Review – The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason, and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant

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The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason, and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant

By Robert Hutchinson

William Morrow

ISBN: 9780060837334

2.75 stars

Oh the Tudors. What a bunch you are — paranoid, mean-spirited, mean, gluttonous, and in the case of Henry, horny. This book only deals with his last years so a lot of the horny court play had run its course already and what was left was a sick, dying man sadly looking for companionship in his last days.

For a man so concerned with his public image and legacy, specifically an heir, he’s remembered much differently than I’m sure he ever thought possible even in his wildest dreams. In his later years, Henry was incredibly obese and most likely spent every minute of his last days in pain. His ulcerated legs constantly oozed. His diet of meat, meat, and more meat caused digestion issues, and he still worried about maintaining appearances. He’s an interesting figure and it’s obvious why so many people want to write books about him and the Tudor court. Honestly though, a book about Henry’s PR machine is something I’d probably read though.

It’s his final wife, Katherine Parr, who brings his family back together though. Welcoming Mary and Elizabeth into the fold and Henry, at this point, adds them to his succession line. His heir, Edward, dies at the young age of 16, Mary turns out to not be the best at ruling, but Elizabeth, well, she turns out to be Henry’s true legacy. Interesting how that works sometimes isn’t it?

This book is broken into chunks meaning each chapter is about a certain aspect of his life — his sickness, his will, his last queen, and his death. While it’s interesting to see these aspects broken down this way, the timeline gets muddles and I found it slightly hard to follow in terms of what year it was and what was important.

I’ve read a lot about the Tudors, both fact and fiction, and some of this felt too familiar to be as interesting as I wanted it to be. I’m glad I picked it up and I’m sure it’ll add a new perspective to my next Tudor historical fiction read. I realize that while I am sort of tired (sort of bored would be a better way to put it) of the Tudors, I know I’ll probably pick up another book about them and I’m not sure why. Perhaps that will be many days down the road though.

Technically Not a Teaser Tuesday

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On a personal level, things have been busy and this is the first day I’ve had to catch up with the little blog. I was in Las Vegas last week for work and thanks to the reviewathon I was able to have posts scheduled but beyond that, I haven’t had much time to read posts or comment. I cleared out my Google reader yesterday and called it a night.

I’m slowly reading A Visit from the Goon Squad. There are two ways I read — 1.) I devour a book not stopping at any point, 2.) I slowly savor, stopping frequently to wonder. I’m on speed 2 the last few days. Honestly, I’m not sure what I think of the book. It’s brilliant, strange, the writing is fantastic but it’s sad in so many ways I keep putting it down. But not for long. I can tell now this is going to be a tough one to review.

Here’s a small snippet:

“Structural Dissatisfaction:  Returning to circumstances that once pleased you, having experienced a more thrilling or opulent way of life, and finding that you can no longer tolerate them.

But we’re getting off the subject.”

It may have been the fact that I was dead tired on a redeye flight but this struck me as so funny I did something I never do, I dogeared the page. Yes, I did that.

Have you read this one? Thoughts?

Review – Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan and Isolde

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Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan and Isolde

By Anna Elliot

Touchstone

ISBN: 9781439164556

3 stars

Trystan and Isolde is a part of Arthurian legend I’m not very familiar with. I’ve read a few stories over the years, short stories mostly or the characters have shown up as minor characters in other books, but I never really got into the longer stories. I’m not sure why that is but I thought I’d give these characters another chance.

Isolde is attempting to grieve for her husband Constantine, Arthur’s heir, after his untimely death but she finds it hard going. The realm is again in turmoil and lords and petty kings are once more vying for the throne. With little power and very few choices open to her, she makes the decision to marry a cruel man who takes the throne. With the knowledge that her new husband maybe selling out the realm to the invading Saxons, she takes steps to find the information to bring him down and also save herself from being convicted as a witch.

In most stories, Isolde is a healer, and she’s that once more in this book and it’s her need to help people, especially ones who are bleeding, that brings her in contact with Trystan. This is when the story diverged from one I’m familiar with but I was all right with that for the most part. When you read many Arthurian based stories, a change of pace is always welcome. But even with that change, I had trouble getting into the story. Isolde and Trystan are very hard, battered people with stories to tell but neither seems inclined to share their stories or heal mentally. I wasn’t looking for a warm and fuzzy cry fest but it also felt as though they were hiding stuff from each other which they sort of are but I won’t get into that.

This is the first book in a trilogy which is fine but the story ends so abruptly that I thought I had missed pages. Ending in the beginning of action makes sense when there’s to be a sequel but it felt wrong — too abrupt, too soon.

Honestly though, I still might take a look at the sequels because I do want to know how this version of the tale ends. The dialogue was somewhat stumbling for me though. A lot of …she paused. Then: “… I’m hoping this writing tick passes with the following books. Overall, it was an interesting take on the tale that many know so well.

Review – The Pale Horseman

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The Pale Horseman

By Bernard Cornwell

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 9780060787127

4 stars

The Pale Horseman is book two in the King Alfred novels following The Last Kingdom.

This is my third Cornwell series and my tenth book of his overall which means nothing if you know anything about Cornwell as an author. He’s an extremely prolific writer and I’ve barely touch his long list of titles. It makes me happy knowing I still have all that reading ahead of me.

Uhtred, the Saxon raised as a Dane, is once more a pain in King Alfred’s side. Knowing Uhtred would go back to the Dane’s given the chance, he attempts to keep a leash on him but roping him in with religion and responsibility does nothing for Uhtred’s mood. Bored with a farmer’s life, he goes out raiding and meets up with a Dane named Svein who has ambition, ships, and men to back up his wild claims. Svein impresses Uhtred but he still isn’t ready to run back to the Danes, even if that’s where his heart is. Uhtred doesn’t like King Alfred but when the Danes attack, Uhtred finds himself by King Alfred’s side arguing with him over leadership and war skills. Though he never expected it, he is now doing everything he can to keep Alfred on the throne.

As a main character, Uhtred is wonderfully hateful and I mean that in a good way. He’s selfish, impulsive, violent, and a warrior through and through. He’s what I picture a Saxon raised among war faring Danes to be like. He hates his king but stands by him even going so far as to give him his oath; whether he likes to admit it or not. Loyalty means much to Uhtred but he struggles with it. He owes it to Alfred as his king but would sneak away to the Danes if he could and the thought crosses his mind more than once. When the opportunity comes up, he doesn’t go, surprising even himself but when the fight comes he avoids his friends not wanting to face them.

I know very little of Alfred’s actual history other than his being very smart and pious. This story is told by Uhtred so his portrayal is less than flattering. Being a pagan also shapes many of Uhtred’s views — his wife whom he once ran home from a battle to be with is now someone he can’t stand to be around. Her religion is a main a sticking point between the two. He finds a new woman, a pagan priestess, to replace her and while you know he enjoys her company, you also wonder if he does it just to show he’s still pagan and not willing to bend the knee to both Alfred and his religion.

Cornwell is as graphic as ever in the thick of the battle scenes — bones, flesh, and teeth crushing loudly and violently. It’s a rough time, around 870 A.D. or there about, so at least he is true to the period; something I always appreciate about his writing even if I don’t always revel in it.

It’s taken me a number of months to return to this series, not for lack of want, but because of other books that have come into my life. In fact, two additional books have been published in this series since I began reading Cornwell’s books. I don’t plan to let that much time pass between now and the next book.

Review – My Cousin Rachel

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My Cousin Rachel

By Daphne Du Maurier

Sourcebooks Landmark

ISBN: 9781402217098

4 stars

The House on the Strand and Rebecca were truly wonderful books full of atmosphere with dark characters and deep emotional triggers that had me holding my breath till the end of the book. I wasn’t disappointed by My Cousin Rachel but I didn’t feel the same emotional response as I did with the others. Yet I was still happy to see the somewhat ambiguous ending. Hmmm… No worries. I’m not telling. Honestly, I think Du Maurier is the only author that can do that and leave me feeling OK with it. Wonder why that is?

Ambrose Ashley and his heir, Philip, are two men leading bachelor lives on their estate in Cornwall, England. When Ambrose’s health begins to fail, he goes off to Italy for the weather and health benefits and finds a wife in Rachel, a recent widower and countess. When Ambrose sends Philip a strange letter saying his wife may be poisoning him, Philip goes to Italy to help Ambrose but doesn’t arrive in time. Sullenly, Philip returns home to find out Ambrose’s widow will soon be landing in England. Philip has no love, and only a slight respect, for this woman but he welcomes her reluctantly. Somehow, this mysterious woman finds a way into his life.

Philip is so naïve that Rachel’s actions seem perfectly normal to him but all the time you’re wondering why he doesn’t stay true to his original assessment of Rachel. You want him to go on mistrusting her and when he doesn’t, it’s infuriating and there’s nothing to do but stand back and watch the wreck happen. And you know it’s going to happen.

Rachel begins wrapping Philip around her finger. He becomes more possessive and somewhat deranged. Very much like Ambrose which has you wondering who and what Rachel is. He keeps finding letters from Ambrose accusing his wife of poisoning him and warning Philip of her abuse of money. But Philip heeds none of them. He ignores all the signs Ambrose sends him from the grave.

This was a very satisfying read but it didn’t have the same intrigue, buildup, or emotional pull. The notes and Philip’s feelings just aren’t the same here but they do add an otherworldly element, persistent but ignored though they are. If I had read this one before Rebecca, I may have felt differently about it. I keep trying to stop myself from making comparisons but I can’t. That happens with me when I start reading an author’s backlist. I have Frenchman’s Creek on my list and know my library has a copy and I’ll try to keep an open mind while reading that one.

All in all, a good read and I’m glad I’m working my way through Du Maurier’s books. It’s a fun little challenge.

Review – The Windup Girl

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The Windup Girl

By Paolo Bacigalupi

Nightshade Books

ISBN: 9781597801584

3.75/4.25 stars

I put off writing this review because, even after several weeks, I don’t know what I think of this book. On some level, it was brilliant but on others it was so sad and disturbing that I almost put the book down because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go on. I finished and while I can’t say I enjoyed this book, I was amazed by it.

Anderson Lake is a calorie man in Thailand posing as a factory manager. What he’s really there for is to look for fruits and vegetables thought to have gone extinct that are now reappearing in street markets. His company, AgriGen, wants the seeds. Through another business associate, he meets Emiko, a bioengineered human working as a sex slave at a whorehouse. Their two lives collide as a new bioengineered plague runs amuck in Bangkok, the government begins infighting for power, and a company with the money to buy off the world lands on the shores of Thailand.

There is much more to this story, but in the interest of spoilers, I’ll say no more. As I said above, parts of this book are brilliant — a world running on traded calories, bioengineering corporations releasing plagues, bioengineered humans. It’s dark, scary, and oddly believable. You can buy into the world and the science behind it: engineered foods, humans, and superbugs. But there’s something so dark about it that it was also so depressing and disturbing that I wanted to shower the reek of this book off me at times. These corporations are so money hungry they don’t even think of the people in their way (and in the way is really how these corporations think of people); releasing plagues without thought so they can take over promising a cure for what they themselves unleashed.

Each and every character is on their own. There’s no sense of community anywhere. Even when one character finds himself caring for someone, he pushes the thought away almost horrified by his own feelings. They’re all horrible but it’s the world that made them that way and you see that but still hate the way they interact and don’t. Everything is some exchange. And then there’s Emiko, the bioengineered new human. She’s a sex slave. She’s bound by her genetically engineered DNA to obey. Imagine for yourself how’s she’s treated.

But I have to go back to world building for a moment here. Science fiction and fantasy are all about the worlds. Bacigalupi commands the world in The Windup Girl. He stretches it beyond belief and you see how his would and could be possible. No checks. No balances. The manipulations of science, the shattered lives of people who can’t get out of the way fast enough.

I don’t want to give the wrong impression about this book. My husband liked it (that was the reason I read it) but I think you need to go in with an open mind and one that isn’t too easily offended. It’s an interesting take on what would happen in a world were energy trading takes place and science has the ability to change lives at the drop of a hat. If you’re looking for something different, this might work for you.

Review – The Anatomy of Ghosts

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The Anatomy of Ghosts

By Andrew Taylor

Hyperion

ISBN: 9781401302870

2.5 stars

1786; Cambridge, England; ghosts; a mystery — How could I go wrong? Well, I won’t go and say it was wrong but I will say this one wasn’t my cup of tea. I finished and I’m glad I did but didn’t feel satisfied. There’s nothing specific I can point to but it didn’t come together for me. Wrong book, wrong time?

John Holdworth, a recent widower grieving not only his much loved wife, but his son who was also lost tragically, is called upon by Lady Oldershaw to reestablish her son’s reputation. Frank Oldershaw, a student at Jerusalem College in Cambridge, has been a patient at a mental hospital ever since he saw the ghost of a woman supposedly haunting the college grounds. As John has written a book stating ghosts are mere delusions, Lady Oldershaw believes he’s the best person to investigate her family’s little problem and convince her son that what he saw wasn’t real. What John Holdworth finds at Jerusalem College is much more complicated that he imagined.

John isn’t, for me, a likable character. While his wife is grieving their son, and talking to charlatans in the hopes of hearing her son from the other side, he’s writing a book about how ghosts don’t exist. When she finally succumbs to her grief, his life crumples and he moves along wondering what will happen to him but he’s so drained he can’t even bring himself to feel. Then it happens, he loses everything and ends up working a case of a ghost. Irony there for ya isn’t it?

The whole time I was reading I kept wondering why this guy was doing the investigation. Yes, he was discreet. Yes, he needed a job. Yes, he wrote a book about ghosts. But none of it worked for me. I kept thinking it didn’t make sense. And the mystery; I barely noticed it. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention but I didn’t really care what happened to a group of young, rich men who thought they owned and ran the world and had the privilege of treating everyone around them badly because their money declared they could. Although to not be entirely negative, there were a few interesting plot twists but again I couldn’t bring myself to care much.

I read some good reviews of this several months ago so take what I said cautiously. This was a book that didn’t work for me but that doesn’t mean anything other than I didn’t get into it. In the front of the book I read, there was a list of books by the author and some sound promising. I’m going to try one more book and see how I feel about Andrew Taylor’s writing after the second chance. Sometimes a few bad characters make the difference between loving a book and merely liking it.

Review – After Dark

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After Dark

By Haruki Murakami

Vintage Books

ISBN: 9780307278739

4.5 stars

Told between the hours of midnight and dawn, After Dark follows encounters that take place across the city of Tokyo.  Mari Asai is sitting in a Denny’s when her sister’s friend, Takahashi, recognizes her.  Takahashi’s presence is tolerated by Mari but when he leaves, he’s not missed.  Shortly after, Mari, at the asking of Takahashi, meets Kaoru, a manager of a love hotel, who needs her help with a Chinese prostitute who’s been beaten by a customer.  Acting as interpreter, Mari helps the woman but feels worse for it in the end as she’s left wondering what will happen to her.  We look in on Mari’s sister, Eri, who is in a deep sleep, meet the man who beat up the prostitute, and return to Mari following her throughout the night and the people she meets.

After Dark exposes a raw nerve and at one point I even took a step back wondering where it was all going.  There are dreams, actual sleeping dreams, life dreams, nightmares, sad memories, and happy ones.  It’s an examination of lives, thoughts, friendships, and loves. All seen through the eyes of a woman on the verge of change who is not sure if she wants what she’s worked for.

The writing itself is incredible.  The dialogue is smart, stark, and spare.  No one character says more than needed, especially Mari, who has a secret but doesn’t want to share it.  When she does, it’s with a stranger.  It’s a poignant exchange for these two characters even though the conversation is very short and you know there’s a chance these two will never meet again. Maybe knowing this makes it easier for the two women to confide in each other knowing each of their secrets will stay that way but they get the added benefit of still being able to talk about it.

I came across this book completely by accident but it was so right at the time.  If you come across it, I recommend you pick it up and read it.  It’s truly phenomenal.