Review

In Great Waters

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In Great Waters

In Great Waters

By Kit Whitfield

Del Rey

ISBN: 978-0-354-49165-7

3 stars

In an alternative, middle ages world where people are ruled by Deepsmen, mermaid type men and women that can walk on land, the royal family is in danger of breeding itself out of existence. Few choices are left for members of the royal family, and while they hang onto the throne precariously, even they begin to wonder what is left. That is until Henry, a bastard child found abandoned on the shore and kept hidden by those that would like to see him in power, is not only able, but willing, to fight to rule.

I was very excited to read this book. I liked the idea of an alternative world ruled by Deepsmen — the possibilities seemed endless to me and I enjoyed several aspects of the story. The history of how the Deepsmen rose out of the waters to rule was particularly good and the politics of the court were exciting, but there was one thing that held me back, and that was Henry. He’s unlikable and he’s supposed to be. He’s a child a mother didn’t want, he fights all his life to survive in the water only to be thrown onto land, taken in, hidden, and taught about a world he doesn’t care about and doesn’t want to be a part of. He’s bitter, angry, and brutal but you don’t blame him. He should be that way but it made him infinitely unlikable for me. It threw the story into havoc and I had trouble recovering.

Whitfield does give you people to like. Anne for example. She’s the youngest daughter of the current king and queen who does her best to hide herself. She’s clumsy and has odd Deepsmen qualities, but is smart which becomes her only salvation. Unfortunately, when her story collides with Henry’s, I still couldn’t find sympathy for these characters.

I realize that my review has become more about the characters than the story itself. The story in this book is very imaginative and has some great fantasy elements that do make it worth the read. For me, unfortunately, I also need characters to join on the ride and here I had trouble becoming attached which stopped me from getting fully immersed in the story. Whitfield does a great job of bringing the court to life and the way she tells the story of how the first Deepsmen queen rose out of the waters in Venice is, dare I say it, believable. The politics of the world are complicated and add a lot to the story but it wasn’t enough.

Here’s the thing about it though — there was some very strong draw that kept me reading and wanting to know how this was all going to turn out. Would war break out, would Henry be accepted by the people, would Anne find it in herself to step up and rule? If you’re looking for something different, this might be a book for you. I liked the plot, setting, and the writing but had trouble with one character that made my loving this book a little hard. However, I plan to give Whitfield another shot and have her other book, Benighted, on hold at the library. There’s something about her writing that made me want to read more even if this book wasn’t a great fit.

The City & The City

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The City & The City

The City & The City

By China Miéville

Del Rey

ISBN: 0345497511

4 Stars

In the far reaches of Europe, the citizens of two cities strive to unsee each other. The cities, Beszel and Ul Qoma, are crosshatched sister cities divided for and by political reasons which even it’s own citizens cannot always understand.

When a woman turns up dead in Beszel, Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad is called in to investigate. The young woman turns out to be a foreigner studying in Ul Qoma. When he cannot take the case any further without causing an incident that might give him reason to see someone in the other city, he tries to turn the case over to Breach, the agency that deals with crimes that cross city lines. When his request is rejected, he is ordered to cross into Ul Qoma to investigate the murder himself. The investigation causes him to question many of his own beliefs and those of his own government.

A crime/mystery/police procedural is not part of my regular reading diet and this certainly falls into the not my normal reading fare category easily enough. What drew me to The City & The City was the invention of the two cities that are not supposed to see or acknowledge each other but exist in the same time and physical space. There are subtle differences — clothing, language, architecture — but if one were to look past these differences, they could in fact be the same place. The Breach, which is supposed to deal with infractions that involve the seeing of both cities, is interesting in that it only exists to clean up accidents or punish people who cross the border without going through proper channels. When someone is taken by the Breach, they are never heard from again and people are understanding of this because this is how things are in their cities. As they have been trained to do since childhood, they unsee it and move on with their lives. In some ways it’s frustrating because I started to wonder how the citizens of these two cities could live with this going on around them, pretending that the neighbor they can clearly see is not there because they actually live in the other city. At some point I realized that I had to let go of my annoyance with the unseeing thing and go with it.

The story does take place in modern time but these two cities seem to exist in a world all their own and the entire time I kept wondering how these two places are like they are. There is some explanation but I didn’t feel completely satisfied by it but I think Miéville wants you to feel this way about the cities. Confused by the political, societal, and legal boundaries that are Beszel and Ul Qoma. While the murder investigation pushes the plot along, the story is really about these two cities, the strangeness of their existence, and the politics surrounding them. While it took me a few pages to get into the story and understand what was supposed to be seen and unseen, it was worth it. I’m looking forward to reading another book of his that comes out the summer called Kraken. I think The City & The City was a good Miéville primer.

The Summer We Read Gatsby

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The Summer We Read Gatsby

The Summer We Read Gatsby

By Danielle Ganek

Viking Adult

ISBN: 978-0670021789

5 Stars

When their Aunt Lydia dies, half-sisters Pecksland Moriarty and Stella Blue Cassandra Olivia Moriarty, become the executors of her will. She has asked something rather simple of the two — spend one last summer at her ramshackle cottage in the Hamptons, aptly named Fool’s House, before selling it and, while there, find a thing of utmost value.

Pecksland, Peck for short, and Cassie, although Peck prefers to call her Stella, are exact opposites. Peck, an actress, is all drama with an outfit and shoes for every occasion. She is always concerned with a “situation” which can range from a true problem to her sister’s lack of fashion sense. Cassie is a journalist and translator living in Switzerland and cares little for fashion much to the horror of her sister. She’s a recent divorcee deeply mourning her aunt’s death and has little in common with the sister she doesn’t always believe she’s related to.

Aunt Lydia was a devotee of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and she’s instilled that same love in her nieces. The book, and all their aunt loved about it, is the source of Peck and Cassie’s greatest memories of their aunt and the cottage. Aunt Lydia also liked to think of herself as a patron of the arts and always had an artist living at Fool’s House to give it that artsy vibe. The current resident is an unusual character that neither sister can figure out but, since he was there at the request of their aunt, they’re willing to live with him and his antics until they can decide what to do with the place.

Spending their days sorting through papers and looking for a thing of utmost value bring Peck and Cassie a closeness they never thought possible. They decide to carry out their aunt’s wishes and host the official Fool’s Party to open the summer. The party, which is a success, leaves the sisters with a problem — a painting which hung over the fireplace for as long as they both remember goes missing and they begin to speculate that it might actually be the thing of great value. The two gather a strange and wonderful cast of characters to help them find the painting and in the process, find a family, find love, and find they really are sisters with a lot in common.

I remember reading The Great Gatsby and falling in love with the setting and the characters and wondering if people like these characters actually existed in the world. They do, just not in the world I live in. But that didn’t stop me from me from being fascinated anyway. I felt much the same about this book. Ganek brings together some truly wonderful characters that make you want to rush off to live at Fool’s House. Peck is full of fun and brings a new outlook to life that Cassie never let herself imagine. The sisters inhabit a strange little world and in an odd way it brings the two together.

It’s a chick-lit sort of book with some fabulous characters, the beach, and a little romance. Witty and sarcastic at times, Ganek makes it easy for you to fall for her characters. You don’t have to be on the beach to enjoy this book but I think it’s certainly an excellent summer book. Ganek will make you smile and want to break out the beach chair.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above is a shortened version of my review, which can be read in full here. The book was provided to me by the publisher for The Book Reporter review.

The Swan Thieves

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The Swan Thieves

The Swan Thieves

By Elizabeth Kostova

Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 978-0-316-06578-8

2.75 stars

I wanted so much to love this book. I really did and I really tried. It took me ten days of trying and, in the end, I just didn’t find the chemistry that I was so hoping for. I won’t say that I was disappointed, but I was not won over either. I think the word I’m looking for is meh.

At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, a renowned painter named Robert Oliver attacks a painting in the gallery’s collection. Arrested and confined to a mental hospital, he refuses to speak about the incident or say anything at all for that matter. His doctor, Andrew Marlow, is known as the man who can get anyone to talk. Unfortunately, his reputation fails him with Robert. A painter as well, Marlow’s determination to find out what happened and a general personal and professional curiosity drives him to figure out the mystery behind Robert’s actions and the painting he attacked. He ends up on a strange journey that leads him to all the women in Robert’s life to find answers to a mystery he didn’t even know existed.

Kostova’s first book, The Historian, is one of my favorite books but here, I didn’t find that same adoration. The book was slow, lacked drama, and the characters where underwhelming. The descriptions of the paintings and the actual acts of painting where interesting but not enough to really hold my attention. There are flashbacks to the late 19th Century and I found these sections captivating but they felt too few and far between for me to get attached to the people involved. And when the twist comes (Yes, there’s a twist and, no, I’m not giving anything away here.), it fell flat for me because I felt I already knew it. I didn’t think there was anywhere else to go with it and it wasn’t enough for me to really feel anything about it at the point.

I will say this, Kostova has a wonderful way with words and I found myself being lulled into the story even if I didn’t feel compelled by what was happening. I know that may sound contradictory, but it’s the truth. I may not have fallen for this book, but I still enjoyed her use of the language.

Many people loved this book and I bought it the day it come out and waited to read it until now. I read numerous reviews extolling it’s qualities and wanted to wait until the hype died down so that I could enjoy this book without the words and thoughts of others floating around in my head. I’m glad I did that but I’m also sad I didn’t enjoy it more. Sometimes these things happen. I’ll still be eagerly waiting for Kostova’s next book though.

Shadow of the King

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Shadow of the King

Shadow of the King

By Helen Hollick

Sourcebooks, Inc.

ISBN:1402218907

5 stars

Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. Helen Hollick’s Pendragon’s Banner series is one of, if not the best, Arthurian re-tellings that I have read so far. She takes a well-known story and makes it fresh and exciting.

Shadow of the King is the third book in the Pendragon’s Banner series following The Kingmaking and Pendragon’s Banner. You can read my review of The Kingmaking here and Pendragon’s Banner here.

Picking up where Pendragon’s Banner left off, Arthur has brought peace to Britain but has been talked into going to Gaul to protect interests that are not his own. While there, word reaches him that Gwenhwyfar has become sick and he believes her to be dead. He falls into a deep depression and wonders why he ever let himself be talked into leaving his home. He throws himself into the battle wishing to die and all but succeeds. Morgaine, a healer once known as the Lady of the Lake and, unbeknownst to Arthur, the mother of one of his sons, offers to stay behind and bury him while the others try to outrun the approaching enemy. What Morgaine knows that the others don’t is that Arthur is still alive. She nurses him back to health and, knowing he has nothing left to return to, he stays in Gaul living unhappily without his wife or kingdom.

Gwenhwyfar, who survived her illness, now lives a life almost a mirror image to Arthur’s sad existence. When others convince her that she must re-marry to protect what is left of Arthur’s kingdom and herself, she stalls and has trouble getting over the feeling that Arthur isn’t dead. When a man tracks her down to tell her that Arthur lives, she leaves everything to find him. Unfortunately, when Gwenhwyfar finds him, he’s not the Arthur she knew and he tells her that he won’t be returning. Heartbroken, she decides she needs to live even if he will not and leaves. When circumstances convince Arthur he needs his life back, he finds Gwenhwyfar and they both begin to recover from the emotional wounds of their separation. They return home to find one more fight that needs to be fought. When his son by his ex-wife Winifred makes a move to take over his kingdom, Arthur overcomes his fear and leads his men to defeat, but not destroy, his son leaving the door open for a final battle that everyone knows will bring about an end to a world they all know.

I was truly sad to see this series end. While Arthur is tempered in book three, he’s still that brooding man I fell for in the previous two books. Gwenhwyfar becomes the strong one and a great ruler in her own right. Hollick takes the tale of Arthur and moves it to epic proportions of a different nature. Yes, some of the same faces appear in this story as in others but it has a new feel to it and one I couldn’t get enough of.

If you like historical fiction and especially Arthurian legend, Hollick’s trilogy is not to be missed.

Pendragon’s Banner

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Pendragon's Banner

Pendragon’s Banner

By Helen Hollick

Sourcebooks, Inc.

ISBN: 1402218893

5 stars

Pendragon’s Banner is the second book in the Pendragon’s Banner series following The Kingmaking. You can read my review of The Kingmaking here.

Arthur, Arthur how I do adore thee. Yes, you’re an arrogant, self-centered, whoring barbarian at times but somehow none of that matters. I’ve come to expect you to be this way.

In book two of this series, Arthur has taken up the mantel of King, Gwenhwyfar has given him sons to carry on the Pendragon title, but he still refuses to settle down preferring to fight knowing the minute he stops it might be the end of him and his reign. When the tragic death of their youngest son pushes Arthur and Gwenhwyfar apart, he finally comes to the realization that being Supreme King may not mean anything without his wife and family. Tragedy and heartache follow both Arthur and Gwenhwyfar, political problems arise and fester, and Arthur is constantly watching his back afraid one his own may try to take his kingdom from him. Even after settling down in the beloved Summer Land, Arthur still fights — with his wife, for his kingdom, and his own worries and fears about what he is doing to lead his people.

While the relationship between Arthur and Gwenhwyfar is tempestuous, I like it. She’s a match for him in strength, anger, love, and stubbornness. While there is much to love about Gwenhywfar, there is much to hate in two other women Arthur can’t seem to extricate himself from — his ex-wife Winifred who still calls herself the Pendragon’s wife, and Morgause, his father’s ex-lover and his aunt. Both women cause so much pain and destruction wherever they go. They are so annoying yet so riveting.

I liked the liberties Hollick took with this story, and while it’s more realistic, I also enjoyed the small throw backs to some of the original more fantasy oriented tales. For instance, at one meeting of the Council, Arthur mentally notes how he dislikes the Roman bleacher type seating arrangement for the meeting and makes an internal comment about building a round table so he doesn’t have to turn around to see who is speaking. His sword, while not named Excalibur, has a long Saxon name and a lovely legend to go with it as well.

As I said, Arthur can be a dolt of a man, especially with his own wife. He can’t ever seem to find the words I love you or I’m sorry. He’d rather show anger than fear and while I don’t like admitting it, I couldn’t get enough is his debauched ways. He’s not overly kind or gentle but after meeting this Arthur, I don’t know if I want the old version back.

This series is fast becoming my favorite Arthurian re-telling.

The Tale of Halcyon Crane

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The Tale of Halcyon Crane

The Tale of Halcyon Crane

By Wendy Webb

Holt Paperbacks

ISBN:978-0805091403

4.5 stars

One morning, Hallie James finds her life forever changed by a simple letter. The letter states that she has been left everything by her mother — a woman Hallie thought was already dead.

She decides to confront her father, the man who raised her and a person she has great respect for but is suffering from dementia and now barely remembers her on good days. She knows she can’t ask anyone else and needs to know the truth — did her mother really die in the fire like her father told her? When Hallie tells him about the letter his response is simple and startling, “Madyln wrote to you?” Hallie had always thought her mother’s name was Annie.

When Hallie’s father passes away and she is left to not only deal with the death of the father who loved and raised her but the death of a mother she didn’t know and can’t remember. On a whim she calls the attorney, packs a bag, and travels to the island her mother called home.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s categorized as horror, which I was surprised by. I don’t read much horror and, while this one had a supernatural, creepy factor to it, wasn’t terrifying in the way I think of horror.

It moves fast and the whole time you’re wondering where it will lead. Hallie’s family stories told to her by an ancient housekeeper who seems otherworldly weave a good mystery. Webb doesn’t let too much slip and the twist at the end is a nice reward for the reader. On the downside, the story seemed to rush to the end for me but it may have simply been my reluctance to see it end. I do think it could have benefited from a few extra pages just to add more details though. Several things end up taking place way too fast without much explanation as to why. But it didn’t take anything a way from the story. The ghosts, supernatural events, and an old Victorian house full of secrets keep the story moving.

This is Webb’s first novel and I can’t wait to see what her next offering holds.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above is a summary of my review, which can be read in full here. The book was provided to me by the publisher for The Book Reporter review.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

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The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

By Kelly O’Connor McNees

Amy Einhorn Books

ISBN: 0399156526

4.5 stars

There is nothing that Louisa May Alcott wants more than independence and the opportunity to prove herself as a writer. She yearns for a small room all her own and stacks of paper waiting to be covered with ink. What she gets is a rundown house, housework, a father who is blind to the basic needs of his family, a depressed mother, and resentment. She chafes against societal conventions — marriage, love, and the idea of a woman’s place. When she finds herself feeling emotions for a man, she struggles to balance those feelings with her dreams and wonders if it would actually be possible to have both.

The character of Louisa May Alcott was all I expected her to be in this book. She’s strong-willed, fitful, passionate, witty, and observant. She sees the sham of a marriage her parents are engaged in and refuses to let herself fall into that same trap. She wants, and craves, freedom above all and stays true to her dreams. Which can be infuriating to read sometimes since she does preach and selfishly believe that what she wants is right and that no one can, or will, stop her from having what she wants in the end. She gets what she wants, but she does pay a price for it.

Her father is uncaring and generally stupid to his own family’s needs. When I say needs, I don’t mean in terms of frivolous things such as ribbons for adornment — it’s food, clothing, and shelter that he seems to think will just fall out of the sky. He has put their lives in danger and at one time even suggested an open marriage and divorce using some flimsy transcendentalist thought that made no sense to anyone but him. He’s infuriating and in many ways I wanted his family to leave him yet they persist in caring for him throughout their lives.

Little Women is one of my favorite books. I’ve been wanting to re-read it for some time now and thanks to this book I think I will be doing that very soon. McNees is a good writer and I hope to read more of her books in the future. She did a great job here and while I know that the imagined life of an author can be a difficult thing to write, I think she did a stand up job. She brought to life a person, and a family, with grace, good humor, and some great writing.

I received this book through the Early Reviewer program on LibraryThing.