You are currently browsing the daily archive for December 29, 2013.
What’s it all about?
So, you’re on your way to work in the morning and you have what appears to be a heart-attack on the Tube but your life is saved by an oldish lady who turns out not to be an oldish lady but actually is part of the Feyre and you find out that you are too and nasties are after you and you have to work out an ancient ritual to save like everything.
Why did I want to read it?
Duh! All that stuff up there. Plus the Book God recommended it. Then Silvery Dude read it and said I had to. And it says on the rear of the paperback that this should be filed under Urban Fantasy [hidden war / secret history / deadly duel / ancient rites] division. So duh! once again.
What did I think of it?
Loved it. I liked Niall and Blackbird and the whole world of the Feyre and how it interacted with ours. It has a strong internal logic which helps to make it entirely believable. It has been compared to Neverwhere and I can understand why having read both (and currently listening to the repeated Gaiman dramatisation on Radio 4) but it is very much its own thing. Part of something that’s becoming a genre in itself, the London Fantastical Novel, and I can’t get enough of them.
Conclusion
Sixty-One Nails is the first book in a set of four and I have them all *cue maniacal laughter*
Recommended if you like urban fantasy. And who doesn’t, right?
What’s it all about?
The sins of the fathers. The souls of the innocent. The Accursed is a Gothic tale which tells the story of a curse which has apparently fallen on the town of Princeton between 1905 and 1906, featuring a mixture of real and fictitious characters and some quite grotesque events.
Why did I want to read it?
Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favourite authors and this looked to be an unusual addition to her remarkably large body of work.
What did I think of it?
Well. This is without a doubt one of the oddest books I have ever read. I don’t actually have the words to describe it (and I’m not alone in finding writing about the novel difficult because Stephen King reviewed it for the NYTimes and had a similar issue but handled it significantly better as you would expect).
There is a kidnapping at a wedding, a mysterious stranger with an unnatural influence over the townsfolk, a series of murders (all very unpleasant), cover-ups, political intrigue and a fantasy world of cruelty and despair. And a secret which looms large over one particular family. All about as Gothic as it’s possible to get.
Conclusion
Astonishing. Difficult. Lengthy. Purple. Cover implies vampires but if they’re there they aren’t your usual suspects. Did I mention it’s astonishing? Took many hours of my life. Not entirely successful as a novel but blimey, quite an experience.
Bride of the Book God 