|
Guardian of the Dawn by Richard Zimler. Literary/Historical fiction 5/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/31/2007 11:43 AM
|
|
|
|
Richard Zimler’s novel Guardian of the Dawn [ISBN 1 84529091 7] is one of those well-researched books that tell you a great deal you didn’t know about a particular time and place in the past whilst depressing you again over the vagaries of human nature. Set in the 16th in Portugese Goa it tells the story of the Catholic Inquisition scything their way through the colony’s Hindus or Jews. However, as well as a heavy plot, the ragbag of characters are uniformly unpleasant and untrustworthy, and the narrative is very slow in many parts
|
 |
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Bone Mountain by Eliot Pattison. Crime fiction 9/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/29/2007 10:11 AM
|
|
|
|
Eliot Pattison’s crime fiction novel Bone Mountain [ISBN 0 09 942206 9] is unusual and absorbing: set in Tibet and full of Tibetan and Buddhist legends and beliefs it also has an intriguing plot – which continues to mystify and interest the reader throughout the book – the narrative is convoluted and often gripping and the reader becomes involved with the lives of these strange characters – and comes to appreciate the major tragedies of the Tibetan people so much more powerfully than a direct factual account. A terrific ending.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamandia Ngozi Adichie. Literary fiction 6/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/24/2007 9:29 AM
|
|
|
|
Chimamandia Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun [ISBN 978 0 00 720028 3] is set against the Biafran/Nigerian war in the 1960s, and is told through the different viewpoints of three characters. Even though the book is written in novel form (chopped up time lines, switching narratives) I felt it would have been more effective as a straight story (and even as non-fiction) – as is was, the author can abrogate responsibility for what the characters do or say – and fail to give any kind of real analysis for causes or even views or visions for ways forward for Nigeria. I found the story turgid and heavy, and hard to get through the literary devices chopping up the narrative.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Alice in Jeopardy by Ed Mc Bain. Crime thriller 8/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/23/2007 1:46 PM
|
|
|
|
Not like his precinct stories but his novel Alice in Jeopardy [ISBN 978 1 4072 1698 1] benefits from this veteran author’s skill in plotting and dribbling his narrative to keep you interested. This type of plot (abductions) are not my favourite as the outcomes are so few, but Ed McBain manages to string this out superbly.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Birdman by Mo Hayder. Gruesome crime fiction 7/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/22/2007 9:02 AM
|
|
|
|
Mo Hayder’s serial-killer novel Birdman [ISBN 0 553 81265 3] is very well plotted – with the narrative intense and quite skilful with drawn-out suspense but, as the jacket blurb quoting Val McDermid says “Not for the faint hearted”. I must admit this book is more gruesome than my eclectic comfort level is set at.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Winter’s End by John Rickards. Crime fiction 10/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/19/2007 8:39 AM
|
|
|
|
John Rickard’s debut novel Winter’s End [ISBN 0 141 01127 0] is just brilliant. The plot is very clever indeed, and impossible to second guess, it starts with a chilling puzzle and the narrative moves forward sinuously, gripping the reader and drawing you in. It is particularly well written, and the context and background – a small town, Winter’s End, in Maine in winter – is fascinating. The characters peopling this little town add to the fascination, and the denouement is very good indeed, though I did get a whisper of a feeling of what would happen - but not until the author decided to unwrap a few red herrings.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli. Eurocrime-“Italian Noir” 8/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/15/2007 9:00 AM
|
|
|
|
Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli [ISBN 1-93337215-x] is the first of a trilogy, and I’m going to have to track down the other two. I think it was his first novel and, if so, it indicates all the promise he shows later in Almost Blue. Its not so much the plotting that makes this novel, but the fascinating context (Italy, just at the end of WW2) and the characters all somehow fashioned from their wartime experiences and roles. The narrative holds the reader enthralled. It will be interesting to see where the second book of the trilogy leads.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Mercy by David Lindsey. Crime fiction 9/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/12/2007 8:33 AM
|
|
|
|
David Lindsey’s serial-murder crime fiction novel Mercy [ISBN 0 7515 0239 1] is written by a master-plotter – the plot is so good it leads you convincingly down so many dead-ends that the final denouement gives a surprise ending. This book is a long one, and such books often wilt in patches, but not this one – the narrative remains fresh and adsorbing throughout. The characters are believable and have some depth – and though slightly dysfunctional (which seems to be par for detectives) do act intelligently and purposefully. I dropped it a point in the score because of the gratuitous gruesomness – though this does go with such topics.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Lost in Transmission by Wil MacCarthy. Sci-fi 6/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/8/2007 11:16 AM
|
|
|
|
Another Science fiction novel in a week is rather more than I’m used to. During my heyday of Sci-fi reading I used to exchange books with a Sci-Fi addict friend who said “I don’t read space” which always amused me because Space is where it started. However, I must be a late developer because I can now say “I don’t really want to read about space again”. Lost in Transmission, by Wil MacCarthy is one of those reasons [ISBN 0 553 58447 2]. The novel starts off OK; the science (always a weakness of modern fantasists) is very good, and the story scenario is reasonably promising – but, then there follows the interminable narrative of the star-ship journey to a new planet and immortal life assured by technology. However, very little dramatic or philosophical mileage is made of any of this, and the characters are thin to the point of disappearance. I’ve forgotten them already.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Land of the Headless by Adam Roberts. Sci-fi 5/10 |
|
|
By bookworm on
10/5/2007 3:14 PM
|
|
|
|
I think I must be growing out of Science Fiction as the latest reads appear so very hackneyed up to the master writers. Adam Roberts science fiction novel Land of the Headless [ISBN 978 0 575 07588 7] has one very good idea – a future world where certain criminals are punished by the removal of their head, but with the replacement of hearing and sight by inferior prosthetics. So, perhaps a good start, but the story has no edge or bite, and wanders along with little purpose, and the narrative becomes so boring I lost the will to live. There must have been a chance to make something of the strange society through observation or commentary, but instead focuses almost entirely on the difficulties of getting about with no head. Its quite funny if mostly gruesome.
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|