Books read in November

[usuallyhats]

Angel Isle - Peter Dickinson
Doctor Who Short Trips
Cold Magic - Kate Elliott
Doctor Who: Timewyrm: Revelation - Paul Cornell
Dead Men's Boots - Mike Carey
Arthur: At The Crossing Places - Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Swan Kingdom - Zoe Marriott
In The Chinks of the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction - Sarah LeFanu

Angel Isle confused me mightily by setting up a really skeevy romance but then a) handling it very realistically (and as well as possible) and b) refusing to confirm or deny whether the two characters actually went there in the end. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL.

Cold Magic was marvellous, if a little hard on the thumbs in the format I read it in. The main character, Cat, was excellently drawn; I felt some of the secondary characters were a bit sketched in, but they were vivid sketches, if you can have such a thing, and I look forward to spending more time in their company in the sequels. (I also want to know more about Cat's parents! *crosses fingers*) The world building was great too: it's set in an alternate-history-with-magic world that hangs together very well. (Here is an interesting and mostly spoiler-free blog post by the author on why Cat sews.)

Timewyrm: Revelation is definitely my favourite of the Timewyrm books - it has good Ace moments, which is a quick way to my heart. ("Ace held certain things to be important. These, in order, were loyalty, street cred and high explosives.") It was also interesting from a "first book by Paul Cornell" perspective: I felt like there were a fair few themes, images etc in there that turn up again in his later work, of which I am very fond (Knight and Squire, for example, is one of my favourite comics. ♥).

Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy, of which I have read the first two, is extraordinary. They have this lovely clear, crisp prose, which draws you straight into the strange familiar twelfth century world. Highly recommended.

I picked up The Swan Kingdom, a fairly straightforward reimagining/expanding of the Swan Princess fairytale, from the library because I've been enjoying the author's blog. I wasn't blown away by it, but I'm glad I read it and am looking forward to reading her later books (this was her first) - from what I've read about them on her blog they look like they're going to be more complex and diverse. Yay!

(This post and the next were originally going to be one post, but it got out of hand, and since there was a logical way to split them, I used it...)

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy, of which I have read the first two, is extraordinary. They have this lovely clear, crisp prose, which draws you straight into the strange familiar twelfth century world. Highly recommended.

Oh, I couldn't agree more. Have you read Gatty's Tale yet, or have you got that still to come? I think his life-time of retelling myths and legends before he actually started writing really tells on his books.

[usuallyhats]

Ooo, no, I haven't, I didn't know it existed! I've only read the first two in the trilogy - where does Gatty's Tale fit in?

I think his life-time of retelling myths and legends before he actually started writing really tells on his books.
I didn't know that but I think it does, yes. Such good writing!

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, I'm sorry, I'm really not paying attention - I was thinking At The Crossing Places was three, and of course it isn't. And you even said that in the bit I quoted. Gatty's Tale should be read last, although it takes place mostly simultaneously to King of the Middle March. And it's gorgeous; I love it. :-)

[usuallyhats]

*g* No worries, I nearly read King of the Middle March second because I was in a muddle about what order they were in! And thanks - I think the library has Gatty's Tale, so I'll grab it when I've read King of the Middle March.

[cosmic-llin.livejournal.com]

The thing that bugged me about The Swan Kingdom was that I didn't feel like the actual making-the-shirts part was handled well - it irritated me that it was pointless in the end. Also the whole part where she had to stay with her aunt seemed a bit disconnected from the rest of the book. Daughter of the Flames is quite interesting...

[usuallyhats]

I quite liked that the shirt-making was pointless - it seemed to tie in with the idea that she had to learn to trust her power rather than accept what she was told - but it was a bit anticlimactic, yes!

Also the whole part where she had to stay with her aunt seemed a bit disconnected from the rest of the book.
It did need to be integrated a bit better, yeah. I was a bit taken aback by how long she was there, too: cutting the timeframe down might've helped.

Daughter of the Flames is quite interesting...
Cool, I'll try and get the library's copy (...after Christmas, probably).

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember if it was Cold Magic of KE's I tried reading and couldn't get into...

Sad really because I read something else of hers (the title of which is also escaping me - FAIL!) that I really enjoyed!

[usuallyhats]

*g* This is the only one of hers I've read, so can't compare! I think it helped me get into it that I was pretty cold when I was reading it... ;)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

It was KE's AN EARTHLY CROWN that I'd read previously and really enjoyed...

[usuallyhats]

Cool! I'll look out for that one too.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Do! It's the first in a series - and I have the sequel but still haven't got around to reading it yet (keep getting sidetracked by other books/series!)

[usuallyhats]

*g* I know that situation well!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

:D

(BTW, turned out that The Earthly Crown's actually the second book in that series - the first is Jarran (sp?))