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The Posh, the Privileged and the Paranormal

The Posh, the Privileged and the Paranormal

Tag Archives: neil gaiman

Top Ten Tuesday – Books on my summer 2014 to-read list

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by georgianaderwent in Uncategorized

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grisha, luminaries, neil gaiman, outlander, ruin and rising, summer reads, top ten tuesday

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Top Ten Tuesday List – see http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html  for more information  -but today I’ve made a special effort, as it’s Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR list. I always find I end up reading more in those months that I’ve covered off in one of these lists, as getting through them feels like a nice little challenge.

Over the summer though, I intend to get some serious reading done. Apart from anything else, my honeymoon in August apparently involves a seriously longhaul flight (no one will tell me where I’m going, so don’t ask) which seems like the perfect opportunity to work my way through some of the longer books I’ve been avoiding recently because they felt like such a commitment. 

Anyway, without further ado, here’s my list.

1) Ruin and Rising – The Grisha 3 (Leigh Bardugo) – The first two books in this Russian-themed fantasy series were some of my absolute favorite reads of last year and I’ve been eagerly awaiting this final installment. There’s not much longer to wait – it’s out on Thursday, which also happens to be my birthday. The perfect present! Except that some of the pre-release reviews on Amazon are making me a little bit nervous about just how it’s going to play out.

2) The Girl on the Golden Coin (Marci Jefferson)- Precisely because I love history so much, I tend to be slightly wary of historical fiction, but from what I hear, this Restoration-era novel about Lady Frances Stewart is both well written and well researched, as well as full of intrigue. And more importantly, the main character marries the son of the real-life Lord George Stewart.

3) Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)- I’m dubious about this one, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book recommended so many times, both generally on blogs and specifically to me. The length of both the first book and the seemingly never ending series have made me wary of getting drawn in, and summaries of the time-travel love triangle based plot make me unsure whether I’m going to love it or hate it, but people keep telling me it’s much better than that bizarre genre makes it sound, and this summer, I intend to finally give in and give it a go. 

4) Doomsday Book (Connie Willis) – And while we’re on the subject of time travel, this one is about an Oxford history student in 2054 who travels back to the 1320s as part of her course. I’ve heard good things despite the weird premise, but this is basically wish fulfillment for me. I feel very short-changed that my college didn’t have a time machine. 

5) The Luminaries (Eleanor Catton) – I always pride myself on liking literary and genre fiction in roughly equal measure, but my reading habits have definitely tipped towards the latter recently. I’ve just finished the Goldfinch (review tomorrow, hopefully) which is this year’s other Famous Eight-Hundred Page Literary Success Story and enjoyed it far more than I was expecting, so now I’m going to give this one a whirl. Friends and reviewers with very high literary tolerance warn that it’s quite hard work, so I’l consider myself fairly warned…

6)Crewel (Gennifer Albin)– And then back to something lighter. This seems to be basically a standard YA dystopia/fantasy, but I read a glowing review of it from someone whose opinions I broadly trust, and the way it seems to bring in the story of the fates who weave the world intrigued me. 

7)Stardust (Neil Gaiman) – I’ve been slowly working my way through Gaiman’s back catalogue, and this adult fairytale is next on the list. I enjoyed the film, and while I’ve enjoyed some of his books more than others, the author never really lets me down. 

8)Changeless – PArasol Protectorate 2(Gail Carriger) – I read Soulless, the first book in this (wait for it) steampunk paranormal mystery comedy series a few years ago, and found it a really funny, enjoyable read. Somehow though, I’ve never felt motivated to read the sequel, but I think this Victorian comedy of manners and vampires will be the perfect beach read in Mystery Destination. 

9)Whispers Under Ground – Rivers of London 3 (Ben Aaronovitch) – I’ve had a similar experience with this series about a wizard policeman in modern day London, enjoying it but never feeling a pressing urge to pick up the next installment. 

There is no one book pressing for the number ten slot and lots I’m tempted by that I could include. With some really epic books on there, ten is probably ambitious anyway, and I’d like to allow myself a bit of flexibility to go off-list if the mood takes me. 

Are there any that you’ve already read that you’d push me towards or nudge me away from? Or are you planning to give any of these a try this summer? In particular, who else is going to be reading Ruin and Rising on Thursday? I suspect I’m going to need a support group. 

Book Review – American Gods

15 Sunday Jun 2014

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american gods, neil gaiman, review

I hope readers enjoyed the first two entries in my series about inspirations for characters in the Cavaliers, focussed on Augustine and George. I promised more entries, and they will be coming soon, with my intention being to write one about Adelaide (touching on her twin and on her previous incarnation) and then a joint one about Fea and the Visigoth Goth Twins. 

Sadly, this week’s been far too hectic to write any of those posts, as they tend to take me a while. In the meantime, therefore, here’s a review. Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that there are books I bring up again and again – in Top Ten Tuesday lists, in posts about my own books, and as comparators in reviews. One of those is American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which blew me away as a seventeen or eighteen year old when I was really, really into mythology. I’ve read several of his books since, and although I always enjoy them, they’ve never quite hit that high note for me.

Incidentally, the one other thing Gaiman has written that is as good is his Sandman series of graphic novels. I’m not a very visual person  – I definitely think in words rather than pictures – so due to personal preference rather than literary snobbery, I didn’t think I’d enjoy what are basically comics, but they are amazing and well worth a look even if it’s not a medium you’re familiar/comfortable with. 

Back to American Gods. Over the years, I’ve recommended it to loads of people, referenced it constantly, and looked back on it lovingly, but I’ve never re-read it. A few weeks ago, I decided to get a copy and re-read it cover to cover. It’s always a dangerous thing to do, thanks to the risk that it won’t be as good in reality as it is in your memory, but in this case, no such problem arose. I didn’t adore it quite as much as I did first time around, partly due to remembering the plot twists and partly due to not being quite so fascinated by the subject matter anymore, but it’s still a definite 5 star read and a book I’d heavily recommend. 

AMERICAN GODS – NEIL GAIMAN – 5 STARS

349347

THE BLURB

Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, AMERICAN GODS takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You’ll be surprised by what and who it finds there…

THE REVIEW

I long been a believer that “genre fiction” can be just as meaningful and well-written as some of the more obviously literary novels, and this book, (which I first read around ten years ago but re-read from cover to cover recently) is a perfect example of the concept. 

The storyline is utterly compelling, with well-developed, memorable characters and some well-handled twists. The basic premise is an intriguing one. All gods and similar mythological creatures are real, created out of people’s belief in them. As waves of explorers and immigrants have come to America over the centuries, they’ve brought their gods with them, but with little belief left in Thor or leprechauns or whatever, they are mostly eking out a fragile existence on the fringes of society, as con artists or prostitutes or physical labourers. At the same time, new gods are coming into being – gods of the internet, of electricity, of cars etc, and having far more success. That rather bizarre set-up is handled well and believably, and both old and new gods are fun to read about. If you like mythology (and I love it) you’ll have lots of fun trying to work out who some of the more obscure characters are based on, and making frequent trips to wikipedia. Gaiman has clearly done his research.

Despite all the Gods drifting around and the fantastical nature of some scenes, much of the plot and the setting is very realistic, even gritty. The main character is a seemingly ordinary man called Shadow, who becomes embroiled in the old gods’ plot to regain their power and prestige, after a meeting with a Mr Wednesday, whose real identity readers with a passing knowledge of myths can probably take a guess at. Shadow starts the novel in prison for bank robbery, and the prison scenes and later fights and interrogations would not be out of place in something like The Wire. This is urban fantasy at it’s most urban, with a definite adult feel. 

Sometimes, the plot is full of action and revelation. At other points, however, it becomes slow and meditative, which seems quite unusual for a novel of this kind. Shadow spends large parts of the middle section hiding out in an oddly perfect snow-covered town in the north of America. This section could easily have dragged, but my interest in the character and the quality of the writing kept me engaged, and I ultimately felt the book was better for being willing to slow down. It gave it a real epic quality. 

Beyond the plot though, there are allsorts of big questions being explored. Why does every society have gods? What role do they fulfil in the human psyche? What is the nature of belief? What does it mean to be American? How does it feel to leave one country and culture behind and join another. They are the sort of questions you’d normally expect to be dealt with in a deadly serious Big Novel, but actually feel fresher viewed through this prism of gods and adventures. It’s helped by the fact that Gaiman’s writing style is consistently strong, and would actually translate perfectly to something less fantastical. 

Finally, one of my favourite things about the book is the way the main storyline is intercut with both stories of random gods’ everyday lives in modern America (I was particularly intrigued by the Queen of Sheba) and stories of the people who came to America and brought their gods with them. Of the latter, the standout was a story of an African woman brought to America as a slave, bringing some voodoo type gods with her. In one chapter, it honestly delivers the most powerful reminder of how horrific slavery was that I’ve ever read. Most of the others are lighter, but still fascinating. 

In conclusion, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes intelligent fantasy, as well as some people who think fantasy isn’t really for them. Gaiman’s one of my favourite authors, and this is probably his best book and a wonderful introduction to his style.

 

PS. This time around, I (deliberately) read the author’s preferred edition, basically a sort of director’s cut equivalent, with 12 000 words of previously cut material added back in. I’d recommend sticking with the original, slightly shorter (though still nearly 600 pages long) edition. It’s hard to be sure as it’s so long since I first read this, but I think the original is just that bit tighter and slicker. Editors serve a purpose, they’re not just there to thwart an author’s will, something that I’ve learned over time, as a naturally wordy writer. 

Top Ten Tuesday – Summer Reading List

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by georgianaderwent in Top Ten Tuesday

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booker prize, books, curtis sittenfeld, fantasy, grave mercy, neil gaiman, rivers of london, shining girls, summer reading, top ten tuesday, ya

It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by the blog, The Broke and the Bookish – http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.co.uk/

Each week they ask people to write a top ten list of something on a literary theme. It’s a nice simple one this week: books you’re planning to read over the summer. I’ve kept this down to eight on the basis that there are bound to be things I want to read on a random, spur-of-the-moment basis, not to mention things I suddenly find myself desperate to read once I start browsing other people’s lists:

 

teleportation shining girls ocean rivers sisterland throne of glass seraphina grave mercy

1) The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman) – the new Neil Gaiman. I think that’s enough said.

2) Sisterland (Curtis Sittenfeld)- and the new Curtis Sittenfeld. A few months ago, when there was a Top Ten Tuesday about autobuy authors, she was high up my list. Besides which, the theme of psychic twin sisters sounds intriguing, even if it’s a bit too similar to my favourite story in Girl Reading.

3) Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch) – London based urban fantasy (in the most literal sense of both words) that was recommended to me by someone whose taste in books hasn’t failed me yet. And since they expectantly lent me their copy, I’ve kept seeing praise lavished on it from all quarters.

4) Seraphina (Rachel Hartman) – All through my teens, Seraphina was my favourite name. I used it as the name of the character in my first novel (which possibly tells you everything you need to know about said novel!), used it as my default internet screen name and seriously planned to lumber my first born daughter with it – actually, don’t tell my fiancé, but I’ve still not entirely ruled that out.  When I saw there was a fantasy novel with this title, I almost wondered if I’d written and published it myself whilst drunk. Beyond the name though, I’ve heard good things about this, and I love the idea of a proper hardcore fantasy novel written by a woman.

5) Throne of Glass (Sarah Maas) – And while we’re on the subject of female-authored fantasy, this always seems to be mentioned in the same breath as Seraphina, and also sounds potentially fantastic.

6) Grave Mercy (RL LaFevers)- the more reviews I’ve read, the less sure I’ve been, but when I hear there’s a novel about an assassin nun in fifteenth century France, I’m sold.

7) The Shining Girls – as a general rule, I hate books about serial killers (books about crime full-stop really) but love books that make clever use of time travel. I’m desperate to see which side wins out when I read this tale of a time-travelling serial killer.

8) The Teleportation Accident (Ned Beauman)  – I always try and read my way though those bits of the Booker Prize shortlist that look vaguely interesting, and this entry from last year with what appears to be a weird, time-bending structure has been hanging around on my TBR list for months.

So, anyone want to warn me off any of these or encourage me to hurry up and start one of them?

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Autobuy Authors

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by georgianaderwent in Uncategorized

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books, curtis sittenfeld, david mitchell, george rr martin, jonathan coe, lj smith, margaret atwood, neil gaiman, patrick rothfuss, terry pratchett, top ten tuesday

I’ve been meaning to get involved with this for weeks, and finally, here’s my contribution to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by the blog, The Broke and the Bookish – http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.co.uk/

Each week they ask people to write a top ten list of something on a literary theme. This week it’s top ten auto-buy authors. That is, those authors whose latest books you would buy without giving much consideration to genre, blurb, reviews etc – you’d just trust in the fact that because it was by them, it was probably worth a read.

I got to five entries on this list in seconds (not what’s now my top five) because like everyone, I have favourites. Beyond that, I started to struggle and I eventually ground to a halt at nine. I generally like to discover new books, series, and authors. Unless I really love an author, I find that either all their books are basically the same and it all gets a bit dull, or most of what they write isn’t as good as the book that got me interested in them in the first place. I also find that it’s a rare series that doesn’t start to get bad if it goes on for more than four or five books.

Nonetheless, the second any of these good people announce another book, I’m heading straight to Amazon, in some cases with slight trepidation, in others in full confidence that whatever they’ve released, it’s going to be amazing.

1)Terry Pratchett is probably the single best example on this list of putting my auto-buy policy into practise. He’s written over forty books and I’ve  read them all. For years, he churned out works that were hysterically funny, brilliantly plotted and strangely profound at a rate of around two books a year.  
 
The Discworld books aren’t as good as they used to be, but a sub-par Terry Pratchett novel is still a pretty entertaining read and I don’t think I’ll ever stop buying them as they come out.
 
2)George R. Martin – like seemingly everyone else in the world, I’m desperately waiting for the final two A Song of Ice and Fire novels. A Dance with Dragons is probably the only book I can remember ordering in advance of publication to make sure I got it on release day.  
 
Over and above that though, I’ve started reading through his back catalogue and the man just has a real gift for storytelling. Fevre Dream is basically a book about steamships, a subject I have pretty much zero interest in, but his writing made it fascinating. (Okay, it also had vampires, which I admittedly love, but they were definitely playing second fiddle to the steamships!) If I heard he had a new book out, in pretty much any genre, I’d give it a whirl.
 
3)Patrick Rothfuss – Patrick is probably the least tried and tested member of this list. He has written precisely two book, both of which are part of the same series, The Kingkiller Chronicles. I will be buying the third and final instalment the second it is released, no question. In fact it’s probably now beaten even A Song of Ice and Fire Book 6 into second place in my “books I cannot wait for  list.” Maybe I’m wrong, but as it’s his writing style I love as much as the plot, I think I’d like anything else he wrote too.
 
4)David Mitchell – I wrote quite enough over the weekend about how much I love Cloud Atlas, DM’s finest work, so I won’t go on about that again. Whilst I don’t think any of his other books, earlier or later, can quite beat that, I’ve read and enjoyed them all.  These include: a collection of loosely joined stories about ghosts; a tale of a young man’s search for his father in modern Japan; a coming of age tale in 1980s England; and an adventure story set in eighteenth century Japan. That’s probably the most varied genre jumping on this list, so I think it’s fair to say that I’ll give anything he writes a go and he can write an astonishingly good book about almost anything.
 
5)Curtis Sittenfeld -In contract, Curtis Sittenfeld seems to write about one thing and one thing only – Preppy, WASPY types coming of age and falling in love. But if that sounds like trashy chick-lit, think again. Her books are inevitably beautifully written and really clever – I definitely file them as literary in my mind. I happen to like stories about posh folk (I prefer the English variety, but American will do in a pinch!) but if her next book happened to be a gritty drama about starving refugees, I’d still snap it up immediately, because this girl can Write.
 
6)Jonathan Coe – I loved Jonathan Coe for What a Carve Up, which battles it out with Cloud Atlas in my best book ever award.  The Rotters Club is also amazing. Since then though, he seems to have gone steadily downhill. Nonetheless, I can always find something to enjoy in his books, and I keep on giving him a chance without really checking what his new releases are about, just in case it’s another Carve Up.
 
7)Margaret Atwood – Great writer, and one of the few who can neatly blur the lines between literary and genre fiction. I prefer her when she veers closer towards the latter, but I always give her new books a go.
 
8)Neil Gaiman – I love all his books, and he even made me read a children’s book (Coraline) and give graphic novels a go (Sandman Series). In both cases, I enjoyed something not just outside of my usual genre but completely outside of the sort of book I’d normally consider.
 
9)LJ Smith – One upon a time Ms Smith would have been near the top of this list. I’ve written before about how her Vampire Diaries series triggered my love of vampire literature and that’s not even my favourite series of hers . That honour falls to the Forbidden Game, the best paranormal series ever. Having read and loved a few of her books, I sought out and devoured the rest in a frenzy. I physically couldn’t read anything else until I’d read everything she’d ever written.
This was all over a decade ago. Then a few years back I heard there was a new VD trilogy coming out and was beyond excited. Except to my horror, it turned out to be absolutely awful. Now I’d approach any new book of hers with caution, though an extract on her website  from something she’s working on looks great, so maybe there’s hope yet. Either way,  I know full well I’d still buy it.  Especially the final book of Night World, which I’ve been waiting for for twelve years. George R Martin fans don’t know the meaning of suffering 😉

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