Tag Archives: Fiction

Recap: January Reads

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My, my, my. Not only is it suddenly 2018 but it’s suddenly February 2018 and, pardon me,  where has the time gone?! I don’t know about you guys, but last year sure got away from me and to think we’re already well into the second month of a brand new year and Christmas was an age ago and summer is nearly over and there are Cadbury creme eggs in the shops and, oh ALL THE THINGS!

Hello. How are you? Nice to see you. Your hair looks bloody great.

I’d sure like to get back into the habit of regular blogging and recapping my January reading seems a good place to start. So, without further ado and in no particular order…

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The Messenger – Marcus Zusak (2002)

After becoming something of a local celebrity for foiling a bank robbery, nineteen-year-old Ed Kennedy starts receiving mysterious playing cards in the mail, setting his uninteresting life into a cryptic and tumultuous spin. A mixed bag of self discovery, small town desperation and human connection, The Messenger could have felt cliche or contrived, but Zusak presents a story that is unpretentious and characters that are believable and raw.

Where Zusak particularly succeeds is in capturing the necessary ordinariness of his setting, tinging small town Australia with a kind of humble sadness that makes Ed’s journey as a disaffected almost-adult all the more poignant. Though certainly problematic in places, The Messenger made for pretty compulsive reading and was tricky to put down.

3.5/5 stars.

Strange the Dreamer – Laini Taylor (2017)

The big strength of Laini Taylor’s writing is how effortlessly she seems to blend vivid imagination, original storytelling and lyrical prose. It was what made the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series so enjoyable and what here sweeps the reader so fully into the fictional world of Lazlo Strange – daydreamer, orphan and librarian – to solve the mystery of the lost city of Weep.

The first in a planned duo of books, Strange the Dreamer feels part fairy-tale and part classical epic. Cleverly conceived and beautifully written, with good doses of adventure, conflict, gods and monsters, softness and light, it gets a whole-hearted two thumbs up from me.

4/5 stars.

Labyrinth – Kate Mosse (2005)

A $4 op shop bargain and veritable doorstop of a book, Labyrinth promised secrets, adventure and conspiracy all wrapped up around that old chestnut, the true Grail. With parallel storylines of medieval and modern day France, and two characters with a mysterious connection, Labyrinth, for the most-part, delivers.

On discovering two skeletons in a cave in the French Pyrenees, the crux of mystery resides with Alice in 2005 but following Alaïs circa 1209 is clearly where Mosse is most at home. Though highly effective as a sweeping historical narrative which paints medieval France with a deft hand, the story could have been 100 pages shorter and been no worse off. The main characters are well-realised and compelling, though some of the supporting characters felt under-done and largely expositional despite hints of potential for being interesting in their own right (Shelagh, for example). These quibbles aside, there is more than enough suspense and intrigue to keep the pages turning (all 700 of them).

3/5 stars.

‘Til next time,

Sig

 

Book Review: Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler (2004)

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full-dark-houseIsn’t it lovely when something turns out to be an unexpected treat? I read a lot, I read all sorts of stuff, and I don’t always choose my reading matter with some highfalutin, intelligent purpose in mind. In fact, I often pick a new book to read on a complete whim – because I need something to read and it’s there, because the cover stood out, because the author has an amusing name. I’ve discovered some great reads this way, and I was thrilled that this was true of Full Dark House, a recent selection made purely out of the blue. I was unfamiliar with Christopher Fowler, but I needed a quick fix and it sounded like a page turner – with a quirky cover to boot.

The first in a series of British mysteries, Full Dark House opens with a bomb destroying the London headquarters of the Met’s Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) and ending the 60 year partnership of its longest serving detectives. Bryant and May’s first case together – a ‘phantom’ stalking a controversial new production of Orpheus in the Underworld during the Blitz – seems to be connected. But how?

With parallel stories cutting between the present and 1940, a cast of memorable characters, and Fowler’s ability to paint a sometimes far-fetched plot with enough charm to render it plausible, Full Dark House was tough to put down. The writing is energetic and effervescent, brimming with wit and clever turns of phrase, and full of engaging and unexpected plot twists. Fowler conjures a vivid image of London during the Blitz, and the mythic, bleak setting amplifies the sinister nature of the crimes to great effect. The Palace Theatre looms large in the narrative, as much a character as any of the production company players.

The PCU deals with ‘unusual’ matters – the sort of crimes that call for a different way of looking at things. At times echoing the quirkiness of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently, Fowler weaves mythology and elements of the supernatural seamlessly into his fast paced novel. Bryant, with his eccentricities and unorthodox methods, and May, with his dapper charm and logical brain, leap off the page as they try to solve this gothic mystery, successfully avoiding staid ‘odd couple’ clichés. The pairing is part Sherlock Holmes, part Fox Mulder, and ultimately it is their solid friendship that makes Bryant and May a hugely entertaining, immensely likeable duo.

Though I discovered him only recently and at random, Christopher Fowler has written numerous novels and short stories across several genres, and to much critical acclaim. Among his award successes, he won the August Derleth Award (Best Novel) for Full Dark House at the British Fantasy Awards in 2004.  With eight other titles in the series, Bryant and May have been added to my list of guaranteed future reading.