Books

In case I hadn't mentioned it already, I am now doing all of my book blogging on goodreads.com. Look for me there and become my friend.

"Ash: A Secret History" - Mary Gentle

This is brilliant science fiction writing... or fantasy, or science-fantasy. In any case, this left me wondering why the hell I have never read anything by Mary Gentle; she's brilliant, and apparently a fascinating and untraditional person. To sum up in the most superficial way, this book is about a female mercenary captain in Europe, 1476, but it quickly becomes clear that this is not our Europe, a conclusion supported by the secondary narrative in the form of emails between three modern-day scientists (or two scientists and a publisher) who are studying historical documents that relate to this mercenary captain, Ash. I picked this up thanks to the glories of amazon.com and their magnificent interface which allowed me to jump from "The Deed of Paksenarrion" by Elizabeth Moon (completely wonderful fantasy trilogy) to related titles.

Ash portrays the life of a medieval mercenary in such vivid and gritty detail that "Paksenarrion" fades in comparison. All senses are filled with the experience; the smells, the tastes, the absolutely perplexing "fog of war" on the battlefield; the suffering of a siege in winter, of captivity, the fear of maiming, the terrible fear of watching people you love hacked to pieces on the battlefield... I am in awe; and beyond the intensity and the poetic narrative there is the modern-day plot line and the increasingly mysterious happenings as details from that distant past seem to exist or not exist, to be real or fictional. She manages to weave quantum physics in, by the end, and an alternate history that has to be negated in order for ours to be real.

Amazing stuff.

"The Condition" - Jennifer Haigh

I got this from the library because I either heard about it on mpr or read something in the paper... in any case, it's a story about a dysfunctional family full of flawed but complex people. Someone on amazon.com compared it to "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen, and I can see their reasoning, but that book was far more cynical in its worldview. I struggled a bit at the beginning because we first see the world through Penelope's eyes - her struggle for status, dealing with her husband's sexual needs and her concern for her children - but as the book progressed and I grew to know the cast of characters I was drawn into their worlds. The author does a good job of presenting realistically difficult people, flawed and without easy answers. I'm particularly impressed with her ability to show us the ways in which the different characters see the world from their very different perspectives. It's beautiful and ironic that Penelope only decides to try to understand her daughter's world at the point at which her daughter has decided to cut ties with the family.

"Water for Elephants" - Sara Gruen

Got this from the library because there seemed to be a buzz about it. I loved the ending. It so made the book for me. At first the split narrative - with Jacob as 90-year-old man and as young man joining the circus - seemed a little contrived, but as the tale rolled out it grew on me. The dangers and the painful tale of love and treachery make for a good story, sure. As the climactic finale neared I felt that it could go in many directions... and I was pleased with the choices the author made.

"Wishing Well" - Trevor Baxendale

Yes, another Doctor Who novel, this one featuring the 10th Doctor and Martha. Quite a cracking good read, too. The Doctor and Martha end up in 20th century England after a day of gallivanting around the galaxy in search of a traditional English cream tea. Their quest takes them to the small town of Creighton Mere where trouble is afoot. There is a nice amount of suspense and scariness here; secondary characters are nicely developed, the alien threat remains mysterious for an appropriate amount of time. I liked it a lot, but it was eclipsed by the next one I read.

"The Nightmare of Black Island" - Mike Tucker

Another Doctor Who novel, with the 10th Doctor and Rose. Not bad, not my favorite. Characterizations are good, the setting is appropriately spooky. The sequence of events feels very much like a television episode, with cliffhanger moments and sudden reveals.

"Book of a Thousand Days" - Shannon Hale

I got this on CD from the library after coming across it on amazon.com; I'm a sucker for a good YA fantasy, and this ended up being a really wonderful example. She has created a vaguely middle-eastern medieval society in which to set her characters, and it felt very real. Beautiful world-building, beautiful characterizations. I very much appreciated the intensity and realism of the dangers that the two young female protagonists face (the princess Saren and her maid Dashti). The story is told in the form of Dashti's journal as she and Saren endure four years imprisoned in a tower, and then great trials on their way to the eventual happy ending.
Nice job, Shannon!