Thursday, May 24, 2012
"More Detail on Three Upcoming Novels of the Highest Interest: Lawrence Norfolk, K.J. Parker and Peter Hamilton" (by Liviu Suciu)
A little bit to my surprise I have recently been extremely lucky to obtain advance reading copies of three of my most awaited books for 2012 and as they cover the 3 areas of English language fiction that is of most interest to me today - sumptuous historical fiction, secondary world fantasy that is closer to historical fiction than to traditional lots of magic genre and modern space opera - I decided to talk a little about each below with reviews to come later in the year.
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In September, Lawrence Norfolk returns to fiction after many years with John Saturnall's Feast. I read this book a few weeks ago, essentially the day I obtained my e-arc and I talked a little about both the author and the book on Goodreads. For now I will just present my final point from that "raw thoughts" mini-review.
"The
novel is also very visual - I was picturing quite a lot of it as a
Peter Greenaway movie, more precisely the mixture of the period of
The Draughtsman's Contract and the feasting of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - both movies that I've watched a number of times. Though now the cook is the lover too and he does not end on the dinner table..."
Since my first two readings, the novel kept staying with me and I plan at least one more end-to-end read later this year. The blurb below is reasonably accurate though it does not convey the richness of the book.
"A beautiful, rich and sensuous historical novel, John Saturnall’s Feast
tells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor
house, and rises through the ranks to become the greatest Cook of his
generation. It is a story of food, star-crossed lovers, ancient myths
and one boy’s rise from outcast to hero.
Orphaned when his mother dies of starvation, having been cast out of her village as a witch, John is taken in at the kitchens at Buckland Manor, where he quickly rises from kitchen-boy to Cook, and is known for his uniquely keen palate and natural cooking ability. However, he quickly gets on the wrong side of Lady Lucretia, the aristocratic daughter of the Lord of the Manor. In order to inherit the estate, Lucretia must wed, but her fiancé is an arrogant buffoon. When Lucretia takes on a vow of hunger until her father calls off her engagement to her insipid husband-to-be, it falls to John to try to cook her delicious foods that might tempt her to break her fast.
Reminiscent of Wolf Hall and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, John Saturnall’s Feast is a brilliant work and a delight for all the senses."
Orphaned when his mother dies of starvation, having been cast out of her village as a witch, John is taken in at the kitchens at Buckland Manor, where he quickly rises from kitchen-boy to Cook, and is known for his uniquely keen palate and natural cooking ability. However, he quickly gets on the wrong side of Lady Lucretia, the aristocratic daughter of the Lord of the Manor. In order to inherit the estate, Lucretia must wed, but her fiancé is an arrogant buffoon. When Lucretia takes on a vow of hunger until her father calls off her engagement to her insipid husband-to-be, it falls to John to try to cook her delicious foods that might tempt her to break her fast.
Reminiscent of Wolf Hall and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, John Saturnall’s Feast is a brilliant work and a delight for all the senses."
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In July, K.J. Parker's novel Sharps will be out and as two days ago I have just received a bound galley which I plan to enjoy with my usual "read 100 pages, reread them, read another 100, then read the first 200 again" that KJ Parker's novels deserve in order to tease all their subtleties before being hit with the expected hammer of unbelievable twists and turns, I can only say that so far it is just vintage author with the darkly ironic view of human nature and the generic world building and naming conventions familiar from earlier novels.
For a discussion of K.J. Parker's earlier work here on FBC you can look at my review of The Hammer and the links there - to date I have done 7 review posts about the author's work. The blurb below seems accurate from what I see.
"For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been
called between two neighbouring kingdoms. The war has been long and
brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money...
Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.
When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?"
Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.
When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?"
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(click to enlarge for full enjoyment)
In September (UK), Peter Hamilton's new standalone mammoth space opera Great North Road will be published and just yesterday a limited edition trade paperback review copy that stands at 1087 (!!) pages arrived in my mailbox. While the text is nicely large so the published book may stand at somewhat less, it still should clock close to 1000 pages.
I have only browsed a few pages so far but the book seems vintage Hamilton with the usual exuberant, sense of wonder style that justly made him one of the premier voices of today's SF. I will present the blurb below, while the image above should be seen at full resolution (click on it) for full enjoyment as it conveys what one expects from a P. F. Hamilton novel!
"In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, AD 2142, Detective Sidney Hurst attends a brutal
murder scene. The victim is one of the wealthy North family clones –
but none have been reported missing. And the crime’s most disturbing
aspect is how the victim was killed. Twenty years ago, a North clone
billionaire and his household were horrifically murdered in exactly the
same manner, on the tropical planet of St Libra. But if the murderer is
still at large, was Angela Tramelo wrongly convicted? Tough and
confident, she never waivered under interrogation – claiming she alone
survived an alien attack. But there is no animal life on St Libra.
Investigating this alien threat becomes the Human Defence Agency’s top
priority. The bio-fuel flowing from St Libra is the lifeblood of Earth’s
economy and must be secured. So a vast expedition is mounted via the
Newcastle gateway, and teams of engineers, support personnel and
xenobiologists are dispatched to the planet. Along with their technical
advisor, grudgingly released from prison, Angela Tramelo. But the
expedition is cut off, deep within St Libra’s rainforests. Then the
murders begin. Someone or something is picking off the team one by one.
Angela insists it’s the alien, but her new colleagues aren’t so sure.
Maybe she did see an alien, or maybe she has other reasons for being on
St Libra "
Edit: A reader using Internet Explorer noticed that earlier versions of the covers here and in a few other posts were not displayed in that browser and I looked into it and fixed the problem. I think there are some compatibility problems between the new Blogger interface and IE that led to that, but as I use Mozilla and have not been using IE for many years now, please notify us with a comment or email of any such display problems in any browser you use.
Thank you!
Edit: A reader using Internet Explorer noticed that earlier versions of the covers here and in a few other posts were not displayed in that browser and I looked into it and fixed the problem. I think there are some compatibility problems between the new Blogger interface and IE that led to that, but as I use Mozilla and have not been using IE for many years now, please notify us with a comment or email of any such display problems in any browser you use.
Thank you!
12:01 AM | 
Posted by
Liviu |
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS Mark Van Name's debut "One Jump Ahead" introduced Jon Moore mercenary
ex-soldier and a man of many secrets that are so dangerous that he
must live alone and make no attachments, and partner Lobo,
personal AI warship (PCAV) mooning as park statue/exhibition on an
obscure world, an AI ship of many secrets of its own, secrets that would not do
for anyone to know either.
"No Going Back" is the 5th Jon and Lobo
adventure and it came two years after the previous installment rather than at the
one year schedule of the first 4. The novel returned to the more classic
adventure feel of the first three books and while the darker and weightier
Children No More was very good, I think the original tone works better
especially now that the author has it down pitch perfect.
What makes No Going Back stand out is precisely what the title literally means, namely that from now on it is no going back to the older days as the series finds here focus and a narrative pillar. The super-competent hero with extraordinary powers trope revived so well in this series gets one more dimension, a clear goal and I am really interested to see how the author handles it.
What makes No Going Back stand out is precisely what the title literally means, namely that from now on it is no going back to the older days as the series finds here focus and a narrative pillar. The super-competent hero with extraordinary powers trope revived so well in this series gets one more dimension, a clear goal and I am really interested to see how the author handles it.
Of course Jon and Lobo
are such great characters as the first person narration of which Lobo gets a
little share here in this book, has worked so well to have established and any new series installment is still a huge asap, get the e-arc on the spot
and read it immediately notwithstanding how many other books I have in
the queue.
As style goes, the novel is a gripping read from the first pages when Jon is in the process of trying to crash a party of rich old pedophiles - party where 10 children are auctioned off - on an obscure planet with great natural beauty but harsh physical characteristics. In the link above you can read the first 15 chapters on Baen's site and see how smooth everything goes.
As style goes, the novel is a gripping read from the first pages when Jon is in the process of trying to crash a party of rich old pedophiles - party where 10 children are auctioned off - on an obscure planet with great natural beauty but harsh physical characteristics. In the link above you can read the first 15 chapters on Baen's site and see how smooth everything goes.
The structure of No Going Back is a bit different from its predecessors, with chapters numbered
"x days from the end" mixed with the 100+ year old backstory that
continues Jon's memories from long ago, now from the time in his
youth immediately after escaping the hell of his native - now quarantined - planet when he was not understanding his powers and trying to get the time needed to do so, while Lobo's
interludes offer more insight into the AI's special human-like personality, the why's of which having been set-up in "Overthrowing Heaven".
No
Going Back functions well as a standalone as all earlier books' story lines
are recounted briefly here and there, while the salient facts about Jon
and Lobo are also gone through, so you can start delving in the saga
here, though from the way things end, I suspect the next volumes will
become much more tightly connected in both plot and secondary characters.
As my usual, positional rankings go, this series is in my top tier, get/read asap any installment, while No Going Back is probably the best executed to date, though Children No More was "more serious". The clear series focus established here should only add to the pluses in the future when new Jon and Lobo adventures will appear.
Overall No Going Back still remains a pretty classical space adventure sf novel with modern style and sensibilities and with the the generally expected stuff implied by such, very well done but nothing previously not seen and it is one of my highly recommended novels of 2012.
As my usual, positional rankings go, this series is in my top tier, get/read asap any installment, while No Going Back is probably the best executed to date, though Children No More was "more serious". The clear series focus established here should only add to the pluses in the future when new Jon and Lobo adventures will appear.
Overall No Going Back still remains a pretty classical space adventure sf novel with modern style and sensibilities and with the the generally expected stuff implied by such, very well done but nothing previously not seen and it is one of my highly recommended novels of 2012.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
WORLDWIDE GIVEAWAY: Win an Omnibus Edition of David Dalglish's Shadowdance Trilogy
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Cloaks”
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Blades”
Read FBC’s Review of “A Dance of Death”
Read FBC’s Interview with David Dalglish
Read David Dalglish's "Sequels and Satisfying Endings"
In support of the May 9, 2012 publication of David Dalglish’s release “Blood Of The Underworld”— Fantasy Book Critic is giving away one copy of the Omnibus edition of "The ShadowDance Trilogy" courtesy of the author himself!!! The winner will have the choice to get either a trade paperback or an e-book copy of the omnibus.
To enter, please send an email to fbcgiveaway@gmail.com with your Name, Mailing Address, and the subject: SHADOWDANCE. Giveaway has ended. Thank you for entering and Good Luck!
GIVEAWAY RULES:
1) Open to Anyone WORLDWIDE.
2) Only One Entry Per Household (Multiple entries will be disqualified). (
3) Must Enter Valid Email Address, Mailing Address + Name.
4) No Purchase Necessary.
5) Giveaway has ended.
6) Winner Will Be Randomly Selected and Notified By Email.
7) Personal Information Will Only Be Used In Mailing Out the book To the Winner.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR WEBSITE
Order "The King's Blood" HERE
Read an Excerpt HERE
Read FBC's Review of "The Dragon Path"
Click here for The Dagger and The Coin Giveaway
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Daniel Abraham has been nominated for the Hugo,Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, and was awarded the International Horror Guild Award. His bibliography includes The Long Price Quartet, Hunter’s Run (w/Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin), the short story collection Leviathan Wept and Other Stories, the Wild Cards: The Hard Call comic book miniseries, and The Black Sun’s Daughter urban fantasy series written as MLN Hanover. His recent ventures include Leviathan Wakes (w/Ty Frank) under the pen name James S. A. Corey, and the comic book adaptation of GRRM’s A Song of Ice & Fire.
PLOT SUMMARY: WAR AND MADNESS CAST SHADOWS
OVER THE LANDS DRAGONS ONCE RULED.
Geder Palliako's star is rising. He is a hero of Antea, protector to the crown prince, and darling of the court. But storms from his past are gathering, and with them, a war that will change everything.
Cithrin bel Sarcour founded a powerful bank on stolen wealth, forged papers, and ready blades. Now every move she makes is observed, recorded, and controlled. Unless Cithrin can free herself from her gilded cage, the life she made will be for naught; war may provide just the opportunity she needs.
An apostate priest sees the hidden hand behind all: a long-buried secret of the dragon empire threatens everything humanity has built. An age of madness and death is on the way, with only a few doomed heroes to stand in its way.
CLASSIFICATION: Influenced by the likes of Alexandre Dumas, George R. R. Martin, Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and J. Michael Straczynski among others, The Dagger and the Coin is Daniel Abraham’s take on traditional epic fantasy.
FORMAT/INFO: The King’s Blood is 501 pages long divided over a Introduction, an Entr'acte, and forty-five chapters with each chapter designated by the name of a main character. Also includes a Map, a Dramatis Personae list, an introduction to the taxonomy of races and an excerpt from The Poisoned Sword, the third volume in The Dagger and the Coin. Narration is in the third person via Captain Marcus Wester; Geder Palliako; Cithrin Bel Sarcour; Dawson Kalliam, the Baron of Osterling Fells; Dawson’s wife, Clara Annalie Kalliam; and Master Kit the apostate.
The King’s Blood is the second volume in The Dagger and the Coin—a projected five-volume series. May 22, 2011 marks the North American/UK Trade Paperback publication of The King’s Blood via Orbit Books.
LIVIU’S ANALYSIS: The King's Blood is secondary world fantasy at its best and in addition it has a writing style quite above the usual "utility English" of the genre; maybe not quite at (the top of) literary fiction levels (see Hari Kunzru's Gods without Men for recent such), but close, while pretty much all the things that I would mark as negatives come from the nature of the genre rather than from the author.
I would try to avoid spoilers so I will talk only a little about the storyline, just to mention that it is a direct continuation of The Dragon's Path and a lot of things happen by the end of the novel which happens at a good stopping point with no cliffhangers but not much global resolution beyond tbc either - in this sense the first two volumes of the intended 5 book series are truly volume 1/2 of a huge novel.
The structure is similar with Dragon's Path and features POV chapters from Cithrin, Dawson, Clara, Geder and Marcus with interludes from Master Kit. As mentioned lots of things happen including intrigues, conspiracies, wars, pirates, deaths of named characters, while the world is expanded to some extent and the roles of the thirteen races are made a little bit clearer here, though again mostly regular humans aka "firstbloods" are of importance (and Cithrin of course who is half-blood Cinnae but much closer to her firstblood half by upbringing). There is an appendix written from the POV of a scholar of one the "superior bloods' (of course he would claim that...) and discussing the thirteen races, while many secondary characters - some new, some old and some who may become important later appear and some have really great moments.
The King's Blood also has an elegant rather than visceral feel and consequently the more emotional moments are still cerebral to a large extent rather than pure emotion and the action flows naturally rather than twisting and turning - here I tend to prefer the more visceral feel and the twists and turns with "what..?" moments, but as that is a pure personal preference, I would not count it against the book especially that it executes so well in these two categories (elegant style, natural story lines). The pages turn by themselves and I literally could not put the book down and read it in one very long sitting, but i expect to revisit the world and probably reread The Dragon Path too soon.
As for negatives - as mentioned mostly due to genre - the book like most SFF is about politics and the organization of society and like most fantasy it is a retrograde such where "what is your blood" counts more than anything else outside of specific commercial cities - true that say Geder who is minor nobility raises himself with luck and a strong dose of magic, but he is still noble - nobility and blood with the role of women very traditional in the "high society" - again the lower and commercial classes are different but over 60% of the book is about the nobility, a bit smaller world building than expected and occasionally feeling like a sandbox - but ultimately the novel captivated me again and showed that great writing and characters and a reasonably well thought secondary world (with the caveats above) still can keep me interested in traditional fantasy despite my feeling of "exhausting the genre" in the last 4 years.
MIHIR’S ANALYSIS: Daniel Abraham’s debut series had a lot of readers and critics praising his original premise and that did get fans excited for his next series which was a move back to the favored pseudo-European setting. This series was also going to be an amalgam of some classic literature as well as genre favorites. The first book in the series really gave the readers a nice look into the world created by the author wherein dragons ruled a long time ago and created the thirteen races. The main characters were introduced and enough intrigue was created.
With the King’s Blood, we are once again swept in to the world of the Dragons. Cithrin has been successful with her moves and in setting up a front for the Medean bank in costal city of Porte Olivia what she didn’t bargain for, are the chains the bank would set on her in the form of a clerk who cross-checks her each and every move. Geder Palliako never thought his star would ever rise so high but as the royal regent he now holds the most powerful court position and enjoys a good comfort level with his ward prince Aster. He however does not know that his ascent has only begun and further events will propel him into the limelight unsuited for him. Dawson and Clara Killiam are further faced with trials as they weave familial and political situations and try to do the right thing. Lastly there’s Master Kit who remembers his past life and decides that the time has come for him to step back in his earlier life and accomplish what he first set out to do.
Thus begins the second chronicle of the Dagger and the Coin, the author has raised the stakes in this book by further evolving the characters from the roles that they were assigned or deemed to follow. Characterization has always been Daniel Abraham’s forte and he absolutely shines in this book as well. Geder, Cithrin, Dawson, Clara and Marcus are all rounded individuals however the author completely immerses the reader in their thoughts and actions and fleshes them out to such an extent that it becomes harder to differentiate between their good and bad sides. Particularly Geder and Dawson, these two characters are ones whose actions can particularly viewed in a horrific light however the author manages to make the reader connect with them and particularly create doubt in the reader’s minds.
This book’s theme is about the folly of certainty and the actions based on it. There are a few lines in the book that highlight it well:
“Truth and lies, doubt and certainty. I haven’t found them to be what I thought they were. I dislike certainty because it feels like the truth, but it isn’t. If justice is based on certainty, but certainty is not the truth, atrocities become possible. We’re seeing the first of them now. More will come”.
The author very conveniently plays with this theme and it is largely prevalent in the lives of Geder and Dawson, both of whom have the most upheavals in this book. Cithrin and Marcus however are not entirely exempt from this but their journey is more of an introspective one that makes them realize what they wish to do with their lives from this point forward. The POV count is also kept the same however the next book might see the introduction of a new character or two. In this regard the author has learnt a thing or two from his mentor and friend George R.R. Martin, namely the pitfalls in introducing more and more POV characters thereby complicating the story threads. The author keeps a tight rein on the storyline and keeps it focused with the help of the limited number of POVs.
Lastly the pacing of this book is much smoother than the first one and also with the addition of the taxonomy of the races, the classification seem to help the readers in understanding the differences in the races prevalent. The only negative for me in this book would be that this book lacks the EPIC feel that this series is supposed to be about, as right now it’s more focused on the action of the few that will lead to repercussions for the many. Perhaps the author intends to change this in the last three books but I would like the epic part of the story to begin as well so we can truly get to see this story come alive and discover more about the dragons and other mysteries of this world. The magic as well as the world setting if further explored will add to awesomeness of the series.
CONCLUSION(LIVIU): Daniel Abraham has crafted a worthy sequel and perhaps a better book in terms of plot, characters and pace. All in all The King's Blood was the first 2012 fantasy that satisfied my expectations and of course it will have a place on my top 25 list of the year. I hope the series will continue to keep these extremely high standards all the way, while I believe that there is scope and depth for five books though I expect considerably more universe expansion.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Dragon Poems for Smiletrain: An Anthology For Charity by L. M. Stull and M. R. Mathais
- Provide free cleft surgery to hundreds of thousands of poor children in developing countries.
- Train doctors and medical professionals in over eighty countries.
- Treat the “whole child” with comprehensive, total rehabilitative care including: speech therapy, general dentistry and orthodontics.
To help this wonderful organization, M.R. Mathias and L.M. Stull hosted a wonderful contest for poems about dragons. They have now collected all the entries into an eclectic collection and all proceeds from the book will go towards Smiletrain and their amazing efforts in helping children. So spare a look if you can at their wonderful website and for buying your copy of this collection for Kindle you can check it out HERE.
Haern the Watcher is, without a doubt, my most popular character. I’ve had fans name their Skyrim characters after him, received numerous pleadings for more books featuring him, and even one man say if he wasn’t gay already, he’d go gay for Haern. I’ve written eight books now featuring him, yet to be honest, I screwed up terribly when I devoted a trilogy just to him.
It’s not that he can’t carry the story. No, the problem is that the focal point for his entire character arc, that of his rebellion against his father’s desire to mold him into the heir of a criminal underworld, gets settled outside the trilogy. Imagine if Luke and Vader, after the end of Empire Strikes Back, never saw each other again. This is my own fault in writing a prequel, of course, and I love my fans for having as much fun with the third book, A Dance of Death, as they did. The first book involved Haern’s emotional revolt against the underworld, the second detailing him fully grown and physically attempting to overthrow a culture of crime (think Batman and Gotham City). The third book took Haern away from his city, to face a copycat that exposed the dangers and hypocrisy of killing to create peace. My hope was the third, in focusing on just who and what Haern represented, and why he fought, might provide a satisfying conclusion.
But for a lot of readers entering into the trilogy prior to reading the Half-Orcs, I got the same response over and over: when does Haern confront his father? Why this side story? Generally I gave them a lame response and pointed at the Half-Orcs, but even then, there was one major problem: I wrote the climactic confrontation before ever going into detail with Haern’s backstory. Perhaps I’m just far too harsh a critic of my own storytelling, but in hindsight I feel I didn’t do it justice. I didn’t do it big enough!
Not anymore. With the Watcher’s Blade Trilogy, this is my chance to push everything to a head. I’ve got three different series taking place in the same world, and I’m tying them all together. This is my Avengers, if you will, my Justice League. Those who have stuck with me through the various storylines are going to be in heaven. The previous trilogy established these characters, and now with this one, I get to play. Haern and his father will get the confrontation I’ve always felt they, as well as my readers, really deserved. One where the whole damn city nearly burns down from the conflict, and there’s a dozen factions in the background trying to manipulate things their way.
Blood of the Underworld is my way of getting things started, and hopefully catching up any readers who are new to my world. In the Half-Orcs, two brothers nearly destroyed the world. In Shadowdance, a son rebelled against his father. With the Watcher’s Blade, I’m hoping for a nice mix of both in terms of scope and consequence, and I’ll gladly welcome anyone else to come along with me and enjoy the ride.
Assuming they don’t mind a few slashed throats along the way, of course!!!
AUTHOR INFORMATION: David Dalglish was born in Missouri and graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a degree in Mathematics. He is the author of the popular Half Orcs series, The Shadowdance trilogy and The Paladins series. He has previously worked as a manager and as a para-professional for Spec-Ed students. He lives with his wife and children in Missouri.
Official David Dalglish Website
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Cloaks”
Read FBC's Review of “A Dance of Blades”
Read FBC’s Review of “A Dance of Death”
Read FBC’s Interview with David Dalglish
"Kully knows some things you don't learn at school. She
knows the right way to roll a cigarette and pack a suitcase. She knows
that cars are more dangerous than lions. She knows that you can't enter a
country without a passport or visa. And she knows that she and her
parents can't go back to Germany again. But there are also things she
doesn't understand, like why there might be a war in Europe--just that
men named Hitler, Mussolini, and Chamberlain are involved. Little Kully
is far more interested in where their next meal will come from and the
ladies who seem to buzz around her father. Meanwhile she and her parents
roam through Europe from country to country as their visas expire,
money runs out, and hotel bills mount"
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: "Child of all Nations" by Irmgard Keun, translated by Michael Hoffman, is a novel I found about at Goodreads after reviewing some recent translations; a check of
the sample and the first few paragraphs were just irresistible for me
and I bought and read the book in an evening.
"I get funny looks from hotel managers, but that’s not because I’m naughty; it’s the fault of my father. Everyone says: that man ought never to have got married.
At first they treat me as if I was a rich lady’s Pekinese. The chambermaids make kissy mouths at me and little mwah mwah noises. The maître d’ slips me postage stamps, which I save, because I might be able to sell them later. The man in the lift lets me press the button to our floor, and he doesn’t interfere, much. And the waiters brandish table-napkins at me in a friendly sort of way. But all that comes to an end when my father has to leave to raise money, and my mother and me are left behind, and the bill still hasn’t been paid. We are left behind as surety, and my father says we’ve got as much riding on us as if we’d been fur coats or diamonds.
Then the waiters in the hotel restaurant no longer brandish their napkins in that jolly way; instead they flick them at our table. Mama says they do it to clear the crumbs away, but it looks to me more like what you do to keep away pesky cats that have their eyes on the roast."
"I get funny looks from hotel managers, but that’s not because I’m naughty; it’s the fault of my father. Everyone says: that man ought never to have got married.
At first they treat me as if I was a rich lady’s Pekinese. The chambermaids make kissy mouths at me and little mwah mwah noises. The maître d’ slips me postage stamps, which I save, because I might be able to sell them later. The man in the lift lets me press the button to our floor, and he doesn’t interfere, much. And the waiters brandish table-napkins at me in a friendly sort of way. But all that comes to an end when my father has to leave to raise money, and my mother and me are left behind, and the bill still hasn’t been paid. We are left behind as surety, and my father says we’ve got as much riding on us as if we’d been fur coats or diamonds.
Then the waiters in the hotel restaurant no longer brandish their napkins in that jolly way; instead they flick them at our table. Mama says they do it to clear the crumbs away, but it looks to me more like what you do to keep away pesky cats that have their eyes on the roast."
And so it goes, and Kully's narration of her European and later even American wanderings interspersed with quotes and letters from her father continue at a fast clip in the same funny, somewhat ironic style which shows the insecurities of the child that has no home and the despair of the exile grown-up artist and writers who paradoxically have only reputation to sustain them so they need to live expensively to maintain their credit, while scrambling to pay their latest bills and staying just ahead of the creditors on scarcer and shorter temporary visas.
No wonder that for most suicide became the only rational option - a little research about the book and the people hinted at during Kully's narration shows that clearly - and death is always accompanying Kully who for the most part makes a game about it. But not always as the following paragraph shows:
"Grown-ups were trying to tell me how it’s possible to go to heaven. I hate it when people have such a low opinion of children that they think they’ll believe anything they’re told. What person in their right mind would stay in the world with worries and strife if he could be in heaven instead, and it not even cost any money?
Nor do I believe that bad people go to hell. Bad people are much too canny to do bad things if they knew they would go to hell as a result."
Like EM Remarque's better known novels of exile, this novel had a visceral appeal to me and that trumped the occasional niggles - the narrative stalls here and there and Kully's voice seems a bit too "wise" on occasion.
Noting
that the book was written in 1938, there clearly could not be any
definite ending to it, but still as we turn the last pages we are left
with the hope that somehow Kully and her family will find their safe
"port", though we rationally know that their travails are only beginning
as Hell is just getting unleashed in its full dimension across most
Europe.
Highly, highly recommended.
Highly, highly recommended.
"David Chance, the
unknowing offspring of a long-forgotten experiment that produced
genetically engineered child geniuses, learns terrible secrets about his
own conception and discovers the horrifying course that human history
is taking."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I find it hard
to say how many times I have read Brain Child - I would guess that the recent April 2012 reread was my
7th or 8th, but possibly more, though it was the first after
the 4 year intensive sff reading/reviewing here at FBC, so I was curious how the novel will
stand versus more modern sff - and the book still stands tall so to
speak deserving its place on my all time favorite list - place that also covers
the rest of the retro-near-future Australia sequence of George Turner
comprising The Destiny Makers, Drowning Towers, Genetic Soldier and the
posthumous Down There in Darkness.
Brain Child takes place in a sort of retro-future
Australia of the 2040's with climate change, overpopulation and no
Internet, but the power of the narrative, the extraordinarily compelling
style of the author, the superbly drawn characters and the twists and
turns of the story spiced with a few nuggets of eternal wisdom (power
corrupts, who do you trust to watch the watchers etc) make this a
top-top sfnal novel.
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage - under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people's "indiscretions" get better orphanages - gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D in David) who declares that he is his father though not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc...
The story seems straightforward - in 2002 the government created super-babies of which 3 (quadruplet and related in-between like sort of cousins) groups of two girls, two boys A, B, C survived; group A turned to be good at science and group B at art but outside a few social dysfunctions they were within normal human parameters and were released at 18, while now in the 2040's they are reclusive and working for the government in group A case and just reclusive in group B case.
David Chance, young upcoming journalist raised into an upscale orphanage - under the population laws extra children born without permits become charge of the state and are raised in orphanages and of course the rich people's "indiscretions" get better orphanages - gets summoned by Arthur Hazard (of group A, not to speak of the pun of the surnames plus the letter D in David) who declares that he is his father though not by intention as he was experimenting with sex when 18, a girl wanted to keep hold of him etc...
So David did not get
aborted as the girl concealed her pregnancy and he is the only
known child of the groups, while now he has to undertake the mission
he was raised for and subtly influenced from young age when his
existence became known to Arthur and the government (so his education was subtly directed to turn him towards
journalism etc). After a bit of recriminations and feeling upset, David is hooked on the mission and the adventure starts.
The mission? Well, remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group, which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide - they just stopped living. However, Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy" to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that originated the project and who kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
The mission? Well, remember group C; they were true posthumans, super-powerful, unknowable and the humans in charge got scared and kept them isolated, but at age 18 one of them, Conrad escaped to unknown hereabouts; returning a few months later he conferred with his group - nobody knows what about since once Conrad returned his group, which until them accepted the humans surveillance and later harsh interrogation up to torture, now isolated itself and accepted only one nurse as point of contact - and then they committed suicide - they just stopped living. However, Conrad tantalizingly mentioned a "legacy" to the nurse and only a few like Armstrong, the scummy politician that originated the project and who kept that nurse on his private payroll and the Hazards knew about that...
Said
legacy may have to do with human immortality or at least control of DNA
and genetics, while David is also nudged to find out what happened to
Conrad in his months away and why group C committed suicide on return. Just awesome and with so many twists and turns and a "jaw breaking" denouement that is still powerful on the 8th reading or so.
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most.
All George Turner's books mentioned above in this sequence are superb, still relevant and highly readable though Brain Child is still the one that stayed with me the most.
INTRODUCTION: Together with Alan Furst's historical novels about the immediate pre-WW 2 period, David Downing's John Russell novels which start on New Year's day 1939 in Zoo Station and so far cover the period up to New Year's Day 1946 at the end of Lehrter Station are big favorites that combine superb historical fiction - atmosphere, characters - with a dash of intrigue and action. Here is the blurb and more about it below.
"Paris, November 1945.
John Russell is walking home along the banks of the Seine on a cold and
misty evening when Soviet agent Yevgeny Shchepkin falls into step
alongside him. Shchepkin tells Russell that the American intelligence
will soon be asking him to undertake some low grade espionage on their
behalf—assessing the strains between different sections of the German
Communist Party—and that Shchepkin’s own bosses in Moscow want him to
accept the task and pass his findings on to them. He adds that refusal
will put Russell’s livelihood and life at risk, but that once he has
accepted it, he’ll find himself even further entangled in the Soviet
net. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one."
Shchepkin admits that his own survival now depends on his ability to utilize Russell. The only way out for the two of them is to make a deal with the Americans. If they can come up with something the Americans want or need badly enough, then perhaps Russell will be forgiven for handing German atomic secrets over to Moscow and Shchepkin might be offered the sort of sanctuary that also safeguards the lives of his wife and daughter in Moscow. Every decision Russell makes now is a dangerous one."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Lehrter Station is the
fifth John Russell novel and it was still captivating and making me want the
next installment asap - and there will be a next and probably as many as the market
will bear since there is so much stuff that's going on and as the hero
puts it:
"Rather to his surprise, he felt more sanguine about his new espionage career than he had when the Soviets first came to call. Wondering why, he realized what had changed. While the Nazis had flourished, he’d had no ethical room for manoeuvre. Helping them, or hindering their enemies, were not things he could live with. Or not with any sense of self-worth. But that black-and-white world had vanished with Hitler, and the new one really was in shifting shades of grey. He could make arguments for and against any of the major players; in helping one or the other he had no sense of supporting good against evil, or evil against good. If, in personal terms, Yevgeny Shchepkin was almost a kindred spirit, and Scott Dallin someone from a distant unfriendly planet, he had no illusions about Stalin’s Russia. And though American help was his only way out of the Soviet embrace, that didn’t mean he wanted a world run by money and big business"
Coming back to the book, first let's note that the blurb is wrong since it's London November 1945, John and his extended family (Effi - his longtime German actress girlfriend who missed escaping with him from Nazi Germany in late 1941 and spent the rest of the war in Berlin acting the part of an old woman and working for the underground that tried saving Jews and regime opponents, Rosa - their 7 year old Jewish "adopted" daughter assuming of course that her father is not to be found in the ruins of Germany, Paul - his 19 year old son and scarred veteran of the Reich's army, Zarah - Effi's sister married with a former mid/high ranking Nazi bureaucrat presumed dead or arrested, Lothar - her 11 year old son) are living in modest circumstances there, though Zarah and Paul are adapting better, while John is sort of blacklisted by the British press and Effi wants to act again (noting that while she did not act in a movie since 1941, she acted for her life in Berlin 1941-1945).
The first Soviet team (ironically the NKVD team, Dynamo) to visit the UK (and mostly trashing the British footballers on home ground) brings Yevgeny Shchepkin and his sinister boss Nemedin to London with an offer John Russell cannot refuse as trading atomic secrets to the Russians for his family above while understandable at a personal level can still lead to the gallows or the electric chair depending which of the two countries he is citizen of gets to try him; though of course Yevgeny wants out too so they form an alliance and John starts playing the double agent role though it is not yet clear for whom yet as the quote above notes...
"Rather to his surprise, he felt more sanguine about his new espionage career than he had when the Soviets first came to call. Wondering why, he realized what had changed. While the Nazis had flourished, he’d had no ethical room for manoeuvre. Helping them, or hindering their enemies, were not things he could live with. Or not with any sense of self-worth. But that black-and-white world had vanished with Hitler, and the new one really was in shifting shades of grey. He could make arguments for and against any of the major players; in helping one or the other he had no sense of supporting good against evil, or evil against good. If, in personal terms, Yevgeny Shchepkin was almost a kindred spirit, and Scott Dallin someone from a distant unfriendly planet, he had no illusions about Stalin’s Russia. And though American help was his only way out of the Soviet embrace, that didn’t mean he wanted a world run by money and big business"
Coming back to the book, first let's note that the blurb is wrong since it's London November 1945, John and his extended family (Effi - his longtime German actress girlfriend who missed escaping with him from Nazi Germany in late 1941 and spent the rest of the war in Berlin acting the part of an old woman and working for the underground that tried saving Jews and regime opponents, Rosa - their 7 year old Jewish "adopted" daughter assuming of course that her father is not to be found in the ruins of Germany, Paul - his 19 year old son and scarred veteran of the Reich's army, Zarah - Effi's sister married with a former mid/high ranking Nazi bureaucrat presumed dead or arrested, Lothar - her 11 year old son) are living in modest circumstances there, though Zarah and Paul are adapting better, while John is sort of blacklisted by the British press and Effi wants to act again (noting that while she did not act in a movie since 1941, she acted for her life in Berlin 1941-1945).
The first Soviet team (ironically the NKVD team, Dynamo) to visit the UK (and mostly trashing the British footballers on home ground) brings Yevgeny Shchepkin and his sinister boss Nemedin to London with an offer John Russell cannot refuse as trading atomic secrets to the Russians for his family above while understandable at a personal level can still lead to the gallows or the electric chair depending which of the two countries he is citizen of gets to try him; though of course Yevgeny wants out too so they form an alliance and John starts playing the double agent role though it is not yet clear for whom yet as the quote above notes...
The offer included John getting back into journalism and Effi back in
movies, both of course back in occupied Berlin and the story moves there
and continues to a very good ending point a few months later for what is the
first of hopefully many postwar novels.
Here is another memorable quote:
"The war had only been over six months, but the British and the French were already irrelevant – there were only two real powers in the city, or in the wider continent. And as luck would have it, he was working for both."
The journalism part starts involving the Jewish underground routes to Palestine and trips to Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia and the kicking of the local Germans back to the Reich, but as usual the book is about atmosphere and the author is just a master at that recreating Berlin late 1945 and its myriad inhabitants, transients and occupants superbly; there are a few loose threads from older novels that are finally tied here (the fate of Miriam Rosenthal and of Rosa's father occupy John and Effy for most of the book), dangerous gangsters, ambiguous allied officers and of course the "jobs" John has to do for his American and Soviet masters...
While the usual danger moments and suspense occur here and there, the novel is mostly historical fiction that lives and breathes through its characters, mainly John and Effi who split the pages between them.
As mentioned the novel ends at a good stopping point and I am really looking forward to the next installment as new storylines are introduced, new loose ends develop and new secondary characters of interest appear in addition to many secondary characters from the previous 4 novels.
Excellent stuff and highly recommended.
And to end, another great quote that now looks to the future and has John and Albert Wiesner (whom John helped escape Nazi Germany through his Soviet connections after his eminent Jewish physician father has been murdered by the Nazis in 1939 and Albert assaulted some Gestapo officials and became a fugitive, while later John helped his mother and sister emigrate to London using this time his UK intelligence connections - note that here it is still late 1945, so the state of Israel is still in the future) discussing the future of the surviving European Jews:
"‘Says who? I didn’t think you were religious.’
Albert grinned. ‘I’m not.’
‘I don’t think you can use the Bible as a title deed,’ Russell insisted.
‘Some people do. Like the Europeans who conquered the Americas – being in touch with the right God made everything okay.’
‘You don’t believe that.’
‘I think that’s what will happen.’
Russell thought about that. ‘Maybe it will,’ he conceded. ‘A friend of mine suggested emptying Cyprus – the Greeks to Greece, the Turks to Turkey – and then giving it to the Jews. Lovely beaches, good soil, not that far from Jerusalem.’
Albert propped his head up on one arm and gave Russell a look. ‘We already have our homeland.’
‘Yes, I expect you do.’
‘And I’ll tell you something else,’ Albert said. ‘I understand why the Poles are expelling the Germans from their new territories. And I understand why they’re making it impossible for the Jews to return. If my friends and I have our way, the Arabs will all be expelled from Palestine. Anything else is just storing up trouble for the future.’
‘That will put a bit of a strain on the world’s sympathy, don’t you think?’
`Once we have the land, we can do without the sympathy.’"
INTRODUCTION: Last Will is a book that came out
of nowhere for me. I saw it recently on Net Galley and being in
the mood for a change of pace I checked a sample and enjoyed it enough
to request a review e-arc, but I never expected the wonderful engaging
experience Last Will provided or the fact that I simply could not put it
down once I idly opened it to see where it will fit in my reading
plans.
"Bernie Raleigh is a failure at nearly everything he touches. Nobody
notices a loser, and after being kidnapped for ransom as a child, Bernie
has spent his adult life trying to avoid being noticed. That's
impossible now that he's inherited his grandfather's enormous fortune.
The inheritance comes complete with a mansion, a lot of obligations, and
a very problematic housekeeper named Meda Amos. Beauty queen, alien
abductee, crypto-Jew, single mother--Meda is all those things, and she
may be the only person who can help Bernie survive his new and very
public life."
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Last Will's blurb is reasonably accurate as it goes but it does not convey the power and richness of the book:
Bernie,
now 30 and moonlighting as an assistant librarian in Kansas city, last
male scion of a very rich family, returns to the childhood mansion when
his grandfather dies and leaves him his billions, but said childhood
mansion is also the place where Bernie was abducted for ransom as a 9
year old - at the local school more precisely - and where the events
that shaped him in the retiring and frightened man of today took place, in addition to the tragic accidental deaths of
his "golden boy" older brother and of his father, deaths which his estranged
mother somehow blames on him - or maybe not blames directly but in the "why my idiot son survived when my husband and my very promising first born did not?" indirect way...
We slowly discover his peculiarities but Bernie's voice is very compelling and he is fundamentally a good man:
"I believed Meda’s mother. I don’t mean that I accept the notion that aliens came to our planet and took Muriel into their space ship. Although I don’t dismiss that idea as impossible, it seems like the least likely of several possibilities. I believe something happened to her, something that made her feel taken away from herself, something that returned her not quite as she had been.
I was nine, nearly ten. They were waiting for me as I walked home from school. I was taking a shortcut through the city park, and someone called my name. Amy waved at me. She was a blonde girl who had worked for my parents as a maid for a while. I had a little crush on her. I remember that she asked me about Robby. When I told her he was sick at home, she looked upset. I followed her gaze to a battered van parked up the hill, where the path widened into a little lane that eventually emptied onto a side street. There was a man leaning against the van watching us. Amy’s boyfriend, Joel."
At the mansion he meets Meda who is an early 20s local exotic looking beauty with facial scars that somehow make her even more compelling - the ugly history of those is recounted later in the novel - from a weird downscale family living in and out trailers, single mother of a toddler, working as assistant housekeeper for her aunt, now the domestic help in charge of Bernie's mansion. Tough minded and knowing that "sleeping with the boss" is unlikely to lead anywhere but to social opprobrium and heartbreak, Meda walks a fine line between humoring the immediately lovestruck Bernie and keeping him at a distance, but as her good looks tend to attract the local tough boys, she is slowly attracted by Bernie's goodness and loneliness; of course a lot lies between them, from his peculiarities, to both their histories to the social gulf...
"He was a nice guy, but I didn’t know what it was about, his being so eager to help me out, and then paying for lunch and a movie. I figured it was about sex, because it’s almost always about sex. During the movie, I thought about how I felt about that. Even though he definitely wasn’t my type, he wasn’t bad. He was too tall and he wasn’t handsome, but he had a nice face, with those sad dog eyes and his crooked nose. I liked that he was so polite, and it didn’t hurt that he had money. Except he was a disaster waiting to happen, being who he was, being my boss, being so sad."
Last Will is one of the most
charming and uplifting book I've read in recent years - last year's
The Lover's Dictionary and 2010's Thera are other similar books I greatly
enjoyed - while staying very grounded in "reality", though of course
both Bernie and Meda who alternate first person
narration - with few interludes from Bernie's aunt who functions
as an outside/back story POV - are quite unlikely themselves, but the
skill of the author is such that both just stood out, took over and made
me not able to put this book down once I opened it. The alternating narrative structure dealing with the same events from Bernie or Meda's
perspective works very well and I think it is a key to the book's
success.
The secondary cast of characters - especially Meda's
family - are also very well drawn and the small town feel is authentic
and not glossed over in any way. A special mention goes to Meda's mom,
Muriel whose "alien abduction" stories are both pathetic but also a way
to cope with her not-so-easy life as Bernie understands the best. Despite their very different situations, Bernie's abduction as a child
and what happened then, all recounted at key parts of the book and
essentially defining him, coupled with his parents and most of his family's low
regard for him, made him closest psychologically with Mureil, while Meda
generally tough minded resembles her more practical grandma and aunt who
kept the family going.
The storyline is not particularly complicated, though there are a few surprises here and there, but that is beside the point as Last Will lives in Bernie and Meda. The back stories are quite important and the way they are inserted leading to the final piece of the puzzle that explains some of Bernie's stranger peculiarities like his inability to sleep with someone else - sleep as in sleep not sex btw, where Bernie is reasonably normal, though of course with some strangeness there too - fit very well the general structure of the book.
Overall Last Will is a top 25 novel of mine that I expect to reread across the years when needing a funny, smart and ultimately very uplifting novel.
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