This is a list of books I have read since I last
posted on my book blog. I have rated
them out of ten but not made much of an attempt to tell you about them. Hopefully the best ones will be reviewed on
my book blog at some stage.
Guy Gavriel Kay – Sailing to Sarantium (1998) –
Brilliant mix of history, politics, drama and fantasy set in a fictional representation
of the Byzantine Empire. 10/10 (It would get 11/10 for story-telling but like
all of Kay’s books it doesn’t stretch one’s linguistic abilities and the
quotable bits are fairly rare though there is some good philosophy in it.)
Guy Gavriel Kay – Lord Of Emperors (2000) – Sequel to
the above. 10/10
Guy Gavriel Kay – Tigana. (1990) Fantasy 9/10
Guy Gavriel Kay – Last Light of the Sun (2004) Fantasy
evocative of the Celtic and Norse cultures. 10/10
Guy Gavriel Kay – Under Heaven (2010). Pseudo-8th
Century China - fantasy. 10/10
Guy Gavriel Kay – A Song for Arbonne (1992). 8/10 The first of his books I read and the
one which set me looking for more.
Guy Gavriel Kay – The Lions of Al-Rassan (1995) 8/10
Fantasy set in a version of medieval Spain.
Guy Gavriel Kay – Fionavar Tapestry series
1. The Summer Tree (1984)
2. The Wandering Fire (1986)
3. The Darkest Road (1986)
A wonderful series with modern man (and woman)
transported across into another world – one of many woven in the tapestry. 10/10
Guy Gavriel Kay – Ysabel (2007) If you only read one
of Kay’s books read this one or Sailing to Sarantium. On one holy, haunted night of the ancient
year, when the borders between the living and the dead are down and fires are
lit upon the hills, Ned, his family, and his friends are shockingly drawn into
this tale, as dangerous, mythic figures from conflicts of long ago erupt into
the present, claiming and changing lives.
Although it is listed as a stand-alone novel there are characters in
this that appear in the Fionavar Trilogy so it could be considered a spoiler
for those books if you read this first.
Michael Popek – Forgotten Bookmarks (2011).
Disappointing
Dan Simmons – Drood (2009). A fictional account of
some supposed adventures of Charles Dickens.
Not worth the effort. 6/10
John Dickinson – The Cup of the World (2004) Fantasy
8/10
John Dickinson – The Widow and the King (2005).
Fantasy – sequel to the above but didn’t match up to it. 7/10
Tad Williams – The Dragonbone Chair (1988) 8/10 Fantasy
– the first part of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Good but not enough to hunt
out the next part of the series.
Lian Hearn – Across the Nightingale Floor (2002) 8/10 Fantasy
– the first part of the Tales of the Otori.
Good but not enough to hunt out the next part of the series.
Helen Spring – Memories of the Curlew (2009) 7/10 Historical
novel based on the life of Gwenllian, daughter of the King of Gwynedd (b 1096),
who became known as 'The Welsh Warrior Princess'. A fine adventure / romance
for older children and a good insight into Wales at that time.
Penelope Fitzgerald – The Bookshop (1978). 8/10 My
main comment about this would be a spoiler so I can’t make it. Suffice it to
say but for one thing it would be rated higher.
Stewart Binns – Crusade (2012) 9/10 It is 1072 and
England is firmly under the heel of its new Norman rulers. The few survivors of
the English resistance look to Edgar the Atheling, the rightful heir to the
English throne, to overthrow the Conqueror but end up fighting in The Holy
Land. I shall definitely be reading his
other two novels – Conquest and Anarchy.
Mike Ashley – The Mammoth Book of Historical
Detectives (1995). 8/10 A collection of
short stories from some of the most famous writers of historical crime. A great book to dip into.
Edward Marston – The Queen’s Head (1988) An
Elizabethan mystery. 7/10
Hope Mirrlees - Lud-in-the Mist (1926) 10/10 commented upon elsewhere.
James Long – Ferney (201 )
10/10 A sort of historical love story
with a touch of time travel / slippage. One
of those books one does not want to end because it captures your imagination
and involves you with the characters in a way that only the best books can. My ‘read of the year’ (and thanks to Friend-über-Special for sending me it).
Thank you...always good to see book reviews.
ReplyDeleteI think you are exaggerating (kindly) calling them reviews, Adrian.
DeleteHoly cats! You are about Guy Gavriel Kay like I am about You-Know-Which movie! Will have to give him a look-see. I have a feeling Bear will love his books, just from the synopses you've provided!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I already commented on this post? Anyway reading it again I got interested in the Memories of the Curlew one, and as it turned out not to cost too much on Kindle... I added it to my purchases and Books To Read...
ReplyDeleteI read the first two books of a trilogy recently. Fantasy is not normally my genre of preference, but these were worth the read. Very well done, though long. The first book was called The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of that one. I shall look it up in Fantastic Fiction - a great site for seeing what books are about.
DeleteI am ashamed to say that I don't know any of these writers! I am still in the days of Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind and Gattopardo!:) I mean to say that I love the classics. Here in Sicily however it's very difficult to get books in English, so thank heavens for the internet, now we can order online. I am a new follower.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Francesca - it's always nice to have a new follower. I too love the classics (especially George Eliot and Wilkie Collins if you can get hold of them) but I hadn't heard of Gattopardo so I looked it up - The Leopard (Italian: Il Gattopardo) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento. Sounds interesting, I only know a bit about Sicily's history and that is all ancient history.
DeleteThanks for this list of books and brief critiques. I'm off to the local library to put in requests for some of them this morning. It's always helpful to try new authors.
ReplyDelete