A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin

I feel this book justifies a far longer review than I am able to give, but as it has been a few months since I finished it and I have since seen several episodes of the television adaptation, this is all I am able to give.

A Game of Thrones is the first in an epic fantasy series set in a fictional world of snow and ice. Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark is a lord and warden of the North, who is forced to leave his home and wife when he is summoned to the capital, King's Landing, to be the right hand of his king and oldest friend. But King Robert Baratheon is a changed man, a lover of rich foods, wine and women, and blind to the insiduous plans of his conniving wife, Queen Cersei. And soon things go terribly terribly wrong for the Stark family, tragedy ensues and war breaks out.

A Song of Ice and Fire is very much a saga, political and dangerous, sometimes heartbreaking and horrifying. These are tales of war and treachery, tales of fear and hate. It is hate that pervades this book, and the hate that I found exhausting. In fact I was torn throughout my reading of this book, captivated to the point where I would read through until 2 or 3am, and yet desperate to put the book down, and get some respite from the horrors within. And yet there is hope within these pages, tales of love, both romantic and familial. 

Ned's wife Catelyn is particularly intriguing, strong and wise, yet bound to her love for her family, for her children. Catelyn's children: Robb, brave yet out of his depth; Bran, crippled but full of surprises; Sansa, beautiful yet foolish; Arya, fiery but young; and Rickon, tiny and innocent. Then there is Ned's bastard son, Jon Snow, destined for great things, yet never truly part of the family he loves. And the Lannisters, brutal, wicked and calculating. So cruel in fact that they could almost be ridiculous, yet Martin gives them depth. The dwarf, Tyrion, intelligent and unpredictable; the kingkiller, Jamie, incestuous and brutal; the Queen, Cersei, single-minded and devoted to her son; and the father, Tywin, sinister and merciless. Yet the Lannisters stick together, blood with blood. And let's not forget Daenerys Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, and daughter of the usurped and murdered king, building herself an army of horse lords across the sea, to take back her throne.

Characters are what keep this tale enticing, and mystery. And the wolves, raised from cubs by the children and tied so completely to their future. Perhaps the greatest mystery, hinted at and alluded to throughout this tale, is what lies beyond the wall, the darkness looming over the North. As the Stark house motto says, Winter is Coming.

One thing George RR Martin is not, is afraid to kill off his characters. He has this terrible habit of drawing you in, letting you care about his characters, only to rip them away, cruelly and painfully. These books are dark and brutal. Be prepared.

Mini reviews

Lonely Werewolf Girl - Martin Millar

Teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, while her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. In the Scottish Highlands there's trouble at Castle MacRinnalch as the Werewolf Clan prepares for war.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is an expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world. The MacRinnalch family contains elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashion designers, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians - an entire Clan of Werewolves, involved in conflict from the Scottish Highlands to London, and several dimensions beyond.

How anyone could not rush out and get this book after reading Chris' review is beyond me! I managed to get a copy through my library in perfect time for last year's RIP Challenge.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is a hoot! Flitting between modern day London and Edinburgh, the story moves from high drama to ridiculous comedy! Lonely Werewolf girl is both a dark fantasy, and a modern tale of students, music and pizza. Kalix is a troubled girl on the run from her family and living rough on the streets of London, when she is taken in by two naive but kind students.

With a bizarre series of events and plot twists, it is Millar's characters that steal the show. Perhaps best of all is Malveria, Queen of the Fire Elementals, who is more concerned with having the latest designer handbags and shoes than with ruling her kingdom. The hilarious things she occasionally comes out with left me roaring in laughter, especially her conversations with the haughty and misunderstood Werewolf Enchantress, Kalix's sister. Fantastic stuff!

Curse of the Wolf Girl - Martin Millar

Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is in London trying to settle down and live a normal life. Her new friends support her as she goes to college to learn to read and write, but her old enemies won't leave her alone. Many powerful werewolves want Kalix dead, and the Guild of Werewolf Hunters is still dedicated to wiping out the entire MacRinnalch werewolf clan. Life might be easier for Kalix if her werewolf family were able to help, but her sister the Enchantress needs all of her sorcerous powers to locate the perfect pair of high heels, her brother Markus is busy in Scotland organising an opera, and her cousin Dominil is engaged in her own merciless vendetta with her enemies. Kalix must carry on alone but she's finding it difficult enough to pay the rent and cope with her anxiety and depression, while struggling with werewolf hunters and exams at the same time...

With her life a little more stable, but her continuing problems with anxiety and depression, not to mention a laudanum addiction, Kalix attempts to get an education and even finds a romantic entanglement. However, life is never that easy when you are the daughter of the former werewolf chief and find a bunch of assassins on your tail, while befriended by the clumpsy adopted daughter of the Fire Queen. Needless to say, further chaos ensues.

While this was a thoroughly entertaining follow-up to Lonely Werewolf Girl, and I would highly recommend it, few of the characters were really developed much, and it did not feel quite as substantial as the first.

The City and the City - China Mieville

The body of a murdered woman is discovered in the remarkable, crumbling European city of Besźel. Such a crime is par for the course for Inspector Tyador Borlú, who is the premier talent of the Extreme Crime Squad – until his investigations uncover evidence that bizarre and terrifying forces are at work – and soon both he and those around him will be in considerable peril. He must undertake an odyssey, a journey across borders both physical and psychical, to the city which is both a complement and rival to his own, that of Ul Qoma.

China Mieville is a complicated writer, with a highly complex imagination. The City and the City begins as a crime novel, a whodunnit set in a fictional eastern European city, a culture in part Balkan and part Germanic. The victim is a young American woman who had been working in another city, "the" other city, situated in the same place - the two cities occupying the same place, sometimes merging, sometimes overlapping. Both the law and social acceptability require the citizens of these two cities to refrain from contact, to the point where people have learnt to "unsee" places and people in the other city. To see something from the other city would be considered breach, with harsh penalties. Strict border controls exist between the two, manned by law enforcement from both sides. However, there are some borders that cannot be completely maintained, which is where "Breach" - a mysterious force that deals out the most severe penalties - steps in.

The relationship between these two cities is the heart of this story, which rapidly delves into philisophical science fiction, while all the time focusing on two law enforcement officers and their search for the truth about the young woman's murder. Confusing yet gripping, the City and the City is a highly original and inventive novel, that occasionally falters, and while it may not have provided the most satisfying ending for this particular blogger, was a very enjoyable read.

Revolver - Marcus Sedgwick

After his father dies from the cold out on the ice-covered lake, fifteen year old Sig Andersson finds himself waiting alone with the body in the family cabin while his step-mother and sister go for help. Then a mysterious and sinister man bearing a revolver arrives claiming to have business with his father. Sig slowly learns the truth about the man's link to his family and when his sister's own life becomes threatened, he has to make a choice. Whether to use his father's own prized revolver.

Set in the Arctic Circle, cold penetrates every inch of this novel. With tension that you could cut with a knife, and a story of such intensity, this book lingered with me long after I finished it. Another atmospheric and gripping novel from my beloved Marcus Sedgwick. Go read it!

The End Of The World!

Like zombies? Want to support an amateur author who is poised to take the world by storm with his interactive online story about the end of the world? Look no further!

A friend of mine is writing said work and needs your help. His story is based upon the trials of a range of characters, beginning on Sunday January 1st 2012 when their lives are changed by a catastrophic event! You can see a timeline of events, read about each character (spoiler: this includes their current status - dead or alive!), and even see their current location.

The story is online in blog format, so you should scroll to the first entry written on December 1 and start from there. Each chapter is broken down into the stories of each individual character. At the end of each chapter, you will be encouraged to cast your vote to save your favourite character, and control where the story leads us...who lives and who dies at the end of this world...you decide!

Dorling's End of the World

Not suitable for children

Christmas Booty!

As requested by Susan...a photo of my christmas booty!

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Girl Meets Boy - Ali Smith
Slam - Nick Hornby
Tamsin - Peter S Beagle
Dry Store No 1 - Richard Fortey
The Fire Gospel - Michel Faber
The Love We Share Without Knowing - Christopher Barzak
Seeing Further: the story of science and the royal society
Nigel Slater's Tender Volume 1 and Volume 2

P.S. 31-Jan-11: Somehow I forgot to mention my favourite book that I received this xmas!!

Steam, brass and clockwork

While perusing the blog over at Finding Wonderland, I heard that next week several websites will be participating in Steampunk/Alternate History Week, so I thought this would be the perfect time to declare my newfound love for all things steampunk.

My new favourite tv show is Sanctuary, a Canadian sci-fi fantasy series that originally started as a series of webisodes. With heavy steampunk leanings, Sanctuary is the story of Dr Helen Magnus, on a 150 year old British doctor, played by Amanda Tapping, who works to maintain the fragile balance between humans and sentient "abnormals". Magnus worked in Victorian England where she and several colleagues experimented with untainted vampire blood, with some unexpected results. A fun filled scifi steampunk romp with characters including Dr James Watson, the Invisible Man and, my personal favourite, the fabulously dastardly Nikola Tesla. Highly highly recommended! The creators of Sanctuary have started a new steampunk web series...Riese: Kingdom Falling - I for one will certainly be tuning in.

I also came home recently with quite a horde of new steampunk fiction and after finishing the first, I am well and truly hooked!

The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
Court of the Air - Stephen Hunt
Soulless - Gail Carriger

My love for steampunk doesn't rest at books and tv though - check out these recent purchases ;)

What do you love about steampunk?

Witch Hill - Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick seems to be one of the authors that I forget all about, and then I discover another of his books and fall for his writing all over again!

Jamie is haunted by the terrifying fire that broke out in his family home. Sent to stay with his aunt in Somerset, his respite is interrupted by the strange incidents that occur in the small village. First the evil old witch in his nightmares, and the ancient chalk carving uncovered on Crownhill, then a tale emerges of a seventeenth century witchhunt victim. The thing that connects them all...fire. Jamie is forced to face his worst fear and uncover the truth.

Witch Hill is a short but compelling tale. Sedgwick's skill is in the atmosphere and tension that he weaves and the emotions that he invokes. The description of Jamie's fears are heartbreakingly real, making his plight all the more moving. I particularly loved the references to the 'ancient' (depending on which history text you read!) chalk carvings and seventeeth century witch hunts.

Highly enjoyable.

Red Spikes - Margo Lanagan

Red Spikes is a collection of short stories from Australian fantasy author Margo Lanagan. Dark and unyielding, these are bizarre, other-worldly tales, brought forth from the depths of a truly astounding imagination.

Nothing I write here could possibly do this collection justice. These stories are unusual, not likeable exactly, but they are so believable, Lanagan's writing is effortless, convincing us of their truth. With beauty, wonder and true horror, each tale has elements of familiar fairy-tales...tales of warrior queens, guardian angels, gods, witches and heroes...but reworked and reimagined.

Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy and fans of Lanagan's fiction.

The Year in Review 2009

Yet another good year for reading, with some truly excellent titles, though perhaps not as many as I had hoped. I have also been rather slack with my reviews and will endeavour to write them as I go in the coming year, rather than leave it until I have forgotton the details!

Five particular books stand out as my favourites of the year:
Skellig - David Almond
Looking for Alaska - John Green
What I Was - Meg Rosoff
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

David Almond, Meg Rosoff and John Green have gone straight into my all time favourite young adult and children's author category!

It also seems that I have begun the last two years on a real high, with my first book of the year ending up as one of my favourites...no pressure for 2010 then!

Books read this year
Looking for Alaska - John Green
The Last of the High Kings - Kate Thompson
The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer (reread)
New Moon - Stephenie Meyer (reread)
Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (reread)
Outcast - Michelle Paver
Oath Breaker - Michelle Paver
Shakespeare Wrote for Money - Nick Hornby
Skellig - David Almond
Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (reread)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Simon Armitage translation
The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzbee
Inkspell - Cornelia Funke
My Swordhand is Singing - Marcus Sedgewick
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
The Master and the Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Accidental - Ali Smith
Enduring Love - Ian McEwan
The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans
The Black Tattoo - Sam Enthoven
Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke
The Puppet Master - Joanne Owen
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
What I Was - Meg Rosoff
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
Once Upon a Time in the North - Philip Pullman
Into the Forest - Jean Hegland
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
The Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
Shakespeare - Bill Bryson (reread)
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
I am Morgan le Fay - Nancy Springer
Paper Towns - John Green
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
The Last Unicorn - Peter S Beagle
Ghost Hunter - Michelle Paver
Dewey - Vicky Myron
The Bride's Farewell - Meg Rosoff
Piece by Piece - Tori Amos
Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
Nation - Terry Pratchett

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

Read for: Dewey's Books Challenge, YA Challenge

Meg Rosoff’s acclaimed novel tells the story of Daisy, a teenage American girl who travels to Britain, leaving behind her estranged father and his new family. Sent to stay with her mother’s family in the English countryside, Daisy has to juggle her family problems and eating disorder, while being swept up in a different way of life. She soon grows fond of her eccentric aunt and misfit cousins, especially bonding with the slightly younger Edmund. Everything changes however, when her aunt is out of the country on business. Britain is attacked by some unknown enemy, and left in a chaotic state of war, reminiscent of the country during WW2. The children are left to fend for themselves, providing food and shelter and hiding from the world outside, living and playing in their own little bubble. The war is never far away though, and soon the army arrive, building a base on the farm and separating the children. Daisy is left alone to care for nine year old Piper, and is tormented by her separation from Edmund, with whom she had fallen in love and is determined to find.

Although dealing with war and the delicate subject of love between blood relatives, neither of these is the focus of Rosoff’s story. Rather, they set the scene, and allow the story to follow as it will, through Daisy’s own experiences. She sees some true horror, yet finds in herself a spirit and courage unbeknownst to her.

It is easy to see why this extraordinary book won the Guardian Children’s Fiction award. Rosoff’s writing is remarkable and her storytelling is daring, yet she tackles her subjects with a gentle hand. I can imagine that some readers would be put off by a story that is, in places, quite violent, and that touches on the sexual relationship between two cousins. In Rosoff’s capable hands, this story is a touching one, brimming with emotion, full of beauty and hope. Although I never particularly became attached to any of the characters, the storytelling is so involved that I found myself open-mouthed in horror one minute and holding back tears the next. I'm not sure anything I can say will so this book justice, so you'll just have to read it and make up your own mind.

I for one have been won over by Rosoff’s writing, and will certainly be reading more of her work in the future. A moving read.

Other blog reviews:
A Striped Armchair

1 more chapter

Bold.Blue.Adventure

in Spring it is the dawn

The hidden side of a leaf

Leafing through life

Things mean a lot

Valentina's Room

The Written World

(have i missed yours?)

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzbee

The first few pages of Lewis Buzbee's ode to the bookshop caught my interest immediately, appealing to all those of us who love to wile away the hours holed up in our favourite bookshops. Using his own personal experience, Buzbee explores our love of the written word, the books that hold them and the ancient bookselling trade that brings them into our lives.

Buzbee has had an interesting career, beginning as a bookseller, becoming a sales rep (sadly the advent of the internet have made that line of work almost defunct). He discusses the love of books, with anecdotes from his career, interwoven with interesting historical details and fascinating facts about the publishing industry in the United States. One chapter that particularly stood out for me was concerning the famous Shakespeare & Co bookshop in Paris, that changed the face of bookselling, and was ultimately responsible for the publication of James Joyce's epic novel Ulysses.

I loved my few years of working as a bookseller, and this fascinating and endearing book reminded me of all the amusing and satisfying days I had, the kindred spirits I inevitably worked with, and left me with a warm nostalgia I have not felt in years. The dream is still there...to open my little independent bookshop one day, even if it only remains a dream. I still spend hours at a time wandering through the shelves of many a bookshop, and in all honestly, I find nowhere else as peaceful when there are still people present.

A really enjoyable read for anyone who loves books or bookshops...so thats most people that are reading this blog!

Other blog reviews:
A Striped Armchair
things mean a lot
You Can Never Have Too Many Books

Library Loot

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Twilight (audiobook)
My Swordhand is Singing - Marcus Sedgwick
Leviathan - Philip Hoare
Inkspell - Cornelia Funke
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Dream Angus - Alexander McCall Smith

I tend to borrow one or two books every couple of weeks from the library, just to satisfy my craving for introducing new books into my home, as I'm still adhering to my book buying ban. This week's is the largest booty I have returned home with, most due to the Once Upon a Time challenge, and other recommendations from bloggers. I've already started on Inkspell!