DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt

DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 3-3-11 to 8-3-11

This book ended up being a bit up and down, but overall I really liked it.

It stared off well, then seemed to slow a bit (although not in a bad way) when Athena got to Eden. At that point, I could see it turning into SF Romance, and while I don't mind that at all, it wasn't exactly what I had been expecting.

But I was wrong. While the romance is there, it's nicely done and not dwelled upon on its own account too much. Instead, the SF plot begins to build up, tying in a lot of threads that I had thought were only background world-building, into a generally satisfying whole.

I did especially enjoy the parts back on Earth where Thena began to put all the pieces together and work out what was really going on. I did think she was a little slow on the uptake, as I'd worked out the basics (although I admit, not the specifics) back when she was on Eden, but I can also kind of see how they were pieces her back brain probably didn't want to put together, so I'll forgive it.

However, after all that excellent third quarter or more, it all seemed to resolve very easily and suddenly. I was reading the ebook and keeping a mild eye on my progress through the book. I had seen that part three started at something like chapter 46, with another 6 or 7 chapters to go to get to the end. That meant I was very surprised to find I was at over 90% of the book when I was still in the early 40s, chapter wise and in the middle of the action on Earth. I was wondering how Ms Hoyt was going to tie everything up and get them rescued and home again in the short space left.

Very quickly, turned out to be the answer. Suddenly escape becomes easy, the villain is dealt with with surprising speed (and really, very little action on the part of the main protagonists) and they're off home, to end on an ironic note, rather than a satisfying one.

Yes, finishing with the same officious controller was clever, but I wanted to see the family's reaction to having them back, and Doc Bartholomeu's response to all they had learned. Not to mention, whatever the heck is happening back on Earth and where the other Mules might have gone.

If this is the beginning of a series, hopefully I'll still learn those things, but for a standalone, the ending didn't work for me.

All the same, I really enjoyed myself reading this one. I loved the world Ms Hoyt created (and in a way, I'm not sure why) and the characters (well, I had a love/hate relationship with Thena, but I loved Kit and I want to see how they both live beyond the parental legacies they were given). I'll happily read more books by her, but next time, I really would like a more satisfying ending please.

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Family Photos – Week 4=Signs

Firstly, please welcome my sister, Sally, who is joining the fun. Thanks for playing, Sally.

The theme for Week 4 was SIGNS.

Marcus has his own special hideaway in the storage space under the house, which was made to be his “office” because Daddy had an office and he wanted one too. This space now has a sign on the door. Not only did Marcus photograph a sign, he made it first too.

This sign is located at the entrance to Dave’s work (although facing towards the people coming out, not the ones coming in). He did once tell me the story of why it looks like it does, but I’m afraid I don’t remember it. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask him.

Pam sent along this one. She tells me Marcus should remember it as when they walked along this bit of shared pathway together Marcus was sure it meant the man had fallen off his bike.

Sally has been kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park this week (which sound like a fabulous way to have a holiday, but rather too strenuous for me), so what could be more appropriate than this sign.

As for me, I’ve been dropping Marcus off at the school turning circle for a couple of weeks now, but last week was the first time I picked him up there after school as well. He’s feeling very grown up and independent doing it, and it makes things so much easier for me too. I thought such a big step forward deserved to be commemorated with a photo.

So there you are, five very different “signs” photos. Thanks again to Sally for joining us. Dave has chosen the theme for week 5 and it is REST AND RELAXATION. There should be lots of possibilities for that one.

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin


I'm going to have to call this one a DNF.

I managed the first four chapters and found it both interesting and compelling while at the same time vaguely unappealing.

I read the first four chapters, and found the exploration of the societies interesting, but just couldn't manage reading it at the moment.

I'll be leaving it on my reader and I hope to get back to it at some point.

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Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 3½ of 5 stars (7/10)
Read: 14-2-11 to 23-2-11

This is just a really fun book. It's rather clever, the premise is good and its a rollicking good adventure. It's not great literature, but it's well worth going along for the ride.

The prose isn't perfect - I do wish Mr Aaronovitch had used a few more semicolons and a few less commas for one thing - but it's easily readible and the narrator's voice is good. Peter is snarky and a bit rude and a lot of fun to hang around with.

If the blurb sounds like something you might enjoy, go on, give it a go.

This book was published in the UK with a much nicer title and cover. There it’s Rivers of London and the cover is much cooler in my opinion. Why do publishers do this? It just adds confusion. So depending on where you live, you might need to look for that title.

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Yes, I’m fine

Just a quick note to let friends who don’t know which part of New Zealand I live in that my family and I are fine. We’re at the other end of the country from Christchurch where the earthquake was.

The news is just heart-breaking as are the pictures on the TV. My parents’ families are from the area and I spent a lot of my holidays there as a child, so seeing places I’ve been in rubble is horrible.

So far, I’ve heard from/about good friends and family who are okay. There are others we’re waiting to hear from. The whole country is being asked not to use the phone service to leave it available where it is needed so we’re using twitter/email etc to make contact.

It’s just unreal.

Family Photos–Week 3 = Green

I’m the culprit that made things late this week. I found a lovely photo I wanted to use, but I had to ask permission to post it first. Happily, the lovely Melanie has given me the go ahead. You’ll see why I needed to ask her when you get down to my entry.

The theme for Week 2 was GREEN.

Marcus went to a birthday party for a school friend at a local ten pin bowling alley. They all turned out to be far more interested in the games than the bowling and they ended up playing the machines instead. Marcus (with a bit of help from Dad) managed to win a build-it kit for a dinosaur skeleton. Together, he and I did achieve something that looks a bit like a triceratops, but since the foam is a bit soft, we had to work on getting him to stand up without falling apart altogether.

Dave, in a fit of either genius or madness decided to zoom in (literally I suspect; I’m jealous of the macro lens he has for his camera) for his computer, or possibly the computer dock. He didn’t give me the specifics.

Pam tells me she had so many ideas for green that it was hard to make a decision. But this friendly monster did the trick. I’m impressed she had her camera with her when stumbling on this guy. And she assures me he didn’t chase her after she’d taken her shot.

And here’s my photo. Since this lovely young man isn’t my own child, you’ll understand that I needed to get permission from his mum before I put up his picture. He’s the younger brother of a girl who was in Marcus’ class last year. He and his two other brothers (who together make a set of triplets) will be starting school later this year. They were enjoying the annual school picnic that was held on Friday night. I didn’t go there planning to take his picture, but he’s such a gorgeous kid and he was beautifully dressed all in green so how could I possibly resist.

So there you are, four very different “green” photos. Pam has chosen the theme for week 4 and it is SIGNS. That one could be interesting.

We’ll also hoping my sister may be able to join in. I haven’t heard back from her yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Delay with this week’s family photos

Sorry, but there’s going to be a delay posting this week’s photos. I needed to ask permission to publish my photo of choice and I’m just waiting to hear back.

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars (10/10)
Read: 18-2-11 to 20-2-11
For: Calico Reaction Book Club 2011

Not a review, just a little rave.

I really loved this. It just worked for me on some many levels. It wasn’t that I was crowing about it constantly as I read, but it was just so satisfying that I kept on reading and reading until I was finished. This is a vampire book, there’s talk about feeling filled and sated in it. That’s how I felt when I got to the end.

It's my first Octavia Butler book, and I find myself glad of that, since it means there's more for me to read. At the same time, it's terribly sad to know there will be no more books from her. I would so have loved to find out what things were like for Shori and her family a few years from now. The book is absolutely complete on its own, but it would be so interesting to get to revisit later when Shori has had a chance to rebuild herself and her family.

I guess that's the sign of a good book - that I so want to know how things work out for the characters, even when it’s already a satisfying and neatly finished story.

I got this one from the library and I think I'm going to have to track down my own copy, because I think I'll want to reread this.

Many thanks to Sharra at Calico Reaction for introducing me to an author I always knew was considered to be great, but whose work I had never tried for myself.

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I will try to remember to come back and leave a link to the Book Club discussion when it starts, as there will be lots of detailed discussion of the book. Like I said at the beginning, this is a rave rather than a review.

Link to Fledgling on Calico's Book Club

Elfland by Freda Warrington

Elfland by Freda Warrington
My rating: 3½ of 5 stars
Read: 11-2-11 to 18-2-11

I liked this book, but it just didn't work for me as a whole.

I found the pace to be near glacial, which slowed my reading terribly. It wasn't that nothing was happening, but that the things that were happening didn't appear to heading in any particular direction. In the end, it got there, but boy did it take a long time.

Calico Reaction suggested that it read like a family saga, and I think there's a lot to that. You can have a great book about family without it turning into a 'family saga' but this one did the latter. But at the same time it was trying to be a grand fantasy and sadly it kind of missed the mark on blending the two together. It did pieces of each beautifully, but putting them together didn't quite gel.

But I can see all the things I should have loved but only appreciated. So I wonder if the problem lies with me rather than the book, and other people may simply love it. I certainly hope so as there's some very nice stuff in there.

I liked the use of the piece of story at the beginning that turns out to belong further into the book. However, that first part was just a bit too obscure about where it fitted so that when we got to that point later, I was having to flip back to the front to be sure I'd got it right. I feel it should have been clearer than that. If we had been let in on the fact it was Rosie's wedding day it would have all made much more sense and let me feel I'm now slipped into the story proper.

And that's part of the overall problem. The narrative wandered so much that we never could really be sure if we in the main plot of the book or not. Or when the action that back cover blurb had promised us would finally show up. Personally, that drives me crazy. I like my book to be going somewhere. I don't mind if it twists and turns and turns my senses upside down along the way (all the better really) but I like it to have some kind of narrative drive, and it just felt like this book didn't.

As for the characters, I really did like them. I liked Rose and I liked Sam and Lucas. Matt and Jon Made me struggle a bit harder, but even they grew on me. And I would have loved to see more interaction directly between Auberon and Jessica. But they too failed to blend quite properly into the family saga/fantasy novel. It was like they weren't quite sure which set of lines they were supposed to be following.

And yet, the most annoying thing is that the pieces were all there for me. Pieces I like. This book should have worked for me and I'm terribly disappointed that it didn't.

Since I got sick, I judge things on a cost/benefit ratio. While I got some good stuff out of this book, I had to work way too hard and way to long for it to be fully worth it for me. If I get the benefit, that kind of cost is worth paying, but I just didn't get enough back this time.

But I still feel like I should have done. It should have worked. I can imagine myself remembering bits of pieces of this book in the future and thinking it was the book I wanted it to be rather than the book it actually was; I can see myself wanting to reread it to recapture those glorious pieces and being disappointed all over again that what I find is how they didn't produce the right fantastic reality for me.

Don't let all this put you off though. This is me. This is the pieces not mixing for me (and I'm sorry I've gone on this long and still been so vague about my problems with the book). I know lots of people loved it. I hope you'll be one of them.

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Family Photos – Week 2 = Car

Dave came in on the wire, taking his photo about 7.30 on Sunday night, but everyone has managed to produce a photo.

The theme for Week 2 was CAR.

Marcus took a picture of Dave changing the temporary tyre back to the repaired one after my car got a flat when I was taking Marcus to school on Monday.

Dave took a picture from the driver’s seat while popping out to the supermarket tonight.

Pam took a picture of this once handsome 1958 Jaguar, which is now showing a bit of wear and tear.

I took a picture of one of the occupants of Marcus’ sandpit. This was a present for his birthday two weeks ago, so it is still a new favourite.

I’ve chosen the theme for Week 3 and it is GREEN.

Family Photos – Week 1 = Cat

My parents gave Marcus a camera for his birthday. So far he’s alternated between taking lots of photos and forgetting about it completely. So to keep his interest up, we’ve set up a challenge. Each week we’re going to pick a topic or theme and everyone (so far that’s me, Marcus, Dave and my mother) has to take a photo based on that. On Mondays, I’ll put them up here on my blog.

The theme for Week 1 was CAT.

Marcus took a picture of our cat, Cally.

Dave took a picture from Marcus’ pre-school dictionary.

Pam (aka Mum or Granny Pam) took a picture of her cat, Mac.

Kerry (ie me) took a picture of her appliqued bag.

Marcus has chosen the theme for Week 2 and it is CAR.

Bedtime snack

First, some background.

With it being summer and holidays here, before Christmas Dave bought a little pup tent for Marcus. It's too small for Dave, and almost too small for me, but Marcus loves it. However, we don't really have any flat ground in our backyard (and I'm not having Marcus sleeping in a tent pitched on the fence-less front yard).

So we found a compromise.

Yes, Marcus has a tent (or more accurately, the tent lining) in his bedroom. Not only does he think it is one of the coolest things ever, so does his friend who came over the other day.

Tonight, Marcus came out and asked for a bedtime drink. His instructions were very specific. I was to provide:

• One cup of milk for drinking
• One cup of milk for dunking gingernuts
• Gingernuts
• An imaginary plate of mice for his stuffed toy snake to eat

Being a good mother, I provided the snack as required and everyone was happy.

All right, so in the end I wasn't happy as one of the glasses of milk got spilt. But he was so delighted I guess it was worth it. Hooray for Friend for Carpets.

(Tonight's post was brought to you by blatant product placement.)

Dust by Elizabeth Bear

Dust by Elizabeth Bear

My rating: 4½ of 5 stars
Read: 6-1-11 to 11-1-11

I really enjoyed this. I was a bit nervous starting as my experience with Elizabeth Bear has previously left me feeling kind of stupid.

I read and loved Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water, but mostly because of the beauty of the prose. I was left somewhat confused about what had actually gone on plot-wise. For that reason, while I own the other two Promethean Age books (Ink and Steel and Hell and Earth) I've never been quite brave enough to start them. I feel the same way about the Edda's Burden books, but since the first is a selection for the Women of Fantasy 2011 Book Club, I guess I'll be giving it a try this year after all.

I was first intrigued by the idea of Dust ages ago, but never actually bought it and started it. So here we are, the first month of the Women of SF 2011 Book Club and Dust is the choice. And finally, I read it.

I'm so glad I did. This time, I actually got to feel kind of clever instead of stupid. As the book revealed more and the world and plot developed, I could see the way the myth and society and near-mystical concept of the world had built out its past. And it was very cleverly done. It was almost as if the book existed on two levels, with the kind of bizarre setting of the present day imposed on the fundamental SF concepts underneath. But it is that intertwining and balance that makes the book such a good read (and so fundamentally Bear from what little of her work I've read). It would have been much less of a book if it had only been the SF tale, and I don't think I would necessarily have liked it. But having that underpinning there gave me something to hold on to and to ground the book for me. With the Promethean Age books I felt like I was trying and failing to grasp air. Here, I felt like I had something solid, and strangely beautiful in my hands, twisted into strange, reality-defying shapes.

For all the the narration switched regularly between Rien and Perceval (with side steps to other characters, especially Dust), this felt like Rien's book to me. We are introduced to the Exalt and the larger world through her eyes and that too may help provide the more grounded feeling I had with this book. Then we have Perceval's point of view to balance Rien's, and yet we find that in her own way, Perceval knows little more of the world than Rien does. So both young women find they way and we, the readers, find ours with them.

The supporting characters were less well developed I felt, but while reading didn't feel that the story was lessened by that. Yet I find I'd like to know more, especially about Tristen. Looking back, I think it is a pity those other characters weren't developed better, but there are two more books for that to happen and I'm pretty sure I'll be reading them. (In fact, when I finish this I'll be off to buy myself an copy of Chill although I don't quite know when I'll have a spare moment to read it.)

Mostly, I'm left with a feeling of something wondrous and peculiar and strange, in all the best possible ways. It's a feeling I'd generally expect to find in fantasy rather than science fiction, and this is very definitely a science fiction novel, which makes me feel like I've discovered a special treat.

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Geo Restrictions Sigh

Why is it that the stuff I don’t want to buy is not geo-restricted and therefore available to me, while the stuff I do want to buy, I can’t?

(Don’t worry, that’s a rhetorical question. There is no sensible answer.)

The Down Side to Digital Readers

I really love reading books on my iPhone, but today I have been caught out by one of the down sides of digital reading.

I’ve spent the day immersed in N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I’m reading it for the Women of Fantasy 2011 challenge over at Jawas Read Too! (I’m also planning to read Dust by Elizabeth Bear this month for the Women of Science Fiction 2011 challenge hosted by Dreams and Speculation.)

I bought The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms pretty much when it came out but hadn’t found time to read it, despite seeing many excellent reviews of the book and it featuring on a number of Best of 2010 lists. I was delighted to have the required kick in the pants to get it read.

Those reviews and list were right. It’s a really wonderful book. So yes, I’ve been reading it all day to the point of sometimes ignoring Marcus when I should be giving him proper motherly and holiday attention.

But occasionally my iPhone glitches. For some reason it can stop registering the drop in battery power, to the point that I have no idea how much   is left. And when that happens it will hit the point where it just turns itself off, totally out of power. It did that – right when I was at the climax of the book! Arrrggghhhh! I am so frustrated. I want to finish it. I want to finish it now!

So I’m writing this grumpy post instead while it powers itself up enough for me to use it. I’ll have to read with it attached to my laptop while it continues charging, but at least I’ll be able to finish the book.

I love my iPhone. I love reading on it. But it’s moments like this that remind why I’m lusting after a Kindle.

If you have issues with “Twilight” and/or bad grammar…

If so, then you absolutely need to read Reasoning with Vampires. Go to the last page and work backwards. It really does work best that way.

The author, deciding she couldn’t mock Twilight without reading it, undertook the mission and is commenting not only on content, but on how fundamentally awful the writing actually is. I have read the book and I admit, I didn’t notice most of this at the time. But I sure am now it’s being pointed out to me. Also, any decent editor should have picked it up.

I’m also amazed to see how many times, because she must think it’s a good idea, one author can insert unnecessary details into the middle of a sentence.

Dave sent me the link and I am blaming today’s total lack of productivity on him. I’m sitting at my computer and laughing hysterically instead. (Still, it’s New Year’s Day and a holiday. It is also totally his fault that he’s been doing most of the Marcus-minding today while I read and laugh.)

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read: 29-10-10 to 20-12-10

I'm not quite sure what I think of this book.

I liked it, but it wasn't prefect. The prose was beautiful and so was the setting. But something about it just didn't seem to flow properly for me. It was beautifully put together, but it seemed to be lacking narrative flow.

All the different points of view sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. Some of the characters are introduced and never seen again. I wouldn't have understood the shifts of first person POV if I hadn't heard a podcast with the author, explaining it.

(All the first person POV is for female characters, because in such times they had to be powerfully in the moment to have an impact on the world.)

I've still given this a high rating, because it's a beautiful book and I really enjoyed reading it, but it isn't perfect and I find myself left with a slightly puzzled feeling.

I read this with a book group and about half of the commenters loved it and half were disappointed. I find myself somewhere in the middle, and it is clear different readers have very different responses, so read it for yourself and see what you think.

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Sobering but important

This video was made by Laurel of Dreams at Stake who has very severe CFS. Because of that it took her over 4 months to make.

It is well worth watching.

As always with You Tube videos I post on the blog, it doesn’t fit my template, so please do click through at watch it either at Laurel’s site or You Tube.

Pie

From tastefullyoffensive.com:

It’s the scientist in me, but I think that’s totally brilliant.

My November Reading

Considering that my main reading focus remains Janny Wurts’ Wars of Light and Shadow series (of which I am up to book 4 and which I am still loving), I’m pleased with what I managed this month.

Seabiscuit was finished this month, but certainly wasn’t all read this month. It’s been my “take a break” book over the last few months and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. I will be reading Laura Hillenbrand’s new book, Unbroken, when life (and my reading schedule) eases up a bit.

As well as dragging me into the Wars of Light and Shadow, Beyond Reality is also to blame for me reading some short fiction this month (and next as well). I don’t usually find short stories an easy read and only pick ones that are filling in pieces of bigger series I already read. But the group has been picking 2 stories a month and so far I’ve managed to read them all. I found that if I copy the story off the internet and turn it into an ebook I can read on my phone I find it much easier to manage, so that is what I’ve been doing. So far, some have worked better for me than others, but I’m looking forward to continuing with the challenge. I’m not sure just when I read the shorts, so I’ve just added them to the end of the list (links are to the stories themselves, not to reviews.

1. Indulgence in Death – J. D. Robb (373pp)
   Eve Dallas, Book 38; Futuristic Mystery; eBook; 8/10
2. Seabiscuit – Laura Hillenbrand (453pp)
   Non-Fiction; 8/10
3. Bonds of Justice – Nalini Singh (348pp)
   Psy/Changeling, Book 8; Paranormal Romance; eBook; 8/10
4. Guardian of the Dead – Karen Healey (348pp)
   YA; Fantasy; New Zealand; 10/10
5. Fugitive Prince – Janny Wurts (576pp)
   Wars of Light and Shadow, Book 4; Fantasy; eBook; 10/10
6. How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? – Rachel Balducci (208pp)
   Non-Fiction; Library Book; 6/10
7. Paper Cradle – Stephen Gaskell
   Short Story; Web/eBook; 6/10
8. A Study in Emerald – Neil Gaiman
   Short Story; Web; 7/10
9. Hokkaido Green – Aidan Doyle
   Short Story; Web/eBook; 5/10

Best book of the month = Fugitive Prince
Biggest disappointment of the month = Hokkaido Green

November Reading:
Books read this month = 6
Short Stories read this month = 3
Total reads this month = 9

10/10 reads this month = 1
DNFs this month = 0
New reads this month = 9
Rereads this month = 0
paper books : eBooks = 3 : 6 = 33.3 % : 66.6 %

Pages read this month = 1994

November Challenges Progress:
Flashback Reading Challenge = 0
Big Book Challenge = 1

November List Progress:
eBooks read = 6
SFF books read = 6
Library Books read = 1
Audiobooks listened to = 0