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dustydigger
Posted 2014-11-05 8:38 AM (#8836 - in reply to #6198)
Subject: Re: The Pick and Mix Challenge.		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		Kevin Hearne - Hounded. A light fun UF tale about a 2000 year old druid who annoyed an old viking god by stealing his sword.He is hiding out by rrunning an occult bookshop in Arizona ,friends with a odd collection of friends - werewolves,vampires witches included - and getting into serious trouble with a variety of gods. Sharp,funny and delightful,and the best in the whole series IMO.

Jim Butcher - Skin Game. Another excellent outing for our old friend Harry Dresden. Once again he is forced by Queen Mab to do some repugnant things. Finally however, Harry i starrtng to get Mab's measureand has to be farsighted enough to avoid all the pitfalls and traps before him. Good to see he is becoming as devious and tricksy as the fae around him Welcome return too for some old friends as well as old enemies. Its great that Butcher can keep up such a high standard after so many books
.
Catherynne M Valente -The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. I loved this book! There are so many hints and allusions to children's classics of the past eg Alice in Wonderland with its heroine falling a long way to reach a strange new world, The Wizard of Oz, with a child from Kansas whisked away to a world of witches and danger, but with a kind hearted Dorothy becoming firm friends with various creatures and going off to seek help for them, and also the moral dimensions of C S Lewis's Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where the blight caused by tyranny can only be destroyed by great sorrow and sacrifice, and the courage to put what is right ahead of oneself. Yes Valente may delicately touch on magic shoes and wardrobes, but she does a wonderful job of bringing freshness to old ideas, telling a sometimes harrowing tale about a remarkable young heroine, September, and writing exquisite descriptions of both the beauties and terrors of Fairyland in a lyrical, poetic style. Never does she forget though that Fairyland can be cruel and wicked, and the heroine suffers badly at times. There are surprises and reversals of expectations, and all in all this is an excellent book, fresh, inventive and exciting, with a redoubtable, and unforgettable heroine. Highly recommended.

Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog .The had many good things in it.It mingles time travel (which I always just let go over my head,I go with the flow,knowing the author will sort it all out lol) with an homage to Jerome K Jerome's delightful Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing about the dog) ,stories about eccentric Victorian Oxford dons,Oxford colleges,and golden age detective stories,especially Sayers and Christie The first 250 pages is great fun,we meet lots of funny characters and situations,but the last section is very drawn out,with long winded explanations and complicated time travel issues I would have edited down by at least 50 pages. Anyway,it was quite an enjoyable read,but long and slow.


Edited by dustydigger 2014-11-05 8:59 AM

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