happens around page 30 and I never put the book down for 2 straight days.

Devin becomes coincidentally embroiled in a quest with a rag-tag group, including two people from the band a girl called Catriana and Alessan the pipe player, who turns out to be the long lost prince of Tigana. I won't spoil how it happens, because this is one of those moments in the books that is amazing. Kay also takes us ona  journey into the life of Dianora. In effect, there is Dianora's story and the rag-tag group's story running side by side through the novel. Dianora's story is perhaps the saddest and most heart wrenching thing about this book. She is part of Brandin's harem, but orignally she was also from Tigana. She came with one purpose in mind to kill him. I won't say more, only that I admire her character, Asisde from Kay putting her into the beautiful mold. I think the reasons to like her a far greater than we're led to believe, still personally, I do not find myself finding much sympathy for her and although I enjoyed reading the book. Some of Dianora's sectiosn frustrated me to death!

That's the thing though, Kay creates these very fleshed out characters. All the members of the band Devin, Allessan, Catriana, Baerd and co. All have flash backs and backstory and a large chunk of the novel is dedicated to explaining where they came from and who they are. There are also surprising connections between characters and we learn how they all met eachother and what they are all personally fighting for, or who. There is a particularly cool section of the book, where the story seems to take a massive detour for a chapter or so. It feels like an episode of a TV series where we follow one of the lesser known characters on a side quest, where he briefly becomes the main character. I really enjoyed this moment in the book with Baerd and the Night Watchers. I think interestingly enough that as the book focusses on two main arcs of story, although they never truly intersect,I never found myself hating that I was taken away from one of them. The beauty of it is, one of the Arcs helps tell us the story of the rebels while the other although essentially Dianora's tells us about the man who destroyed Tigana.

Indeed, Brandin is perhaps not at first what he seems. This really is a good book. I admit there are moments that frustrate the hell out of me. One such moment happened near the end where I was sure one of my favourite characters would die. I'd say that characters in this feel as expendable as those in Song of Fire and Ice. I think as well there's a focus that the book never waivers from and that is because it is self contained. I enjoy focussed stories, all too often in my experience fantasy series have the bad habit of meandering. Tigana does not and if nothing else I can guarantee that all the questions posed in the novel are very satifyingly resolved in the end.

Next time I'll be reviewing what I've learned is somewhat of a famous fantasy novel (apparently). Neil Gaiman's American Gods, so I've heard is either loved or hated, but those who read it. Until next time happy reading.

Blurb of the Week : Tigana

I have heard some nice rumours on the web about Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, from what I've heard if you want a "literary" and stand alone fantasy come no further. As such I quickly took it upon myself to acquire said book, however, I digress. The topic of today's post is to ask that fateful question, would you buy that book?

In bookstores, before the advent of the internet, I imagine people used to rely alot more on the blurbs on book's back covers. I have to admit, a good one can reel you in particularly when you are desperately wanting to read something. What makes a blurb work? Do some blurbs fail miserably and do others coast lazily along on the fact that their work is already so famous who needs a blurb anyway. Well this week we'll have a look at what Tigana has to say for itself.

I took the liberty of taking a covert photo of Tigana's backcover this day in the bookstore. Now let's have a look at what it says.

Tigana is the internationally celebrated epic of a beleaguered country struggling to be free.

It is the tale of a people so cursed by the dark soceries of the tyrant king Brandin that even the

very name of their once beautiful home cannot be spoken or remembered. But, years after their homeland's devastation, a handful of mean and women set in motion a dangerous crusade - to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the world the lost brightness of an obliterated name: Tigana.

Against the magnificiently realised backdrop of a world both sensuous and brutal, this masterful novel of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision and changes forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction.

Story

Now I have to say, that is a pretty nifty little blurb isn't it. In the past I've always found particularly with fantasy that a blurb that describes too many exotic sounding names is alienating. The thing which draws us to fantasy I think are the similarities between their world and ours, or the fantasy can in some way be relatable or even a metaphor for ours. But what do we know about the book, well we know it's dark and it has a traditionally reliable sort of plot from what it sounds and we know we have one ultimate badass of a bad guy, which let's face it we wouldn't read a fantasy normally without one. 

Target Audience

So how does it go on the whole selling angle? Well in terms of an audience, that last paragraph is the bernaise to a perfectly cooked fillet steak (salivating isn't it that image). The fact is it appeals to people who might not normally read fantasy if this book truly blurs the boundaries. There's also this sense that it's very realistic and therefore adult and it also appeals to that class of fantasy people (who I am not one of them) that loves to read books with very well thought out worlds down to the last detail, so in that respect I guess George R R Martin fans look no further that part is saying.

 Style/Subtext
What about the style? A good blurb I'm told should be able to convey some of the style or mood of the writing, as I mentioned it sounds dark, but the hook for me, are the odds. The great thing for me that gets me to want to read this book, is the odds against this small band of people going up against a pretty evil guy. How the hell will they do it! it can't be possible, someone with that sort of power. So already we are hooked in, through the subtext.

Well now it comes down to actually read the thing, which hopefully I'll have done by the end of the month. Anyway what do you think? Does this blurb do a good job of selling this book? Does it appeal to you? And a question I can't answer just yet, is it simply flat out lying? (Well that is probably the smartest question to ask I guess).

Of course, for all those smart asses out their, I will admit, there may just be one item on the back cover, which decides the matter for you, that neat little price tag right at the bottom. Well we can never rule out price can we. Anyway till next  time, see you then fellow readers.

Hard Day's Knight by John G Hartness

Hey all,

I had been toying with the idea of publishing an ebook. I thought it might be easier. Really though it's just as hard, the hard work just happens at a different stage. Anyway, I want to talk about what I might refer to as an Indie fantasy book. Indie, because you won't find A Hard Day's Knight anywhere in any physical bookstore. Its cool already to be reading something so exclusive.

Now A Hard Day's Knight is pretty screw ball. It is exactly what I needed to read amidst the heartwrenching dramas of the two books I've already reviewed. This was a nice humourous and silly break from that. I enjoyed this book in the same way I enjoy an old 90s or 80s action movie. It was pure fun and it did make me laugh. The writing is at times a little bit clunky and sometimes the similes are a bit much. For the most part though it can all be overlooked.

The two main characters of the book Jimmy Black and Greg Knight are respectively your wisecracking detective and bumbling, yet surprisingly intelligent sidekick. The twist they are both vampires. Both in fact remain very unsuccessful with ladies as well despite their vampirism. It's fun how Hartness uses Jimmy Black's very bitter and cynical first person perspective to talk about how popular culture tells a lot of lies about the charmed existence of the vampire. In a lot of ways they seem like teens and by what we're told poor old Greg is still as fat as he ever was, because that's how he was when he was turned. So we don't have any sexy Edward Cullen's here. So again Hard Day's Knight is another interesting book which is very much aware that it does not exist in a vaccum, I always appreciate books that are aware that they are but one of many vampire/fantasy/cop books.

The plot itself, is a very strange snaking beast. It starts with a pain in the arse kid tries to get Jimmy (James) to turn him into a vampire to protect his family, from a goth chick in his class. The plot only becomes more ridiculous and funny from their. There's something so silly and fun about this book. Even when we see James and Greg literally fighting 12 possessed little girls to the moment where James is describing how uncomfortable he feels in the local strip club, the book at its core never deviates from what it is. Good clean fun.

The other characters on the side are also nifty in their own way. We have Phil a fallen angel and massive badass and the newest (reluctant) member of his harem Lilith (apprently the first woman before Eve) also a fallen angel. It's funny hearing James talk about drinking her blood, can anyone say Vampgasm? It's fun to see how Hartness deals with a dark gritty scene in such an amusing way and ultimately, it is through his ability to completely flip on its head the idea of the wisened and brooding vampire. James and Greg feel more like little clueless kids dealing with forces they can't possibly comprehend and it is funny to watch them stumble through the motions of being private investigators.

The main human members of the cast, Mike and Sabrina provide another interesting dimension. Yes, there is an amusing little love story. It's also intriguing reading about a Priest working with two vampires...of course we learn why a little later on. At its heart though I'd say this is really James and Greg's story, but as this is a series it will be interesting to watch the other characters evolution as the series goes on.

I'll admit that at times I questioned the way the plot turned and at times certain characters and threads were completely dropped. Even so, I think Hartness can get away with it because of the nature of the book we're dealing with. Nothing in here is meant to be taken seriously. We have zombies, fallen angels, demons and evil possessed little girls.

Yes this is definately something you need to check out. If you need some more help or encouragement to go out and give this book a try, there's a great view at the Motherloade, which provides a more eloquent overview of the tale. Hey I can admit when I'm beat. Just click here.

Happy reading everyone.

Ebooks: The Magic, The Mystery, The True Story they don't want you to Know

Hey all,

Admitedly this is a club devoted to talking about books, but this little infopost leads well into one of the books I wanted to talk about. Recently, I have made a move from physical books to ebooks. It may seem like a treacherous moves, but I will tell you something that may shock you. Both Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell and The Magicians, are two of the six or so books I have recently purchased and read on my iphone as ebooks.

What? I hear you exclaim am I supporting the erosion of literature and the destruction of the book as we know it. Well no not really. I have come to realise that ebooks have their place and there are certain really cool things about the current ebook climate that I think you as readers of Fantasy will appreciate.

Now the first thing which I'll admit I don't know is about dedicated ereaders. My advice is it's probably a better investment to purchase (for free) the Kindle, Scribd, Ibooks or whatever ereader device you want on an ipad, iphone or other similiar tablet device. The idea of buying a dedicated ereader, seems slightly perverse to me when you can buy other tablet devices which can do what an ereader can do and more. As far as selection goes, ibooks sucks in my experience, I know that Kindle has over 713,000 titles. So a lot of what I'll be saying is about the Kindle, seeing is that is my current ereader of choice.

Something cool about ebooks is that there are some indie ebooks that you won't find anywhere else. These are selfpublished books that you can get for a couple of bucks, I bought one for $1. That's another thing with Kindle books they are ridiculously cheap and I know there are plenty of other sites on the internet such as Scribd and indie author sites where you can download and read ebooks for free. So ereading is significantly cheaper all round.

Anyway back to the indie book thing. Now this for me is one of the coolest things. I recently read a book "A Hard Day's Knight" which was a selfpublished ebook. In order to selfpublish an ebook, all you need is software or a company to prepare your document into ebook format and then its a simple matter of uploading it onto kindle. There are no gate keepers in the ebook publishing world, it's certaintly a solid plan B for upcoming authors its just getting publicitiy that then becomes the issue. But there are literally thousands of these books going between 1-3 bucks on Kindle alone and thousands more elsewhere on the web.  While I admit the writing was not as polished in the ebook, the book I read had a unique quality to it. Its absurdity and popcorn value was amazing in spite of the writing itself so there is gold to be had in the ebook realm you can't find anyone else.

I spoke to a friend about her love of having second hand books. She told me she loved seeing things people underlined in their books. I thought this was odd, people actually underline stuff? Really? Now this is something you think you wouldn't have in a kindle ebook. You would be wrong. Every Kindle Ebook I've read so far have had popular quotes underlined, and it is interesting that sense of community with ebooks. Most ebooks as well will list in an extras section what books influenced them and what they were based on. Of course on the amazon store where you buy your ebooks, you'll also find reviews. These are all pretty vital things when finding your next read, but I suppose that is just the eworld not necessarily ebooks. Still it is cool to know that 41 people enjoyed those same few lines that you did.

The last great thing about ebooks is this. For a guy who lives in a more remote area...not really, although people living in the CBD or near it in Sydney would think Penrith is the middle of nowhere, it is hard to find certain titles. In the fantasy section in particular, we are restricted to the most popular and mainstream books, hence the rows upon rows of "paranormal" teen Vampire novels, above and beyond anything else. On my Kindle, it's simple a matter of searching for the book and regardless of the fact I'm in Penrith Australia or anywhere in the world for that matter, I can have the book I want in a second. You cannot beat that sort of convenience at the lower price. It is great to be reading about an interesting book one second and in the next be flicking through that book's first page.

But you know what annoys me. I've been reading all these great book recently, but i can't share them. Growing up in a big family, I love that when my brother gets a book, I also get a book. That is I know I can walk into his room and grab that book off the shelf, but I can't do that with the ebooks I have on my iphone. I'd say that perhaps this is where a separate ereader might be preferable to loan to someone else, but I think in terms of sharing books nothing beats the hard copy. It sucks not being able to foist these novels on my unsuspecting family, but by the same token ebooks have their charm.

Books will always look better on the shelf lets face it and I will cry the day that everyone has a single box in their living room with all their books stored on it. That will be a truly tragic day. Even so Ebooks have their place and I hope anyone reluctant about the changing nature of books, might actually consider ebooks are actually okay. Come on give those poor old indie authors a chance!