More book review!
22 Dec 2007 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salineaSo many books I must review before the new year ^_^;;
The Book of the Jhereg and the Book of Taltos by Steven Brust
Gathering a total of 5 books within those two omnibus. I'll be brief : those books are fun, enjoyable, very entertaining and about as deep as a shallow rain pool. Since LKHamilton has turned herself to (bad) porn, they're my new favourite kind of reading for short mindless kinda hardboiled kinda snarky in a smartass way RPG-like stories. Featuring Vlad Taltos, human assassin, witch and petty crime lord in a society of long-lived elves (maybe?) bound to a ridid sysem of Houses which make the L5R's society looks flexible and tolerant, they have an excellent balance of plot, fun, banter, and simple-yet-effective characterization with just the right kind of fast pacing. Various NPCs - I'm sorry, secondary characters - finish to give it colour.
Somehow, I figure this is the way I should have been reading Lies of Locke Lamora. I would have enjoyed it so much more this way.
Fortress of Ice by C.J.Cherryh
Sequel to the other Fortress books which I reviewed here. It was nice to get back to this universe and those characters, some 15 years later. The two new main characters, half-brothers and princes Aewyn and Otter (called this because his real name Elfwyn is quite ominous) are a delight. They remind me of Robb and Jon quite a deal, for obvious similarities both in position and personnalities, yet I found myself liking them more, much more, than I ever did Robb or Jon. As with previous books, the pacing is sometimes agonizingly slow and sometimes stuck in minutiae. As with previous books, one of the highlight is the way magic is written, very atmospheric and intuitive. The sense of the complexity of intrigues and governance is also made in a great way. I can't wait to see further sequels.
Voices by Ursula Leguin
Memer is a child in an occupied land, a lover of books in a city where the writen word is seen as blasphemy, a child born of a rape that happened during the city's conquest.
That was a nice book, a delight to read in term of styles as always it is with Leguin, and with a few interesting themes. There's some interesting culture building, of course, and the characters are very well drawn. However I found it way too light in terms of plot, and felt especially frustrated by how little the main character did to influence events. While she had a key part, she was very passive about it. Perhaps I'm taking too seriously what is meant to be a children's book.
The Avaryan cycle by Judith Tarr (The Hall of the Mountain Kings, The Lady of Han-Gilen, A Fall of Prince, Arrows of the Sun, The Spear of Heaven)
The books portray the rise in power of a dynasty of emperors-priests, who are the direct descendant of the Sun-God (the first one being the result of an immaculate birth - no, really XD) through a number of generations.
Part of the reason I read those was how because of the Ran (from Ran's board) heavily recced them, and I certainly could see some similarities in writing and themes with other writers he (and I ^_^) like, such as Guy Gavriel Kay, Jacqueline Carey or Ellen Kushner - although I would see it as slightly lesser in quality. It's still a very decent fantasy, and one which hit a certain number of my "kinks", so I spent a very nice time reading them.
In format, it reminded me of Jennifer Robinson's Cheyzuli chronicle, but felt slightly better than those to me.
While I couldn't properly judge the style because I was reading a translation, I got a sense of vividness, colour, sensuality, romantism and epic which was just great. Characters were not always very subtle, but always depicted with a kind of passion and over-the-topness which I couldn't do anything but love, even when they were being so ridiculously arrogant and brash that I should have hated them. There's a lot of basic romance in it, but it was the kind of romance I could guitily take quite a bit of pleasure in (with a high point in Fall of Prince and Arrows of the Sun, half because I systematically adored Asanian characters, half because of the hate-love-rivalry-slashiness of it - did I mention there's gender bending?). In terms of plot, it's rather light and certainly not belieavable, but still fun enough to me. The magic system was especially boring (the only good idea is the fact the Mage pairs of a dark one and a light one). The world building is relatively cookie-cutter, with nothing complicated or overwhelmingly surprising but some nice touches and details which make it vivid and colourful. Thematically, there's nothing very deep, and even a few things which made me scratch my head, but taken as mainly entertainment, they were certainly pleasant enough. Oh, and most characters were various shades of (lovingly described) dark skins, if you dig that (it's rare enough in fantasy, especially of the light entertainment variety).
And apparently there's a sixth volume which hasn't shown up (yet?) in French and which I must procure myself.
The Book of the Jhereg and the Book of Taltos by Steven Brust
Gathering a total of 5 books within those two omnibus. I'll be brief : those books are fun, enjoyable, very entertaining and about as deep as a shallow rain pool. Since LKHamilton has turned herself to (bad) porn, they're my new favourite kind of reading for short mindless kinda hardboiled kinda snarky in a smartass way RPG-like stories. Featuring Vlad Taltos, human assassin, witch and petty crime lord in a society of long-lived elves (maybe?) bound to a ridid sysem of Houses which make the L5R's society looks flexible and tolerant, they have an excellent balance of plot, fun, banter, and simple-yet-effective characterization with just the right kind of fast pacing. Various NPCs - I'm sorry, secondary characters - finish to give it colour.
Somehow, I figure this is the way I should have been reading Lies of Locke Lamora. I would have enjoyed it so much more this way.
Fortress of Ice by C.J.Cherryh
Sequel to the other Fortress books which I reviewed here. It was nice to get back to this universe and those characters, some 15 years later. The two new main characters, half-brothers and princes Aewyn and Otter (called this because his real name Elfwyn is quite ominous) are a delight. They remind me of Robb and Jon quite a deal, for obvious similarities both in position and personnalities, yet I found myself liking them more, much more, than I ever did Robb or Jon. As with previous books, the pacing is sometimes agonizingly slow and sometimes stuck in minutiae. As with previous books, one of the highlight is the way magic is written, very atmospheric and intuitive. The sense of the complexity of intrigues and governance is also made in a great way. I can't wait to see further sequels.
Voices by Ursula Leguin
Memer is a child in an occupied land, a lover of books in a city where the writen word is seen as blasphemy, a child born of a rape that happened during the city's conquest.
That was a nice book, a delight to read in term of styles as always it is with Leguin, and with a few interesting themes. There's some interesting culture building, of course, and the characters are very well drawn. However I found it way too light in terms of plot, and felt especially frustrated by how little the main character did to influence events. While she had a key part, she was very passive about it. Perhaps I'm taking too seriously what is meant to be a children's book.
The Avaryan cycle by Judith Tarr (The Hall of the Mountain Kings, The Lady of Han-Gilen, A Fall of Prince, Arrows of the Sun, The Spear of Heaven)
The books portray the rise in power of a dynasty of emperors-priests, who are the direct descendant of the Sun-God (the first one being the result of an immaculate birth - no, really XD) through a number of generations.
Part of the reason I read those was how because of the Ran (from Ran's board) heavily recced them, and I certainly could see some similarities in writing and themes with other writers he (and I ^_^) like, such as Guy Gavriel Kay, Jacqueline Carey or Ellen Kushner - although I would see it as slightly lesser in quality. It's still a very decent fantasy, and one which hit a certain number of my "kinks", so I spent a very nice time reading them.
In format, it reminded me of Jennifer Robinson's Cheyzuli chronicle, but felt slightly better than those to me.
While I couldn't properly judge the style because I was reading a translation, I got a sense of vividness, colour, sensuality, romantism and epic which was just great. Characters were not always very subtle, but always depicted with a kind of passion and over-the-topness which I couldn't do anything but love, even when they were being so ridiculously arrogant and brash that I should have hated them. There's a lot of basic romance in it, but it was the kind of romance I could guitily take quite a bit of pleasure in (with a high point in Fall of Prince and Arrows of the Sun, half because I systematically adored Asanian characters, half because of the hate-love-rivalry-slashiness of it - did I mention there's gender bending?). In terms of plot, it's rather light and certainly not belieavable, but still fun enough to me. The magic system was especially boring (the only good idea is the fact the Mage pairs of a dark one and a light one). The world building is relatively cookie-cutter, with nothing complicated or overwhelmingly surprising but some nice touches and details which make it vivid and colourful. Thematically, there's nothing very deep, and even a few things which made me scratch my head, but taken as mainly entertainment, they were certainly pleasant enough. Oh, and most characters were various shades of (lovingly described) dark skins, if you dig that (it's rare enough in fantasy, especially of the light entertainment variety).
And apparently there's a sixth volume which hasn't shown up (yet?) in French and which I must procure myself.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 12:10 am (UTC)But I'm waiting for a lot of things to come my way...
::looks pointedly at GRR Martin::
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 12:18 am (UTC)I think I was a bit disturbed as her role as a vessel for the prophecy-voice-thingy? Because she's just supposed to accept this role in a very passive way even though it freaks her up. Maybe I'm missing some kind of subtleties, though.
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 03:41 am (UTC)Yes, that allowing herself to be used by the voice was a little strange. I didn't think of it while reading, but now that you point it out, I agree. Although perhaps that's how it feels to have any gift of art--I sometimes think Le Guin writes about herself in metaphor in her books.
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 02:30 am (UTC)Those other book you mentioned look quite interesting, but I still have to read "A Song of Ice and Fire" books (which I just started and already adore) and "The Dark Tower" series before I'm allowed to buy myself more books. XD
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 12:10 pm (UTC)ASOIAF = pure awesome. Have you hanged up on
I used to like The Dark Tower up to the third volume. Then after a wait of years we got the fourth book and I was so disapointed by it I never dared to read the others >_> but some people adore this series.
Too many books to read, yeap, I'm there as well.
no subject
Date: 27 December 2007 07:39 am (UTC)I have not joined anything yet for ASOIAF! I'm only a few chapters in, so I'm going to wait a while to get stronger impressions. It's top notch from what I'm reading. So detailed without being boring, and the writing is just... I envy his skills!
The Dark Tower was recced to me by a friend, so I bought it. I love Stephen King, so. Lucky for me, I'm getting it all in one go. XD
jhjksahgjk I wish I could read as fast as you can!
no subject
Date: 27 December 2007 11:48 am (UTC)jhjksahgjk I wish I could read as fast as you can!
Heh... I can get a tiny bit... obsessive about reading, when I'm in the mood. And I don't have much else to do right now ^_^
no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 11:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 December 2007 12:11 pm (UTC)