Simply Lyra-cal
The Golden Compass
Philip Pullman
Knopf
A couple of months ago, my boss and I decided we needed a break from work and as often happens, we started to talk about books. I had recently sent home the Cassandra Clare novels for her daughters to read and in return, she shared some of her favourites with me. Near the top of her list was the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Of course, I rushed right out and bought the first instalment and put it proudly on my shelf. "Oh yes," I said to myself, "this will definitely be my next read." Hah! Somewhere along the way I got distracted -- I think it was by Dostoevsky. Anyway, I rediscovered my purchase last week and here we are.
Let me start by saying that I can totally understand why the Catholic Church felt threatened enough to ban these books in their schools. The first novel in the series, The Golden Compass, tells the story of Lyra, a little girl who finds herself at the centre of an epic drama that spans dimensions. It has all the elements of classic fantasy -- talking creatures, magic, and a heroine who undertakes a journey of self-discovery. Revolutionary, right? Okay, not so much, but the obvious borrowing from the works of both William Blake and John Milton (and what the author has done with Paradise Lost, in particular) might just be enough to start people questioning. Well, that and the overt slams to organized religion.
Since reading this novel, I have actually completed the second in the series and am now on the third. As the stories progress, they become incredibly didactic. So much so, in fact, that I'm not even sure I will finish the third installment. That said, The Golden Compass gets four shimmering constellations out of five. Lyra is definitely a heroine to be admired.
Cetaceous Sea Slime
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Quirk Books
If you cast your minds way back to December, you'll recall that I selected Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at the D-E-S Book of the Year. As I stated then, it definitely wasn't the best book that I had read in the past season, but it was one that I really, truly enjoyed. I loved the idea of taking something canonical and adding utter ridiculousness to it. The fact that it didn't really take away from Austen's story delighted me entirely and when I found out that Quirk was going to come out with another volume in the series, I thought "why the hell not?"
Sadly, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is not as well done as its predecessor. In addition to pillaging Austen, the author borrows from the work of H.G. Wells, introduces elements of the Gothic novel that transforms Austen's mannered romance into something entirely different, and generally injects such an over-the-top weirdness to the novel that it was, at times, a bit distracting.
Don't get me wrong, the portrayal of Colonel Brandon as a visually abhorrent facially tentacled sea monster is vastly entertaining. The rampaging narwhals, the man-eating jelly fish and the ever-so-elusive fang beast all make for great, bizarre, fun. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but SS&SM isn't quite as, uh, subtle as PP&Z. Yes, I just referred to a book of manners about zombies and ninjas as subtle. Use that, dear reader, as a guide when deciding to embark on this particular voyage. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters gets three giant lobsters out of five.
A different kind of Harlequin
The Golden City
John Twelve Hawks
Doubleday Canada
The Golden City is the last book of the Fourth Realm ttrilogy by the reclusive, off-the-grid writer John Twelve Hawks. Like The Dark River, it continues to explore the themes introduced in the first novel of the series, and also like The Dark River, it does not up to expectation.
To read the publisher's blurb, you would think that the novel will take the reader on a fast-paced, literary journey that is part techno- thriller, part philosophical treatise, and part fantasy. Unfortunately, the plot is predictable, the philosophy unclear, and the fantasy -- well, let's just say that Twelve Hawks was a little too Nora Roberts and not enough Neal Stephenson. Two tired Harlequin warriors out of five.
Cougar Romance
Black Hills
Nora Roberts
Berkeley Mass Market
Let me start off by saying that the "Cougar" in the title of this post refers neither to me, nor to my dating habits. It does, however, refer to the major preoccupation of one of the leads in this story. Boys, you might as well stop reading now ... if you see the name Nora Roberts in the header, then undoubtedly I have fallen prey to the species known as the trashy romance. I promise to review something way more testosterone worthy next time around.
Okay, so back to the book. Black Hills is a love story set in one of the Dakotas. Cooper, an eleven year old city kid, is dumped at his grandparents house for the summer and he is totally miserable. His misses his friends, his apartment in New York, and his Yankee's season tickets. As it turns out, his only solace is his Gameboy -- the guilt gift purchased by his dad before sending Coop into exile. One day a couple of weeks into his visit, his Grandma and Grandpa take him over to the neighbours' for dinner. Coop meets 10-year old Lil and falls head over heels in love. They are destined for one another. Well, until he dumps her while she is away at college. Just like a man, isn't it?
Flash forward to today. Coop returns to the Dakota ranch to help his ailing grandpa with the family business. He and Lil have only occasionally run into each other over the years so the, uh, tension is rather high. Add to the fact that Lil suddenly becomes the focus of a crazed Sioux stalker, and well, we have lots of reasons for old feelings to resurface.
As far as romance novels go, this wasn't awful. I read it in a few hours and it was a good distraction from a rather crazy week. I'm not going to recommend it though -- she has written much better stuff with a lot more thoughts. Two crazed cougars out of five.
In the Beginning …
Study in Scarlet
Arthur Conan Doyle
Penguin Books
Many moons ago (that is, the summer following my graduation from university,) I decided that I would spend my non-working time reading for pleasure. I’ll never forget that first book – Maugham’s Of Human Bondage – and how it felt to luxuriate over the words. That summer I also read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (not to be confused with Tess of the D’Ubervilles – it was a busy summer, what I can say?) It was my first Sherlock Holmes mystery and I recall thinking that the writing was interesting enough to read more. For whatever reason, I never did. Until now.
A Study in Scarlet is actually the first Holmes novel and as such, introduces us to the backgrounds of the quirky detective and his trusty companion. What was most surprising was the structure of the novel. Holmes actually answers the question “whodunit?” halfway through the text. The rest of the novel tells the back story of Holmes’ suspect. And what a story it is! Mormons, wagon trains, murders, international travel – heck, there was even a mention of St. Petersburg! The perfect holiday read, A Study in Scarlet gets four watching the detectives out of five.
Fool
Christopher Moore
Harper
You have to love an author who is brave enough to eff with the classics. Moore’s Fool is an off-the-wall, non-re-telling of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Often zany and always funny, this tragic-comedy is narrated by Pocket, Lear’s Black Fool and erstwhile companion of the princess Cordelia.
The plot is complicated – Lear, an aged and sorrowful king, decides that it is time to divide his kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, etcetera) among his daughters. The allotment of the realm will be determined by the girls themselves. He has asked each of them to publicly declare their love for him and be judged by their words. Sycophants and flatterers to the bitter end, Regan and Goneril lie through their teeth and speak of their deep and abiding love for their father. Lear is well pleased. Cordelia determines to speak the truth and admits to a deep filial love and nothing more. Lear decides, the kingdom is divided in twain, and Cordelia is exiled.
Enter the Fool. A true jackanapes, Pocket incites civil war, hangs with Macbeth’s witches, gets visited by a ghost, kills a nasty steward, takes care of a Natural named Drool, and recounts the innumerable times where he had occasion to shag Goneril and Regan rotten. As if that weren’t quite enough, he also introduces the reader to a wonderfully inventive swear word. Ready for it? Fuckstockings! I’ll be saying that for weeks!
While I didn’t love this book as much as Moore’s Lamb, I did enjoy it immensely. The numerous references to the Bard’s other works kept it interesting and I think I counted at least six or seven – maybe more. Three rollicking bollocks out of five.
Ditched Again
The Judas Strain
James Rollins
Harper
Last Thursday, I left hearth and home and headed overseas. One of my friends was getting married in Germany and that was all the excuse I needed to plan a bit of a jaunt. Of course, it wouldn’t be a holiday without a companion, so I invited Commander Pierce along for the ride. You remember him, right? Tall, dreamy, and oh-so-dedicated to the Sigma Force? Sigh. What is it they say about best laid plans?
Now that it is all over, I guess it’s okay to dish. Gray, as you know, just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. This time he and the gang were involved in some sort of bio-terrorism plot, so it was off to Southeast Asia to find the source (and hopefully cure) for this “new” disease. I say “new” because it turns out that there was a link between Gray’s case and the mysterious disappearance of most of Marco Polo’s returning fleet. Apparently, when Polo left China to return to Italy, he led a flotilla of sixteen ships. When he got home, there was only two left.
All that to say that I got ditched. It’s okay though. The wedding was beautiful and I think the bride and groom are the type of couple (unlike Gray and I) who will make it through anything. I’m now in St. Petersburg, sans Gray, and having a fantastic time. In fact, I’m at the Telegraph Pub enjoying a pint of maiden’s piss, er, I mean Harp, right now. Aside from the kitsch, nothing in the joint is in English and surprisingly, it hasn’t been a problem so far. The pub? Oh, it gets a three out of five stars.
Happy Birthday Daddio
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
Quercus
Stieg Larsson
My dad's birthday was on Friday and I find that I miss him terribly. It will soon be a year since he passed away and not a day goes by that my heart doesn't ache for him. Losing a parent sucks no matter how old you are and I would give almost anything to have him back. Sigh. No one said life was fair.
So, I'm wondering if it is any sort of coincidence that I picked this weekend to read the final installment Larsson's Millennium series. Honestly, this is crime writing at its best and almost everyone to whom I have introduced these novels have asked to borrow the second and third books.
In Hornet's Nest, Lisbeth Salander is recovering in the hospital from a gunshot wound to her head. Her treatment at the hands of the Swedish government is a secret that cannot get out and the Zalachenko club within the secret police conspire to make the story go away. Salander is charged with the attempted murder of her father (she did, after all, take an axe to his face,) and she must construct her defense from within her isolated hospital room with only her lawyer to help her. Well, that and maybe a little bit of outside help from Mikael Blomkvist.
I half expected this novel to be quite slow and plodding. Most of the action happened in the previous two books and the purpose of this volume was to tie up the loose ends. While I'm willing to admit that it could have been as a result of my mood, I devoured this story and read it in huge hungry chunks. If I'm sad that Salander and Mikael will no longer be a part of my life, I'm happy that in a few years, I can re-read these wonders and enjoy them all over again. If it were only so easy with real people. I miss you Dad. xok.
To Russia with Love
The Last Watch
Sergei Lukyanenko
Doubleday Canada
In preparation for my trip to St. Petersburg, I thought that I should get in the mood by reading some Russian literature. The options are pretty impressive -- Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov -- you can't go wrong reading anything from that group. Once I got about a hundred pages or so into Anna Karenina, I decided that I might be better served if I were to read it when I am overseas. I'm going to have a lot of airport time and AK will be just the ticket.
Of course, that left me scrambling for another Russian to read. A quick trip to the bookstore and I was happy to learn that Sergei Lukyanenko actually published a follow up to the Night Watch series. In this episode, Anton is sent to Edinburgh to investigate the murder of a young Russian tourist. Normally, this kind of assignment would be beneath the notice of a Higher Other such as Anton. The tourist, however, was drained of all his blood and the Watches realize that they have a rogue Vampire on their hands.
Structured a little bit differently from the other novels in the series, The Last Watch again explores the relative notions of Good versus Evil. Anton is a cynic, a skeptic, a believer, and an optimist. If you're asking yourself how he can be all four at the same time, then you've just hit on one of the major themes of the novel. Three thinking wizards out of five.
Location, location, location
A Reliable Wife
Robert Goolrick
Algonquin
When I travel, one of the things that I inevitably find the time to do is ... drum roll please ... go to a bookstore. Hah! I can tell I surprised no one with that comment. Would you find it more interesting if I told you that I always visit three "sections" on these jaunts? Yep -- I check out the bestseller wall and/or table, the "staff picks" section, and the "local reads" area. Of the three, my favourite is usually the staff picks. I especially like those stores where mini-reviews are hand-written on recipe cards and thumb-tacked to the shelves.
Every once in a while, however, I manage to find a gem in the local reads section of the store. That is exactly what happened on my last trip to Chicago. It was the title that caught my eye, but it was the fact that the story was set in early 1900s Wisconsin that grabbed my imagination.
Goolrick's The Reliable Wife is a beautiful story about love, hope, passion, and despair. Catherine Land, the novel's inscrutable heroine, answers an advertisement in the newspaper. A prosperous gentleman, Ralph Truitt, is looking for a reliable wife. Catherine responds by saying she is honest, simple, and the daughter of a missionary. In reality, she is scheming and complex and a high-priced whore. In fact, she is looking to marry Truitt and to leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. Arsenic is her weapon of choice.
The story unfolds in a most unexpected way and Catherine ends up experiencing passion with a complex man who has secrets of his own. I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for a rainy weekend when you need to get lost in a book. Three private railcars out of five.
The jokes I could make about beavers ...
Cherished
Elizabeth Thornton
Zebra Historical Romance
No disrespect to the author, but I am having a very difficult time finding anything relevant to say about this book. Part of the problem is that I'm in the midst of reading Anna Karenina and while I am only a few chapters in, it is already consuming most of the thinking space in my brain. The other issue is that I have actually read this book before . The fact that it took me almost 100 pages to recognize the novel as a "been there, done that" doesn't say that much about me. Or about the writing. How sad.
So, here's the plot ... Leon has loved Emily from the time they were both children. A little bit older than his true love, he understood that it was not proper to have impure thoughts about one so young. To deal with his feelings, he was mean to her and took every opportunity he could to torture and tease. When Emily finally turned sixteen and had her coming-out ball, she witnessed Leon in the throes of passion with another woman and became quite distraught. He followed her, a scene ensued, and they ended up marrying. Agreeing with her guardian that Emily was too young to be a wife in the true sense, Leon took off to America to make his fortune in the fur trade.
Flash forward five years. Leon returns and takes Emily as his own. There is danger afoot, however, and Leon decides to take his bride to America. After the requisite amount of drama, (which includes voyageurs, Metis, and a bizarre love triangle) the couple confess their love for each other and all is right with the world. Is it any wonder that I forgot this book? One grizzled fur trader out of five.
She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam
Wolf Hall
Hilary Mantel
HarperCollins
Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, Wolf Hall is definitely the best novel that I have read in the past year. Told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell (but curiously, not narrated in the first person), the book is almost written as a series of tableaux vivants that describe the comings and goings of all the major players at the Tudor court of Henry VIII.
The real story, however, focuses on the "upstart" Thomas Cromwell. The son of a blacksmith and sometime alehouse proprietor, Cromwell manages to escape his low birth and somehow become one of the most influential legislators and religious reformers of the 16th Century. Eventually rising to the position of Henry VIII's "right hand man," it is clear that Mantel's Cromwell has more in common with Machiavelli than just fluency in Italian. From the outset of this story, Cromwell is observing, guiding, and taking advantage wherever and whenever possible. He is the embodiment of Castiglione's courtier and Machiavelli's Prince. Sigh. The perfect man.
Despite the fact Cromwell is definitely the star of the show, Martel's other characterizations are equally interesting. She made me hate Thomas More, adore King Henry, and absolutely despise all of the scheming Boleyns. If you are at all interested in historical fiction, and willing to be surprised by a new twist on old territory, you should definitely read this book. Five burning heretics out of five.
Not so Final Fantasy
Shadowrise
Tad Williams
DAW
Okay ... so non-hardcore fantasy fans can stop reading now. This entry is only for the geeks.
OMG -- Williams has done it again. Shadowrise is the third installment in what was supposed to have been the Shadowmarch trilogy. Like Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, however, dude has more plot than pages and the final book as been split into two. I'm not complaining and will happily add the fourth and final novel to my Christmas list.
Back to Shadowrise -- this book has it all. Magic, heroes, battles, swords, heroines, gods, poets, dwarves and lots and lots of mayhem. I think Williams might now be in the lead for my favourite fantasy write of all time. Yes -- it was that good. Five dashing princes out of five.
Return of the Mack
The Black Book
Ian Rankin
Orion
Call me lame, but I hooked up with John a couple of weeks ago. He was on a "break" from his girlfriend and I figured, what the hell -- what could it hurt? Sure, he's a little disorganized, slightly misanthropic, and still has a more than questionable relationship with the bottle, but he's also funny, wickedly smart, and ever so manly. I like manly.
As usual, we didn't spend too much time together. He was working a case that was more personal than professional and it took up quite a bit of his time. Apparently, one of his constables was put in the hospital and for some reason John thought the attack was related to a fire that he investigated about five years ago. Turns out that the fire was an attempt to cover up a murder and you know my boy John ... can't leave a sudoku unsolved let alone a homicide.
On the upside, we did spend some good time together and he actually made me dinner one night. I'd give it a three out of five in terms of effort. On the downside, John has decided to get back together with his girlfriend. Frankly, I'm not sure what the attraction is between the two of them. They are always fighting and/or trying to avoid one other. The make up sex must be spectacular. I'll let you know if I see him again.
Immortal Beloved
Tuck Everlasting
Natalie Babbitt
Square Fish
What would it be like to live forever? Would it be a curse or a blessing? This is just one of the questions posed by Babbitt's 1975 classic Tuck Everlasting.
When the story opens we are introduced to Winnie Foster, an eleven-year only child growing up in the late 1800s in America. It is the dog days of August and Winne is oppressed by both the languid heat and her over protective parents. School is still weeks away, she is bored and she is considering running away.
One morning with adventure in mind, she wanders into the wood that is on her property and comes across a beautiful young man who is sitting by a large tree and quenching his thirst in a spring. Long story short, the spring is essentially the fountain of youth and the young man, Jesse, and his family haven't aged since drinking from it over eighty years ago. To protect the secret, Winnie gets kidnapped by Jesse and his family. Eventually, Winne has a decision to make -- should she drink from the spring and live forever or should she continue to grow, become a young woman, have children and eventually die? That's a lot of thinking for one so young. I'll not tell you how the book ends.
Without a doubt, this is the best story that I have read all year and if I were in charge of such things, it would find its way into hands of every little girl in the country. Please please please read this. Five hot summer days out of five.
The Surreal Life
Fall
Colin McAdam
Penguin
I finished reading Fall on a Sunday afternoon about three weeks ago. I tried to write about the book later that evening, but found that I didn't have the words. I still don't seem to have them. This is one of those novels that disturbs you on a fundamental level and once read, it is hard to get it out of your head.
The story opens at St. Ebury's -- a posh Ottawa boarding school. Noel and Julius are roommates attending their senior year. Noel is the son of a Canadian diplomat who is stationed in Australia. He is quiet, obsessive, and unbeknownst to the rest of the school, a violent sociopath. Julius is the son of the American ambassador to Canada. He's tall, beautiful, athletic, and is the type of boy the Noel wishes he could be. Fall, the character who lends the book one aspect of its title, is Julius' girlfriend and part of Noel's obsession.
I'm not sure why this book bothered me so much. Admittedly, the subject was a little disturbing and it is clear from the opening passages that something is, well, not quite right. Perhaps it was the narrative structure that threw me for a loop. Noel, Julius and Julius' driver all take turns telling portions of the story and it is Noel's narration that is the most clear. Or is it? It has been weeks since I read this book and it is still taking up space in a corner of my mind. The author either did a very good job, or something more is going on and I just need to figure out what it is. Three pensive stars out of five.
Into Thin Air
The Smoke Thief
Shana Abé
Bantam
I'm sitting in front of the television trying to generate the enthusiasm to write this post. I've been to the gym, I've gone for a walk and I've even checked my work email all in the spirit of procrastination.
Okay ... I'll just spit it out. This book was terrible. I'm not sure who gave the author the idea to mix a regency style romance with dragon-lore, but she probably should have backed away. Here's the premise ... somewhere in the English countryside there is a closed society of almost-humans descended from a race of jewel-loving shape shifters who are, of course, dragons. No one is allowed to leave the tribe and when someone does try to escape they are hunted,returned and punished and/or killed.
The heroine of our story, Clarissa, is one such escapee. On her seventeenth birthday, she learns that she can shape shift (unusual in clan women) so she fakes her own death and moves to the city. Fast forward a decade. Now a notorious jewel-thief, Clarissa's clandestine activities attract the notice of the dragon mean and the hunt begins. The rest of the story is so predictable that I won't bore you with the details. I promise to never read anything by this author again. One golden dragon out of five.
A Twofer. Fangtastic!
City of Ashes
City of Glass
Cassandra Clare
Simon & Schuster
Okay, so I'm going to cheat a little. I was on holiday a week or so ago and I started my vacation by reading the second installment of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy. The flight to St. Lucia is rather long (not that I'm complaining -- I would totally go back), but had the plane gone down, I probably wouldn't have noticed. City of Ashes was as good, if not better than City of Bones and I was totally hooked. So much so, that I finished the novel before we disembarked.
As you might have noticed from the entries in the past week, I did a lot of other reading while on vacation. Is there anything better than a hammock, a palm tree, a good book, and an even better daiquiri? I think not. Stupidly, I had decided not to bring City of Glass along for the ride since it is only out in hardback. If you have read any of my earliest posts, you'll know that I have very specific rules about what constitutes good plane fare.
So, I waited. And wow -- City of Glass was totally worth it. Even though it is classified as young adult fiction, the Mortal Instruments series is much like the Harry Potter body of work in that it is consumable by all ages. I understand that the author is currently writing a "prequel" to the events in this series and as horrific as it sounds, I'm actually looking forward to it. The Mortal Instruments gets four singing swords out of five.
Pay it Forward
Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin
Penguin
No matter how you look at it, Greg Mortensen is a hero. Here is a man who, while climbing down from K2, gets lost and ends up in some remote Pakistani mountain village. While there, he recovers from his mountaineering ordeal and decides to give back to the people who took him in by building a school.
He returns to the States and starts to raise the required funds. This is a dedicated man. While he doesn't really have a clue as to what to do and how to do it, he has the passion and determination to move it forward. At the end of the day, it takes him a couple of years to deliver on his promise -- he raises the money, navigates the hardships of getting something done in a country plagued by war, corruption, and poverty, and manages to mitigate the challenges of a harsh geography. He is a hero because he doesn't ever stop. He has built more schools, educated more kids, and expanded his program to include community ateliers. He has also taken his initiative into additional countries. Today, he is building schools in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and he is trying to bring peace through education.
Please read this book if for no other reason than to prove to yourself that one person can make a difference. This is activism at its best and Dr. Greg is definitely an inspiration.
An Extraordinary Gentleman
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson
Premier Classics -- Knopf
A few weeks ago, I had one of those nights where no matter what I did, sleep would not come. Usually when I find myself in that situation, I turn on the radio and listen to whatever programming happens to be on the CBC. Unfortunately, that didn't work, so I got up, went downstairs, and randomly pulled out a movie. My pick was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If you haven't seen it, it is a wonderfully crappy movie based on a comic that takes characters from Victorian literature and makes then into a sort of Justice League of the World.
My plan worked in that I was asleep about thirty minutes in, but it did get me to thinking. Of all the characters profiled in that movie, I had never read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I figured they must be classics for a reason, so I set about remedying the situation.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is probably best known to modern-day readers for its interesting portrayal of a dual/split personality. Dr. Jekyll develops a potion that brings out his dark side and comments that it is only when he is Mr. Hyde, that he feels entirely free. His moral self is quite restricted and he slowly, almost inexorably, loses control to his baser side.
It is worth nothing that the other stories included with this novella were equally well-written and were as gripping as Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde. In fact, I enjoyed the stories so much, that I might actually go back and dig out a copy of Treasure Island. I haven't read that since I was a child and I have a feeling that I probably missed the boat. Pun intended. Three dastardly villains out of five.
