Category: Reviewed

Red Sister — Mark Lawrence

By 5t4n5

Red Sister -- Mark LawrenceThe first book in a trilogy that leaves me reaching straight for the next book, Grey Sister.

Admittedly, it’s mostly about a bunch of young girls training to become warrior nuns, wielding weapons both corporeal and magical, so it might not get the hard core fantasists satisfied.   But the book ends really well and we can hopefully move on now to a more grown up story.

Set on an ice world with a dying sun that uses a large mirror satellite to focus the suns meagre rays onto a thin band of area around the equator where most of the people live.   The world was populated by a diaspora from space and the remains of the ships that brought the various peoples to the planet are enviously fought over by warring factions.   Somewhere amongst the remains lies the ability to take control of the satellite and therefore control of the whole planet.

My only real issue with it was that it was a bit long winded and one does get the feeling that a good editor would have trimmed this down quite substantially.   Still, it was worth enduring for the end bit which turned the speed dial up to 11 after being at 5 for the previous several hundred pages: the contrast was quite something.

Fingers crossed for the next book then.

Mark’s Page

#fantasy #marklawrence

Great Gerta and the Mermaid — Mari Ness

By 5t4n5

Great Gerta and the Mermaid -- Mari NessFor all fans of Peter Pan and Neverland.

A fun story about one of Hook’s pirates, Great Gerta.   It’s also nice that we finally get some mermaids taking a more prominent role in a Neverland story.

Definitely deserves a place in the “Peter Pan and Neverland” hall of fame.

Best of all, you can read this for free at Lightspeed magazine, or listen to the podcast like i did.

And why not sign up to Lightspeed Magazine Story Podcast while you’re here, or there, and make sure you never miss another great story?

Mari’s Page

#jmbarrie #peterpan #fantasy #mermaids #mariness

The Book of Tea — Kakuzo Okakura

By 5t4n5

The Book of Tea -- Kakuzo OkakuraIn direct contrast to The Wisdom of Tea, in which we are taken on a 25 year journey of a Tea practitioner from their very first lesson, in The Book of Tea we are given the history of Tea itself and its associations through the ages with Eastern religions and philosophy.

As such, this book is wonderful and it makes one realise that there is so much more to Tea than simply throwing some tea leaves in a pot.   There are some great passages in this book where Kakuzo has some wonderful rants about western culture which are a delight to read.   One can really get a vision of just how coarse the Devon Cream Tea in a sea side cafe — not forgetting morning tea in mother’s finest china with a biscuit — is when compared to Japanese Tea in a traditional tea hut, even though the English will proclaim these two tea ceremonies of theirs as the height of culture.

A must read for all who enjoy reading about Japan and its culture, and anyone who enjoys a cup of tea, however you may take it.   Written over 100 years ago and is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

Kakuzo’s Page

#japan #kakuzookakura

Guinea Pig Apocalypse — De Kenyon

By 5t4n5

Guinea Pig Apocalypse -- De KenyonDe Kenyon is the name DeAnna Knippling publishes her children’s books under and Deanna sent out a free copy of this in her newsletter.   Normally i wouldn’t bother with some random children’s book, but i’ve enjoyed DeAnna’s grown up books and the title of this intrigued me.   When i read the synopsis and found out that it was about squirrels taking over the world, i just had to give it a go.

To begin, if you’re a grown up and wanting something grown up to read then move along, this ain’t for you.   But if you’re like me and occasionally like a bit of silly sci-fi-ish stuff to keep us young at heart then this may be just what you’re looking for.   Note: when i say silly i mean good, fun silly, not stupid silly.

Basically, it’s about a young boy, Galileo, whose parents are mad scientists who make a replicator that makes guinea pigs out of sewage.   What they don’t realise is that it’s all part of the squirrels’ big bad plan to take over the world by using said guinea pigs to wipe out all the humans — because, as we all known, squirrels are the most evil creatures on the planet.

I have absolutely no idea if this book is suitable for a child near you, you’ll have to read it yourself first: go on, you know you want to.

I would probably aim it at around 10-11 year old but don’t quote me on that cause i’m useless at guessing these things.

All in all, i quite enjoyed it, but then i enjoy some good, fun silly now and again.

De’s Page

#scifi #dekenyon

Portrait of a Girl — Dörthe Binkert

By 5t4n5

Portrait of a Girl -- Dörthe BinkertI really enjoyed She Wore Only White so i followed Dörthe on Amazon and when this came up on sale for £1 i really couldn’t resist.

And what a bargain.

It’s similar in a lot of ways to She Wore Only White in that we have a true historical setting, with true historical characters, that Dörthe uses as a canvas upon which to paint her fictional story.   And also in that we have a young woman who is adrift in the world trying to find where she can belong.

All very well written with good characters, a good plot, and the perfect level of scene setting.   Dörthe does a wonderful job of taking us back in time, to Switzerland in late 19th century, and giving us a glimpse of the disparity of wealth between the local peasantry and the rich and wealthy, European elite who descend upon the valley each summer.

This is the second book that Dörthe has had translated into English and i do hope that there will be many more in the future.

Dörthe’s Page

#dorthebinkert

The Wisdom of Tea — Noriko Morishita

By 5t4n5

The Wisdom of Tea -- Noriko MorishitaIf you enjoy reading about Japan and its culture then this book will be very much for you.   In The Wisdom of Tea Norika tells us about her first 25 years journey learning all about Tea and in so doing gives us a wonderful view inside this part of Japanese culture that most of us would never have gotten to see.

Starting at 20 years old, Noriko is badgered into going to Tea lessons by her mother and cousin and only agrees to go so that she can go to a cafe with her cousin afterwards to hang out and just be 20 year olds away from the oldies.   Little did she know at the time that 25 years later she would still be going to the same lessons every Saturday and writing a book about her experiences in the Tea room.

What looks from the outside to be a fairly simple thing, as Noriko takes us on her 25 year journey she makes us realise many of Tea’s facets and depths as she slowly learns that Tea is a life long learning experience that will only end when we end life itself.

After reading this book, all i can say is that if i knew where i could get Tea lessons near me i’d be signing up tomorrow.

Well worth a read for everyone interested in Japanese culture, Zen and other such things.

And if you haven’t read it already, do be sure to have a read of The Book of Tea, which further explores the history of this wonderful beverage and culture.

Noriko’s Page

#japan #norikomorishita

The Raven Tower — Ann Leckie

By 5t4n5

The Raven Tower -- Ann LeckieNo idea how i came across this, but it sounded rather good so i added it to my wish list and when it got put on sale for only 99p, i didn’t need asking twice.

And for 99p i definitely got an incredible bargain.

I’ve no idea why this is listed in science fiction on Amazon, i’d definitely put it squarely in the grimdark fantasy section.   I suppose i may be getting my genres completely misconstrued, but i don’t think i am.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a good bit of grimdark fantasy then this should be right up your alley.   Who are the good and the bad in this and are they even aware that they are and why?   The baddies, although doing what they do for completely nefarious reasons, are actually doing the good thing; while the goodies, thinking they’re being all altruistic and everything, turn out to be on the baddies’ side.   And it’s all wound into a very well written story.

My only little winge is that Eolo’s gender thing is rather ambiguous and confusing and i think this could have been better defined.   At the end of the book i’m still not sure what gender Eolo actually is: cis, trans or otherwise.   Another character also mentions an aunt that had a gender thing going on, but again, no real information as to what.   I just completely failed to see what purpose having a main character — and another character who wasn’t part of the story whatsoever — with ambiguous genders served: other then being a poor attempt by the writer to include someone with these issues in order to get some woke cred.   Wouldn’t it be nice if we’re going to have characters with gender issues, dysphoria, trans, non-binary, etc., that they were made relevant to the story and explored further with a view to educating the ignorant masses on these issues while also helping and supporting those who have to deal with these issues in real life?   A great example of a writer that did such a thing would be Jason Segel, working with Eve Lindley, in the series Dispatches from Elsewhere: definitely a must watch before you read another book if you haven’t watched it already.

Other than my little winge this is a great book with great characters, well written and it really plays with the idea of gods and how gods get, keep and use their power over people.   We can see in our own world how a certain god has been allowed to overwhelm other gods and how this has ultimately turned the whole world into a shit hole of ecological disaster with a global plague while in a mass extinction event.   This is what happens when you worship a god whose clergy tells you that you don’t have to care about this world because said god has got something better for you when you die — just keep breeding like flies and fucking the planet up, Armageddon will soon be upon us and the pious shall have their rapture.

Ann’s Page

#fantasy #grimdark #annleckie

The Cat and The City — Nick Bradley

By 5t4n5

The Cat and The City -- Nick BradleyThere are parts of this book that totally felt like Nick has taken Ghostwritten and number9dream, put them both in a mixing bowl, threw a calico cat in and stirred them all together.   Which is not a bad thing as they’re both excellent reads, and, as it turns out, so is The Cat and the City.   Although, having said that, Nick does have his own writing style and the underlying theme of the story is completely different.

This is one of those reviews where i feel i can’t say as much as i’d like to say without giving away the book’s ending, which is a bit annoying, both for me and, i imagine, anyone wanting a review.   So i’ll just do my best without ruining it for anyone: i’m sure if anyone wants to have it ruined by reading a more in depth review they’ll soon find one somewhere on the internet.

At first this is what appears to be a collection of short stories, however, each is interconnected by a calico cat and various characters that keep appearing around various parts of Tokyo. Slowly, over time, a back story begins to coalesce.

I wouldn’t put this down as an easy read because you do have to keep track of some of the characters who randomly appear — and their relationships — add to this that most of the characters have Japanese names and it becomes a bit of a challenge.   Then there’s the Japanese terminology that is peppered throughout, for which most of us will need to stop occasionally and use “Look Up”.   All in all it is quite a challenge but it is well worth the investment if you have the sort of mind that likes reading books that require you to make a bit of effort.   If, however, you like your stories spoon fed to you by mother at bedtime then i would probably not bother as you’ll probably just end up getting totally lost, confused, annoyed and ultimately blame a really good book for your own failings.

One could ask why is all this chaos necessary?   I would suggest that it’s meant to portray Tokyo and it’s metropolitan area of 37,468,000 people, all passing on the streets, trains, taxis, etc.; pretending to ignore each other while obviously being continually affected, being extremely polite while ultimately suffering inside, and being so distant from each other while being so very near.

Anyway, like the two David Mitchell books, mentioned above, i really enjoyed it and if you do make the effort i’m sure you will to as it’s a great story spread out all over one of the world’s greatest cities.

Nick’s Page

#japan #nickbradley

Citizen — Claudia Rankine

By 5t4n5

Citizen -- Claudia RankineA rather different way of saying the things that need to be said, containing a mixed bag of poetry, prose, vignettes, etc., detailing what it’s like to be perpetually on the receiving end of racism, from micro-agressions to extremely overt racism.

Maybe, instead of forcing children to read Shakespeare and Dickens at school, we should be encouraging them to read books like this and encouraging them to engage in constructive dialogue with each other about the issues raised and the experiences of those on the receiving end of racism and other bigotry.   Racist is not something people are born, it’s something people are taught, and its very clearly up to schools and educators to start stepping up and making much more effort with the young minds in their care.

In the UK “Citizenship” and “Relationship” education is not on the curriculum until after 11 years of age: this is far, far too late.   How our societies are peopled — our citizens — and how we relate to those other citizens within our societies should be permanently on the curriculum from the very first day of school, not be left in the hands of young people’s peers, bad television, bad websites, and ignorant parents who read nothing but vile, tabloid drivel.   A child who has been nurtured badly up to the age of 11 is highly unlikely to respond to positive nuturing by over-worked, underpaid, stressed-out teachers after the age of 11.

Claudia’s Page

#poetry #claudiarankine

Star Maker — Olaf Stapledon

By 5t4n5

Star Maker -- Olaf StapledonI managed to get 31% into this and then just had to give up trying.   I really couldn’t manage any more of it.

Imagine that William’s favourite book is Gulliver’s Travels and he decides to have a go at writing a sci-fi version of it having read Brave New World just before starting.   I think that pretty much sums up the first 31%.

The problem is that while Gulliver’s Travels and Brave New World are both very good books, both are very well written and keep the reader’s attention, Star Maker is tedious, dull and plodding: at least that’s how i found it to be.   I can imagine for its time it was very exciting, but sadly some books just don’t age well and i think this is one of them.

I don’t feel that it’s bad enough to warrant a place on “The Deleted” page, so it will get a reprieve and stay in my Amazon lists for now and i may give it another go at some future date when i’m feeling a lot better about life and stuff.

Olaf’s Page

#scifi #sfmasterworks #olafstapledon