books, books, books !
5 Feb 2006 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salineaI finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel the other day, and quite liked it. Very, very slashy book ;)
I was slow to get into it... and was somewhat bored for at least the first 100 pages, but once Jonathan Strange happened in the story, as I hoped it would, the book gained much more interest. The writing of the book is very good general, the mock style of the period, pre-Victorian and full of back notes and dry wit comments about Lord something and historical information is ever delightful. The world imagined - an England were magic existed once and where the Raven King was its most famous magician in History, is excellently done, and the tone and practices of the magic presented is very fresh and interesting, with the exact right flavour to fit into those 19th century. The Feys of this story will please anybody who enjoyed Pratchett's take on Elves.... and make a very good model for Exalted's Fair Folk. They're beautiful, cruel, whimsical and deeply untrustworthy ^_^
I was for a time afraid that the book's depiction of the characters was too dark, too sarcastic and unsympathetic. They have very big flaws and are not exactly painted kindly. However, eventually, I found myself liking them while still laughing to the satire the narrator convey.
In the end it's a book I'd reccomand especially if you love History, Brittishness and subtle humour, with some warning that it's not exactly quickly paced.
Yesterday I found myself buying a lot of books, there were some nice bargain sales ^_^; (I shall justify it to myself thus)
I got :
Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana (i used to own a French copy that I lent and never got back and it's my second favourite of Kay's novel - Lions of Al-Rassan is the first)
C.J. Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy (on a whim, but Cherrih's usually a very fair writer)
Martha Wells' Element of Fire which my dear friend Teresa has been reccomending to me for a while (I finally found a bargain sale that was under 12€ >_>)
Ashok Banker's Prince of Ayodhya, 1st volume of rewriting of the Ramatana which I've been curious about since I saw it around because Hindouist mythology is love ♥
And Jacqueline Carey's Banebreaker which I've just finished this evening.
I loved her first fantasy serie Kushiel, so I definitly wanted to try this one out. It's very different in themes and moods. It's deeply influenced by Tolkien, but seen from the side of the Evil Overlord and those who serve him. It's not exactly a very new idea, but the take is fresh and very distinctive than Glen Cook, Mary Gentle or Margaret Weis' tries at the idea. Probably because of how much it draws on Tolkien, but in a way that is not annoying like all those unimaginative fantasy series. The characters are generally likable, from whichever sides they stand. I like the fact that Carey's thematics are around loyalties, the difficulty of making those choices, and that there's always many truths to one conflict. The writing is beautiful and flowing - at least if you can stand Carey's lyrism and... well, gothism. Though I think it's not as marked as in Kushiel's trilogy. Then again, that kind of things doesn't disturb me so what do I know ^_^
I also bought the sixth TPB of Fables which was as good as this comic usually is. There was no sight of either Bigby Wolf or Snow White but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. Blue Boy kicked ass mightily (never trust people who wear a mask, as they say XD) and there were a lot of interesting revelations. Oh, and one A Song of Ice and Fire wink *glee*
I was slow to get into it... and was somewhat bored for at least the first 100 pages, but once Jonathan Strange happened in the story, as I hoped it would, the book gained much more interest. The writing of the book is very good general, the mock style of the period, pre-Victorian and full of back notes and dry wit comments about Lord something and historical information is ever delightful. The world imagined - an England were magic existed once and where the Raven King was its most famous magician in History, is excellently done, and the tone and practices of the magic presented is very fresh and interesting, with the exact right flavour to fit into those 19th century. The Feys of this story will please anybody who enjoyed Pratchett's take on Elves.... and make a very good model for Exalted's Fair Folk. They're beautiful, cruel, whimsical and deeply untrustworthy ^_^
I was for a time afraid that the book's depiction of the characters was too dark, too sarcastic and unsympathetic. They have very big flaws and are not exactly painted kindly. However, eventually, I found myself liking them while still laughing to the satire the narrator convey.
In the end it's a book I'd reccomand especially if you love History, Brittishness and subtle humour, with some warning that it's not exactly quickly paced.
Yesterday I found myself buying a lot of books, there were some nice bargain sales ^_^; (I shall justify it to myself thus)
I got :
Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana (i used to own a French copy that I lent and never got back and it's my second favourite of Kay's novel - Lions of Al-Rassan is the first)
C.J. Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy (on a whim, but Cherrih's usually a very fair writer)
Martha Wells' Element of Fire which my dear friend Teresa has been reccomending to me for a while (I finally found a bargain sale that was under 12€ >_>)
Ashok Banker's Prince of Ayodhya, 1st volume of rewriting of the Ramatana which I've been curious about since I saw it around because Hindouist mythology is love ♥
And Jacqueline Carey's Banebreaker which I've just finished this evening.
I loved her first fantasy serie Kushiel, so I definitly wanted to try this one out. It's very different in themes and moods. It's deeply influenced by Tolkien, but seen from the side of the Evil Overlord and those who serve him. It's not exactly a very new idea, but the take is fresh and very distinctive than Glen Cook, Mary Gentle or Margaret Weis' tries at the idea. Probably because of how much it draws on Tolkien, but in a way that is not annoying like all those unimaginative fantasy series. The characters are generally likable, from whichever sides they stand. I like the fact that Carey's thematics are around loyalties, the difficulty of making those choices, and that there's always many truths to one conflict. The writing is beautiful and flowing - at least if you can stand Carey's lyrism and... well, gothism. Though I think it's not as marked as in Kushiel's trilogy. Then again, that kind of things doesn't disturb me so what do I know ^_^
I also bought the sixth TPB of Fables which was as good as this comic usually is. There was no sight of either Bigby Wolf or Snow White but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. Blue Boy kicked ass mightily (never trust people who wear a mask, as they say XD) and there were a lot of interesting revelations. Oh, and one A Song of Ice and Fire wink *glee*
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no subject
Date: 6 February 2006 04:27 am (UTC)I haven't read the other ones either but been meaning to read the Kushiel series for a while.
no subject
Date: 6 February 2006 07:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 February 2006 10:19 am (UTC)And yay about Element of Fire, though I hope I did not hype it too much.
MY opinion about Strange and Norrell diverges quite a bit, but the only thing worth noting is that the writing seemed more pastiche victorian to me than pre-victorian.
no subject
Date: 6 February 2006 10:35 am (UTC)What do you think of it ? *is curious*
I said "pre-victorian" because the Queen Victoria wasn't in office yet and it was only the beginning of the 19th century. If that periode has another name I know not, I'd be glad to know what it is. In terms of style of writing, I'm not sure I could differenciate them so you might be very right ^^
(Reply to this) (Parent)
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Date: 10 February 2006 07:34 pm (UTC)I love Jane Austen, and heard lots of people comparing the writing of Clarke to it. No way. She tries to use a similar sentence now and then, but the way of the narrative, no underlining irony, the way she tells some things in such ways, it all seemed a lot more like Dickens or Trollope to me, definetely victorian, not Austen at all.