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!

The Magicians - by Lev Grossman

 Hey all, I've just spent the larger chunk of my afternoon finishing off what I have to admit has been one of the most interest books I've ever written. It is (bet you never guessed from the title) Les Grossman's the Magicians, not to mistaken by Feist's the Magician, which I captial H.A.T.E, hate (sorry to all the fan boys). Anyway, I've had a lot of ideas about what facinates me so much about this book, but before I get into that. Here is a link to Mr Grossman's blog, as a fellow writer you might particularly find it interesting reading about his struggle to get his first book Codex published. Click here.

Ever read Harry Potter or Narnia. Well in a weird sort of way this is both those books fused into one, but really that doesn't do him any credit. The thing which will make you love this book way ahead of the two titles I just mentioned is one word, grit. This book has it. Drugs, sex, alcohol. It's Harry Potter in the college years plus Narnia in a world where there is no god. Who would have thought it. It's like someone who read and loved the same books I did as a kid decided to write a more grown up version of them. Indeed there is some eerily familiar about these books once you start reading and you know what the book itself is a lot about someone trying to relive those memories of childhood through magic.

Man...I think I just hit onto something. But maybe another day.  But I have to say that this book asks a lot of really interesting questions the kind of questions that as an older person reading say Harry or Narnia, I would immediatly want answered. And The Magicians provides some very interesting and cynical answers in regards to the world of magic, the sort of things a fantasy geek like me can't help imagining.

Wouldn't it be really fun if I could go to magical school and study magic? Hell no! It's bloody hard. Imagine the hardest study you have ever undertaken then multiply it by a thousand. One of the tests is to walk 500 miles naked to the south pole...and that is just the tip of the ice berg. I suppose we are talking college level here, even so, the teachers here are brutal and unforgiving. In fact the first time the main character Quintin is assessed as to whether he'll make it into Brakebills (the magical college)  Dean Fogg (the dean..duh), harasses Quintin who knows nothing about magic to perform a spell, in front of a room of witnesses. Unlike Hogwarts this place is very exclusive as well at the start we're told there are 99 students at a place that provides a degree for five years. Everyone here is a brain, so no one is exceptional.

The next question is what about talking animals? Well Grossman is quite matter of fact, about the fact that animals are very single minded, they are not the pure creatures of Narnia. In fact no better is this played out than when the students during their fourth year become geese and  foxes (interesting story behind the second one).

And what would it really be like knowing magic when no one in the real world can actually know about it? Well this is the question that the second major section of the book delivers a grim answer. There really isn't much use being a magician, unlike the world of Harry Potter. There is a bleak sense in this world, that very few people who graduate from Brakebills actually work in a magical position.


So let's rewind a little. While the book does pose some really cool questions and by the way what Grossman also does is have an intriguing undercurrent of alluding to other popular fantasy books. In a way I was thinking this book feels like it could really be set in my world, the way for example Quintin at one point so quickly throws out that it seems ridiculous that a ship has the name Skywalker in a fantasy land. So there is certainly this gritty and cynical edge to the writing.

But what about the stuff you are probably interested in? Well as you may not know, I am a bit of a sensitive soul. And for some reason I enjoy making myself squirm. Did I say Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was emotional...pah. That was a massive overstatement. No this book. This deals with some dark stuff. Even though the story is third person, it is very much Quintin's perspective we're following through the whole narrative with occaisional glimpses into other characters heads.

I was trying to think of a way to describe the plot. And honestly, there are probably four stories in it. But if you want to summarise it this is really Quintin's story. He's a guy who doesn't really fit in and feels pretty lonely and often he's a bit depressed. He's intelligent enough to understand things could be different...which makes things worse> Before all the magical stuff even begins, we learn Quintin is obsessed with a series of books about a magical world called Fillory (now Fillory in no uncertain terms is Narnia and the series of books has basically the same idea, even down to the humans - sons of admas and daughters of eve - being the only people capable of ruling it). This might give you an idea of how much Quintin loves Fillory:

"In Fillory you felt the appropriate emotions when things happended.

Happiness was real, actual, achievable possibility. It came when you called. 

Or no, it never left you in the first place."

So Quitin lets say is always wanting to escape to somewhere better, which I suppose he gets his chance.

Now the first story is about his time at Brakebills. The second story is a love story! Now I'll quickly go back to the emotional klobbering part. Man this is a pretty great love story nestled in fantasy so I highly recommend it on that alone. I suppose you could google a bit about the book, but I'm not going to spoil what happens, it is a pretty interesting and somewhat unlikely pairing but to me there's something very genuine and vulnerable about it. I think it's rare for love stories not to feel contrived in a novel and this works really well so bravo Mr Grossman. Although if you aren't one for soaring highs followed by deep emotionally draining lows, maybe this ain't the romance for you.

The third story is about Fillory. It turns out the place is actually real. Now a heads up and this is probably a benefit for people who are going to read this which I highly recommend. There are these five books based on Fillory and they keep coming up throughout the story, Quitin brings it up comparing it to the way things are unfolding in his life. Now I found these a little like detours, but having finished the novel I can tell you that its all very much connected so pay attention. I feel like this book is the sort of thing you want to maybe read twice before fully appreciating its many layers.

The final story. Well that I'll leave for you to work out, but it has something to do with what I've already said concerning Fillory. There is a lot I want to say particularly, about other characters in the book because I feel this is what really shines in Grossman's novel. There's a tight group of Brakebill's towards the end. Most of them are part of a clique at school called the Physical Magicians, because thats the sort of magic they specialise in. Its a shame I can't get into more detail, but honestly I really don't want to spoil it for you. But if you're looking for something a little deeper and more adult that can be dark at time, then go for this.

Although I do have one thing to add. I had previously thought this was a stand alone. The ending I suppose is an end. It isn't a to be continued, as with many books in serials, but I discovered that the sequel The Magician King is coming out soon, in fact at the end of this month in UK so I assume that means Australia also. Well I think I'll place a brief caveat on my hatred of sequels, I can handle trilogies...so I suppose there are some exceptions.

Anyway I'll leave you with a quote just in case you think you have the right stuff to be a magician:

"But i'll tell you something: I think you're magicians because

you're unhappy. A magician is strong because he feels pain.

He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it."

PS ALICE I love you! Let's go and make niffin babies together (alright I said too much), but dam I love her character...but that's all peeps! You'll have to read it if you want to get what I'm saying! Happy reading fantasy lovers.

Hey for anyone who has read this book and loves it, check out the fan art face book page there's  particularly cool pic of the beast.

Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell - by Susanna Clarke

I recently watched a special on Jenifer's Byrnes Tuesday Book Club, of all things I was most pleasantly surprised to discover they were talking about fantasy writing. Its nuts I know for a guy who loves to write fantasy in his spare time, but I really never know what to do about the fantasy section in bookstores. I inevitably get bogged down seeing all those huge long series. Its enough to turn you off reading forever. However, I watched that show and from it I am happy to announce I have discovered two really great gems!
And what is great about them if you're like me is they are stand alone.

That's right a fantasy novel that = 1 book, not twelve. Ah simpler times...dam you Robert Jordan and the beginning of the end of the stand alone fantasy (anyway...that rant is for another day). The first gem is one written by Les Grossman who appeared on the Tuesday book club I was talking about, the book is called "The Magicians" but more about that one later, for now I want to talk about the book below!

...But before that, For anyone curious about the ABC show with fantasy authors discussing fantasy books  here is the link, I highly recommend it. Apart from Lev Grossman they also have on Mathew Riley, Fiona Macintosh and Jennifer Rowe. You won't be dissapointed if you click here.

So on with the show. Today I'd like to talk about "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell"  (J&N) by Susanna Clarke. Now let me start by saying that this is most definately a fantasy book, but at the same time it is nothing like a fantasy book. We have a general notion of what fantasy is. The title, "Lord of the Rings" springs to mind straight away. I think for whatever reason the word fantasy when used in the context of genre, still connotes big sprawling imagined worlds with creatures and a group of adventurers going on a big quest to save the world.

Nowadays though, fantasy is a lot more broad. But really it's just what you include in fantasy, J&N probably falls more into the "Harry Potter" fantasy camp. It has two parallel world's existing side by side, our world and the world of "Fairie", although the book also briefly mentions heaven and hell.  I'll get on with it now and sorry if this contains any spoilers I'll try to be as general as possible.

It is an interesting read and I don't normally say this about books I read for pleasure, but I actually quite like Ms Clarke's writing style. It feels like I'm reading a period novel and I suppose it should, it's set in the early 1800s and at first there is even a bit of dare I say Austinian humour in Clarke's the narrative voice. Of course as you keep moving through the novel, it becomes a lot more tragic and gothic, but I think that's less to do with the style and more to do with the plot. The writing never loses that strange whimsical sense of underplay.

So what is this behemoth of a book about? Two dudes, one called Mr Norrell and the other called Jonathan Strange. They are two magicians. In the world of the book magic, is something that is studied but not practiced. Thus there are only theoretical magicians, until good old Mr Norrell comes along that is! He gets all the other magicians to resign as they are basically just imposters anyway. The book starts from Mr Norrell's perspective and it's actually quite some time before we meet Jonathan Strange at all.

I suppose that's the thing that might bother people with this book, it doesn't always move quickly and often the characters will do things that frustrate you to bits. But I think that's simply a testament to the humanity of the characters. We learn quite quickly Mr Norrell is useless socially and actually a bit of a Daria really. In fact Mr Norrell probably loves his books more than anything or anyone else. He's spent years studying magic alone preparing all his life to actually become the first practical magician in centuries. Interestingly enough the world of J&N starts off as a place where there are only theoretical magicians so a one line summary of the book might be Two men bring about the restoration of English Magic with unintended and somewhat grave consequences.

Anyway Norrel shows all those pretenders some real magic and soon sets his sights on using his magic to for want of a better word actually help. He thinks it would be a boon to the military, but it is only by bringing a certain character back from the grave that he finally achieves this and he does it with the help of a certain gentleman with thistle down hair (oddly enough said gentlemen is never privileged enough to be given a name), who for the rest of the book becomes the de facto antagonist! Bastard....oh guess you'll have to read it to know exactly what I mean.

Anyway, Mr Norrell is the only magician until one day Jonathan Strange enters the picture. Now Strange as you would imagine is the opposite of Norrel. Quite the gentlemen not a recluse and he actually has a significant other. Although, he is a bit hopeless with his wife Arabella, often dismissing her for his magical studies as the narrative moves along. Also unlike Mr Norrel, he's a natural and he has actually invented new forms of magic without even thinking anything of it.

Then the rest of the book unfolds and Mr Norrell and Jonathan Strange bring about the revival of English magic! There are some pretty tragic moments though...at the end of the second Act, I had the absolute worst heart wrenching shock of my life. Yes, this story is going to make you feel some awful things and it's going to frustrate you how much the main bad guy gets away with. But there is light at the end of the tunnel people.

 I don't want to give much more of the plot away so I won't say much else, but it does seems puzzling at the the way in which magic seems impossible at the start of the book and is ridiculously (or seemingly) easy towards the end. The first thing Norrell does is to bring a bunch of statues to life. At the time its impressive as things go along though, the magic becomes increasingly elaborate. But the way in which its executed is in the same haphazard sort of manner - this isn't harry potter there are no wands, spells are more the result of rituals and the coaxing of hidden powers (or in some cases fairies, which I'll tell you are not anything like your stock standard winged beasties).

As much as there is an extensive history of magic and a tragic prophesy of two magicians, I suppose there does seem to be a bit of a logic hole in how it is Strange and Norrell are able to use magic in a way that no one else can. But the funny thing with fantasy is that the author directs you to a prophesy and there is no question.  I don't know why I bring it up, it's just interesting to think how much our imaginations allow us to suspend our disbelief and let ourselves drift into new worlds. But if we want to look at it from another angle, we could say that books are power, magic books that is Norrell's library of magical books is unparalleled, although Jonathan Strange's magic comes from a far more organic and improvised place. So it's quite interesting to see the two ways there magic evolves over the course of the novel.

The heart of the book though is what I found most compelling . You can tell its written by a woman, the male characters are all very aloof and a bit arrogant. The female characters seem at first like little more than plus ones to the main characters, but I think Arabella for me is one of the most memorable characters in the whole book. So I put it down to this instead, Clarke is just simply staying true to the stereotypical or understood female roles of the times. But I would argue the female characters such as Lady Pole and Arabella are in many cases infinately more intriguing.

And of course there's the simple embarassing fact about this book. It literally broke my heart in places and yes fellow cyber book clubbians I did cry... and in other chapters  I felt angry at the unjustice of what was happening. My heart started to race when my favourite characters were in jeopardy! The point is this damn book gave me a major emotional klobbering. For a guy who gets high watching emotionally charged melodramas constantly, if a book can have this effect on me it means everything. So there you have it, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. A good novel. A good fantasy novel that isn't concerned with swords and socery (as socery would normally be understood). I highy recommend it, but I do warn you, it will probably have the same effect on you as reading Wuthering Heights. Now don't get me started on that...I can understand how that book would have killed Emily Bronte. But that is another story.

Anyway, if anyone else has read this book I'd love to hear your views. This is a book club after all. Until next time happy reading everyone!

J